Chapter 51: volume 2, chapter 2: Celebrations and summons.
The atmosphere in the Hokage's office was jovial, even somewhat celebratory. The life of a shinobi was not easy but despite the pain and darkness, the burden was always lightened and justified by the warmth of a comrade at your side.
Today many comrades joined their ranks, though few if any of them would ever be considered the equals of the individuals in this room but that potential existed. The Academy did good work and the seeds of greatness had most definitely been planted amongst the newest crop of potential Genin.
Now they gathered to deliberate on how those seeds should be nurtured and by whom.
"That is all of them." Lord Third said as he placed down the last file on the newest set graduates. Files that he had spent the opening section of this meeting going over in minute detail. Somewhat unnecessary given everybody in this room would have already read those files but the matter at hand was the future of the Leaf, no amount of attention to detail was excessive, and nobody in the room would complain at the extended meeting, not simply because it was at the Hokage's command either.
Anybody lacking patience would not have made it to Jonin.
"Now for the team assignments."
Everyone perked up at those words. Even Kakashi could not withhold a reaction despite his foreknowledge on who his intended students were, minutely lowering his literature to pay attention.
The droning voice of the Hokage filled the room as he called out the names of each jonin and their assigned gennin.
Names were called and no reaction was given despite Kakashi knowing for a fact some here had already written off those assigned to them as a lost cause.
Then finally his name was called.
"...Hatake Kakashi, Naruko Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno…"
Kakashi felt himself relax minutely as his team was announced. He knew it was already pre-determined, that he would be Naruko's teacher regardless and putting Sasuke on a different team would go against the ruse that Itachi was still a missing nin. Still, life has taught Kakashi to not count his chickens before they hatched.
He didn't really know who Haruno was beyond her file.
"Any objections?" The Hokage asked all of them, watching the room for any reactions.
To Kakashi's surprise, someone did raise a hand.
"Yes Kojima-san?" Lord third addressed the dark haired sallow faced man.
"I would like to request Uzumaki-san be placed under my tutelage." the man said, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose and Kakashi was hit with the overwhelming urge to break them as well as the nose they sat upon.
Guess Kakashi counted too early.
"Your reasoning?" Lord Third asked.
"She has shown an aptitude for stealth and trap-making, both things I am proficient in." the slimy bastard said, but Kakashi and no doubt the Third knew better.
Kojima was a climber and user.
Not a betrayer or a bad comrade of course, but while Kakashi could trust the man with his life, he would never trust Kojima not to hurt him or what he cared for if it offered him a drop of status.
Despite being the Jinchuriki of the leaf, the position of Naruko's sensei did not offer any political capital—quite the opposite in fact. She wasn't just the village Jinchiriki any more though, it was public knowledge by now that Naruko Uzumaki was in a relationship with the Third's latest student.
Six months had passed since those rumors had began to spread and it was clear that whatever was going on between them was not a passing fancy, add the Hyuga heiress to the mix and the soft spot the Hokage held for her and suddenly anyone who could get Naruko under their sway gained many powerful connections in the village.
More than Kojima was aware of, given her less known relationship with the Sannin.
It was a very smart move if your goal was to gain political capital.
It filled Kakashi with a protective fury he didn't often feel.
Thankfully the Hokage was well aware of his subordinate's nature and should be shooting it down.
"The consideration has merit." Lord Third said with a considering hum.
Kakashi twitched.
"Doesn't it Hatake-san?" the Hokage said as he turned his gaze to the silver haired jonin. A gaze that contained a message that he gotten used to seeing in the old monkey's eyes over their time together.
You want something? Fight for it. His gaze said.
Kakashi almost swore.
"I think the placement for my team is fine as it is, Hokage-sama." Kakashi said with his usual monotone drawl.
"Is it? While I admit you are in no way incompetent at stealth and trap preparation, Kakashi-san, I imagine you would have your hands full with the last Uchiha. Teaching him is of great importance and a duty only you can bear." Kojima said adjusting those gods be damned glasses.
