Earth land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, the Village Hidden in the Leaves.
January, x787.
After their trip to Ramen Ichiraku, Kakashi led Alfonzo, Elicia, Ikaruga, and Irene through the village to their residence for their stay in the Hidden Leaf Village. And that residence turned out to be a luxurious two-story Japanese Style mansion in the heart of the village.
On top of that, Naruto followed the group, as well. They even stopped at a few shops to buy ingredients for dinner.
When the group eventually arrived at the mansion, Alfonzo lowered the Escalade to the ground just outside the mansion's front door. And when Elicia released her [Hiding in Plain Sight] spell, both Kakashi and Naruto widened their eyes.
After that, the group of six entered the house. While Kakashi continued to chat with Elicia and Irene, Alfonzo explored the mansion and quickly found the kitchen. And although he was not intending on cooking immediately, familiarizing himself with the kitchen was quite necessary for when he decided to cook.
Ikaruga, on the other hand, took it upon herself to take the luggage from the Escalade and moved it to the rooms she thought Alfonzo, Elicia, and Irene would like the most. Meanwhile, Naruto, who was still overwhelmed by the kindness he had received, helped Ikaruga, despite her telling him that it was not necessary.
Eventually, Kakashi left the mansion, stating that he had something to take care of. However, thanks to the group deploying [Magic Power Detection], they all knew that he headed back to the Hokage Tower. And they were all sure that he was reporting on everything he saw and heard while leading the group to their accommodations.
Despite the report Kakashi was giving to the Hokage, no one paid it any mind. As outsiders, they were expecting as much, after all. Instead, the group decided to make themselves at home, seeing as they would be spending a few months in the village.
Then, over the next few hours, the group did what they enjoyed to relax. For example, Alfonzo spent his time creating a magic item. Something he thought would come in handy when the next time he or the ladies had to deal with Danzo. At the same time, Iren was reading a book about magic. Meanwhile, Elicia took Naruto's measurements before starting to create some clothes for him. And once Elicia finished taking measurements, Ikaruga took Naruto outside to start training his body.
Eventually, Kakashi, who had been invited to have dinner with the wizards from Fairy Tail, returned. And to his surprise, when he entered the living room, Naruto was lying on the floor, completely exhausted. Despite his state, he was smiling happily while chatting with Alfonzo.
"Oh, you're back, Kakashi." Alfonzo said when Kakashi entered the room with Ikaruga. "I actually expected you a bit later. I haven't even started cooking yet."
*Growl~~~~!*
Before Kakashi could reply, the sound of a stomach growling echoed through the room. And when they looked for the source of the sound, they saw Naruto blushing in embarrassment while holding his stomach.
"Well, I guess Ikaruga's work out left you hungry, huh?" Alfonzo asked with a chuckle. "In that case, I'll get dinner started. It'll be pretty simple, though."
"As long as I can eat, I don't care what it is." Naruto said in a tired tone.
"I'm okay with anything, as well." Kakashi added.
Nodding in reply, Alfonzo wasted no time heading to the kitchen. And when Alfonzo was done cooking, everyone in the house gathered to have dinner together. Then,once the meal was finished, Naruto left to return home. He had school the next day, after all. Kakashi, on the other hand, waited at the mansion for the group who would take the magic items from Alfonzo's trunk.
Once all the magic items were taken, Kakashi also left with a promise that he would bring Alfonzo back to the Hokage Tower to discuss the upgrades to the training grounds with Hiruzen.
After sending Kakashi off, Alfonzo returned to the mansion's living room. Then, before he could even sit down, Irene spoke to him.
"One of your magic items has been separated from the others." Irene said without even looking up from the book she was reading.
"I know." Alfonzo replied nonchalantly. "I just hope they don't try to take it apart. That's gonna piss off a lot of people."
"Just what kind of boobie trap did you set, Fonzie?" Elicia asked in a curious tone.
"A city-wide sound grenade that only I can disarm." Alfonzo replied with a shrug.
