When Tsunade had given the order for her jounin guards to go and retrieve Naruto, she had expected that it would take them maybe half-an-hour at the most, since his apartment was on the other side of the village. Thus, when they finally dragged him into her office almost five hours later, they were treated to the sight of the Hokage glaring at them.
ôFor future reference, when I say I want someone brought here æright now,Æ it means immediately, and not at your leisure!ö she snapped at the guards. The long and unexpected wait had done nothing to improve her irate mood.
The two of them had the good sense to look ashamed at the rebuke. ôWeÆre sorry, Hokage-sama,ö said one of them. ôWe had to chase him down to get him here; heÆs very good at running away.ö
ôIt took two jounins the better part of a day to track down a single genin,ö she drawled, watching as the two shifted uncomfortably and looked at the ground. Her gaze then moved to Naruto, who was looking at her with an expression that shifted every few moments from irked to worried and back again. ôAnd as for youàyou finally crossed the line brat. This morning was the last straw.ö She waved a hand carelessly at the guards, ôyou two are dismissed.ö
The two had just started to walk towards the door when Naruto, impatient as ever, spoke up. ôHey! ItÆs not my fault that you flashed me! I didnÆt ask to see you topless!ö
Tsunade blew up. ôI did not flash you, you little pervert! You snuck into my bedroom and looked at me while I was still waking up!ö The arrogance of that little bastard was overwhelming! How dare he try to say that what had happened was her fault! And that wasnÆt even mentioning the fact that he actually had the gall to suggest that seeing her in nothing but a negligee hadnÆt been incredible for him!
ôWell maybe if you hadnÆt worn such a slutty outfit to bed, I wouldnÆt have seen anything! Honestly, what kind of woman wears a shirt thatÆs transparent?!ö As he watched the view in her forehead throb, Naruto knew that he was digging himself deeper and deeper into what could very well, if this morning was any indication, be his grave. But he couldnÆt help it; as far as he was concerned, he was the victim here. If the old lady had just been sensible and agreed to let him look for Sasuke in the first place, then he wouldnÆt have had to keep asking now would he? And it wasnÆt like he went to her room this morning trying to get an eyeful! She had just sat up and shown him her goods!
Neither of them noticed the two guards, who hadnÆt made it out of the room yet, watching the conversation with ever-widening eyes.
ôÆS-sluttyàÆ?ö TsunadeÆs hands gripped the edges of her desk so hard that cracks began to appear in the wood, and it was only with an extreme act of will that she refrained from lifting the desk over her head and bringing it down on NarutoÆs; it was only the fact that he was a kid, and a Konoha ninja, that saved her from leaping across the room to bludgeon him to death. As it was, the look in her eyes made him step back, and the guards ran for the cover of the hall. Both of them wished Shizune-san was there, since she was best at dealing with the Hokage, but the medical-nin was out on a mission.
The silence was deafening, broken only by the sound of TsunadeÆs labored breathing as she fought to swallow her fury at the little bastardÆs temerity. It took five minutes, during which Naruto amazingly managed to keep his mouth shut, but finally Tsunade trusted herself to speak again.
ôNarutoàyou are hereby removed from active duty as a ninja for the next year.ö SheÆd only been planning on making it two months, the same amount of time heÆd been driving her crazy, but that little comment had cost him dearly.
ôWhat?!ö NarutoÆs fear of TsunadeÆs wrath was utterly drowned beneath the sense of outrage that swelled in him at her statement. ôYou canÆt do that!!!ö
ôThe hell I canÆt!ö She retorted, feeling a sense of spiteful glee at finally getting the little jerk right where it hurt. ôIÆm the Hokage of Konoha, and I say that youÆre not going to be taking a single mission, not even the lowliest D-rank assignment, for the next full year!ö
ôBut who the hell will search for Sasuke?!ö
ôNo one, damn it!ö After two months of having this same conversation nearly every day, Tsunade was thoroughly fed up with it. It was time to put this for bed once and for all. ôSasuke Uchiha is gone, Naruto! Gone! HeÆs with Orochimaru, and we donÆt know where that is! No one has the slightest lead about his whereabouts, and thereÆs no point in wasting the resources to look for him when weÆre still trying to recover from a war! Do you not get that?! Sasuke is gone and thereàisànothingàö she stressed those last three words as much as she possibly could, ôthat you can do about it!ö
Naruto opened his mouth to protest, ready to go to the mat on this one, but Tsunade beat him to the punch.