Lord Third simply nodded at this and turned his gaze to Kakashi, his brow raised in expectation.
Now Kakashi was sure this had no bearing on team composition at all. There was already a prior connection between him and Naruko, he was the student of her father, the grand student of her current teacher, and he was skilled at Naruko's actual greatest combat talent—jutsu. Maybe second to fuinjutsu, but people more versed in jutsu and more prepared to turn Naruko's large reserves into combat potential could be counted on one hand and only one of them was in the room and it wasn't Kojima.
Did that mean he called the mad monkey's bluff?
He looked at those warm brown eyes surrounded by small liver spots and the amused wrinkle of his brow, and shivered as he physically recalled the last time he called one such bluff.
No he did not. So how to handle this?
Stating the facts.
"She also has the highest chakra capacity in the village. That potential for Ninjutsu has to be nurtured," he said to the Hokage before turning to Kojima and finished with an eye-smile. "Specifically by someone who knows what they're doing," Kakashi finished with some venom in his words.
Kojima did not react beyond a raised brow and Kakashi internally cringed as he realised he had just displayed more emotion than he intended.
"Well said, Kakashi-san." The Third said with a smile, Kakashi's relief was so intense he couldn't keep himself from physically reacting—his shoulders minutely relaxing, a slight movement nobody should have noticed. Sadly one person present—other than the Hokage—knew him well enough to catch it.
Kakashi shivered as he followed the sensation of a flame being lit over his grave to the blazing gaze of his self proclaimed rival who watched him with a wide toothy smile. No words were passed but Kakashi received the message anyway.
Guy had noticed his reaction and was fired up by his 'youthful concern for his comrades'.
Kakashi sighed and began molding chakra to body flicker away as soon as the meeting ended, hopefully before he could be subjected to Guy's 'youthful' commendation.
He did not succeed.
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"Guess who's the newest ninja in town?!" Naruko all but yelled as she burst into Ichiraku—as much as anyone can burst through a curtain of beads.
"Hinata-chan?" was Ayame's cheeky response. The young brunette stood behind the counter, clad in a set of working clothes and a sous-chef's hat, with a towel thrown over her shoulder.
"What—no! I mean yes, but that's not what I meant, you were supposed to—" Naruko stopped mid-sentence when she saw the teasing grin on the older girl's face.
"Muu, that's not funny, Ayame-nee," Naruko pouted as she trudged up and plopped herself on a seat, earning a warm giggle from Ayame.
"Oh, Konoha's prank queen doesn't like the taste of her own medicine, hmm?" the waitress-cook said with a smile, even as she dipped into a quick bow to welcome my sensei and seniors.
"Ayame, dear girl, how many times must I ask you to do away with such formalities?" my sensei asked.
"Apologies, Hokage-sama," was the waitress's somewhat harried reply.
"Ah, it's fine. It's fine. Do whatever makes you comfortable, Ayame-chan," my sensei said, before wandering over to a booth with Tsunade and Jiraiya in tow.
"Good afternoon, Ichiraku-san."
"Good afternoon, Ayame-chan."
"Good afternoon, Ayame-san."
Hinata, Kuro, and I greeted her as we took our own seats beside Naruko at the bar.
"Izuku-kun, Hinata-chan, Kuro-maru-chan. It's good to see you too," she replied with a warm smile.
"Congratulations on graduating, Hinata-chan."
The sound of a scoff drew everyone's attention to Naruko, who had been brooding to the side with her shoulders held high and her arms folded against her chest.
I held back a chuckle, and I could feel everyone else stifle their amusement at her pouting—except for Ayame, who openly laughed at her as she reached out to smooth Naruko's hair, immediately disarming her impending flare-up.
"Congratulations on finally graduating, Naruko. I'm proud of you," she said, pulling the blonde into an awkward hug over the counter—one that Naruko returned enthusiastically.
"Thanks, Ayame-neechan."
