SUA... Healer - Ch 2 (Adv) - The New Normal (Patreon)

Anko (Earlier that morning)

Fucking Orochimaru.

The sentiment was an intimately familiar one; she’d thought or outright said much the same at least twice a day for the last ten years, but hell, she’d doing so when it stopped being relevant. Which will hopefully be because I’ve finally slit his fucking throat and burned the body to ash.

Despite her traitorous sensei’s best efforts though, Konoha was at least still standing… which was more than she could say for several hundred of its citizens. And counting, she thought sourly as Hebikiko slithered out from the rubble Anko was crouching in front of, shaking her scaled head.

“How many?”

“Three bodiesss, Anko-sssama,” the snake reported dispassionately. “I sssmell habu venom; the humansss were rendered unable to flee and killed by the building’sss collapssse.”

“All right, next house,” said Anko, blinking tiredly as the Eastern sky began to grow faintly green.

“Yo,” called a rough, familiar voice.

Anko squinted, but placed the voice even before her vision cleared. “Pakkun!”

There was a patter of paws and the little pug leapt into her arms, happily licking her face. “Heya Snakey. Time for a break.”

“I can’t–” she started, before spluttering as Pakkun licked her again.

“You can,” came Kakashi’s voice. He was leaning against a wall, nearby but not in arm’s reach. “I distinctly remember you were dismissed until dawn.”

“I got some rest,” she promised, electing not to mention it was an hour at most… or whose bed she’d been in.

“Mm.” Kakashi’s face was characteristically unreadable.

“I did!” Anko stretched her eyelid down with her pinky, still cradling Pakkun with her other arm. “You probably fought more than I did; have you gotten any sleep?”

“He has not,” Pakkun ratted his summoner out immediately.

“There’s too much to do,” Kakashi sighed.

“Exactly,” Anko drawled, and Kakashi rolled his visible eye.

“I’m not arguing with you, Anko. It’s time to report for assignment.”

Nodding absently, Anko let Hebikiko slither up her leg before following Kakashi toward the mission office. “Shouldn’t you be at the memorial stone for the next few hours?”

“This isn’t the time to screw around,” Kakashi retorted. “The village needs us.”

“Also, Jiraiya-sama offered him a signed draft manuscript of Icha Icha Violence if he turned up on time,” Pakkun added.

Kakashi ignored him. “There’s one other thing. The genin are getting assignments at dawn.”

“So?” Anko stifled a yawn.

“Two of them are getting promoted first. Shikaku’s son impressed people with his ability to think under pressure.”

“He realized there was something wrong during the tournament, and he came up with a plan to kill an enemy jounin within about twenty seconds,” Anko offered. “If he’s anything like his dad, he’ll hate it, but he’ll do the job well. Who’s the other?”

Kakashi glanced her way, and his eye was smiling. “Who else?”

All her exhaustion vanished. “You’re serious?”

“It almost sounds like you think he’s not ready.”

“No one’s ready,” she snapped. “Especially not at this age; you should know that even better than me. But that’s not what I meant and you know it. I figured he’d get stonewalled unless the old man rammed it through, and he’s not in any condition to do that.”

“Sarutobi-sama actually did wake up briefly,” Kakashi corrected. “Just long enough to order Jiraiya-sama to either find a Godaime or take the job himself. He authorized the promotions personally.”

“Which you had to approve as Naruto’s commanding officer,” Anko nodded. “Well, good. It’s about damn time the kid got some respect.”

“Unfortunately, we’ll probably be long gone by the time it’s announced,” Kakashi mused.

It was Anko’s turn to roll her eyes. “Or we could leave some damn Kage Bunshin to at least congratulate him before we go. Have it conserve its chakra and you’ll get the seishin half back when it pops. Even Naruto knows that… no thanks to you,” she added, still a little bitter about how she’d had to explain that concept to their mutual student.

“How was I supposed to know he didn’t understand the jutsu?” Kakashi groaned, crossing his fingers.

“Besides, it’s fixed now,” his clone added.

“I’d smack you if you wouldn’t take the excuse to pop,” Anko’s own clone informed him as the originals went inside to receive their missions.

