Naruto:Making Of A Hokage

When Nine Meets Seven

"We're here to see your leader."
The receptionist looked up to see the same ninja from yesterday. Her demeanor changed almost instantly, eyes widening and mouth slightly agape as she looked around nervously.
"U-umm…" She fumbled with the clipboard she kept on her desk, quickly looking through the pages before finally coming to a stop and letting out a sigh of relief. "Yes, you can go in now he's not busy. He's on the fifth floor."
"Got it," Kakashi responded as he and Asuma moved for a set of stairs that stood on the wall opposite to the entrance.
The stairs were a brown color, just like the walls, and had a single window between each floor. They passed by the other floors without paying them much attention but noticing that each floor had a hallway with several doors that seemed to extended pretty far.
It didn't take them long to make it to the fifth floor, this one being a lot different from the others. It was set up to look like the first floor but had a couple of ninja standing in front of a wooden door that stood before a reception desk where an old woman sat.
"Excuse me," Asuma approached the lady, earning an odd look from her, "We're here to see your leader."
The woman darted her eyes between the two ninja before reaching under her desk and taking out a piece of paper. "Let's see…" she trailed off as she studied the paper, "Rock. Sand. Mist… Ah! Here it is! Leaf."
Curious, Kakashi managed a peek at the paper the woman held and almost lost his composure. He couldn't believe a receptionist for a village leader would need a paper with the symbols for each village to identify them.
"He's expecting you so you can go in," she declared.
"Thanks for your help," Asuma spoke since Kakashi seemed to be a bit annoyed.
The two approached the wooden door and were subject of the inspecting looks from the ninja guarding the room. They returned the intense stares in what could be described as a standoff before the two Waterfall ninja stepped aside and opened the door for them.
Upon entering the room, the two Leaf ninja had to admit that the place was fitting for a leader. It was a large spacious room with light brown walls that held a few painting. A dark brown desk sat in front of three large windows that overlooked the giant tree that stood out in the village. The few rays of sunlight that sneaked through the heavy forestry gave the tree an unearthly glow.
"You must be the Konoha representatives."
The two jonin bowed their head at the leader of the village sitting behind the wooden desk, which was covered by all sorts of scrolls and documents.
"Sorry about meeting with you until now," Kakashi said as he and Asuma stood up straight, now being able to properly look at this village leader.
He was young. That was the first thing the two noticed. He had simple black eyes, with the right one slightly covered by the bangs of his dark brown hair that reached mid-back to the green shirt he wore under a long-sleeved light blue cloak that showed his status.
The young leader shook his head. "I should be the one apologizing but as you probably already know, we've been quite busy lately," he admitted.
Kakashi took note of the bags under the leader's eyes, which he guessed had not been very visible because of his long hair. "It's no problem really," he answered before nodding his head slightly, "I am Kakashi Hatake, Jonin of the Hidden Leaf Village."
"I'm Asuma Sarutobi, Jonin of the Hidden Leaf Village," the other jonin responded with a firm nod, "It's really a pleasure to be able to meet you."
The young leader grinned slightly as he glanced at the older man, "I'm Shibuki, leader of this village. But let's leave this formal talk aside for now, I want to know if you feel welcomed in this village or if you need anything."
Asuma shook his head, "We don't need anything save for any information on the Chunin Exams."
"What kind of information are you talking about?" Shibuki asked as he placed both elbows on his desk and rested his head on the back of his hands.
"We're wondering if there have been, or if you plan to, have any changes on the schedule of the exams because of what happened," the bearded jonin answered.
The young leader nodded as worry showed on his face. "They were scheduled to start in three days but if this situation is not taken care of by then, we'll probably wait until it's resolved."
Asuma glanced at Kakashi, receiving a nod before he glanced back at the village leader, "We'll be leaving now. Thanks for having us."
"No problem," Shibuki replied as the two ninja left the room. He let out a loud sigh as soon as the door closed. Now he had to get back at the piles of paperwork and the hundreds of ninja busting through his door since his break was almost over. He wondered if being the village leader had really been worth all the trouble.
Tsunade clenched her jaw as she sat behind her desk. She had never expected to receive a message from Naruto telling her that the Kazekage had disappeared, much less said ninja offering himself to look into it while at the same time telling her that he would go even if she didn't allow it.