"Congratulations on becoming a ninja, Naruko," the voice of Teuchi drew everyone's attention as he came from the kitchen, stacks of ramen bowls in hand. Steam wafted off them, filling the air with the smell of miso ramen cooked to perfection.
"Today's your big day. So these six bowls are on the house. The same for you, Hinata-san."
"Thanks, Ichiraku-ji!" Naruko exclaimed happily as she dug in without a second of thought.
"Thank you, Ichiraku-san," Hinata replied with a smile, not reaching for any of the six bowls in front of Naruko, lest she lose a finger to the storm.
Kuro and I made our orders, then shuffled off to the booth my sensei was seated at. Ayame followed us to take the orders of the older members of the gathering. The food arrived swiftly after, and then we sat down to eat.
The atmosphere was warm as we tucked into our bowls, though two people were missing from our number, and it wasn't long before they arrived.
"Good afternoon," Ebisu greeted the table as he walked up. He was the political tutor for Naruko and me, providing lessons that I sorely needed on the political climate of the elemental nations and how to navigate it. Naruko had heard of those lessons—and how such an education would assist her as Hokage—and inserted herself into them to Ebisu's eternal chagrin. Not because of the Kyūbi, but because he found her, in his own words, "incredibly crass."
"Good afternoon, Ebisu-sensei," I greeted.
"Sup, closet-perv," was Naruko's casual greeting.
Ebisu's eye twitched, but he ignored her to greet everyone else and make his order.
Iruka-sensei arrived shortly after, and space was created at Naruko's side for the scarred man to sit and commend his favorite student, only adding to the celebratory mood. A mood that persisted until the food was cleared away—but was interrupted soon after by a hawk flying through the bead curtains to deposit a scroll in the Hokage's hand.
Silence fell over the table.
My sensei inspected the rolled-up parchment, his face growing especially solemn at the seal, before opening it with quick yet unhurried movements.
He read through it with no significant change in expression, then folded it back up and handed it to me.
"It's from the daimyo. It seems that he wants to meet you."
"What?" was my flabbergasted response.
"Oho, moving up in the world, huh?" Jiraiya said, curiously leaning over in his seat to glimpse the letter.
I ignored him to read it myself and came away feeling very confused.
"This is a request to see you. There isn't even a mention of me here, aside from a slight inquiry about my health and progress," I said to my sensei.
"May I?" Ebisu interrupted.
I blinked and turned toward him to see his hand outstretched for the scroll. I turned to my sensei, who waved his hand in permission, before handing it over.
Ebisu read the page in what looked to be a brief glance before handing it back to the Hokage, who then handed it to Jiraiya.
"What is the number one lesson I made sure to hammer into your head, Hanama-san?" Ebisu asked instead of clarifying.
I sensed the approach of a lesson and played along.
"No action exists in a void," I replied.
"Exactly."
"So this is a reaction to something I did? That still doesn't explain how asking about my progress means I have to go meet him."
"It is implied, in a manner meant not to frivolously order the Hokage, yet still draw attention to an order he wants followed—in this case, seeing you. He even stated how the fresh air in the capital would do a young man like you some good. He might as well have written it in bold red letters," Ebisu replied, sounding for all the world like he was explaining basic arithmetic.
"Why would he want to see me anyway?" I asked, ignoring the strange double-speak for now.
"Apart from the possibility of you becoming an S-class combatant like all of Lord Third's other students?" Ebisu asked.
"Yes. Apart from that."
"Or the fact that you have been publicly shown to be on very close terms with the Hyūga heiress, with the blessing of her father no less."
"Apart from that too."
"Or the business empire being built in your name that has taken the mercantile world by storm," he said, giving Kuro a respectful nod.
I gave him a deadpan stare. That was all very impressive, no doubt—but he was still the fucking daimyo. That didn't seem enough to warrant his attention. Not on its own.
"The Third and Fourth Hokage were both students of the line of Tobirama Senju. What are the chances that continuity ends? You are a possible Hokage candidate. It is best to build ties," Ebisu elucidated.
