Ayame looked surprised at that, but shook off her surprise as she went to get Naruto his requested drink.
"So you're a Jounin Sensei, I did not see that coming." Kushina said as she looked at Naruto with a frown.
The boy looked only a year or two older than Erza and Mito, far too young to be a Jounin. Then again there were some Shinobi, like Itchai Uchiha and Kakashi who were so skilled they were promoted young, but Shinobi like those were often well known.
Naruto shrugged at that. "We are Shinobi; you always have to expect the unexpected."
...
Kushina smiled as she heard that, her eyes glazing over as if she were remembering something. "You know that line of yours reminds me of something a family friend used to say. He always used to say that 'you must always look underneath the underneath.'"
"Wise words" Naruto said with a nod, before a frown crossed over his face as he tried to work out which family friend she was talking about. "So who said that? Is it anyone I would know?"
Kushina sigh sadly at that before giving the pale skinned boy next to her a faint smile. "You probably will have heard of him, he was pretty famous, Kakashi Hatake."
Naruto hid a cringe at that, he knew the man, and he had in fact met him, and then killed him.
"Unfortunately he died recently, out on a mission in Wave." Kushina continued a sad expression still on her face as she hugged Naruko to her, the blonde bundle of joy having become quiet, no doubt having sensed her mothers mood.
"Come with being a Shinobi." Naruto replied as he took a small glass of whiskey of Ayame with a smile. "We have dangerous professions, and when on the field we are constantly dancing with death. Sometimes we win and sometime we lose."
"How old are you again?" Kushina replied dryly as she heard Naruto's cynical statement, before she let out another sigh, not expecting a reply.
"I understand why he died, and so does my husband, he was on a mission and he got in a fight with some other Shinobi. It doesn't dull the pain of loss though, nor does understanding why something happened make it alright."
Naruto took a large gulp of whiskey at that, even as he thought back to his fight with Kakashi. The man was certainly strong and skilled, so much so that Naruto doubted he would have been able to prevail had it not been for his abilities.
Even so though Kakashi had gone into the fight knowing he might die, just as Naruto had, this was why he felt no guilt when he looked back. The Shinobi world was sometimes kill or be killed, that was a fact.
"Old enough to know how the world works." Naruto replied with a shrug, once again taking a drink of his whiskey, enjoying the burning feeling of the spirit as it travelled down his throat.
"You've seen war haven't you? I can tell that much, I am going to guess you fought in the Kiri Rebellion?"Kushina asked her tone somber as she looked at Naruto thoughtfully, her eyes trailing over the numerous small crisscrossing scars he had on his arms and hands.
"Aye" Naruto replied with a shrug.
"I was originally a member of the Outcasts, we were always in the thick of the fighting, even Shinobi like me who were only supposed to be acting as support at the time. I saw my fair share of fighting, enough to know that anything can happen in a fight."
A sad expression crossed Kushina's face as she saw how jaded this boy was, a boy who was probably only little older than her son would have been. It was sad, but Kushina also knew that with an attitude like his he would be able to survive the Shinobi world.
All too often she saw idealistic genin who thought being a Shinobi was all about saving princess and suing flashy jutsu, it was those kind of kids who either gave up being a Shinobi or died early.
"So on a lighter note" Naruto began deciding to change the subject, the faint smile on Kushina's face told him that she appreciated it. "Have you got any genin sitting the exam?"
Kushina smiled at that, before confidently stating. "I have a team entering and they are going to crush the competition."
"Those sound like fighting words to me?" Naruto replied challengingly. "How about a bet?"
"Name it." Kushina replied confidently.
"If the entire of my team, Team One makes it to the finals and not all of your team does, then you have to buy me as much Ramen as I can eat." Naruto said with a smile, deciding to get into the swing of things now.
"And the same goes for you."
"Oh you poor, poor boy." Kushina replied as she shook her head solemnly, even as Ayame placed her usual order on the table before her. Her usual order consisted of six bowls of Ramen, to start. "You don't know what you are getting into."
Naruto's eyes widened as he saw the sheer amount of food in front of his mother, he had forgotten just how much she was able to eat.
...
It was half an hour later and Naruto was walking down the streets of Konoha, his stomach full of a pleasant mixture of ramen and whiskey.
His conversation with Kushina had been quite pleasant, he hadn't revealed himself to be her long lost son, but nor had he scorned and avoided her. Instead he had engaged her in a rather pleasant conversation, something that wasn't usual between two different Shinobi from different Villages.
From speaking to Kushina he had learnt that she did not blame Kiri for Kakashi's death, she certainly blamed Grimm but it appeared she had cooled down slightly since she had first heard. She was still obviously upset about it though, there was no mistaking that.
For the most part Naruto had been quite vague when talking, he told her a few amusing stories from his time as a young Shinobi during the war, to which she shared some of her earlier experiences as a Shinobi.
