Tsunade,
I am very disappointed in your actions and must ask you to return to Konoha.
Now, I know that you'll bring up excuses to evade this command and I admit my incompetence as a Hokage in seeing through your tricks. Because of the request you had suggested to me, I had agreed to allow you and your student to have a training trip for three years. The Council and myself have agreed that the request will be treated as null.
The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki is too big of an asset to Konoha and you simply aren't stable enough to care for him. If it were Jiraiya, it would be another case as he'd be more suited for this task. Your past grievances had brought this upon you and I don't blame you for your phobias. However, if your fears were to destabilise the power of Konohagakure, it is my role as Hokage to prevent that.
I can predict you, Tsunade, to become enraged at the contents of this letter. I can predict that you'll find a way to evade this; and so, I put forth a compromise.
Return to Konoha before the Chuunin Exams commence. Uzumaki Naruto must participate in the Exam for evaluation. After the final stage of the Exam concludes, Uzumaki Naruto is to be released from your custody and put into a squad depending on his abilities. You will be handled personally by the Council from then forth. The Chuunin Exams will commence in mid-June.
Sincerely,
Sandaime Hokage
Sarutobi Hiruzen
Sarutobi knew nothing. Tsunade felt neither anger nor indignance at this letter.
She felt like Sarutobi was pathetic.
'Bring up excuses'? 'Admit my incompetence'? 'Tricks'?
Tsunade had almost expected that this would happen. She had been waiting for this letter but she didn't think that after a month it'd arrive. Seems like Sarutobi didn't care for Naruto as much as she liked to have thought.
One thing that did annoy her was Jiraiya's name being brought up. What did he have to do with this? What was that lecherous man up to right now? Naruto's Godfather had nothing to do with this.
Sure Tsunade had never actively sought for Naruto, but she had no purpose to. There were no benefits. Not to mention, she was told that Jiraiya held guardianship over Naruto.
Would anyone expect her to go pick out orphans or stray kids? If she was that kind of person, she wouldn't be alive right now. There had been one reason why Tsunade had initially taken Naruto under her wing and that lone reason was steadily growing.
At first it was: 'Naruto is intriguing.'
And then it was in spite: 'The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki being taken away from Konoha would irritate the Council.'
And eventually it became: 'Naruto has no one (and I could be there for him).'
Right now, Tsunade... 'wants to see Naruto's real smile'.
But Jiraiya was just another case. He had a bound responsibility- and even if he didn't, he was close to Minato and Kushina; did he not feel like he was betraying them by not caring for Naruto?
In the end, the letter was practically ramble. Naruto needed to enter the Chuunin Exams and apparently Tsunade couldn't teach and protect Naruto because she was afraid of blood.
Well, if Naruto absolutely smashed the Exam and Tsunade somehow (impossible.) overcomes her fear of blood, if Tsunade put her foot down and demanded to have Naruto... what other excuses would they have?
Day 38
-Town square-
"Aaaaaand," Tsunade pulled a string and confetti popped out and showered over the three, "Shopping day!"
Naruto whooped and Shizune cheered.
He then sobered up, staring at the floor, "You're gonna tell me to pick up all those pieces, right?"
"You got it, kid." Tsunade nodded. "After all, I am paying today."
-A moment later-
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?"
The scream echoed so loudly that Tsunade decided that maybe she should utilise it as another attack option. Maybe chakra enhanced vocal chords...?
"What do you mean I have to ch- change my clothes-ttebayo?" Naruto sniffled, clasping onto himself.
Or... herself?
Naruto was sharp enough to remember that Henge was important in outings- especially since it's an unfamiliar place. The idea of changing genders for a Henge was also ingenious because people never realise.
Naruto was currently in his 'don't look at me twice' Henge with mousy brown pigtails, an average face and body for females in their mid-teens- slightly older than Naruto's real self. His skin was toned a little paler than his usual tan and his only noticeable feature was his eyes which remained the same cerulean blue. He had been persuaded to Henge his tracksuit as well into normal Kumo civilian clothes and the only orange on him were two scrunchies holding up his hair.
Tsunade had also switched her hair colour and outfit while Shizune remained the same with the deadpan of: "I look pretty ordinary anyway."
