Chapter 239

"Will you knock it off with the Ero-sennin-" Jiraiya tries to say as Naruto cuts in, "I'm a lot stronger than I look."

"I'll be the judge of that," the elder sage is happy to remark. "Since you've gathered all this intel, I guess it only makes sense I teach you Kuchiyose, but, forget about Myōboku for now. I'll give you to the end of the week to summon anything stronger than a tadpole. If you can't do that, you tell me everything."

After all the insight and chakra-control training Naru-nii's given him, Naruto knows in his mind, body, and chakra that it takes about half-a-tail of chakra to summon the Toad Boss, so Naruto chimes back, "when I summon Gamabunta on the third try, you're going to give me and Karin every present you've missed out on."

Quirking his white brow in confusion, Jiraiya asks, "Karin? Who the hell is Karin?"

"Uzumaki Karin, my cousin," Naruto answers. "She did the math—she's good at that stuff—and was nice enough to skip the first five years since we'd be too young. So, let's see… ages six to sixteen, thirteen holidays and two birthdays per year, times ten years, at an average of about twenty-seven hundred ryō per present… you owe us four hundred and eighty-six thousand ryō in missed gifts."

Raising his long arms in a huge X over his head, Jiraiya yells, "get out of here! Even if you were foolish enough to think I owed you, why would you ever think I owe her anything?"

One of Naruto's best fantasies has always been getting a present on his birthday and giving others a present on theirs. Simple though it may be, he's never had that. Casually answering as if it's the most obvious thing in the world, Naruto returns, "because we're family and we love each other and we give the people we love presents." Aside from grumbling, Jiraiya remained quiet against that logic, to which Naruto adds, "plus, you're part of our clan."

Quirking his brow, Jiraiya returns, "since when did I agree to that?" Naruto simply smiles as if it was a foregone conclusion. Shaking his head, Jiraiya grumbles, "ugh, you turned out to be such a cheeky brat. Fine."

"Sweet," Naruto hollers before asking, "where's the contract? Let me sign it?"

"One thing at a time," the strong elder tells him. "Let's move somewhere more remote," and they shunshin out of the little park.

TEMARI

Three of the Sandaime's elite guards land in the semi-circular office with an orange-clad blond boy between them and Temari already hates him and his outlandish clothes. Even if she's dressed in her usual purple kimono that ends mid-thigh with a red slash keeping her light armor tight to her bodice, it's all new and presentable. Her sandy blond hair may still be in four ponytails but it's clean and lustrous. As she expected, she senses the guards remain near, hidden behind the panels of the walls as the Hokage waves Naruto over and purposely points to the space beside his chair.

'The old man doesn't trust us,' Temari thought as Naruto takes his place beside his Hokage. 'Of course he wouldn't. I wouldn't either. Not when it comes to the village's strongest weapon.' Despite her observant thoughts, Temari still feels all the necessary pieces are in place to make her plan succeed. Initially, she was baffled by the task demanded of her and didn't know how she could manage such a convincing con-job within the time frame given, however, she honestly surprised herself. 'It makes sense and there's no way they can rationally decline.'

"Hey, Ji-chan," Naruto casually calls, surprising her as the blond takes notice of them. She can feel Kankurō's curiosity at the relationship between the Jinchūriki and the Hokage, however, she remains focused. Naruto greets them, "hey Temari-chan, Face-Paint," irking Kankurō effortlessly. Temari is happy he doesn't rise to the provocation as Naruto asks, "what's up? Hey, is Gaara coming too?"

"No, Uzumaki-kun," Temari answers.

"You can call me Naruto," he tells them with a smile. It bothers Temari how he can just smile like that, as if he didn't have a monster inside of him.

"Naruto-kun," Hiruzen begins with his slower yet alert voice. "Had you known Temari-san, Kankurō-kun, and Gaara-kun from before?"

'Vague question, intentionally singling out my name with the -san suffix,' Temari immediately picks out. 'Had Uzumaki spoken with Sandaime-sama about them? Is this just a show for their benefit? Why single me out using -san rather than -chan? What does he know? Could he have received a report about our official royal hawk sending a message and receiving a rapid response from father? What has Hiruzen-san guessed?' Temari's mind was a flurry of tactical questions she'd assign probability percentages to. Most of her immediate concerns have a low percentage of possibility, but none are zero. 'Even if the elder suspects Suna's sudden interest in Uzumaki is because we've guessed the orphan is their Jinchūriki, that doesn't mean he knows how perfect my plan is for the annoying blond is and how it'll doom their dominating village.'

"Nope," Naruto easily answers, sweeping her out of her thoughts. "I just heard about them."

"Were you aware they're the Kazekage's children," Hiruzen asks.

"Really," Naruto asks, eyes growing large as he turns to the Sand siblings in genuine surprise. Temari has long felt Uzumaki-kun is honest to a fault. It seems impossible for him to hide his emotions in sudden situations and she truly believes he hadn't known of their lineage. "Sweet, so, Gaara's the son of a Kage?"

It was an odd and obvious question he asks in amazed wonderment, continually confirming to Temari how dim the blond is as Kankurō points out, "that's what being the children of Kazekage means."

"Yeah, I get that. I just thought it was cool," Naruto lips with a melancholy smirk. For some reason, Temari felt as if the thoughtful blond was withholding a tidbit of intel. She's always been good at reading people Uzumaki-kun is nothing exceptional. The blond continues to ask, "if Gaara's not showing up, what's going on? I was in the middle of meeting Ero-sennin."

As a woman, Temari is repulsed by Uzumaki for openly meeting with a pervert. It makes her worry about what she'll have to do with him in the latter part of this scheme. Hiruzen laughs softly with a nodding head and as an observer, Kankurō is simply confused. Without knowing who this pervy sage is, Temari voices, "I didn't mean to interrupt your meeting."

"I'm sure you'll see him again," Hiruzen conveys to the boy. "I called you here for an important matter. That is to say, Temari-san has requested your attendance in this diplomatic meeting. She's invited her brother, Kankurō-kun, and Jōnin-sensei, Baki-san, to be her witnesses. It's also why Mitokado Himura and Utatane Koharu from Konoha's Council are here as well."

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