Chapter 4: Recruitment?

"Hey kid!"

As I walk out of the gates of the shinobi academy I see a blond haired teenager with bright blue eyes waving at me.

Wtf does Minato want with me? I haven't gone to Ichiraku since I learned the summoning jutsu, maybe that tipped him off?

Regardless I wait for him to run up to me, after all, its not like I can just ignore him otherwise if he really is suspicious of something than this misunderstanding will deepen if I pretend not to know him.

"Oh hey, Minato. What do you want?"

The blond man seems to take my question as annoyance so he puts on a smile to try to lower my irritation.

Yeah, this man definitely wants something out of me. As for what that can be? I can't think of anything else besides recruitment. After all Minato is a sensor nin, it wouldn't be surprising if he realized I have a large chakra pool at our last meeting.

I can see his train of thought. A young kid with great potential is a fan of your sensei, you manage to impress him with a jutsu, the kid has a good opinion of you due to your connections, you have the chance to earn the friendship and future assistance of a potential jonin.

Although I may seem inconsequential and completely irrelevant my chakra pool is far above anyone my age, already at chunin level at the age of 9. I'm a shoe in for jonin rank, that is practically a given. Unless I contract some horrible disease or die young I will become someone of importance.

Minato has really grand plans, and unlike Naruto he's actually smart and will look for potential allies to help him for the "election" of hokage. Maybe I'm just one of his future lackeys that he's scouting out.

Actually, that's not a bad idea. I wouldn't mind being Minato's bodyguard. I could use him as a shield to hide all my information. After all isn't it weird if some kid with no great background, kekkei genkai or incredible sensei suddenly becomes some insane shinobi?

Having Minato as my sponsor would explain the jutsu I know and even rampant growths in chakra or physical strength. No one would suspect me and no one would monitor or suppress me.

Minato takes out a green hardcover book from the inside of his jacket and hands it to me.

"I came to ask if you wanted to see Jirayia since he's doing a book signing of his new book, The Tale of The Utterly Gutsy Shinobi."

I open the book and look at the first two pages, the first is just the title and Jirayia's name while the second one talks about what inspired him to write the book.

So he's using this opportunity to improve our relationship and even give us a topic to talk about together, that being Jirayia and this book. Of course this completely depends on my reaction, if I give a negative reaction we'll get closer. If I give a negative reaction than all chances of some type of future friendship is gone.

Minato's actually smarter than I thought, he can make use of sudden opportunities to benefit himself. Granted, these two things do have some relation to each other, we talked to each other due to Jirayia and this book signing is hosted by Jirayia.

Now that I know that he doesn't actually suspect me of anything what should I do? On the surface joining Minato has its benefits but it also has hidden dangers.

Kurama is capable of feeling people's intentions and the jinchuriki of the nine tails is Kushina. If her relationship with Kurama is good enough then she'll be able to tell if I have ill feelings towards her or Minato.

That isn't all, I also don't know whether Danzo has an eye on Minato. Minato has always said that he wants to become hokage. It is possible that Danzo might eliminate me if I join Minato just so he can clip his wings before he truly gains a standing.

Jirayia might be enough to deter Danzo from doing anything to Minato but that won't extend to me. I have no relationship with any higher ups of Konohagakure.

Minato is promising but he doesn't have any influence in Konoha past Jirayia, nor is he strong enough to defeat squads of root at this point.

I'm not even sure if he's learned the Flying Thunder God yet. Even if he has, is his reaction time fast enough to actually use it?

I don't know, I have very little information about the strong people in this village. The time line in Naruto is too messy for me to know anything for certain.

I can't be sure of things that have already happened which is why I've avoided talking to others as much as possible. Once I slip up I'll leave an impression on that person that I'm strange.

If its a shinobi I'm talking to, especially a smart one like Minato I might actually be completely screwed. I'm not confident enough in my acting ability to fool this person who has been trained by one of the top experts in this time period.

So should I go with Minato right now...my answer is yes. It'd be strange if I didn't accept now after building up an image of being a fan of Jirayia. Refusing to go would be strange and would insight suspicion. There is a way to do this while keeping my distance from Minato which is exactly what I'll do.

I put on a wary glance like a kid wondering whether his strange uncle is up to something.

"Why would I go with you? How did you even know I was attending the shinobi academy?"

Minato seems to choke a bit at the looks of several concerned parents overhearing our conversation.

Yeah that's right, how dare you ask an innocent kid to come with you, if you don't want your reputation ruined you better explain yourself.

"Wait, hold on. I just wanted to tell you since you seemed excited about Jirayia. I'm his student so I figured it'd be nice of me to grant one of his fan's wishes."

At Minato's panicked voice and extremely embarrassed body language the peeping mothers decided he probably wasn't trying to abduct this random kid.

"Ok, I'll go with you. Where is the book signing?"

Minato breathed a deep sigh of relief and gently grabbed the shoulder of my shirt.

"Lets go, the book signing starts in half an hour at the Quarter Square."