"There's no point in me changing my clothes. Aren't we only training dattebayo? It's not like I'm actually going on missions... wait a second..." He glanced up with a hopeful gleam in his eyes.
"No, you aren't, Naruto." Shizune giggled. "Not yet, at least."
"You obviously understand why you need other clothes." Tsunade figured out. She then dragged them to a store and turned back to prod at some armour piece on display. The storeowners would be very bold to leave shinobi material out in the owner; they were either incredibly influential and thus had confidence that they wouldn't be stolen from... or they were incredibly stupid.
After glancing at the internal setup and the quality of the armour, she decided it was the former.
"Yeah. Well, duh. But the thing is, Baa-chan, that my stealth is still super even though I'm wearing orange-ttebayo." Naruto announced as he thought back to the many shinobi chasing him- and failing.
"Then how good would your stealth be if you were wearing more black?"
Naruto pulled a face, imagining himself covered in plain black. ...It'd be like he was attending a funeral. Tsunade rolled her eyes: "You can get them mostly black with... orange detailing."
"Tsunade-baachan, you aren't wearing any black though!" He declared, eyeing her clothing.
"I'm strong." She promptly replied. "When I was younger and weaker, I had to wear black. Especially because everywhere was a battlefield." Tsunade countered neutrally. "It'd be your best option to pick something more... subtle, I guess. Of course, I'm not asking you to set your clothes on fire-"
"-Oh, how I want to-" Shizune murmured.
"-And you can still wear it. But- oh hey, let's make a deal." The Sannin turned away from the mock ANBU set she'd been examining. "Depending on how the situation fits, you- but only your main self- can wear whatever you want while all your Kage Bunshin have to wear something less noticeable. This can also let your enemies let their guard down around your main self cuz you look like a doo-doo head. Yeah?"
After processing her words, Naruto slowly nodded. It wasn't like he was being forced into wearing an all black spandex. And- 'doo-doo'? "What do you mean 'situation'?"
"You'll have to decide that for yourself. Whether stealth is the best option or whether infiltrating and lowering the target's guard is more important etc."
"Ok-ttebayo, you've got a deal, Baa-chan."
The shopkeeper watched them shake hands and hesitated, "Um, would you like some... uh, help?" Shizune gave a half-hearted and exasperate wave; they had been inside for quite a while now.
"Oh yeah," Tsunade jutted her chin in the vague direction of the clothes sections. "What are the price ranges for those?"
The amount that left the shopkeeper's mouth made Naruto's jaw drop rather inelegantly. Shizune hummed. "Figured..."
"You..." Naruto started hesitantly. "You don't have to buy something that expensive..."
"Hmph." Tsunade placed a hand on his shoulder. "You think I can't afford a little something for my student? I'd win that money back in no time."
"Besides," Shizune placed her hand on Naruto's other shoulder. "There's no need for you to wear such loud clothing anymore."
"Yeah, whatever colour you'd wear, I'd still be able to see you." Tsunade stated offhandedly. "Now it just depends on whether or not you're aesthetically appealing."
"...Baa-chan, I thought you just said it was for stealth and not for-"
"A shinobi like Tsunade-sama is complicated." Shizune sighed. "Most Elites are found to be eccentric one way or another. Because only different people can 'survive' in this world."
As if on cue, Tsunade hummed in thought before turning to Shizune, "Do you think-"
"No." Shizune instantly deadpanned.
"Hey! You didn't even hear me out!"
"You wanted to use your reputation to get a discount, right?"
"Nooo... kinda-maybe-"
"Baa-chan, you cheapskate."
"Aw thanks, brat, you wanna pay?"
"Actually," Shizune cut over the Sannin, "Naruto, another reason as to why we're going on a shopping spree today is because Tsunade-sama and I were going to teach you about bargaining."
"Bargaining?" Naruto blinked confusedly.
"That's right." Tsunade poked his nose, chuckling when he went cross eyed again. "We were going to teach you later but you're progressing so quickly so we thought, why not? I needa get a scope on how compatible you are with the topic of psychological manipulation."