Tenten (Present)

Jiraiya-sama politely gave the genin a minute or so to congratulate Naruto-kun and Nara-san before clearing his throat. It wasn’t loud, but somehow it captured everyone’s attention, and they all stood straight once more.

“Congratulations again to our new chuunin,” the Toad Sage began, his deep voice carrying easily through the room, “As Sarutobi-sensei no doubt explained during the exams, rank promotion does not occur simply as a matter of course. It is a question of what service you can offer Konoha. There are shinobi in our service who are older than me, who stand head and shoulders above many of you in terms of skill and expertise, who have served the village loyally all that time… and who nevertheless remain genin.”

“Like Maruboshi-chourou,” the Akimichi boy murmured, then looked surprised when Jiraiya nodded.

“Indeed; Maruboshi Kosuke is an excellent example. Step forward.”

From the crowd of the Genin Corps emerged a grey-haired man whose weatherbeaten kitsune-gao face looked faintly familiar. Probably someone I’ve seen in Otou-san’s shop.

He was dressed fairly plain, wearing a sleeveless brown tunic over mesh armor, and slightly favored his left leg as he bowed to the Sannin. “Genin Maruboshi, ID number 001030, at your service, Jiraiya-sama.”

Jiraiya laid a hand on the man’s shoulder. “Maruboshi-san entered the Genin Corps over forty-five years ago, during the reign of the Shodaime Hokage,” he announced, to noises of general astonishment. “He was among the first graduates of the modern Ninja Academy, which was formed out of the original Shinobi Training Institution, and he served in the tail end of the First Shinobi World War. He has been deployed alongside many of the village’s greatest ninja, my own team included. And despite being a match for jounin-level combatants, he remains a genin, because this is how he best serves the village.”

He dismissed Maruboshi-san with a pat as his gaze swept the room.

“Neither age, nor experience, nor skill is the measure of a chuunin. Chuunin are leaders. Now, as some of you may have heard,” he added, eyes undeniably flickering toward the young Nara, “In the wake of Orochimaru’s attack, the usual structure of missions is being suspended until further notice. All leave is cancelled, and unless excused by an i-nin, all shinobi are to report for new orders as soon as their previous mission ends. Abbreviated downtime will be designated where possible, but there is simply too much to be done for us to pretend we can continue operating as normal.

“Instead, you can expect to be assigned to the mission where you can best serve the village. This may be alongside nin you haven’t worked with before. It may be under chuunin who are your junior. You are expected to uphold your oaths, obey the chain of command, and support each other in the field, regardless of who is standing alongside you. Am I understood?”

“Hai, Jiraiya-sama!” Tenten called out in chorus with the rest of the genin.

With a glance, Jiraiya ceded the floor to Iruka-sensei, who unsealed a stack of scrolls nearly a meter high onto the desk. Picking up the top one, he glanced at it and called out, “Hyuuga Hinata and Uchiha Sasuke, report to Chuunin Inuzuka Hana.” He extended the scroll, which Hinata took. “You will be patrolling the border with Yu no Kuni.”

“Hai, Sensei,” Hinata replied softly. Uchiha and Naruto-kun exchanged a Look, and Uchiha gave another fractional nod.

Iruka paused before reaching for the next scroll as a large dragonfly buzzed in through the open window and dropped a note in front of him. Catching it, he read, “Aburame Shino, you’ve been personally requested to join Search and Rescue; your talents are needed.”

“You can go,” Jiraiya told him. “Everyone else, stay here until you’re dismissed.”

The Aburame from last night accepted the note, gave a short bow to Iruka and Jiraiya, and left.

Next came a series of names Tenten didn’t recognize; every one or two genin mentioned were handed a scroll and told to report to a particular chuunin. Border patrol was a common thread, as were courier and escort missions for merchants and companies. The Village Council is obviously hoping to persuade them to continue doing business with Konoha after the attack. We’re definitely going into debt for this, but if we’re successful it’ll be a huge boost toward recovery.

“Yamanaka Ino, Haruno Sakura,” Iruka called, and Tenten tuned back in. “The two of you will be accompanying Nara Shikamaru to Nami no Kuni to reaffirm our alliance and retrieve an item of interest. Report to Hatake Kakashi for a briefing.”