' Damned confident brats,' she scowled before glancing at the man in front of her, his face showing rare seriousness. "What do you make of this Jiraiya?"
The sage shook his head. He had read over the message at least five times and knew for a fact that Naruto had figured out the same thing he did but left it out of the message. Tsunade, of course, came to this conclusion as well which is why he was standing before her desk at the moment.
"We can't discard the Akatsuki being responsible for this," he stated with a grim look on his face, "Which makes Naruto going there all the more dangerous."
Tsunade nodded while leaning back on her seat in exhaustion, having had tons of paperwork before and now this to think about, "Then you already know why I called you here."
"No problem illustrious Hokage," Jiraiya grinned as he made for the window, "He might be strong but there's no way I'm going to let him handle the Akatsuki alone if I can help it."
With that the sage jumped out of the window and moved from roof to roof at a fast speed while Tsunade watched him leave with a worried frown on her face. She might be the Hokage and had to make an example of what a shinobi should be but she couldn't help but worry about the blond that had come to be like a son to her. At least now that Jiraiya was on his way she could have a bit of that worry off her shoulders.
It was dark as the group of Leaf and Sand shinobi walked through the dense forest that seemed to stretch on forever. They had traveled all day and had to call it a day since they couldn't make out their surroundings because of how dark it was. The group decided that they would set off the next day since they were sure that the Waterfall village was only a few hours away.
They had found a small clearing and began to set up camp. Naruto, Ino and Temari were in charge of camp while Shikamaru and Kankuro left to find firewood. The prior group had taken the easier task as they only prepared the area for the fire and not much else.
"We're moving early tomorrow, before the sun rises. So be ready," Temari informed as she sat herself on the ground near where the fire would be.
The blond couple followed her lead and sat themselves on the ground as well. "Sounds good to me," Naruto agreed with a nod, "The earlier the better."
Ino nodded absently while looking around the wooded area, trying to see if there was anything interesting around. Temari didn't look like she wanted to talk and Naruto, well he had an impatient look on his face and would fidget occasionally.
She frowned lightly before speaking, "Naruto is there something wrong?"
He didn't answer but suddenly stood up firmly and turned away, "I have to go do... something."
"Where are you going Naruto?"
Naruto scowled at Ino's question before glancing at her over his shoulder, "To do my business."
"Oh," Ino laughed lightly before turning her gaze to her surroundings once again. She would usually look up at the starlit sky at times like these but today it wouldn't happen since the forest blocked most of the sky from view.
"We're back."
She turned at the sudden voice and found it to be Shikamaru along with Kankuro, both holding pieces of wood under their arms. The two set the wood down on the area that had been prepared for the fire before sitting themselves on the ground.
"You were serious," Kankuro stated while glancing at Shikamaru incredulously. The Nara turned his glance at the puppeteer, not saying anything before the latter finally snapped. "Fine! I'll start the fire, you lazy ass."
Shikamaru groaned as he laid on the ground with his arms spread wide, "I've been traveling all day and looked around for firewood, you can't expect me to have energy to do much else."
Kankuro grumbled something under his breath as he worked on getting the fire ready while Shikamaru looked around curiously.
"Where did Naruto go?"
"He'll be right back," Ino responded, giving her teammate a look that told him where her boyfriend went. Shikamaru chuckled and made himself a bit more comfortable on the ground.
"We're really close to the Waterfall Village now," he began before letting out a yawn. "Temari and Kankuro should get access to it easily but you, me and Naruto will probably have to wait."
The kunoichi nodded in understanding. Because of the problem with the Kazekage, the Waterfall Village would surely allow Sand ninja to come and go in search for answers but it wasn't the case for them. Leaf ninja didn't have any business in the village so it would take a while to go in.
Shikamaru, for his part, was ecstatic about the opportunity to laze around without doing much. Yes, he was worried about Gaara but it wouldn't do much sense for him to get worked up while waiting to be let in the village. He would just take it easy and rest.
' Besides, being rested might be the difference between life and death… That wasn't too bad,' Shikamaru pondered on the line he just thought of, finding it to be a good rule to go by. ''Yeah, I'll just tell this line to anyone that whines about me being lazy. That'll get them off my ass.'