She elaborated when she saw the 'oh-no-it's-a-big-word' look of blank confusion on Naruto's face. "Like gambling, dealing, scamming, cheating, guilt tripping, bargaining... all that fun stuff-"
"Tsunade-sama sucks at it." Shizune provided with a wink, dodging around Tsunade's half-hearted slap. "Nah, I'm joking. Tsunade-sama just has horrible luck in gambling- she's the best at everything else."
"Shizune-san, you always tell me about Tsunade-baachan gambling but... so far she hasn't gambled at all-ttebayo."
"That's because Tsunade-sama's been a brilliant Shishou so far." Shizune laughed.
"Tsk, oh stop it, Shizune! I know I'm amazing." Tsunade flicked a loose pigtail over her shoulder, a smug grin on her face. "Anyway, obviously, we aren't going into the deep end of deception like false bribery, threatening using KI and blackmailing etc. cuz we don't teach that to noobies."
"Hey!" Was the immediate cry of protest.
"It's not bad being a 'noobie', Naruto." Shizune reassured for what she thinks had been for the fiftieth time. "It's better than being a... 'civilian slime' by Tsunade-sama's words."
"Yeah yeah, I know dattebayo." He sighed, pursing his lips in an exhale. "Besides, those things all sound pretty horrible and..." He scrunched up his nose, "...dishonourable?"
"Are you asking me that?" Tsunade raised a single brow. "But honour really means shit-" "Tsunade-sama!" "-I said 'crap', ok? Honour means crap just like pride. They can both dictate the outcome of a match."
"But nowadays..." Shizune furrowed her forehead. "Nowadays, it's different because we were both witnesses to at least some kind of war whereas your generation haven't seen one. For example, lots of people now think that the Torture and Interrogation Team isn't 'noble' because of the dirty, gritty things they have to do."
"Like what-ttebayo?" He craned his neck up at Shizune as he trotted alongside her.
"Like," She supplied dryly, "torturing."
"Oh. I feel... stupid-ttebayo."
"Well, you would because it's in the name. But like I said, Naruto, it isn't your fault." Tsunade patted his head.
For some reason, she realised that the younger boy relished in any sort of contact whether it was holding hands, trimming nails or cutting hair. She had first patted his head like an owner would at their puppy- a half-hearted attempt at taunting him. Yet Naruto... did not care. It then became a habit to comfort him.
"There practically isn't any purpose in getting information now as Konoha is at ease with all the other Great Nations." The Sannin elaborated. "The T&I are only there as the 'dark' side of shinobi."
"But on the other hand, during war times- you could ask any shinobi old enough about this- the T&I Team were one of the most superior officers- the most honourable ones because they dirtied their hands for the sake of the greater good of their Village and Nation." Shizune pointed out, flipping the entire conversation over onto its head. "The job is difficult and the burden is large- an entire war can change tides based on information alone."
"They were admired because of their strength in the mind, the body and the spirit." Tsunade mused. "Nowadays, children are just being taught shit-" "Tsunade-sama!" "-crap, I mean... They get told that the T&I Team's jobs are to beat up people to get info... and that... is completely unhelpful. They might as well be describing a drug dealing gang or something."
Usually Shizune would stop Tsunade before she started ranting about how 'shitty' Konoha's system had gotten but she couldn't help but agree. "The topic of ANBU is also hardly acknowledged. They just tell students that they're super strong assassins and that's- that explanation is just wrong in so many different ways."
While the two traded quiet rants (with the shopkeepers somehow not hearing), Naruto nodded along, occasionally patting them on the arm with a 'don't get too angry, Baa-chan, Shizune-san, you'll get a haemorrhage' before laughing when they asked how he managed to correctly pronounce that word without getting a constipated look on his face.
-Later (again)-
"You want armour?"
"I'll be like a samurai-ttebayo!"
"This store's armour is too heavy for you. Inconvenient."
It had been like that for a while. Shizune suggesting an option and Naruto enthusiastically reciprocating while Tsunade shot down the suggestion.
"Come on, Baa-chan, you just think metal is too expensive dattebayo."
"You aren't... incorrect."
"...Well, that feathered boa wasn't expensi-"
"Urgh."
Shizune had been vehemently against that as well though: "It was as pink as your orange." She said with a wrinkled nose.
