An ANBU appeared and laid the requested form at the front of the desk facing the three genin.
The Hokage nodded. "Once they sign, as your fiancees, then they fall into the 'need to know' category."
The two stared at the form, turned red, glanced at each other, then at Naruto. Eyes rolled up and two young kunoichi fell to the floor. THUD!
"They fainted?!" asked Naruto.
"Yes, that they did so well that they hit the ground at the exact same time bodes well for their getting along in the future." The Hokage nodded to himself. "Well, I'll just post this outside my office then. They can come by and sign it later."
"Why did I just get this awful feeling of doom?" asked Naruto.
"You're getting engaged to be married," said the Hokage. "Perfectly normal."
THUD!
The Hokage smirked for a moment. "ANBU. Clean up. Oh, and send a summary of these events to Jiraiya. I'm going to dump the explanations in his lap."
Jiraiya entered the office, holding a piece of paper. "Did you see this?"
"Oh? Is there something interesting there?" asked the Hokage, twinkle present in eye.
"My godson has four names signed on a 227-M," said Jiraiya. A single tear rolled down his cheek. "I am SO proud of him."
"'Four'?" asked the Hokage, holding out a hand. When the form was handed to him, he nodded. "Kasumi is probably just curious and Ayane is likely in competition with Kasumi."
"Innocent enough now, but when they're a bit older," mused Jiraiya.
"So, I need you to meet with them and explain certain things," said the Hokage. "Though Naruto could have just gone ahead and told them."
"Oh. I'll make it MUCH more entertaining," said Jiraiya.
"For them or for you?" asked the Hokage.
"Yes," answered Jiraiya.
Ino sauntered into the classroom. "What's going on? Why is Naruto tied to the wall? With his shirt off? And gagged? Sakura? Hinata? Frik and Frak? I can't see any of you except Frak doing this for amusement."
Ayane casually flipped a kunai at Ino. Ino eeped and ducked.
"So immature," said Kasumi.
"I don't know why you're here unless you signed the form to engage yourself to Naruto," said Sakura suspiciously.
"NARUTO?!" asked Ino. "No, I'm after Sasuke. Why settle for a Happy Meal when you're after a Seven Course Meal at a five-star? He's just a 'plan B' and a distant one at that."
"MFFF!" protested the gagged Naruto.
"Admittedly, you do have good abdominals for our age," admitted Ino, peering closer.
"Well, if that's not why you're here, I have no idea," said Sakura. "You're always after big brother. Not that he thinks of you as anything other than annoying."
"You're just saying that because you're jealous," said Ino. "Doesn't matter, none of you would be competition for me anywa- HEY!"
KA-THWAM!
Ino just barely avoided the thrown desk that bounced off the floor once before impacting the wall.
"Exactly HOW are you better than any of US?" asked Ayane. "Taijutsu?"
"In every way that-" began Ino before she discovered that Ayane had apparently meant that as a challenge.
"Whoa," said Jiraiya on entering the room. "Five minutes. I was FIVE minutes late."
"It was her fault," said a black-eyed Ino pointing at a broken-lipped Ayane, Ayane pointing at Ino, a shirt-ripped Kasumi pointing at Ayane, and a Sakura with a couple of bandages on her face pointing at Ino.
"Do I care whose fault it is?" asked Jiraiya.
There were some uncertain looks at that.
"Why is she unconscious?" asked Jiraiya, pointing at Hinata.
"She was trying to free Naruto, and passed out with a nosebleed instead," said Ayane.
"Okay." Jiraiya considered them all. "You guys are not impressing me so far."
"Excuse me, but who ARE you?" asked Sakura.
"Jiraiya. One of the Sannin. The one who is running this briefing."
"MFFF!" indicated Naruto.
"Also a supplementary teacher to the gaki here," said Jiraiya, his thumb indicating the tied up boy. "One of the things to work on - you lack environmental awareness."
"MFF!"
"I was there for five minutes BEFORE I attacked. I even dropped a coin." Jiraiya shook his head. "I may pay these girls to be stalkers and attack you without warning whenever you're not on a mission."