"Got it!" Kankuro let out cheerfully as the fire cackled on the pieces of wood he had set up. Pride showed on his face as he grinned and placed both hands near the fire to get warmth.
Temari rolled her eyes at her brother's behavior, "You're acting like a little kid Kankuro. There's no point to making a fire anyway, we just use a small fire jutsu on gathered wood and that's it."
Kankuro shook his head with his grin still in place, "But I didn't use any jutsu, or chakra for that matter. I did it the hard way. Rubbing the wood with my strong male hands."
"There's so much wrong with that last sentence that I'm not even going to bother," Shikamaru muttered to himself.
"Still, you're a ninja so it shouldn't be too hard. And it's not even cold out, I don't get why you're trying to get warmth from the fire."
Kankuro scoffed, "I'm cold."
"No you're not, look at what you're wearing."
Shikamaru groaned, "Are you guys going to start this again?"
Ino laughed quietly as she watched the exchange between the two siblings. It was good to see them acting a bit more lively than before. They had been really worried for the whole day so it was good to see them relax even if there were still hints of worry on their faces.
Naruto sighed contently as he zipped up his pants and approached the small pond near the tree where he relieved himself. He crouched near the water's edge and began to wash his hands as best as he could while keeping an eye out for anything.
He had made it to the clearing a few moments ago. The darkness of night and how far it was from camp had made it the ideal place to stay hidden and have his privacy. Plus he was glad to have a view of the full moon that lit the area, something about it would always make him feel calm.
The blond pushed those thoughts aside as he sat himself on the ground. "Might as well get this over with," he sighed out as he reached for his katana and pulled it out, its blade glistening with the moon's rays. "Let's see…" he reached into his vest and pulled out a few pieces of paper along with some ink he had bought back in Tanzaku Quarters.
With his old katana destroyed, he needed to modify this new one. The first time had been difficult since Jiraiya refused to help him, saying that it would help him in the long run, but he figured that it wouldn't take as long this time. He already knew what he needed to do so it shouldn't take more than an hour to set up the seals and about a day for them to settle on the blade.
His attention turned to one of the pieces of paper, drawing the proper seal before pressing it against the katana's handle and letting go once he made sure it would stay in place. He got to work on the next seals, pressing them against the blade this time, before he put a hand on the katana's handle and the other on the blade. He closed his eyes as he added chakra into the seals while making sure not to overdo it, doing so would end up with a small explosion that would leave him with several burn marks, he knew that from experience.
"There," he let out with a small grin as he placed the katana on the ground next to him. He wasn't done but, while not very dangerous, he was finished with the most difficult part of the process. Now all he needed to do was add more seals to the blade and then he would be done unless he messed up which was very unlikely.
His eyes widened suddenly as he pushed off the ground, dodging incoming projectiles that he noticed were kunai, and managed a standing position, but he couldn't rest yet as more kunai moved towards him.
"Show yourself!" He yelled as he took out a kunai of his own and flung it. The projectile approached the others before suddenly increasing in numbers and knocking the horde of kunai aside without much trouble.
Naruto gritted his teeth when receiving no answer. Just what was going on? He knew for a fact that they weren't in the village so why was there someone attacking him?
"You're not welcomed in my pond, human."
He turned on his heels when hearing the feminine voice speak. His eyes focused for any sort of movement, straining in the darkness but he couldn't see anything except for trees. If he couldn't see her then that would mean that he would need to get her to show herself.
"Leave before I kill you."
"Wind Style: Devastation!"
A powerful gust of wind shot out of Naruto's mouth, pushing back tree branches and even taking some down. He kept his eyes focused and inwardly smirked when seeing a figure jump high in the air.
' Gotcha.'
Naruto followed after the figure, running up a tree before jumping off of it and coming face to face with the aggressor. It was a girl about his age, with mint green hair and energetic orange eyes that seemed to sparkle under the moonlight. She wore a shot sleeveless white midriff with fishnets underneath, white armlets and fishnet shorts with a white apron skirt over them.
The blond's eyes went to the object covered in red wrapping on her backs, deeming it a weapon for now.
