Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Valley of the End.
November 1, x787.
The atmosphere in the Valley of the end was awkward and silent after Lee's declaration. Wendy had no idea what to say. Carla was caught completely off guard. The others were waiting for Wendy's response. Yet, as time went by, the awkwardness of the situation only grew.
The seconds felt like hours. However, there was one person among those gathered who was completely incapable of reading the atmosphere.
"What a youthful confession!" Guy, the only person who could not read the atmosphere, shouted excitedly. "Lee, my youthful disciple I'm so---"
*Smack!*
"Shut the hell up for a minute, Guy." Alfonzo ordered after slapping Guy upside the head.
The sound of the loud voice and the crisp smack that followed finally broke the atmosphere. And when it did, Wendy began to blush like a tomato. Meanwhile, Carla finally snapped out of her daze, as well.
"Absolutely not!" Carla shouted. "Wendy is too young to think about dating. Besides, how old are you, anyway? You don't look old enough to be thinking about it either."
As she spoke the last sentence, Carla pointed her right paw at Lee after once again positioning herself in front of Wendy defensively.
"So your name is Wendy?" Lee asked while continuing to smile in the most charming way he could. "Such a lovely name for such a lovely girl."
This caused Wendy to blush even harder. Meanwhile, Carla was about to explode from being ignored. However, before she could say anything, Lee looked down at her while continuing to smile.
"And to answer your question, Miss Cat, I'm thirteen years old." Lee said.
"You're even younger than Wendy!" Carla shouted. "Absolutely not! I won't allow it!"
"Carla!" Wendy shouted, finally snapping out of her embarrassed stupor. "We've talked about this before! I'm old enough to make my own decisions! I'm fifteen, I'm not a child anymore!"
Hearing that, Carla ended the glare she was shooting at Lee and spun around to glare at Wendy.
"Just because you're legally an adult doesn't mean you're mentally mature enough to make decisions like this for yourself." Carla shot back. "For this matter, just listen to me."
"Carla, you're even younger than I am." Wendy shot back. "And besides, you've never had a boyfriend, either. So, what do you know."
"Who said I've never had a boyfriend?" Carla asked sharply. "Me and Happy---"
Upon reaching that point, Carla shut her mouth while her ears and tail stood up straight. Meanwhile, Wendy was thoroughly surprised by what Carla just said. At the same time, Saeko and Rika's eyes zeroed in on Carla, intent on getting the latest gossip.
"Carla, you…" Wendy said,, looking at Carla with a look of betrayal on her face. "I can't believe… So, that's why you always disappear after we get back from a quest. You've been seeing Happy."
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Carla replied while sheepishly looking away.
However, Wendy was not hearing it. So, she continued to bombard Carla with questions. And Carla could only weakly deny or evade them all. Saeko and Rika had also began their own interrogations, as well.
Meanwhile, Lee was left standing there. He had not received a reply to his declaration and he did not know what to do.
Eventually, Alfonzo approached Lee from behind. Then, he patted the young shinobi on his shoulder, drawing Lee's attention.
"Well, sorry that I couldn't stop Guy before he ruined the mood." Alfonzo said while smiling consolingly. "But look at it on the bright side, at least she didn't say no. So, you've still got a chance, right?"
Hearing that, Lee's confused and awkward expression turned back into his usual determined expression. Then, he nodded his head emphatically.
"That's right." Lee said in a determined tone. "And until she says no, I won't give up."
"Good." Alfonzo replied with a satisfied nod. "But you might wanna tone down the enthusiasm a bit. Wendy's a pretty reserved girl. So, it makes her uncomfortable. Also, you might wanna think up another pickup line. Especially since Wendy is stronger than you right now. I mean, she's an A-Class wizard, or equivalent to a Jonin in your village."
Hearing that, not only Lee, but Neji and Tenten opened their eyes in surprise. Wendy was so unassuming that they never would have guessed that she was so strong. However, when he heard that, the flames of determination and youth burned even brighter in Lee's eyes. But Alfonzo's next words almost extinguished them.
"On top of that, she's been trained by Master Tsunade." Alfonzo added, surprising the three young shinobi even more. "And Master Ur basically adopted her a few years ago. So, you'll have to get permission from two of the scariest women in Fiore if you really wanna pursue a future with her."
That piece of information made all three Genin drop their jaws in surprise. At the same time, Tenten, who idolized Tsunade, looked at Wendy with both envy and awe. Even Guy raised an eyebrow and looked at Wendy with interest.