While I still wasn't one hundred percent convinced that was enough to warrant a personal meeting, the request had been made.
"I have to go, don't I?" I asked my sensei.
"We cannot snub the daimyo," he replied.
"Hokage-sama, may I assist him?" Ebisu piped up.
"You may," was my sensei's immediate response.
"Why would you even want to go with me?" I asked him.
"Why do you think?" he asked rhetorically.
"The drama. The intrigue. The espionage. The capital is a venomous cesspool of some of the most deceptive and ruthless people in all the elemental nations—piled high with the depraved and destructively ambitious," Ebisu said with more emotion than I had ever seen from him.
"Hanama-san, I wouldn't miss this for the world."
"Wait—Izuku has to leave?" Naruko piped up through a mouthful of ramen. The only one amongst us still eating; it seemed she had finally processed what was going on around her through the river of noodles she had been consuming.
"For a month or two at most," my sensei said lackadaisically.
If the way her chopsticks clattered into the bowl was anything to go by, she did not share my sensei's sense of scale regarding time.
"A month!" Her exclamation only reinforced this disparity in perspective.
And just like that, one letter from an old man hundreds of miles away turned a celebratory lunch into Kuro, Hinata, and me comforting Naruko over our impending separation.
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Consoling Naruko about my summons to the capital was a continuous effort that would most likely not end until my actual departure, given she was currently clinging to my back like a barnacle and refused to let go.
"Muu," she sulked against my nape, the emotions in her chakra the saddest I had ever witnessed. I had seen her angry, lonely, hungry—but I had never felt her genuinely sad. Not to this extent. It took a lot to get through that unwavering optimism of hers.
It actually worried me a bit.
It was a testament to how distraught she was that the thoughts running through my head did not repel her in the slightest. Usually she was too worried about being a burden to even slightly inconvenience me. I didn't mind the change; in fact, it would be nice to spoil her a bit, given how often she went out of her way to do the same for me.
The heat of her cheeks as she buried her face in my neck showed how much she appreciated that thought, though the emotions in her chakra and the feeling flowing across our ninshu bond were clear enough.
I gave her thigh a light pat as I went about my lab, deciding on what was following me on my trip to the capital.
Yes, I was already packing. Apparently, when the daimyo called, you answered without delay. So we were leaving as soon as possible.
I looked around my lab, taking in the changes it had undergone in the past six months.
My main focus during this time had been the kinetic converter seal, and my lab reflected that. The walls were covered in fuinjutsu scrolls depicting the versions of the seal I had gone through in these six months. Whiteboards stained black from constant writing and erasing, and the smell of ink and paper had sunk into every nook and cranny.
I'm pretty sure I smelled like that too, though nobody in my personal life seemed bothered by it, so I didn't pay it any mind. Besides, what scholar didn't smell a bit like paper and ink? Not this scholar, I'll tell you.
There was also the faint smell of antiseptic from the little corner where I pushed my medical expertise. It didn't receive as much attention as fuinjutsu, but I had managed to learn the Mystic Palm Technique—which, in medic terms, was like earning my first aid license. Not as much progress as I thought I would make, but I had been busy.
Now—what to pack?
With fuinjutsu, I could technically pack everything here, but that would mean taking delicate projects out of the safety of my lab. Safety that was ensured by top-of-the-line security seals made collaboratively by myself, my sensei, and Jiraiya, making my lab one of the most secure places in the village. A lot safer than a seal in my robes, for sure.
So that immediately ruled out any of my bacterial and cell cultures. In the case of fuinjutsu, I wouldn't be taking out any information I wasn't fine with being destroyed—e.g., originals of my experimental records—in case they fell into unauthorized hands.
So I packed what notes I was fine with preemptively burning and sealed them away, but not before putting a small remote explosive seal on them for good measure.
I then came to the one thing in the lab I wasn't fine with destroying, but which was the most sensible for me to take out of the lab with me.
Project: Wizard Drip.
My newest achievement.
My greatest creation since the physics engine.
