"You can think of it that way too." Naruto shrugged.
"Tch!"
Tsunade curled her lip, tilted her head back, showing off her curves as she took another sip. "Is this your idea of testing the Hokage?"
Naruto pulled out another jug and tossed it to her, smiling. "Did you pass the test then?"
Like a squirrel hugging a nut, Tsunade clutched the jug to her chest and laughed. "Nope! Hahaha, but I'll give you credit for being thoughtful!"
"Ahem!" Shizune coughed twice to remind her. "Lady Tsunade, you shouldn't drink this much during work hours!"
"Don't be so uptight. A little bit won't affect my work. And it's not like I asked for it, Naruto gave it to me. I can't just refuse him, can I?" Tsunade said casually.
"That's not true! You said the same thing last time! And then you got drunk in the middle of work and slept until morning. Do you have any idea how much paperwork you left undone that day? If I hadn't stayed up all night handling it, the scrolls would still be piled sky-high!"
Thinking about that bad memory, Shizune's face twisted with sadness, anger, frustration, and collapse all at once.
Naruto was laughing at Tsunade, but suddenly Shizune turned her anger on him!
"And you, Naruto! Don't you dare bring sake here again, or even if you run all the way to the Land of Snow, I'll still hunt you down!"
Naruto: "..."
"Alright, enough, let's get to business first."
Tsunade stopped Shizune from complaining more, then turned her eyes to the girl Naruto had brought with him.
Black-framed glasses, about average looks, skinny and weak. Other than her bright red hair, nothing about her stood out.
But... red hair?
"What's your name, girl?"
"Karin..."
"How old are you?"
"Twelve..."
Not very brave either.
Seeing Karin bow her head timidly, Tsunade gave that evaluation.
Skinny, timid... so does she have some other talent?
No matter how strong Naruto was, Tsunade didn't believe he would bring in someone so plain in every way to join his team.
That'd be no different than pulling in a random ramen chef off the street.
If the outside looks plain, and the inside is also plain, then with that red hair... Tsunade already had a guess about Karin's identity.
The Uzumaki clan!
Of course, this was a bit of a leap. After all, not every redhead in Konoha had to be from the Uzumaki clan, and not every Uzumaki had red hair either. But still, it didn't stop Tsunade from making a bold guess.
Once she was sure Karin wasn't dangerous, Tsunade asked Shizune to bring over a registration card and handed it to her.
"Fill in your information here, then go take a photo at the studio and bring it back for my signature."
"That's... it?"
Karin looked at the card, confused.
Just yesterday, when Naruto told her he could help her become a Konoha ninja, she had worried that she'd face all kinds of obstacles.
After all, she was a missing-nin from another village!
For a missing-nin to join another village, especially a big one like Konoha, how could it be possible without proving huge value first?!
Even if you had value, normally you'd be investigated and tested for a long time—just like when she was forced into Root.
Back then, Danzo had taken interest in her Uzumaki bloodline, but even then she wasn't just let in right away.
She had to endure endless questioning and tests during that time.
It was enough to show how hard it was to join Konoha.
But now... she hadn't done anything. Just said her name and age, and she was being accepted as a Konoha ninja.
It was unbelievable!
If it weren't for Naruto's words just now, she would've really thought that after filling out this report, she'd be dragged off to the lab as a test subject!
"Um… don't you need to ask me a few more questions?" Karin carefully looked at Tsunade and asked.
"Ask what?" Tsunade asked, confused.
"Like what I used to do, what I'm good at, whether I have any bad habits, and maybe even check if my background is real or not?" Karin rattled off in one breath.
Tsunade glanced at Naruto, then said to Karin, "No need for all that. Just go take your photo, I've still got a lot to do!"
"Oh… okay~"
Karin agreed and hurried off to find a photo studio.
Naruto didn't go with her. Taking a photo was something she could do on her own.
"Here, this is yours!"
Tsunade tossed a brand-new file card to Naruto.
Naruto opened it and saw that it was his promotion record to jōnin!
[Picture: none]
[Name: Uzumaki Naruto]
[Age: 12]
[Rank: Jonin]
[...]
"Hm? Where's my photo?"
"You really want your jonin profile to still have that old hairstyle? I wouldn't even recognize you."
"..."
She had a point. Back when he took his graduation photo, he still hadn't changed his hairstyle.
But was it really that bad that people couldn't recognize him?
Naruto sighed helplessly, but still turned around and went to get a brand-new photo taken.
Before long,
Naruto and Karin came back with their files and handed them to Tsunade.
Tsunade stamped each one, making them officially valid!
[Ding!]
[Congratulations to the host for being promoted to Jonin. Reward: Full-level Armament Haki!]
[Reward issued. Now releasing the next mission!]
[Advanced Mission: Complete an S-rank mission for the first time. Reward: Double your physical strength!]
!!!
Double physical strength?
With his current body, if it doubled again, just one punch with Armament Haki could probably smash all of Konoha!
"Naruto?"
Tsunade's voice pulled him back to reality.
"What is it?"
"What is it? That's what I should be asking you. Why were you spacing out all of a sudden?"
"Uh… nothing, just thinking about something."
Tsunade rolled her eyes. "Do you have anything else to say? If not, take Karin to pick up her forehead protector. I've got clients coming soon, I don't have time to babysit you!"
"No, that's all."
Naruto shook his head and got ready to leave with Karin.
"Wait!"
Something came to Tsunade's mind and she quickly stopped him. "After you go to the Land of Snow, remember to send back a mission report every two months!"
"That's the rule, don't be lazy about it!"
"..."
"Got it."
Naruto didn't really care. Worst case, he'd have Sakura or Karin write it for him.
He turned to leave again, but just before reaching the door, he paused as if he remembered something. He pulled out a small cloth bundle from his clothes and tossed it to Tsunade without looking back.
"Here, it's for you!"
Tsunade caught it out of reflex, and saw it was actually a wallet shaped like Tonton!
"A wallet? Why are you giving me this…"
She looked up, only to find Naruto was already gone.
"That brat!"
...
---
Read 40 advanced chapters on my patreon
patreon.com/GustinaKamiya
---