What they discussed was completely harmless, and had nothing to do with secrets from the others Village, no doubt if that topic of conversation had come up, they would both find an excuse to break off the conversation as quickly as possible.
Now though Naruto decided it was time to get to work, he hadn't come to Konoha for a holiday after all. He had come to assess the Shinobi forces of Konoha, Suna and Oto and to find out more about the Otokage's plan and Konoha's defenses.
Speaking to the Hokage's wife about mundane things was not getting the job done. This was why Naruto was currently walking down Konoha's main thoroughfare, keeping an eye on all the foreign and native Shinobi wandering around, mentally noting own the numbers as he did so.
Besides which he had also borrow (stolen) a copy of the gate guards list on foreign Shinobi coming into the Village for the Chunin Exams.
Now someone might ask why he was just walking out in the open and not sneaking around and spying. Well he had a reason for that and that reason were the dozens of well concealed Konoha ANBU that were on the roof tops keeping an eye on all the foreign Shinobi as they walked around Konoha.
Sometimes the best way to spy on people, is by going about things like you would on any other day, trying to hide yourself would only draw attention to yourself
As he was walking down the street Naruto heard some loud commotion coming from the end of the street next to him. Turning to see what could have caused such a disturbance in a relatively crowded public place, he soon found his feet leading him in that direction.
The cause of the disturbance appeared to be Naruto's own sisters; both Erza and Mito were currently taking turns shouting at another pair of Shinobi. As he approached Naruto looked closely at Erza, it had been three years since he had last seen her, and like Mito she had grown up.
She was taller and more mature now, her unbound red hair falling to her waist, and her body clad in light body armour. At her side was a sheathed sword, though Naruto knew from memory that she did not really need it.
Standing beside her was Mito, the girl had surprisingly changed from the last time he saw her over a month ago, she held herself differently, she stood stronger and more confidently.
But more than that he could see that she had Fuuinjutsu script now running down her arms and hands, Naruto himself was quite adept at Fuuinjutsu, Mei having given him access to the knowledge Kiri had managed to salvage from Uzu after Iwa and Kumo invaded it.
Even so though, he knew he was no master of the art, just as he knew just by looking hat Mito's Fuuinjutsu script was much better than his own which he had tattooed on his wrists.
Tearing his eyes away from his sisters, Naruto instead glanced at the other people in the street, curious to see who would pick a fight with the Hokage's daughters in the middle of Konoha.
One of the other people in the street arguing with Naruto's siblings and contributing to all of the noise was a Shinobi from Suna who was wearing what looked to be a full body suit that had cat ears. The 'boy?' it appeared was also wearing thick and clown-like makeup and had something on his back.
Standing besides the boy wearing makeup was a pretty girl around Naruto's own age; she had a large iron fan strapped to her back. She had a purple clothing garment that went down halfway to her thighs and her blonde hair was fashioned into four ponytails.
To complete the scene of utter chaos that was in front of him, Naruto was able recognize the little boy that was hiding behind his sister Erza's legs, a scared expression on his face as Konohamaru Sarutobi.
Naruto slowed his approach as he took all this in; he was able to recognize the two Suna Shinobi. They were Temari and Kankaro, the two elder children of the Kazakage.
He had seen that these two Shinobi were registered to be taking part, as to, was their younger brother, Gaara, who also happened to be the Jinchurriki of the One Tailed Beast.
It had not taken Kiri's intelligence agents to work out that little nugget of information, and the fact that such a volatile and unpredictable Shinobi had been brought to Konoha brought up a lot of questions.
Naruto had already begun to suspect that Suna's prime weapon had been brought to Konoha for the invasion, meaning that the boy might be a lynch pin upon which the invasion relies.
Concentrating Naruto could also find the faint signs of five other people, all of whom were watching the spectacle, suppressing their chakra as they did so. Four of these were genin, but the fifth was more powerful, no doubt he was an ANBU noting down what he saw and preparing to step in if necessary.
Speaking of the brother Naruto was quickly able to track the powerful Bijuu soul he held in his body, allowing him to find the boy. Who at that moment was currently hanging just out of sight from a nearby tree branch, his eyes fixed on the ongoing argument.
"Listen here, the brat ran into me and almost knocked me on my ass. As such I think it is only justified that I teach the Konoha brat here some manners!" Kankuro shouted his face flushed from anger and embarrassment as he glared at the cowering form of the boy who had caught him by surprise.
"Kankuro just let it go. We don't need to go causing any trouble here in a foreign village." Temari said as she noticed that people had begun to take notice of the loud ongoing argument, and so tried to get her brother to cool down and see reason, before something unfortunate happened.
They could not afford for anything to go wrong, not at this point, the future of their Village may rest on this.
"I refuse to allow you to hurt the boy. He is a member of Konoha and so is under my protection." Erza replied resolutely, as she glared down at Kankuro, refusing to move or be intimidated.
"If you lay a hand on the boy I will cut it off." She added in dangerously, her hand resting on the handle of her sword as she did so.
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