The silver-haired jounin leaning against the back wall gave a lazy wave at hearing his name, though his nose was buried in a book with an orange cover, and Tenten split her attention between listening for her own name and Gai-sensei’s eternal rival as the three approached him.

“What’s this ‘item of interest’, Shika?” Yamanaka asked at once, seemingly at ease with being under her teammate’s command.

“It’s…” Nara scanned the mission scroll that Iruka had passed him. “The Kubikiribouchou.”

Tenten had to stop her head from whipping around. One of the Shichi no Youtou! Retrieving the Danto… dammit, I wish that was my mission!

Haruno bit her lip. “But… we left that to mark Zabuza-san’s grave, Sensei.”

“Yes, and I argued for leaving it there, as I am technically the sword’s owner by right of conquest,” Hatake replied, closing his book and surveying the mission team. “I was overruled. Whether Konoha intends to arm one of our own shinobi with it, or simply ransom it back to Kirigakure, is immaterial to your mission.”

Naruto, who’d been bristling since Nara’s announcement, suddenly slumped. As did Haruno, for that matter. Shinobi follow orders, after all.

“The other thing I’ll remind you of,” said Hatake, his eye fixing on Nara. “Is that Nami no Kuni is in our debt. Gratitude is all very well, but in the end, they owe us. You may well need to remind them of that, lest we find ourselves unable to uphold our end of the alliance between us.”

Nara nodded slowly. “Understood.”

“Then I’m off,” said Hatake, his tone abruptly turning cheery. “Ja ne~!” And he popped into chakra smoke, revealing he’d been a Kage Bunshin all along.

Meanwhile, Iruka had listed off a dozen names, ending with “–and Akimichi Chouji; all of you are to report to the Kou Butai until further notice.”

That was the largest group by far… but I guess it makes sense that we’re putting so much manpower into the Engineering Corps. Plenty of rebuilding to do.

“You’re dismissed!” Iruka called. “Remember at all times that your bearing reflects on the village. Get out there and remind the world that even the most destructive wildfire only makes the trees grow back stronger.” With a final nod from Jiraiya everyone began streaming out.

Tenten leaned over to Naruto. “Did I miss my name?” she asked nervously.

Thankfully he shook his head, whispering, “No, and I didn’t hear mine either…”

“That’s because your mission isn’t public,” said Jiraiya, suddenly in front of them.

Tenten jerked back to attention. “At your command, Jiraiya-sama.”

“At ease,” he said calmly, watching the room clear out.

The last person to leave was Iruka, who paused to say, “Good luck on your mission, Tenten-kun. And Naruto-kun, congratulations again. The next time we have time, ramen’s on me.”

Naruto’s lingering nervousness instantly took a backseat as he grinned. “I’ll hold you to that, Iruka-sensei!”

“And my wallet might regret it,” the teacher sighed, before smiling. “But I won’t. Good luck again.”

He pulled the door closed behind him, and finally Jiraiya beckoned the two of them to follow him. The Sannin led her and Naruto down a hallway to one of the infrequently-used briefing rooms, then pulled a brush and a square paper from his haori, scrawling a seal that he slapped on the door. The paper somehow stuck there, and Tenten only had time to make out the radicals for ‘room’ and ‘private’ before he turned to face them again.

“I won’t bury the lede,” he said seriously. “Your mission is to find and retrieve Senju Tsunade.”

Tenten’s eyes widened, even as Naruto’s brow furrowed and he murmured, “So Shikamaru was right…”

“The little Nara guessed that too, hmm?” Jiraiya asked rhetorically. “He really must take after his old man. Anyway, normally a mission like this would go to a tracking specialist, because Tsunade wanders all over Hi no Kuni and never stays in one place for long. That won’t be necessary, because I’ll be able to track her down… but finding her isn’t the real mission.”

“Then what is, Jiraiya-sama?” Tenten asked.

“The real mission will be convincing her to return to Konoha,” he replied. “Something she hasn’t done since before you were born.”

“How do we do that?” Naruto asked, but Jiraiya shook his head.

“That’s for you to figure out.” He pulled a mission scroll from his pocket and held it out to Naruto. “This is your mission, Chuunin Uzumaki.”