"MFF!" indicated Naruto on seeing a very familiar wallet.
"Because it has a chance to save your life. ESPECIALLY if anyone talks," said Jiraiya. "That and this was the only way I was sure you wouldn't run off from your fiancees."
"Uhm, we can't ALL be his fiancee though," said Sakura.
"Well, technically, you can," said Jiraiya. "Admittedly both polygamy and polyandry are rare but not unheard of - mainly within the upper circles of the daimyo's court. Engagements though? Happens all the time. This is nothing compared to some of the stories I've heard. There's supposedly some taijutsu expert in one of the island nations who has sixteen fiancees, most of whom were the result of his father selling him off as husband material."
"That's hard to believe," commented Sakura, managing to put a fair amount of doubt into that short phrase.
"I've even heard of some prince of another island nation who is being pursued romantically by a pirate, a princess who is his cousin or something, a member of the civilian guard, and a shapeshifting mad scientist type." Jiraiya spread his hands. "If somehow everything stabilizes in the Elemental Countries and we finally achieve peace - I'm planning on going out and trying to track these places down and see for myself."
"Ung," said Hinata as she woke up.
"Now if the sleeping princess will take a seat, we'll get started," said Jiraiya, clapping his hands.
"Well, I'll ask you. Why am I here?" asked Ino. "I was told to come but I sure haven't any interest in that idiot."
"You're here as a Yamanaka, and the clan heir at that," said Jiraiya. "D-Rank mission from a discretionary fund."
"Oh," said Ino, losing the righteous indignation as that penetrated.
"Witness," said Jiraiya. "Now. I want you four to tell me why you signed that form. The Yamanaka clan heir will tell me if you lie."
Ino was about to say she didn't know that technique. That was much higher level than she currently could manage as you had to maintain a light touch on multiple minds. She sweated silently there for a few moments as she considered whether to put in a forfeit on this mission or not.
"In any case, you first princess," said Jiraiya, indicating Hinata.
"Uhm, Hinata Hyuga, and, uhm, that is, I think, that maybe I just wanted, eh," said Hinata before going to mumbling and trying to shrink inside her clothing.
Jiraiya frowned thoughtfully at the girl as she continued mumbling and tapping her fingers together nervously and blushing to the extent he wouldn't be surprised if she abruptly fainted again. "Okay. Next."
"She didn't answer, did she?" asked Ayane.
"Actually, I got an answer, so it counts," said Jiraiya, waving off the point with a gesture. "You next."
"Uhm, well, I..." said Sakura, not used to being on the spot like that. "I've known Naruto-kun for years and we're friends. Yeah. We're very good friends!"
Naruto hung his head and made a noise.
"Oh. Just friends?" prompted Jiraiya.
"Well, I," began Sakura.
"Okay, you next," said Jiraiya, ignoring the way Sakura nearly fell over at her apparent dismissal.
"Kasumi. I have known Naruto for several years, and I have noticed several good qualities to him," said Kasumi.
"Hmmm." Jiraiya nodded at the last of the four. "And you?"
"Ayane. He has been hunted, hounded, hated. Much like me. Unlike me, he does not hate in return." The purple-haired girl glanced at Naruto. "Nor does he hate me. He has spoken kindly to me in the past."
Jiraiya sighed. "I'm tempted to go over and rip that marriage agreement up right now and just send all of you home."
"What kind of answer were you looking for?" asked Ayane. "Love? We're TWELVE. How the heck are we supposed to know what our feelings are beyond 'he's nice and kinda attractive'?"
"Now THAT is the first really honest thing I've heard," said Jiraiya approvingly. "Engagements are common among old ninja or samurai families. Marriages are rarer than that. And you do NOT want to be around a ninja couple going through a divorce. That gets beyond messy. So I want to hear that if you decide that you and Naruto aren't compatible you will walk away. Because if you decide to hurt him by releasing the secrets I'm talking about today - you will die only if I can't come up with something worse for you."
He immediately noticed how all five girls in the room reacted to his simple declaration of fact. They took it seriously, though in different manners.