"As pink as what?"
"I mean-"
"Ohh! Can I have that scythe? I'd look super badass-ttebayo!"
"...Naruto-"
-Later that night-
"Wait-" Naruto inhaled deeply and Shizune subconsciously leant back, Tsunade watched on with a bemused look on her face as another scream rang in their ears. "-WHAAAAAAAAAT?"
"Yep, you heard right. We're going to Uzushio now. Pack your new stuff and we're leaving."
"It's... night though... dattebayo." Naruto gestured to the window.
"No shi-" "Tsunade-sama..." "-t... but travelling in the dark is good practice."
"Yeah," Shizune added with a little mirth. "Besides, your new clothes will help you blend right in."
"...I look like a spy-ttebayo."
Naruto was fitted into a generally 'muter' outfit with black shinobi sandals. A darker grey shirt, fitting snugly over reinforced shinobi mesh, was tucked into unsaturated navy blue slacks.
Tsunade shrugged with a smirk on her face. "Well, I'm teaching stealth along the way anyway."
"And-" Shizune held out the last few pieces of the outfit toward him. "You aren't all dark colours."
Naruto shouldered on the dull burnt orange haori with the visual of billowing grey clouds over a sunrise. On the front were two small swirls of the Uzumaki mon on both sides.
The sleeves were wide and the haori was a little big on him, resting at his mid-thigh rather than just under his hips, but no one doubted that he'd grow into it; over the month of healthy eating and rigorous stretching, Naruto had gotten all the growth spurts that had been previously restricted by his ramen-three-meals-everyday plan. Even his previous, baggy orange tracksuit had gotten a little tighter.
He then made grabby hands at Shizune and she laughed as she gave him the last accessory. It was an unnoticeable black belt that held a few differently shaped weapon pouches. It was 'more suited' for Naruto according to Tsunade but he had yet to find out what weapons exactly he'd fill it up with.
As Tsunade straightened his haori by the front, she noticed how the bigger haori hid anything that looked even vaguely threatening on Naruto. Naruto could pass as a civilian to normal eyes.
"Yosh!" She gave a large grin. "You look brilliant!"
Shizune nodded with a smile, "You fit right in with us."
As he was shuffled to the bathroom mirror, he made circular motions with his arms.
"I like it-ttebayo. It's very comfortable." He beamed to the mirror. "Especially the h- har-... Harori."
Naruto automatically turned to Shizune and waited until she corrected him with a sigh: "Haori."
"You better like it." Tsunade said jokingly. "The quality is all top notch so I'll make you wear that forever."
"We're forgetting that earlier deal?" Naruto raised a brow dryly.
"Nah, but don't you like this better?"
"...Yeah." Naruto smiled as he remembered that old tracksuit- the only one they'd sell to him at the shinobi store.
"Don't you want to be a good ninja?" A fake smile. "Orange would look good on you. Orange would suit you."
"Why are you even wearing orange, Naruto-baka?" An upturned nose. "It's the worst colour a shinobi can wear! And it's ugly too! Just like you!"
"Just your outfit alone tells me about what kind of..." A sneer. "...'shinobi' you'd be."
He still loved it though. The first piece of clothing that wasn't supplied by the Hokage.
('Overpriced, hideous, blaring.' That voice sounded angry upset. 'Orange is the colour that prisoners wear. Orange is the colour of the Kyuubi demon.')
"Naruto, do you really love orange that much?" Shizune furrowed her brows. "I realise that you generally lean towards other colours as well..."
"I... Not- Kind of? I know Shizune doesn't like orange but-"
"Oh no, that wasn't what I meant. I don't really dislike your clothes but it's... obviously not of the best quality. I've been informed of their treatment towards you and I can imagine that they'd..."
She then paused.
"I don't dislike orange as a colour. I'm actually starting to like it a lot, especially since you're associated with the colour." Those words were the same words yet they came out so differently: "Orange suits you."
"What... do you mean?"
"Well, orange represents joy, warmth, enthusiasm, creativity and change. It's like fire. It's like the sun." Shizune poked his nose. "But I know what you'll say: 'the sun is yellow, isn't it-ttebayo?' and you're correct but what is the colour of the sky during sunrise?"