Naruto took the scroll dubiously, and silence fell as he unrolled and and read it. “This says… Our goals for bringing her back are twofold: First, to heal Jiijii… and second, to become Hokage.”

Tenten couldn’t help bouncing on her heels a little. “Just like we thought; Tsunade-sama is the perfect choice to heal Sandaime-sama and to become Godaime!”

Naruto was still frowning as he looked from her back to Jiraiya. “Why do you need us? You could do this yourself; you don’t need us along.”

Jiraiya gave him a faint smile. “Looking underneath the underneath already? Good.” Folding his massive arms, the Sannin explained, “First of all, as a chuunin you’ll be sent on more important and more dangerous missions. You need to be able to protect yourself, and finishing up that technique we started will be a big help, hence why you’re coming with me. Secondly, and more obviously, you’re being placed in charge of this mission to gain command experience.”

Naruto’s eyes dropped to the scroll again. “But you’re coming,” he said uncertainly.

“I’ll be accompanying you, yes,” Jiraiya agreed. “This mission is of critical importance, so I’ll be helping you find her quickly. And yes, my presence is something of a safety net. But when it comes to persuading her to return… I’m afraid the chances of me convincing her are absolutely zero. If I ask, she’ll walk away immediately. That’s the part you have to figure out. You led your squad to face the Suna Jinchuuriki, and it turned out well. This is the next step. Decide on the plan, and order your subordinates to execute it.”

Seeing Naruto was feeling adrift, Tenten gave his shoulder a nudge. “Don’t overthink it, Gutsy-kun. Just ask for the information you need, and then tell us what to do.”

“Yeah…” His face settled into a look of determination. “Thanks, Tenten-chan. We’ll meet at… which gate?”

“I suggest we go South first,” Jiraiya-sama supplied. “There’s a contact I want to look up in Takitsuke-son that should be able to point us in the right direction.”

“Then…” Naruto dithered for another moment before nodding decisively. “There’s one more thing I want to do before we leave town. Grab whatever you need and we’ll meet at the South Gate in an hour.”

Tenten gave a salute. “You’ve got it, taichou!”

Temari

A knock on the door caused her pen to pause mid-kanji in the letter she was writing to the Kazekage’s Cabinet, advising them they needed to send an ambassador to Konoha to negotiate reparations… and also likely appoint a regent kage. Oh, it was possible their father was just imprisoned somewhere… but deep down she knew Orochimaru had no reason to keep Sakin Rasa alive.

She glanced across where Kankurou was repairing some of the damage Karasu had taken, having carefully removed all the puppet’s weaponry under the watchful eye of the ANBU Ocelot. Those weapons made a sizeable pile on the other end of the table; scythe blades, kunai, senbon, vials of poison, and so on. Neither looked like they were about to get up to answer the door.

The blank eyeholes of the ANBU’s mask turned her way briefly, and he nodded before turning back to Kankurou.

Rising from her seiza, Temari straightened the plain kimono she’d been furnished with and pulled open the door to find the boy who’d fought and defeated Gaara, fist raised and prepared to knock again. He blinked, staring at her for a moment, then rubbed the back of his neck. “Uh, hey.”

“Can I help you?” she asked, pulling on the polite but cool tone she’d been taught for political meetings.

The boy seemed a bit thrown by that, but rallied. “I uh, wanted to check on how you guys were doing,” he said. “Especially Gaara. Ero-sennin said he did what he could, so he’d be able to sleep without the Ichibi taking control of him, but he wasn’t sure if Gaara would trust that…”

He trailed off, and Temari raised an eyebrow.

“Sorry, you look different with your hair down,” he said, then hurried to add, “Not in a bad way! It looks nice! Not that it didn’t look nice when it was up–”

“Thank you,” she interrupted gently. “Why don’t you come in? Gaara woke up a little while ago.”

He paused at the genkan to take off his sandals, stepping into the house slippers provided for guests, and murmuring, “Ojyama shimasu.” His pronunciation was a little stiff, like he was completely unused to using keigo. Then, stepping inside, he nodded politely to the ANBU. “Ocelot-san. Good to see you again.”

Ocelot inclined his head. “Congratulations on your promotion, Naruto-kun,” he replied, his tone obviously sincere despite the filtering and distortion the mask applied to protect his identity.