"Okay," said Jiraiya, making a hand-sign that activated another set of privacy seals. Best to take this from Level 1 to Level 3 before starting. "There are nine Tailed Beasts like the Kyubi. It used to be that one through four could be contained in objects like an urn or vase through fuuinjutsu. Five through Seven were contained in natural areas. Eight and Nine were too powerful to contain by such methods. The First Hokage changed that, or rather his wife did."
"Mito Uzumaki," supplied Kasumi, her eyes flicked to a now-sulking Naruto.
"Yes, the Uzumaki family were reknowned for their fuuinjutsu and have long been allied to the Senju," said Jiraiya. "And yes - despite being blond - Naruto is definitely an Uzumaki."
"MFF?!"
"Naruto, you're staying tied up because everything I saw about you indicates you'd run if you weren't," said Jiraiya. "And if I didn't gag you, you'd waste everyone's time arguing and just being loud. The only chance I have to get through this in less than an hour is if you're quiet."
"MFF!" protested Naruto.
"So, this is about the Kyubi," mused Ayane.
"You already suspected?" asked Jiraiya, surprised.
Ayane shrugged slightly.
"Yes, the process of sealing a Tailed Beast inside a human container was developed at that point and only an Uzumaki has the necessary chakra and stamina to be that container for the Kyubi," said Jiraiya. "I wasn't present for the event - though I did arrive three days later which was the first chance I had."
"But everyone says the Kyubi was killed by the Fourth Hokage," protested Sakura.
"We're ninja. We lie frequently," said Jiraiya with a shrug. "Just as often we'll hedge around the truth in such a way to let other people draw incorrect conclusions. The truth being an S-Class secret in this case."
"An S-Class secret that practically every adult civilian knows and hates Naruto for," pointed out Ayane.
"Someone leaked it," said Jiraiya. "Though they've got several important details wrong. Naruto is NOT the Kyubi. Nor does EVERY adult civilian hate Naruto."
"Just an overwhelming majority," said Ayane. She shrugged at Jiraiya's raised eyebrow. "I am... familiar with being hated for something you have no say or control over."
"Be that as it may," said Jiraiya. "Naruto is the jinchuriki, which is the term for someone who has something like the Kyubi sealed within them, for the Kyubi No Kitsune."
"So his mother or his father was definitely an Uzumaki," noted Sakura, still fitting things together and trying to come to terms with the revelation.
"Mother. Yes." Jiraiya looked over the kids. For twelve year old kids, they were taking it pretty well. Maybe nobody had to be put down and his godson could actually find some friends he could talk to and confide in. That would be a LOT of help.
"What was her name?" asked Hinata softly.
"Classified right now," said Jiraiya. "Both his parents had quite a reputation and bounties on their heads as top-ranked shinobi loyal to Konohagakure. Even more so than his jinchuriki status, that getting out might get him a dead within the week. Especially if he's as easy to capture as I demonstrated to him earlier."
The room was silent for over a minute, Jiraiya just watching carefully. As they WERE all twelve, none of them were especially adept at concealing all their feelings at least to his watchful gaze.
"Any questions?" asked Jiraiya finally.
"Your assessment?" asked the Hokage.
"Ayane and Kasumi are unlikely to go beyond the 'friends' stage, but I didn't dismiss them because he needs all the friends he can get. I got the impression from body language that the two of them are competitive. Or at least Ayane is." Jiraiya paused as he remembered details of body language and not only what was said but how it was said. "Hinata and Sakura though - both interested in the boy. Whether it goes any further once they're past puberty is anyone's guess at this point. You know that initially Tsunade looked up to Orochimaru when the teams were first formed. She got over that within a couple of months and then she met Dan."
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded at that.
"Hinata has confidence issues, while Sakura - I got the feeling she's a little socially awkward." Jiraiya shrugged.
"She was put in an advanced genjutsu years ago and it took her a couple of years to put that experience behind her," noted the Hokage.
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(Posted Sun, 26 Jul 2015 18:03)
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