The girl's eyes narrowed as she raised a hand to her mouth, seeing this Naruto quickly ran through hand signs but wasn't quick enough as she exhaled a bright substance that suddenly shone brightly, making him let out a yell of pain as he covered his eyes which proved to be a grave mistake. He felt a fist connect with his stomach with so much force that he couldn't help but gasp for air as he fell towards the ground.
' Dammit!' He managed to regain himself and land safely on his feet before opening his eyes slowly. They stung badly but he couldn't fight like that, he wasn't that skilled. He dismissed those thoughts as looked around, finding the girl to have disappeared once again,
'Where'd she go?'
His answer came in the form of rushing footsteps coming from behind him but he was ready this time. He quickly spun in place before running through hand signs, taking the incoming girl by surprise.
"Take this!" He placed his right hand on his mouth before releasing several air bullets. The girl easily saw through this and continued to run, ducking under some of the bullets and jumping over others.
Naruto cursed under his breath before taking out a couple of kunai and charging in at the girl who, seeing this, took out her own kunai and met him head on, their weapons impacting loudly against one another as they ended up in a deadlock while staring heatedly at each other.
"Who are you?" Naruto asked as he pushed against the girl that was way more physically stronger than she looked.
Her orange eyes glared into his, "I won't tell you a thing. You're the intruder."
Chakra flared around her, making Naruto bit back a gasp as she pushed harder against him and began to push him back. He tried to hold on but when seeing the two 'wings' that had formed on her back, he buckled under her strength and had his kunai knocked away.
"You're done," the girl muttered as he stabbed her kunai into the defenseless teen that managed a grin before receiving both weapons on his chest. She looked at him confusedly before he burst in a cloud of smoke, making her let out a quiet gasp and look around for the intruder but was tackled to the ground before she could get a good look.
She found herself laying under two Naruto clones that had a firm hold on her arms and legs. A bit of fear welled up inside of her at the thought of what this ninja would do to her. Memories hit her like a ton of bricks and she began to flare her burning red chakra.
"Oh no you don't," said the real Naruto as he ran up to her and slapped a seal onto her forehead, lessening the amount of chakra she flared, and proceeding to place another on her exposed stomach, completely shutting off the chakra.
"What do you want with me?" The girl let out as she trashed against the hold which she figured was all she could do.
Naruto let out a sigh as he sat himself next to the girl and dismissed his clones. Now free, the girl jumped to her feet and ripped off both seals before setting her eyes on the sitting ninja who held up both hands with an almost bored look on his face.
"Calm down, I don't want to fight you," he assured though it did nothing to the hostile look on the girl's face. "Why did you even attack me? I wasn't even doing anything bad to the pond and, trust me, I thought about taking a piss on it but didn't."
The girl's face scrunched up in disgust, making Naruto grin inwardly at having a bit of a reaction out of her.
"So tell me…" he trailed off as he put on a serious look on his face, "What's a jinchuuriki doing out here?"
Her eyes widened as she took a couple of steps back and reached for the object on her back, "What do you want with me?"
"Don't worry," he waved her off as he unzipped his vest and pulled up his shirt to reveal his stomach. "Watch closely," he placed a hand to it and added chakra, making his seal appear and glow slightly.
"You're-"
"Yeah," Naruto interrupted with a grin, "I'm a jinchuuriki too."
She said nothing, instead looking at the seal intently. It looked like it had been messed around but, then again, she was no expert in sealing.
"So tell me why you're out he-"
"Fight me," the girl interrupted with a serious look on her face. Naruto looked at her incredulously but she paid him no mind and tapped into her beast's chakra, forming two red wings made out of chakra on her back, "I want to see what another jinchuuriki is capable of."
Naruto chuckled lamely. "I'm not really..." he trailed off when looking well into the girl's eyes. Her orange eyes showed eagerness, possibly because she had never met another jinchuuriki. A lot more emotion showed on her face and Naruto knew that if he wanted answers then he would have to go with what she was saying, at least until things got too heated.
"Fine then," he grinned as he slipped into his taijutsu stance.
The girl grinned as well, "I'm Seven. Beat me and I'll tell you my real name."
"Same goes to me," he answered, "For now call me Nine."
No more words were spoken as the two jinchuuriki stared at each other before breaking into a run.