Gaara, who’d been staring fixedly out the window at the sliver of blue sky visible overhead, finally turned to regard the room. “You…”

The Konoha nin, Naruto, gave him a ready grin. “You look a lot better already. I guess you got a good night’s sleep after all?”

“Yes,” Gaara said gravely. “It was… nice.”

He was still every bit as reserved as before, but… he’d changed already and both she and Kankurou could feel it. Her brother was a bit more hesitant, but she hadn’t felt so much as a flicker of killing intent from Gaara since the night before.

“Good to hear it. Is everything… okay?” Naruto asked awkwardly. “Like I know we captured you guys, but–”

“Yes,” Gaara agreed again.

Kankurou tilted his head curiously, but held his peace as usual when in private. Her brother often had an attitude when forced to deal with people instead of puppets, much preferring to leave conversation to her while he sat back and made snide remarks.

“We owe that to you, I think,” said Temari. “The white-haired man, Jiraiya of the Sannin, said that he would ensure it was understood Suna was engaging under false pretenses. It is… a kinder interpretation than we expected. Or probably deserve.”

A slight scowl crossed Naruto’s face, though it didn’t seem to be directed at them. “Ero-sennin knows Orochimaru is behind this, in the end. And… from how it was explained to me, Konoha definitely holds some share of the blame for how it got to this point. I don’t think we left Suna much of a choice.”

“You may not wish to express that opinion publicly,” Ocelot warned him.

Naruto just shrugged. “I won’t, but I don’t see the point in aiming for nonvitals here. We all know it’s true. Obviously I’d rather it hadn’t come to this, but I’m sure Suna at least tried talking it out first; Ero-sennin said this has been a problem for years. We’re supposed to be allies, we should be supporting each other.” Naruto raised a determined fist. “When I become Hokage, I’ll make sure that our allies know they can count on Konoha!”

Who is this guy? Temari couldn’t help thinking. His words were almost shockingly naive… but Gaara was slowly nodding along? Her infamously impatient, murderous brother… were his lips twitching in a smile? Maybe this is good? We all know what this life is like, but… it could still be better if we actually paid this alliance more than lip service.

“If that is what you seek… we will work to make it so,” Gaara decided, looking from Naruto to his siblings. He hesitated, then added, “Temari… Tell father’s Cabinet of Jiraiya-sama’s assurance that reparations can be minimized if we cooperate in tracking down and apprehending Orochimaru.”

“Just hope they realize it’s in our best interest,” Kankurou muttered.

“I will speak with them when we return,” said Gaara, and both she and Kankurou stared at him in shock. Gaara wants to talk to people?

“You…” Temari swallowed, wishing Naruto and the ANBU weren’t here for this conversation, but knowing she couldn’t ask them to leave. “You know that… you can’t just kill them. Right, Gaara?”

“We shall see,” he replied, eyes sliding shut. “I refuse to be party to our Village’s destruction via a hopeless war. If they refuse to see reason, I will… dismiss them. Even if it means I must take Father’s seat myself.”

“That’s probably the only way they won’t insist on an arranged marriage to resecure the alliance,” Kankurou snarked.

Temari looked back at their guest, who had to be behind this new ambition of Gaara’s. She wasn’t sure if she was expecting him to look as surprised as she felt, or if it would turn out he’d somehow planned this from the beginning… but all she saw looking at him was excitement.

“That would be great!” he exclaimed. “We can both show our villages that there’s more to us than they ever saw before.”

“…Yes,” Gaara murmured, surveying the room again. In the past, that would have made her nervous, even if she would try her best not to show it… but somehow, ever since he’d woken up, the latent sense of barely-controlled danger her baby brother used to give off had vanished completely. He hadn’t even seemed the slightest bit upset a moment ago when she suggested he couldn’t kill someone, which in the past would have been a surefire way to set him off.

It almost felt like… like she could actually talk to him now. And somehow it’s thanks to this kid. This… Uzumaki Naruto.

The kid in question stood up, still smiling, and Temari found herself forced to reevaluate him even as she also rose to see him out the door. As Naruto put his sandals back on, the pair of them watched Kankurou timidly engaging Gaara in conversation… and Gaara actually answering him, just as calmly as before. Is this who Gaara should have been all along? If so… damn Father and Yashamaru-oji for breaking him.

