chap. 11 - No Rest for the Wicked

We arrived at the village at dusk. The sky is a beautiful reddish-orange as we arrive at the village gates.

We go to the Hokage's office, but we find out that he is in the mission area so we go there. When we arrive we see Naruto, who thank God has taken off his orange clothes and is now dressed more like a ninja, Sakura, Sasuke and Kakashi. How do I know it's him? Very simple.

"Kakashi sensei, tell grandpa third that we are ready, I don't want to mow grass or run after cats anymore. We are ninjas, damn it. I want a challenge." says an impatient Naruto screaming.

"Hai, hai, they're ready Hokage-sama." says a tired and disinterested Kakashi.

As soon as we enter, everyone turns to us, and Naruto the energetic one jumps at me.

"Nox, time no see, brother. Did you complete a mission? Was it difficult? Did you chase Tora-sama too? Where did you go?" he stops as I cover his mouth.

"Calm down Naruto, I'll explain later if I'm allowed to," I say winking at him. "Hokage-sama, mission completed." I tell him.

"Oh, Nox-kun, Hayama good to see you." Says the third one. "Ok Naruto, I have a rank C mission for your team. Escort." he says fiddling with the papers. "Bring the contractor." he turns to a ninja present there.

"Uhul, is it a princess? A rich merchant? A..." and as he rambles on, a drunken old man enters.

"Is that the bunch of brats that will escort me? Look at that short guy with the dumb face." says the old man.

Naruto starts laughing, "Who's the short guy with the idiot face?" he says as he laughs some more. Sakura, Sasuke and I approach him. When he realizes he is the shortest of us.

"I'm going to kill you, old drunkard." he jumps to catch the old man, but is held by Kakashi. "We can't kill the Naruto contractor." he says wearily.

"At least one punch, let me punch him." he says, which we all sweat. Naruto's physique is special, so one punch from him is pretty heavy. Not like Grandma, but it still hurts.

"Hokage-sama, I recommend that Nox participate in this mission. After reading the report you will understand." says a serious Hayama sensei to the Hokage as he hands over the parchment.

the third takes it, opens and reads the parchment, then approves the idea.

HAYAMA POV --------------

"Letting him escort the contractor, along with his friends, will do the boy good. That way his mind has time to adjust to what happened on our mission." thinks a worried Hayama.

HOKAGE POV ---------------

"I can't let Tsunade read this report, she will turn me into wall paint. The boy has been through too much and too little. This trip will be good for him, a well deserved rest to clear his head." thinks a Hokage who is sweating profusely. "I need my pipe."

BACK TO THE NORMAL POV -----------

"I agree to join team 7 Hokage-sama, but only if my sensei gets the same amount of rest time." I say to the third. When not only him, but Hayama sensei look at me in different ways.

Hayama looks at me as if he understands the idea, he would have time to adapt his fencing to my postures, as well as help with the increased chakra that the body produces and retains.

Hokage looks at me like a child who is worried about someone important, which in his view, he thinks I am worried about Hayama's mental state, which is true.

"I accept your request Nox-kun, Hayama will have vacation time equal to his mission time." says Hokage lighting his pipe. "You all leave tomorrow at 9. Get ready."

The old contractor nods his head stating that he understands and leaves. We greet the Third and leave too, all together. As we are arriving at the building's exit.

"Hayama sensei, Uncle Yamato trained the postures with me as well. So he can be of help to you. I will talk to him tonight, to meet you at training camp 9. Rest well sensei." I tell him smiling.

"Don't worry kid, I will be well rested so when you come back, we will have new tasks. And who knows, with a team." he says laughing at the end, bidding us goodbye, walking away.

"Good team 7 expanded, see you tomorrow at the village gates. Be well prepared and see you tomorrow." says Kakashi who disappears in smoke. He accompanies his team on the rank D missions with only his clone. Cleverly lazy.

"Let's go to Ichiraku. I'm starving." I say calling out to them. "On me today."

We head to Ichiraku, Naruto continues to be a chest for food, I'm not far behind but I don't even compare to him, Sasuke chats with me about our training methods and Sakura eats while reading a scroll.

While talking with Sasuke, an idea comes to me, and I ask him for the fireball technique, which he passes to me without any problem.

On that trip, I will have time to create my perfect killer jutsu. MUAHUAHUAHUA

We leave Ichiraku, and are strolling through the village, when we see something we would never have imagined. Iruka sensei was clinging to a kunoichi, with a giant dog lying next to them.

Our group looks at each other's faces, we see the understanding in each other's eyes, and we sneak out of there. Let's not get in the way of Iruka sensei in his mission to raise a family.

(This is not canon, as the creator of Naruto shat on the vast majority of characters that were at some point important in the original story, I wanted to give them at least a decent closure).

We go home, I pack my things, chat with everyone at dinner, ask Uncle Yamato to go to training camp 9 whenever possible to train with Hayama sensei, help Sister Shizune do the dishes, read some more of the scroll that Sasuke gave me, and then go to sleep.

The next day, at 9am we are all ready for our mission. We leave Konoha.