New Leaves

Chapter 22

It was now a beautiful day in the Leaf Village, Aceso and Shikamaru were walking beside each other to go find Naruto. Aceso had Ren with her, he was happily pointing at every butterfly that flew by. 

"Are you sure you are going to have enough space to have Gaara and Shinki stay with you?" Shikamaru asked. "With Koga--"

"It'll be fine, it should be fine," Aceso answered. 

"Are you even done reconstructing the house?" Shikamaru asked.  

"Lee is at the house right now," Aceso answered. "If anything, Dino is going to take this opportunity to spend a few nights with the Uzumaki's." 

"How is Koga adjusting?" Shikamaru asked.

"Pretty well so far," Aceso answered. "There he is." They saw Naruto in front of a tree. 

"Can't get enough of this place huh?" Shikamaru asked as they walked up. 

"I tried a new kind of fertilizer that Zero gave me," Naruto informed as he looked back at the two. "But it really hasn't helped."

"Didn't all the pros already write to off?" Shikamaru asked. "I don't know why you are wasting your time."

"In a battle that destroyed almost everything in its path, this tree was able to survive," Naruto explained. "I want to take care of it myself."

"Gardening is great, but more importantly, is everything set up for the summit yet?" Aceso asked. "The Five Kage will be arriving very soon."

"Yeah, they will," Naruto nodded. "You will be attending, right little sister?"

"I'm not sure this time," Aceso answered. "Probably not best to bring a baby into the summit." She looked down at her youngest, he didn't have a worry in the world. 

"Aw," Naruto frowned. "But you always come to the summits!" 

"This time she won't," Shikamaru stated. "Your sister has a lot on her plate, and she's right, it is probably best not to bring a baby into the Kage Summit." Naruto groaned, he then got eye level with Ren, the baby reached out grabbing his nose. Naruto laughed, he had a big smile on his face.

*****

Over at the training hall, Metal and Iwabee were having an argument.

"You talk a big game, Metal!" Iwabee stated as he held up a fist. "Hope your fist can back up your mouth!"

"You are one to talk," Metal stated as he got in a position to fight. "What are you waiting for? C'mon! Let us go!"

"Lord Hokage is the strongest!" Iwabee argued as they fought. 

"But that depends on the time and place!" Metal argued. 

"Another fight, boring," Wasabi stated.

"Yeah, they are arguing among the Kage who is the most powerful leader," Inojin stated as he watched. 

"Knock it off, both of you!" Shino ordered as he rushed in. "We're still in cla--" everyone gasped as Metal accidentally kicked and Iwabee punched Shino-sensei. 

"Hey, don't make such a big deal out of the 5 Kage summit," Boruto ordered as he, Dino, and Shikadai practiced shuriken. "It's just your uncle coming to meet my stupid old man, Shikadai and Dino. It's totally not getting worth getting freaked out over."

"Yeah, but you still don't understand, Uncle Gaara brings such weird gifts," Shikadai pointed out.

"Their arrival has sent Pia into overdrive for training, she's been working on a new technique she wants to show Uncle Gaara, and Uncle Kankuro promised to teach her a new poison," Dino added.