Temari blinked as Naruto turned to her again. “Shitsurei shimasu,” he sounded out, once more bowing a little awkwardly.

This guy… he almost seems like he’s been as isolated as… as Gaara. But instead of turning out murderous, he just kept hoping for the best… Unsure how to articulate everything she was feeling, Temari settled on giving a slightly deeper bow in return, and replied, “Otuskare-sama deshita.”

Naruto

“Ah, it was nothing!” Temari’s sudden and surprisingly humble thanks took him off-guard, and he tried to wave her off nervously, but Temari straightened up and raised an eyebrow.

“You somehow got through to Gaara where no one else could,” she said softly. “You gave us the chance to actually be a family. You deserve the thanks.”

Naruto’s gaze went distant again. “I just… know what it’s like, feeling apart from everyone like that. It’s tough. Really tough. But sometimes all it takes is one person to extend a hand, and then everything starts to turn around.” He focused back on her, and gave a toothy grin. “You’re already reaching out to him too. You’re a great big sister, Temari-chan!”

She blinked, and Naruto felt his cheeks go a little red again.

“Anyway, I’ve gotta meet my team, see ya!” he said, leaping for the rooftop opposite without a backward glance, not seeing the thoughtful expression on Temari’s face as she shut the door.

Glancing at the sun, he judged he had about fifteen minutes before he needed to meet Tenten and Ero-sennin. Let’s make it ten, don’t wanna be late like Kakashi-sensei, he decided, speeding up his roof-hopping. Not to mention I kinda don’t wanna leave her alone with him.

Not examining that thought any further, he sped back to his apartment and scooped up his Go-scroll, the set of supplies he kept prepared at all times in case of an urgent mission. He’d just checked it last week, but he nonetheless spread it across the kitchen table to double-check, revealing a series of storage seals that he released one by one, having Gamakichi and Aoshou review their contents with him.

Several sets of mission clothes in various camouflage patterns, including several handkerchiefs he could use to cover his bright hair at night; hot and cold weather gear, tent, bedroll, firestriker and backup matches, cooking gear, spare kunai and shuriken, whetstone; a couple of mangas, a tsuchibue Jiijii had taught him to play, a deck of cards, and a portable Go board.

After a moment’s consideration, he sealed his orange jacket away in case of cold, electing to stick with his new flak vest over a navy shirt with the red swirl of Uzushio on the sleeve.

Sealing everything away again, he tucked the scroll into his vest, reset his traps, and sped over to the South Gate. Tenten-chan was waiting there, and as he dropped onto the street she straightened up and saluted again like earlier. “Genin Higurashi ready to deploy, taichou.”

Naruto scratched his cheek awkwardly. “Eh, you don’t hafta do that, Tenten-chan. We’re friends, right?”

To his surprise and trepidation, she frowned. “Of course we are, Gutsy-kun,” she said.

He couldn’t help sighing at the rush of relief he felt.

“But that’s no excuse not to be respectful,” Tenten went on. “You heard Jiraiya-sama earlier; on a mission we have to respect the chain of command.” She seemed to read his continued incomprehension in his face and went on. “As your senpai, it’s expected that I’ll teach you things and you’ll defer to my experience. As friends, we’re peers, equals. But right now you’re my commanding officer, and that means I have to separate my role as your subordinate from my roles as senpai and friend. When you give an order, as a genin I have to follow it, and I can’t let our friendship stop me or it could lead to disorganization and hesitation in the field that could get us all killed.”

“But… what if I tell you the wrong thing?”

“Then I’ll just have to hope you realize it quickly and tell me the right thing next,” she shrugged. “If we’re in a planning stage and I have a suggestion for improvement, obviously I’ll say something. But I trust you not to give orders I’d hate. And during an op, or in the middle of a fight? Questioning orders is how nin die.”

“She’s right,” said Jiraiya’s voice, and they both startled when they realized he was squatting right beside them. “Milliseconds can make the difference between a plan going off without a hitch, or everything going catastrophically wrong. As a chuunin, you have to make the plans and be able to trust your subordinates to follow orders, not wander off to do their own thing.”