While Elicia grimaced at the trap, Ikaruga and Irene looked at Alfonzo with confusion in their gazes. Naturally, Alfonzo did not miss the confused gazes. So, he smiled as he tried to explain what a sound grenade was.
April, x787
A little more than three months have passed since Alfonzo, Elicia, Ikaruga, and Irene entered the Village Hidden in the Leaves. And to Alfonzo's surprise, the sound grenade hidden in the signal receiver that was stolen has yet to be set off.
'I guess he's weary of traps, huh?' Alfonzo muttered internally while putting the finishing touches on the last of the indoor training chambers. 'Well, I guess that's a good thing. I'm not looking forward to that sound explosion, either.'
In fact, the day after the magic item was stolen, Alfonzo was expecting to be called to fix the issue. However, nothing like that has happened. Instead, he was taken to discuss the training upgrades with Hiruzen. Then, once everything was settle, Kakashi took him to his first work site.
Since then, Alfonzo's day has fallen into a pattern. First, he would start working on the training facilities shortly after breakfast. And during that time, Kakashi would accompany and chat with him about all sorts of things.
Then, when lunch time came around, Alfonzo and Kakashi would have lunch at various places around the village. And as it turned out, there was only one other place in the village that could compare to Ramen Ichiraku. And the name was Yakiniku Q.
Yakiniku Q was a Yakiniku style restaurant with wide windows, green-seated booths, and round tables that allowed guests to sit on the floor to eat. Each eating area also had menus plastered to the walls. Each table also had its own charcoal brazier so that the guests could cook their meat to their liking.
As a matter of fact, if Alfonzo were unable to cook his own meat, he would more than likely rate Yakiniku Q lower than Ramen Ichiraku. However, they did, in his opinion, a damn good job of seasoning their cuts of beef.
"I'm surprised how fast you work, Alfonzo." Kakashi said as he stood from a chair Alfonzo created for him when the day's work started. "I mean, you've only been working half a day for three months, and you're already done with the indoor portion of the job."
"*Sigh* That's thanks to a combination of things." Alfonzo replied. "First, this is the fifth job I've done like this in the last two years. Second, there aren't as many restrictions when it comes to space, and third, I'm making all the materials with my own magic power."
Like Alfonzo said, this time around, he did not bring any materials with him. And the reason for that was simple. The amount of material he would need to build in so many places was too much to put in a trailer and drag it across the kingdom.
As for the restrictions on space, Alfonzo could build as high as he wanted. Well, as high as the stakes he dug into the ground would allow. Unfortunately, he was forbidden from digging too deep, and he knew why.
'How the hell is Danzo able to hide his Root base under the village?' Alfonzo thought to himself as he toweled off. 'I mean, While I was discussing the details with Hiruzen, Danzo just cuts in and says that the stakes can't go past a certain point. And when Hiruzen questioned him about it, he just walked away while saying something about the betterment of the Leaf. I mean, seriously, what the fuck? Hiruzen didn't even try to question him anymore after that.'
"Anyway, let's grab a bite to eat." Alfonzo said while shaking his head. "I'm starving."
"Sure." Kakashi replied with a shrug.
With that, Alfonzo and Kakashi made their way to Yakiniku Q. When they arrived, however, they ran into a familiar face.
"Kakashi! My eternal rival!" A man with a bowl cut, bushy eyebrows, and a winning smile shouted from across the restaurant once Alfonzo and Kakashi entered. "Oh, and you're with my friend, Alfonzo. Why don't you come and eat with us."
Smiling in return, Alfonzo glanced at Kakashi, who sighed as if he could not be more exasperated.
"*Sigh* Let's go, if we don't, he'll chase us down to our own table." Kakashi said in a tired tone.
"OH, cut the shit, Kakashi." Alfonzo said as he patted Kakashi on the back. "This isn't the first time we've run into Guy. And we both know you love the guy."
"*Sigh*" Kakashi sighed once again in reply.
A few moments later, Alfonzo and Kakashi were seated with Might Guy and three youngsters who appeared to be eleven or twelve.