Naruto's mouth was open in a little 'o'.
"Orange is the colour of a new beginning- of dawn. That's why I think it suits you."
"Yeah, I like this a lot more."
And Naruto didn't just mean his new clothes.
-Meanwhile at Konoha: Kakashi-
He stared at the door as his mind decided to wander again.
"What do you mean he's not here?" His voice was low and demanding, verging on panic. The poor woman in front of him was subtly quaking at the show of the killer intent he was trying to hold back.
"It's as I say, shinobi-san." Her voice had a rather thick Kumo accent and her slowly pronounced words only served to greater irritate him. "They all came here a month ago. The yellow boy and two women. Not here anymore."
"Two women?" He repeated, mind racing. He had received three consecutive missions previously as his last run as ANBU and it had lasted over weeks. He didn't have any clue as to why 'two women' would...
"Sannin." She mouthed. "The princess Tsunade and black hair woman. See Madame for letter."
-
"31 days has passed." Madame intoned with a smooth, cold voice that would've made him feel clumsy if it wasn't for his impatience. "I see you are the first."
"Could I see the letter please?" He tried to reign in his tumbling emotions. Didn't the Hokage send someone to investigate? He knows that ANBU watch had been cancelled since last year but surely someone still watched out for him... surely someone had...
"The Kage-sama must understand: Tsunade-hime has the cure." She gauged him with cryptic words as she pulled out a folded paper from her robes. He caught on the innuendo immediately.
"Naruto cannot be cured by anyone." He easily replied with a tone of bitterness, accepting the paper with a small, grateful nod. "Tsunade-hime can show him the way and Naruto can pick up his own cracked pieces by himself."
He thinks he'd do anything so that he'd see Naruto on the other side of door.
Instead, he's getting this scrappy replacement that 'decided to continue being a ninja because the eyesore filth wasn't in Konoha anymore'.
Yamashiro Hanako, a boy in a minor Clan who irritatingly had the same pranking, mischievous edge to him as Naruto had. Was Iruka, or the Hokage, trying to mock him?
He slid the door open and instinctively evaded the blackboard duster. Pathetic. He gave it an unimpressed cursory glance as it thumped onto the floor in a poof of white dust.
The Haruno girl is sitting half a metre away from the Uchiha boy, both of whom are silent but the tense line of their shoulders betray their underlining irritation.
There's the other boy with a loud grin and a louder voice that declares his lateness. "Hey you, Jonin-sensei-san!"
This boy, Yamashiro Hanako, was exactly like how Naruto used to act.
Kakashi instantly hated him.
He repressed the urges because even though he didn't want it, this Team would be under his care and personal feelings didn't come into play when they were both Konoha shinobi.
"Why're you so late, huh? You made Sakura-chan and I wait for so long! Isn't that right, Sakura-chan?"
"Show our Jonin Sensei some respect, Yamashiro." Sakura replied with a smooth tone that held an undercurrent of anger that Kakashi almost startled at.
The reports had written that she was a fangirl, an incompetent one who was friends with a list of people and he was pretty sure Hanako was in that list. Hanako didn't look that surprised at the harsh treatment but he still winced with a pout.
There was a thin veil of aggravation that was directed at Kakashi but she was probably more upset with Hanako than she was at him because she greeted him politely.
"Sorry about my teammate, Sensei, it's nice to meet you."
The Uchiha gave a 'hn' of acknowledgement.
"Hm, my first impression of you guys..." He scanned a judgemental gaze over the three in the room. "You're different."
-Meanwhile: Sunagakure-
"That was... unexpected." He intoned, smoothly crossing a leg over the other. "To think that he'd force Tsunade to return..." A scoff rang in the dark office. "Sarutobi, that fool. He really thinks he's all that."
"By the reports, Tsunade-hime seems to have left the Land of Fire with the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki... quite a while ago now. What is the plan of attack-" The shinobi glanced up for a single moment before freezing at the sight of those powerful, domineering golden eyes.
The shinobi swallowed thickly as a greedy smirk elegantly worked its way across his serpentine face.
"-Orochimaru-sama?"