ôYou are off of mission duty for the next year Naruto, and every time you protest my decision, IÆll add another month to that!ö
She fell silent at that, and watched as he stood there, seething in impotent fury. Finally feeling some of her frustrations from the last few hours, no, from the last few weeks, abate, Tsunade gave a sigh and sank back into her chair. She let Naruto stew for almost a minute, glaring at her hatefully, until she finally spoke again.
ôIn the meantime IÆm ordering you to get a job. I donÆt care what job it is, but it canÆt be anything that has you leaving the village, do you understand? You can do whatever you want, but you have to stay here.ö
Now it was NarutoÆs turn to have to choke down the anger he was feeling. He couldnÆt protest the decision not to chase Sasuke, since thatÆd just make the old woman make him waste more time, but maybe he could at least make her realize that she was being unreasonable. ôNo one will hire me,ö he huffed.
ôHm?ö
ôNo one will hire me, baachan.ö He smirked internally as he saw her eye twitch at that name. He could at least get her back a little. ôIÆm only thirteen, and besides, IÆm the Kyuubi kid, remember? NobodyÆll give me a job.ö
Tsunade frowned at that; the little jerk had a point. Between his age, and how the people in the village who didnÆt know him very well were, from what she understood, prejudiced against him, it wasnÆt likely heÆd find any sort of decent work. But she wasnÆt about to let him get out of his punishment due to a technicalityà
ôPick a job Naruto, and IÆll use my authority to make sure you get it.ö
Naruto blinked at that, surprised. ôSeriously? Any job?ö
Tsunade nodded. ôYou canÆt just walk into a place and demand a job if they arenÆt hiring, but yes. If thereÆs an opening for a position that you want, just tell me, and IÆll make sure you get it.ö She paused, and then added, ôAnd you have to pick one by the end of the day.ö
Frowning, Naruto put a hand under his chin, eyes narrowing in thought. Any job he wanted? Thatàmight almost be interesting.
ôFine, IÆll be back later.ö And with that, he turned and walked out of her office, not even asking permission to be allowed to leave. Tsunade snorted at his cheeky behavior, but let it go. SheÆd finally gotten him to stop pestering her, and bought herself an entire year of peace. She wasnÆt worried about the job thing either; knowing Naruto, heÆd get a position making ramen at IchirakuÆs or something. Drawing in and then exhaling a deep breath as she felt her tension from before finally starting to ease, Tsunade turned her attention back to the business of Konohaà
* * * * *
Had Tsunade been keeping tabs on Naruto, she would have found out that she was half-right about him. He was indeed at IchirakuÆs, but it was just to eat lunch, not look for a job, since Naruto knew well enough that old man Ichiraku already had all the help he needed with his daughter, Ayame, working there. HeÆd been hoping that some of his peers would be there so he could at least moan into a sympathetic ear about how bitchy Tsunade-baachan was being, but the lunch crowd had already come and gone, so all he could do was complain to the father-daughter team working there.
ôàand then she says that IÆm off of mission duty for a year! Can you believe it?! An entire year!ö moaned Naruto, already on his second bowl of ramen as he drowned his sorrows. ôAnd when I asked whoÆd search for Sasuke, she said no one would!ö
ôThatÆs pretty rough,ö nodded Ichiraku. He hadnÆt been paying too much attention, since he was already preparing for the dinner crowd, and since Naruto often complained about things over his food. Still, it was always better to make your customers feel valued and appreciated so that theyÆd come back for more, and Naruto was, hands down, his best customer.
ôEven so, Naruto-kun, you shouldnÆt have been peeping on her,ö admonished Ayame with a gentle smile as she brought Naruto another bowl of ramen. HeÆd already picked out the first half-dozen dishes heÆd wanted when heÆd walked in. ôNo woman likes it when a guy spies on her like that.ö
ôI wasnÆt peeping!ö exclaimed Naruto indignantly, ôI just wanted to ask her about going on a mission! I didnÆt know sheÆd be dressed so indecently!ö
ôWell, if a guy goes into a girlÆs room without permission, thereÆs a good chance that she might be changing or something, so itÆs still considered perverted.ö Tsked Ayame good-naturedly. She couldnÆt wait until her next break to go spread the juicy gossip about how the new Hokage apparently slept in such daring outfits! Who knew that Tsunade-sama had such a wild side!