Naruto was frowning himself now, folding his arms. That all makes sense, but… I don’t want to treat people like I don’t know them; like they’re not my friends. Fighting for my precious people is why I was able to beat Gaara. Although… I guess this is what Kakashi-sensei was trying to teach us, he realized. These are the rules we sometimes have to break to save our comrades. But that means we expect to follow them the rest of the time. I… I think I can do that.

Seeing him nod, Jiraiya got back to his feet. “We should get going, then. Lots of ground to cover if we want to meet with my contact tonight. I’ll take point, and we’ll move out on your word, Chuunin Uzumaki.”

Naruto looked up at Hokage Rock for a moment, his gaze lingering on Jiijii’s face and the ominous crack across it before settling on the Yondaime’s features. His father’s features. Did you feel this nervous when you led your first mission? Perhaps Ero-sennin would know.

Setting his jaw, he sad, “Let’s go.”

A/N: If you’re enjoying this story, feel free to check out my discord server at https://discord.gg/H6V854Fvbg

Maruboshi Kosuke notes in Shippuuden that he has been a genin for 50 years. Assuming he’s not rounding severely, that puts his graduation (presumably at age 10 or so) ~34 years before Naruto’s birth (i.e. ~46 years ago). This is in between the estimated graduation years of Hiruzen (ID 000261) and Jiraiya (ID 002301), and approximately the same year that Hashirama convened the first Gokage Gaiden (五影会談, lit. ‘Five Shadow Summit’), sold several bijuu to the other nations, and then promptly died and left the hat to his brother.

村 (‘-son’ or ‘-mura’) means ‘village’, and is a different word with a slightly different connotation than 里 (‘sato’), which is the kanji Konoha itself uses for ‘village’. Other administrative divisions are, in order of increasing size: 町 (‘-chō’ or ‘-machi’) roughly meaning ‘town’; and 市 (‘-shi’) meaning ‘city’.Takitsuke-son (焚き付け村, lit. ‘Kindling Village’) isn’t from the anime or manga, but there have to be more towns and places in Fire Country that we haven’t seen.

Aiming for nonvitals is my attempt at a ninja-specific idiom; compare ‘beating around the bush’.

Glossary (not counting honorifics)

Habu (波布) – the common name for several venomous Japanese snakes

Seishin (精神, lit. ‘spirit’) – the mental or ‘yin’ component of chakra, contrasted with shintai (身体, lit. ‘body’), the physical or ‘yang’ component.

Kitsune-gao (狐顔, lit. ‘fox face’) – [usually of a woman] having a facial shape with narrow eyes and high cheekbones

I-nin (い・にん) – further abbreviation of Iryō-nin.

Yu no Kuni (湯の国, lit. ‘Land [Country] of Hot Water’)

Nami no Kuni (波の国, lit. ‘Land of Waves’)

Kubikiribōchō (首斬り包丁, lit. ‘Decapitating Carving Knife’) – Zabuza’s sword, last seen marking his grave; also known as Dantō (断刀, lit. ‘Seversword’)

Shichi no yōtō (七の妖刀, lit. ‘Seven Mystical Blades’)

Kō Butai (工部隊, lit. ‘Engineering Corps’) – something I figure must exist

Taichō (隊長) – ‘leader’ or ‘captain’

genkan (玄関, lit. ‘mysterious barrier’) – the space in a Japanese house where you take off your shoes

Ojyama shimasu (お邪魔します, lit. ‘I’m going to be a nuisance’) – functionally something like ‘pardon the intrusion’ when you enter someone’s home.

Keigo (敬語, lit. ‘respectful language’) – Japanese has a lot of variation between different registers of speech, and Naruto (being an orphan and poor student) doesn’t observe most of them, but I’m guessing some people have at least tried to teach him the basics.

Shitsurei shimasu (失礼します, lit. ‘I have been rude’) – a variation of ojyama shimasu with a similar meaning

Otuskare-sama Deshita (おつかれさまでした) – a rote but polite way of thanking someone for their effort while acknowledging the work was difficult

Tsuchibue (土笛, lit. ‘earthen flute’) – a vessel flute instrument similar to an ocarina, originating in China (there called a xūn 塤)