"Well, that is quite interesting." Guy said with a smile. But I believe we've spent enough time here, in the Valley. So, I think we should get going. Our youth will not wait for us, after all."
As he spoke the last part, Guy stood up straight and raised a thumb while smiling brightly.
Meanwhile, everyone else, other than Lee, rolled their eyes at Guy's declaration while thinking: 'And whose fault do you think that is?' Lee, on the other hand, looked at Guy with admiration.
"Well, I expected this when I saw you here, Guy." Alfonzo replied while shaking his head gently. "But you and your team got the mission to escort us, huh?"
"That's right." Guy replied. "Now, let's get going."
With that, Neji, Tenten, and Lee each pulled out a blindfold with [Seals] on it. Then, they realized that they did not have enough blindfolds for everyone. There were two extra people from Fairy Tail, after all.
"Um… Sensei… We're two blindfolds short." Tenten said awkwardly.
"Oh, don't worry about it." Guy replied with a winning smile. "Lord Hokage told me that Miss Wendy and her cat are allowed to know the location of the village because of their training with Lady Tsunade."
"I have a name, you know!" Carla protested angrily. "And it's Carla!"
"Ah! My apologies, Miss Carla." Guy replied while continuing to smile. "Since we never got around to the introductions, I was unaware of your name."
With that, the group did the introductions. Then, Saeko, Rika, and Miyuki were blindfolded before boarding the S 600 again. After that, Alfonzo, Wendy, and Carla followed Team Guy towards the Village Hidden in the Leaves while Alfonzo floated the magic vehicle behind him.
Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, the Village Hidden in the Leaves.
About an hour later, the group arrived in the village. And when they did, the three ladies got out of the magic vehicle and Team Guy removed the blindfolds before the group headed to the Hokage' Tower. Then, they were introduced to Hiruzen. However, Koharu and Homura were nowhere to be seen.
As it turned out, a lot of people were implicated by the information Alfonzo gave to Hiruzen after he raided Danzo's base. And unfortunately for Koharu and Homura, they were two of the village's worst criminals after Danzo.
And Hiruzen, with his Will of Fire, the ideal that all citizens of the village supposedly live by, had no choice but to prosecute them for their crimes. So, as of now, they were serving a life sentence in prison for all they had done to aid Danzo.
"So, how much longer do you think it will take to complete all the training grounds?" Hiruzen asked after getting the introductions out of the way.
"If I really hustle, probably a year." Alfonzo replied. "And I intend to do that. I don't wanna be away from home any longer than I have to, I'd hate to miss my little boy growing up."
Nodding in response, Hiruzen let a smile make it onto his face.
"Ah! That's right, Elicia was pregnant when you were here before." Hiruzen said. "I trust there were no issues with the delivery?"
"Yeah, Lici is fine." Alfonzo replied with a smile. "And Amar'e was healthy, too. Even if he was the biggest newborn I've ever seen."
With that, Alfonzo and Hiruzen started a conversation about parenthood while the ladies and Team Guy stayed quiet.
"Anyway, we should get going." Alfonzo said, bringing the conversation to an end. "We don't wanna hold you up from your work."
Hearing that, Hiruzen flinched. Then, he glared at the paperwork on his desk before returning his gaze to Alfonzo.
"Very well." Hiruzen said with a nod. "But should you need anything while you are here, don't hesitate to let me know. And that extends to all of you. Oh, and Miss Wendy, I'll send someone to show you to the hospital in the morning."
"I understand." Wendy replied in a determined tone while nodding her head.
"Oh, yeah, one more thing." Alfonzo said before the group left the office. "I'll be going home every weekend to see Amar'e. But don't worry, I'll be making the trip alone so you don't need to make a mission to escort Saeko, Rika, and Miyuki out of the village and back every time."
"As long as you register at the gate when you come and go, there should be no issue with that." Hiruzen replied. "It's not like I would keep you from going to see your new son, after all."
Smiling in return, Alfonzo turned around and led the rest of his group out of Hiruzen's office. Then, they were closely followed by Team Guy after they bowed politely to Hiruzen.
After meeting with Hiruzen, when the group left the Hokage Tower, they found Kakashi leaning against a wall while reading his favorite book.
"Yo, welcome back." Kakashi said, not looking up from his book as he did so. "And I see you brought some new faces. I'm Kakashi Hatake, it's nice to meet you."