ôHmph.ö Naruto had no good way to counter what Ayame had said, so he did the next best thing: he ignored it. ôAnd now IÆve got to find a job. I donÆt even know where to look for a job!ö
ôWell, you could start looking in there,ö said Ichiraku, nodding towards the other side of the shop. Blinking, Naruto glanced over, needing a moment before he realized the older man was indicating the discarded newspaper lying in a booth. ôThat should have some job listings in it.ö
ôAh, thanks old man!ö grinned Naruto as he went over to retrieve the paper, returning to his bowl of ramen before he started to rifle through it. Hopefully Konoha would have something good to offerà
* * * * *
The sun was just barely touching the horizon when Naruto trudged back towards the HokageÆs tower. Looking through the newspaper had been an excellent reminder of just why being a ninja was so much better than having to work like a normal person. HeÆd hadnÆt considered that much before, since heÆd wanted to become the Hokage purely as a way to make the people of Konoha recognize him, but looking through the available job listings had quickly driven the point home.
It wasnÆt that there werenÆt any jobs; far from it, there had been quite a few listed. It was just that either all of them sucked, or that he wasnÆt qualified for them. The opening at the Yamanaka flower shop hadnÆt seemed so bad, for example, until heÆd actually gone there and asked Ino about it. The girlÆs snooty attitude had been bad enough û honestly, at least Sakura was cute when she was like that û but Naruto had quickly come to realize that ôfloral maintenanceö was just a nice way of saying ôwatering, pruning, and potting plants all day,ö and that ôshop upkeepö meant sweeping, dusting, and generally acting like a maid for the store. Just thinking about doing that for a year had been enough to make Naruto contemplate suicide from the boredom.
ThereÆd been another job listing that had offered incredible pay, few hours, and great benefits, and Naruto had tracked it down determined that thatÆd be his job for the next year. Unfortunately, that dream had died a spectacular death when heÆd arrived at the hospital and theyÆd explained to him exactly what ôproctologyö actually meant. Naruto still shuddered at the thought û he wasnÆt sure what was worse, the idea that some people did that for a living, or the thought of being in a position where you had to go see such a person.
It had been like that most of the day. Naruto would scan the paper for a job that looked halfway decent, and then track it down to see if it was still available, only to find that the job was actually really crappy, or was one he didnÆt know how to work. There had been a few gems tucked away in there, but of course heÆd found the people whoÆd placed the ads only to be politely informed that theyÆd already been filled before heÆd gotten there.
With the day drawing to a close, Naruto could only sigh as he headed back to see Tsunade. Screw it, he was going to have to take the opening at InoÆs shop. It wasnÆt the best work in the world, heavens knew that, but it still beat out all the alternatives he was qualified to workàeven if the pay was crappy.
Walking into the HokageÆs tower, Naruto gave a polite smile to the secretary behind the deskàand paused as a piece of paper on the bulletin board behind her caught his eye. Slowly to a stop, he leaned over the desk to peer at it closer. ôExcuse me, miss, whatÆs that?ö he asked, pointing to the piece of paper in question. It looked like a sign-up sheet of some sort, but heÆd noticed the word ôpositionö at the top.
ôAh, this? ItÆs the waiting list to be the teacher for the Advanced Infiltration shinobi class.ö She retrieved the paper as she spoke, handing it to Naruto. ôThinking of signing up huh?ö she grinned, ôPretty good idea, since you have to wait a long time to be an instructor for this.ö
SheÆd said that last part in a wry voice, the kind that implied certain information without saying it, but Naruto wasnÆt listening by that point. Instead, he was looking over the sheet with a growing grin. Thisàthis was perfect! It said it taught infiltration techniques like jutsus and disguises; this was perfect for him! After all, hadnÆt he invented the famous Sexy no Jutsu before heÆd even been out of the Academy? And the pay was phenomenal, to say nothing of only being a nine-month class!
A quick glance outside showed Naruto that the sun was already halfway set, which meant he had no time left to read the more detailed description on the back of the sheet. He was about to go run up to the HokageÆs office and tell her that heÆd made his choice, when the memory of that embarrassing incident at the hospital came back to him. Better to do a quick check now just in case.
ôMiss, does this job involve uncomfortably probing people?ö
ôAh,ö the secretary blushed. What a daring young boy! ôWellànoàö After all, from what sheÆd heard, it was anything but uncomfortable.