"So, who are the kids, Guy?" Alfonzo asked after he and Kakashi put in their orders.
"Oh, these are my three youthful students." Guy replied in his usual tone. "Why don't you three introduce yourselves?"
"Yes, Guy-Sensei." X 3
Immediately afterwards, a boy with a bowl-cut and bushy eyebrows wearing a green jumpsuit, orange leg warms, and bandages wrapped around his forearms and hands stood up with vigor.
"MY name is Rock Lee." The boy, Rock Lee, said energetically. "My dream is to become a splendid Shinobi, despite the fact that I'm unable to use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu."
"So, he's a lot like you, huh, Guy?" Alfonzo asked with a smile.
"Yes, he is." Guy replied in his usual tone. "Because of that, I'll make sure that his dream comes true."
"I can see that." Alfonzo replied. "He sure as hell has a lot of weight strapped to his legs."
Hearing that, Lee seemed to be surprised. At the same time, the other two children, a young man with long black hair tied int a ponytail and white featureless eyes, and a young woman with black hair tied into a pair of Chinese-style buns and black eyes, wore dumbfounded expressions. Meanwhile, Guy wore an expression that said: "As expected of you."
"How--- How did you know that?" Lee asked in an incredulous tone.
"Wait, it was true?" The young woman asked.
Meanwhile, the other young man remained silent. He already knew about the weights. However, he was curious to know how this new comer could know, too.
"Yes, Alfonzo is telling the truth. As for how he knew, it's because he uses magic from the outside world. [Metal Magic] to be exact." Guy explained.
"Yeah, and my magic allows me to, among other things, detect any metals in my surroundings." Alfonzo said, continuing the explanation.
"Oh, that makes perfect sense." The young man said with a nod. "Well then, I'll introduce myself, as well. My name is Neji Hyuga."
"And I'm Tenten." The young woman, Tenten, added, concluding the introductions.
"It's nice to meet the three of you." Alfonzo said with a smile. "I'm Alfonzo Marcus. And I bet my wife would love to get a hold of you three."
"What do you mean?" Neji asked in a skeptical tone.
"My wife is a fashion designer. A pretty famous one, actually." Alfonzo said with his smile widening.
"Wait, are you talking about Elicia Taylor?" Tenten asked excitedly. "I read that she had gotten married to a man named Alfonzo Marcus a couple of years ago. And that must be you, right? *Sigh* It's too bad we're not allowed to leave the village without a good reason. Otherwise, I would have bought something from the Taylor Shop."
"What point is there in thinking about such mundane things?" Neji asked in a dismissive tone. "The only thing worth thinking about is getting stronger."
'Oh, damn, we got a little Laxus on our hands.' Alfonzo thought to himself.
"Well, as it happens, Lici is actually in the village, too." Alfonzo said. "So, if you want to get her to make something for you, you can stop by our accommodations any time."
"Really?" Tenten asked excitedly.
"Sure." Alfonzo replied with a smile. "It won' be for free, though. She's running a business, after all."
"To think Elicia came with you." Guy said with his usual smile before Tenten could say anything. "I knew you would be here to work on the training grounds, but I didn't think she would be coming with you."
"Yeah… She wasn't going to originally." Alfonzo replied, his smile widening as he did so. "But we found out she was pregnant just before I was scheduled to make the trip. So, I brought her and our maid with me. Oh, and another member of our guild, as well."
"Really, you're going to be a father?" Guy shouted happily. Then, he jumped up and pulled Alfonzo into a hug as he continued. "Congratulations, my friend. I'll have to come and visit to extend my congratulations to Elicia, as well. I can't wait to see the product of your youthful passion."
"Sure, why don't you stop by after we finish eating?" Alfonzo replied while smiling awkwardly as he patted Guy on his back. "I'm sure she'd love to meet your students, too."
With that, it was decided that Team Guy would visit Alfonzo's temporary residence. So, the group of six chatted casually as they ate before heading to Alfonzo's home.