It was a set of robes, made in a traditional and grandiose style, and of a midnight blue so dark it only showed in the areas where the light hit it just right—like Hinata's hair. It was embroidered with silver thread, silver threads that hid incredibly complex fuinjutsu arrays designed to store all the unaspected chakra that the conversion seals produced.
Yes, I had succeeded.
Well—sort of.
I still hadn't cracked potentiality, but I had figured out kinetic energy-to-chakra conversion, and that came with its own problems.
Turns out, converting energy into chakra was not the same as converting it into my chakra.
Which taught me a painful lesson.
Chakra poisoning was a bitch.
Vomiting. Sweats. A searing fever. The pain of my spiritual and physical selves falling out of balance was second only to the worry of all who cared for me. It had not been a pleasant experience.
Still, I was able to devise a workaround by converting the chakra the slow way: placing a bit of my chakra in a seal and then drip-feeding the unaspected, poisonous stuff my converter made into it over time. Slowly, the unaspected chakra would become my chakra.
The metaphysical dynamics of this were completely beyond my understanding, and Tsunade-sama—who had provided this solution—knew of it as a matter of practicality, not from any complex research into the nature of chakra and what this particular set of behaviors might mean.
My sensei had some theories, but they were just that: theories. I added it to the list of questions to attend to when I was more capable.
I had only had access to this solution for a few weeks, but I already had dozens of times more than my chakra capacity stored away in fuinjutsu talismans that I always carried on my person.
As for Project: Wizard Drip, my reluctance to carry it out of my lab stemmed from just how difficult it was to make in the first place. The first few versions I made after succeeding in creating the seal all had weak spots to be exploited. Of course, with increased fuinjutsu expertise this could be mitigated—but it took me months to figure this out, and I thought it was about time I focused on other pursuits.
So instead of solving it with fuinjutsu, I decided to over-engineer the problem into submission by making a robe with no weaknesses.
If someone took a magnifying glass to this set of robes, they would find thousands of tiny seals embedded into the fabric itself. Every inch of these robes was immune to kinetic force at levels even Tsunade-sama would need some effort to break through.
It had also taken more than three weeks of almost sleepless nights to make and was, as of now, one of a kind.
I was reluctant to take it out of here and endanger that effort.
It might be resistant to kinetic force up to low jōnin levels, but so far I had only been able to make it mildly fire-resistant—and not resistant to lightning at all.
A well-timed fireball could cost me weeks of effort.
"Take it."
I almost jumped in surprise at Naruko's sudden interjection. Then I processed what she was saying.
Ah. She must have picked up on my waffling through the ninshu bond.
"I'm going to be surrounded by guards, not to mention Sensei—" I began to explain, but she interrupted me.
"Take it, please," she said, her worry more than clear in her chakra and our bond.
I was leaving the village for the first time, and I would be away from her for the longest stretch since we had met. I could more than understand her worry, and at the end of the day, if the robes were destroyed it would suck—but they were just robes.
I could make more. It might even force me to come up with a less stressful process.
"…Alright."
Naruko hummed somewhat happily at my capitulation to her request.
"Now get off so I can change."
"…Damnit."
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In the shadowy tunnels within a secret base of the Hidden Sound, a small serpentine smile spread across purple lips as their owner received a most fortuitous piece of news from her cute little traitor.
The golden goose was to leave the nest.
How wonderful.
She had so many questions. So many curiosities to be sated.
Getting to know young Izuku would be such fun.
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A/N: Kakashi can't get a break! No one will let him!
Especially not when he is being so YOUTHFUL!
We meet the Ichirakus for the first time, and Ebisu joins the gang.
Izuku's improbability has reached the capital and now the big boss wants words.
Buying the souls of edgy depressed young geniuses to spy for you seems to be a winning strategy.
The first true iteration of Project: Wizard Drip has reached us!
What awaits our intrepid young wizard in the capital?!
What plans does the wicked serpent hold for him?!
FIND OUT NEXT TIME, ON FOR THE LOVE OF KUNGFU!