ôGreat! Thanks!ö And with that, Naruto grinned, running upstairs, paper in hand. He was sure that this was the job for him, completely unaware of what he was about to get himself intoà
ôFor future reference, when I say I want someone brought here æright now,Æ it means immediately, and not at your leisure!ö she snapped at the guards. The long and unexpected wait had done nothing to improve her irate mood.
The two of them had the good sense to look ashamed at the rebuke. ôWeÆre sorry, Hokage-sama,ö said one of them. ôWe had to chase him down to get him here; heÆs very good at running away.ö
ôIt took two jounins the better part of a day to track down a single genin,ö she drawled, watching as the two shifted uncomfortably and looked at the ground. Her gaze then moved to Naruto, who was looking at her with an expression that shifted every few moments from irked to worried and back again. ôAnd as for youàyou finally crossed the line brat. This morning was the last straw.ö She waved a hand carelessly at the guards, ôyou two are dismissed.ö
The two had just started to walk towards the door when Naruto, impatient as ever, spoke up. ôHey! ItÆs not my fault that you flashed me! I didnÆt ask to see you topless!ö
Tsunade blew up. ôI did not flash you, you little pervert! You snuck into my bedroom and looked at me while I was still waking up!ö The arrogance of that little bastard was overwhelming! How dare he try to say that what had happened was her fault! And that wasnÆt even mentioning the fact that he actually had the gall to suggest that seeing her in nothing but a negligee hadnÆt been incredible for him!
ôWell maybe if you hadnÆt worn such a slutty outfit to bed, I wouldnÆt have seen anything! Honestly, what kind of woman wears a shirt thatÆs transparent?!ö As he watched the view in her forehead throb, Naruto knew that he was digging himself deeper and deeper into what could very well, if this morning was any indication, be his grave. But he couldnÆt help it; as far as he was concerned, he was the victim here. If the old lady had just been sensible and agreed to let him look for Sasuke in the first place, then he wouldnÆt have had to keep asking now would he? And it wasnÆt like he went to her room this morning trying to get an eyeful! She had just sat up and shown him her goods!
Neither of them noticed the two guards, who hadnÆt made it out of the room yet, watching the conversation with ever-widening eyes.
ôÆS-sluttyàÆ?ö TsunadeÆs hands gripped the edges of her desk so hard that cracks began to appear in the wood, and it was only with an extreme act of will that she refrained from lifting the desk over her head and bringing it down on NarutoÆs; it was only the fact that he was a kid, and a Konoha ninja, that saved her from leaping across the room to bludgeon him to death. As it was, the look in her eyes made him step back, and the guards ran for the cover of the hall. Both of them wished Shizune-san was there, since she was best at dealing with the Hokage, but the medical-nin was out on a mission.
The silence was deafening, broken only by the sound of TsunadeÆs labored breathing as she fought to swallow her fury at the little bastardÆs temerity. It took five minutes, during which Naruto amazingly managed to keep his mouth shut, but finally Tsunade trusted herself to speak again.
ôNarutoàyou are hereby removed from active duty as a ninja for the next year.ö SheÆd only been planning on making it two months, the same amount of time heÆd been driving her crazy, but that little comment had cost him dearly.
ôWhat?!ö NarutoÆs fear of TsunadeÆs wrath was utterly drowned beneath the sense of outrage that swelled in him at her statement. ôYou canÆt do that!!!ö
ôThe hell I canÆt!ö She retorted, feeling a sense of spiteful glee at finally getting the little jerk right where it hurt. ôIÆm the Hokage of Konoha, and I say that youÆre not going to be taking a single mission, not even the lowliest D-rank assignment, for the next full year!ö
ôBut who the hell will search for Sasuke?!ö
ôNo one, damn it!ö After two months of having this same conversation nearly every day, Tsunade was thoroughly fed up with it. It was time to put this for bed once and for all. ôSasuke Uchiha is gone, Naruto! Gone! HeÆs with Orochimaru, and we donÆt know where that is! No one has the slightest lead about his whereabouts, and thereÆs no point in wasting the resources to look for him when weÆre still trying to recover from a war! Do you not get that?! Sasuke is gone and thereàisànothingàö she stressed those last three words as much as she possibly could, ôthat you can do about it!ö
Naruto opened his mouth to protest, ready to go to the mat on this one, but Tsunade beat him to the punch.
