Life in Konoha's ANBU by Shezza

Chapter 22: Attack at the Manufactorium! Part I

The week after his promotion to Jonin, and the impromptu celebration at the Jonin's Lounge, Naruto was once again hard at work. The details for the Chunin Exams had been confirmed amongst the other three great villages, and the date had been set. Passports had been shipped off, the Border Guard were readied and the travel routes of the other Kage were painstakingly plotted out. Konoha's Intelligence worked hard to ensure that these routes remained secret. No other village was to know how each of the Kage was to arrive, and Konoha could afford no mistakes on this. The Land of Fire, and Konoha, could ill afford the risk of an international incident if some group with a grudge mounted an attack on a diplomatic envoy within their borders. Despite the dangers, the Village was well-prepared, and it was soon time to begin the festivities. In a week's time, the 30th International Chunin Exams were to be held in Konoha, and there was much work to be done.

Visitors had begun to stream into the Village, and it wouldn't be long until every hotel and apartment was full. The presence of Leaf Nin in the village almost doubled overnight, and the Chunin Military Police were run ragged as they tried maintaining some kind of order in the hustle and bustle of work. While many of the influx of visitors were of the working class, farmers and workers and soldiers, there was a significant number of local and foreign nobility arriving at the gates every day. Often escorted by shinobi - shinobi that were usually not from Konoha - these nobles had a certain level of living that had to be accommodated for. Konoha's Merchant Guild usually tended to these visitors, putting on a magnificent festival and catering to the needs and wants of the upper class. Nobility were treated to quiet tea ceremonies- and many paid quite handsomely to be served by the Hyuuga, the noblest of the clans. Many attended calligraphy sessions, and the highest of the nobles even managed to sit alongside the Third Hokage as he went about his own calligraphy. The Nara entertained those who fancied themselves as tactical thinkers, amusing and challenging them with logic puzzles, riddles and games of strategy.

Luckily for Naruto, he was quite removed from all of that. For the past week, he had tended to whatever odd jobs he had been called for. As the personal aide of the Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto held a surprising amount of authority on the day-to-day workings of the Village, and he was able to somewhat cut out a lot of the red tape, especially when it came to time-sensitive manners. At the moment, Naruto was speeding towards the Village gates, the wind whipping through his hair. The last time he had been summoned, it had been on the behest of an extremely wealthy patron from the Land of Wind who had been suffering from a bout of gastro. Red in the face and the stink of bodily fluids following him, the flabby man had sweated as he abused the Jonin Guard at the gates, who had refused to allow him entry until all of the protocols had been followed. Naruto had smoothed things over, ensuring that the noble had been delivered to his hotel room as quickly as possible, and filing the paperwork himself.

Apparently the noble had been extremely grateful, and Naruto had been awarded a nice little bonus alongside the completion of the D-rank mission.

In a blur of movement, Naruto darted past the banners and weaved through the crowd- most who didn't even register his presence- and used the Body Flicker technique to close the rest of the distance. He appeared in the middle of Market Square in a crouch, and stood up. His headband gleamed in the sun and, clad in his Jonin vest and sporting a polite smile, Naruto made his way towards a stall, where an argument of some kind was taking place. A horse sat there, chewing on what seemed to be a potato lazily, while two shinobi flanked it. With dark skin and bright eyes, Naruto didn't need to see the headband to know that they were from Kumo. They were watching warily as their patron, a tall, round, portly man with dark skin and flamboyant robes, delivered a verbal lashing to one of the stall owners, who was paling and arguing back shakily.

"Good morning," Naruto interjected as the noble took a pause to breathe. The Noble started, and the two guards tensed and swung to face him. Naruto ignored them, and he adjusted his headband.