"So, this is the guy you were talking about, huh, Alfonzo?" Rika asked while looking Kakashi up and down. "Yeah, I'm really curious to see what's under that mask. And I wouldn't mind a little spar after he shows that hidden eye of his."
"I would like the chance to battle him, as well." Saeko added while lowering her left hand to her hip.
This was a subconscious action, as there was no katana on Saeko's hip at the moment. And the reason for that was simple. After joining Fairy Tail, Saeko learned [Requip Magic] from Erza to go along with the [Sword Magic] she learned from both Erza and Sun. That way, when she was not on a quest, she would not have to carry her weapon at all times. Though, she did make a habit of keeping her sword on her hip at all times whenever she went on a quest.
Hearing that, Kakashi finally looked up from his book with an eyebrow raised. He had never mentioned his covered eye to anyone from outside the village. Note even Alfonzo. However, this woman he had just met knew something about it.
"Chill out, man." Alfonzo said after seeing Kakashi raise his head. "Everyone in our guild has a way to sense the magic power flow of our surroundings. And I mentioned to everyone that you're left eye had a different signature than the rest of you. ON top of that, I know Sasuke. So, I put two and two together. Didn't know it was supposed to be a secret, though."
Hearing that, Kakashi took his attention off of Saeko and Rika and turned it to Alfonzo. Then, he held eye contact with him for a while. After that, he exhaled a resigned sigh.
Naturally what Alfonzo said was not the whole truth. Although he could sense Kakashi's eye, which was a Sharingan, he already knew about it before ever meeting Kakashi. He also knew that he had received it during the last Shinobi War when his best friend died. But Kakashi did not need to know that.
"I guess I never told you not to say anything." Kakashi replied. "Anyway, you'll be staying in the same house you stayed in last time. So, let's get going."
It should be noted that Team Guy was still with Alfonzo and the girls. However, Kakashi willfully ignored them. Although he loved Guy like a brother, he was in no mood to deal with one of his challenges at the moment.
On another note, it was common knowledge among the higher ranks of the village that Kakashi was normally, at least, two hours late for appointments. However, ever since Alfonzo met him, he's been on time, without fail.
"Kakashi, my rival!" Guy shouted as Kakashi started to lead the visitors away. "Why don't we have a race to the destination? This should finally break our tie!"
Hearing Guy's shout, Kakashi stopped in his tracks before sighing.
"Oh, hey Guy, didn't see you there." Kakashi said in an unenthusiastic tone. "Sorry, but I can't have a competition with you now. I'm on a mission."
Guy's reaction to Kakashi's refusal was rather dramatic. His shoulders slumped, his knees began shaking, and he looked as if he would cry. However, Kakashi seemed completely unbothered by it. Instead, he simply continued to lead the group from Magnolia towards the residence they would be using.
Meanwhile, Guy and his team were left standing in the middle of the road in front of the Hokage Tower. While Lee tried to console his Sensei, Neji and Tenten could only look at him awkwardly, still having not gotten used to their teacher's antics over the, almost, one year since they've been his students.
"So, I heard you got married again, Alfonzo." Kakashi said as he continued to read his book while the group walked through the village. "Congratulations."
"Thanks." Alfonzo replied with a smile. "But isn't it about time you got married, Kakashi? I mean, you're like twenty-six, right? You don't wanna die alone, do you?"
"Nah, I'm not interested." Kakashi replied. "Being an Elite Jonin takes up too much of my attention. I wouldn't have time to give a family the attention they deserve."
'*Sigh* Losing his father, two best friends, and teacher, not to mention all the other comrades that fell on missions, in less than ten years probably hit him way too hard to create connections like that.' Alfonzo thought while shaking his head at Kakashi's response. 'I'd try setting him up with someone if I could, but all the girls I know are into someone else. Oh well…'
Eventually, the group made it to the same residence Alfonzo stayed in last time. Not before stopping at the market to buy ingredients for lunch, though. After that, Alfonzo cooked for the group, inviting Kakashi to stay for lunch, as well. Then, once the meal was finished, Kakashi reminded Wendy that someone would arrive to show her to the hospital in the morning tomorrow before leaving to attend to his other duties.
On the other hand, Alfonzo, Wendy, Carla, Saeko, and Rika decided that they would rest for the rest of the day while Miyuki would follow Alfonzo's arrangements. The next day, however, Saeko and Rika decided they would explore the village while Alfonzo, Wendy, and Carla went to work.