ôYou are off of mission duty for the next year Naruto, and every time you protest my decision, IÆll add another month to that!ö
She fell silent at that, and watched as he stood there, seething in impotent fury. Finally feeling some of her frustrations from the last few hours, no, from the last few weeks, abate, Tsunade gave a sigh and sank back into her chair. She let Naruto stew for almost a minute, glaring at her hatefully, until she finally spoke again.
ôIn the meantime IÆm ordering you to get a job. I donÆt care what job it is, but it canÆt be anything that has you leaving the village, do you understand? You can do whatever you want, but you have to stay here.ö
Now it was NarutoÆs turn to have to choke down the anger he was feeling. He couldnÆt protest the decision not to chase Sasuke, since thatÆd just make the old woman make him waste more time, but maybe he could at least make her realize that she was being unreasonable. ôNo one will hire me,ö he huffed.
ôHm?ö
ôNo one will hire me, baachan.ö He smirked internally as he saw her eye twitch at that name. He could at least get her back a little. ôIÆm only thirteen, and besides, IÆm the Kyuubi kid, remember? NobodyÆll give me a job.ö
Tsunade frowned at that; the little jerk had a point. Between his age, and how the people in the village who didnÆt know him very well were, from what she understood, prejudiced against him, it wasnÆt likely heÆd find any sort of decent work. But she wasnÆt about to let him get out of his punishment due to a technicalityà
ôPick a job Naruto, and IÆll use my authority to make sure you get it.ö
Naruto blinked at that, surprised. ôSeriously? Any job?ö
Tsunade nodded. ôYou canÆt just walk into a place and demand a job if they arenÆt hiring, but yes. If thereÆs an opening for a position that you want, just tell me, and IÆll make sure you get it.ö She paused, and then added, ôAnd you have to pick one by the end of the day.ö
Frowning, Naruto put a hand under his chin, eyes narrowing in thought. Any job he wanted? Thatàmight almost be interesting.
ôFine, IÆll be back later.ö And with that, he turned and walked out of her office, not even asking permission to be allowed to leave. Tsunade snorted at his cheeky behavior, but let it go. SheÆd finally gotten him to stop pestering her, and bought herself an entire year of peace. She wasnÆt worried about the job thing either; knowing Naruto, heÆd get a position making ramen at IchirakuÆs or something. Drawing in and then exhaling a deep breath as she felt her tension from before finally starting to ease, Tsunade turned her attention back to the business of Konohaà
* * * * *
Had Tsunade been keeping tabs on Naruto, she would have found out that she was half-right about him. He was indeed at IchirakuÆs, but it was just to eat lunch, not look for a job, since Naruto knew well enough that old man Ichiraku already had all the help he needed with his daughter, Ayame, working there. HeÆd been hoping that some of his peers would be there so he could at least moan into a sympathetic ear about how bitchy Tsunade-baachan was being, but the lunch crowd had already come and gone, so all he could do was complain to the father-daughter team working there.
ôàand then she says that IÆm off of mission duty for a year! Can you believe it?! An entire year!ö moaned Naruto, already on his second bowl of ramen as he drowned his sorrows. ôAnd when I asked whoÆd search for Sasuke, she said no one would!ö
ôThatÆs pretty rough,ö nodded Ichiraku. He hadnÆt been paying too much attention, since he was already preparing for the dinner crowd, and since Naruto often complained about things over his food. Still, it was always better to make your customers feel valued and appreciated so that theyÆd come back for more, and Naruto was, hands down, his best customer.
ôEven so, Naruto-kun, you shouldnÆt have been peeping on her,ö admonished Ayame with a gentle smile as she brought Naruto another bowl of ramen. HeÆd already picked out the first half-dozen dishes heÆd wanted when heÆd walked in. ôNo woman likes it when a guy spies on her like that.ö
ôI wasnÆt peeping!ö exclaimed Naruto indignantly, ôI just wanted to ask her about going on a mission! I didnÆt know sheÆd be dressed so indecently!ö
ôWell, if a guy goes into a girlÆs room without permission, thereÆs a good chance that she might be changing or something, so itÆs still considered perverted.ö Tsked Ayame good-naturedly. She couldnÆt wait until her next break to go spread the juicy gossip about how the new Hokage apparently slept in such daring outfits! Who knew that Tsunade-sama had such a wild side!
ôHmph.ö Naruto had no good way to counter what Ayame had said, so he did the next best thing: he ignored it. ôAnd now IÆve got to find a job. I donÆt even know where to look for a job!ö
ôWell, you could start looking in there,ö said Ichiraku, nodding towards the other side of the shop. Blinking, Naruto glanced over, needing a moment before he realized the older man was indicating the discarded newspaper lying in a booth. ôThat should have some job listings in it.ö
ôAh, thanks old man!ö grinned Naruto as he went over to retrieve the paper, returning to his bowl of ramen before he started to rifle through it. Hopefully Konoha would have something good to offerà
* * * * *
The sun was just barely touching the horizon when Naruto trudged back towards the HokageÆs tower. Looking through the newspaper had been an excellent reminder of just why being a ninja was so much better than having to work like a normal person. HeÆd hadnÆt considered that much before, since heÆd wanted to become the Hokage purely as a way to make the people of Konoha recognize him, but looking through the available job listings had quickly driven the point home.
It wasnÆt that there werenÆt any jobs; far from it, there had been quite a few listed. It was just that either all of them sucked, or that he wasnÆt qualified for them. The opening at the Yamanaka flower shop hadnÆt seemed so bad, for example, until heÆd actually gone there and asked Ino about it. The girlÆs snooty attitude had been bad enough û honestly, at least Sakura was cute when she was like that û but Naruto had quickly come to realize that ôfloral maintenanceö was just a nice way of saying ôwatering, pruning, and potting plants all day,ö and that ôshop upkeepö meant sweeping, dusting, and generally acting like a maid for the store. Just thinking about doing that for a year had been enough to make Naruto contemplate suicide from the boredom.
ThereÆd been another job listing that had offered incredible pay, few hours, and great benefits, and Naruto had tracked it down determined that thatÆd be his job for the next year. Unfortunately, that dream had died a spectacular death when heÆd arrived at the hospital and theyÆd explained to him exactly what ôproctologyö actually meant. Naruto still shuddered at the thought û he wasnÆt sure what was worse, the idea that some people did that for a living, or the thought of being in a position where you had to go see such a person.
It had been like that most of the day. Naruto would scan the paper for a job that looked halfway decent, and then track it down to see if it was still available, only to find that the job was actually really crappy, or was one he didnÆt know how to work. There had been a few gems tucked away in there, but of course heÆd found the people whoÆd placed the ads only to be politely informed that theyÆd already been filled before heÆd gotten there.
With the day drawing to a close, Naruto could only sigh as he headed back to see Tsunade. Screw it, he was going to have to take the opening at InoÆs shop. It wasnÆt the best work in the world, heavens knew that, but it still beat out all the alternatives he was qualified to workàeven if the pay was crappy.
Walking into the HokageÆs tower, Naruto gave a polite smile to the secretary behind the deskàand paused as a piece of paper on the bulletin board behind her caught his eye. Slowly to a stop, he leaned over the desk to peer at it closer. ôExcuse me, miss, whatÆs that?ö he asked, pointing to the piece of paper in question. It looked like a sign-up sheet of some sort, but heÆd noticed the word ôpositionö at the top.
ôAh, this? ItÆs the waiting list to be the teacher for the Advanced Infiltration shinobi class.ö She retrieved the paper as she spoke, handing it to Naruto. ôThinking of signing up huh?ö she grinned, ôPretty good idea, since you have to wait a long time to be an instructor for this.ö
SheÆd said that last part in a wry voice, the kind that implied certain information without saying it, but Naruto wasnÆt listening by that point. Instead, he was looking over the sheet with a growing grin. Thisàthis was perfect! It said it taught infiltration techniques like jutsus and disguises; this was perfect for him! After all, hadnÆt he invented the famous Sexy no Jutsu before heÆd even been out of the Academy? And the pay was phenomenal, to say nothing of only being a nine-month class!
A quick glance outside showed Naruto that the sun was already halfway set, which meant he had no time left to read the more detailed description on the back of the sheet. He was about to go run up to the HokageÆs office and tell her that heÆd made his choice, when the memory of that embarrassing incident at the hospital came back to him. Better to do a quick check now just in case.
ôMiss, does this job involve uncomfortably probing people?ö
ôAh,ö the secretary blushed. What a daring young boy! ôWellànoàö After all, from what sheÆd heard, it was anything but uncomfortable.
ôGreat! Thanks!ö And with that, Naruto grinned, running upstairs, paper in hand. He was sure that this was the job for him, completely unaware of what he was about to get himself intoà
