Naruto Random snippets of mine

[seitora]

I have a lot of crap I've come up with in the last few years, and a lot of it's really too short to even publish separate in topics. So instead I'll make this my dumping ground and hope the TFF maggots take apart some of these fics and something sprouts from the decomposed matter.



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“Stand up, Sarutobi-san.”

Sarutobi Asuma stood from his kneeling position, locking gazes with the man sitting at his desk. The Child Hokage may no longer have been a child, it being many years since his father had relinquished the position for a second time, but he still could not help but associate the twenty year old man before him with the fourteen year old newly ascended Kage. Even if, since his ascendance, it was as if one of the matriarchal deities his family worshipped had smiled on Konoha, its current sunny day being one of her many granted bounties.

“I have a task for you, Sarutobi-san.”

That he had called upon Asuma personally meant it was a task of great importance. Freezing the show-nothing expression on his face, Asuma attempted to bring the conversation quickly to an end by skipping right to the matter, “What is your command, Hokage-sama?”

The Hokage chuckled softly, an odd sound from a man who hailed from a clan known for being stoic. Asuma’s eyebrow almost twitched at the response. Their Hokage was a quiet-spoken man, one who, while journeying outside, was still so pale, as if his personal guardian protected him from the great sunny climate Konoha had experienced so much in the last six years, bringing it great crop yields and little natural disaster. The man simply did not chuckle.

With a start, Asuma broke out of his self-reverie as the Hokage continued, “You will be accompanied by my cousin on this mission. Use of the marker tags should cut down on your travel time significantly.”

He clenched his teeth and the skeletal muscles of his neck as he bit back a gasp of surprise. That the Hokage would send only the third person to ever completely master the legendary space-time ninjutsu known as the Flying Thunder God spoke of how important this mission was. Grimly, he waited for the man before him to inform him of what he was to do. The weight of his pack of cigars felt heavy in his side pocket, as if his body, conditioned by Pavlovian form, was instinctively responding to the Hokage’s summons by craving for tobacco.

Uchiha Itachi narrowed his eyes at the Elite Jonin standing before him. “Your mission is this.”

“Retrieve Uzumaki Naruto.”

The sun exited from its momentary journey beyond a small wisp of a cumulus cloud, shining its gaze on the Hokage's office once more.

-=-=-=-=-

“Stand up, Asuma-kun.”

Sarutobi Asuma stood up from his kneeling pose, facing his father as the Lord Hokage for what felt to be the umpteenth time in his career. The elder Sarutobi had summoned him here for specifically, so it had to be a task of some importance. He had made his way quickly, Shunshining through the heavy torrents of rain outdoors.

But the Sandaime took his time. Retrieving his tobacco pipe from his desk, the man simultaneously known as the Professor and the God of Shinobi filled it up, lit it up, and took a puff before finally speaking again. “How many years has it been since you became a jonin, Asuma-kun? Nine? You were raised during Minato-kun’s reign, shortly after he started his tenure, wasn’t it? It would have been awkward if one of my first acts upon resuming the position was to give you the vest. I suppose we lucked out there. Not as young as Kakashi-kun was, but still very impressive.”

“You’re rambling, dad,” Asuma deadpanned, sensing this was one of the leader-to-subordinate chats where he could be more familial in his conversation with the Hokage. Still, he was becoming anxious. It wasn’t very often Sarutobi Hiruzen prattled on about the good ol’ days, even if rain brought the worst out of him.

His father chuckled, and Asuma held back a wince at seeing the wrinkles on his face stretched out as he laughed softly. Even the legendary Sandaime Hokage could not defeat time. “You’re right, Asuma-kun. I’ve found myself reminiscing too much these last few days, but it has to do with what I called you here for.”

At once, Asuma was alert again, quickly resuming to his formal posture. “What is your command, Hokage-sama?”

The famed monkey summoner extinguished his pipe, this time his attention fully on his son. “I made many choices in the wake of the Kyuubi attack eight years ago, Asuma. Some of them were poorly made in hindsight, and some of them I wouldn’t change had I the opportunity. It was a poor choice I initially made with Minato’s legacy, but it created the potential for what I next decided to him.”

Asuma nearly froze. He knew exactly what his father was referring to. In the wake of the Kyuubi suddenly appearing outside the walls of Konoha nearly a decade ago, and its subsequent sealing, there had been an outcry when his reinstated father had announced the existence of a baby vessel for the greatest of the bijuu. For a few days it had been a tumultuous time, as many of the political factions warred for power in the wake of the destruction, some even attempting to gain guardianship over the christened Uzumaki boy, before one family stepped forward and rallied enough goodwill to keep the holder of the nine-tailed fox.

Suddenly, Asuma had a very good idea exactly what his mission entailed.

“I send you, Asuma, precisely because you are one of the few I can trust with this mission,” And suddenly there was a smile on his father’s face, as if the sun had finally broken from the clouds currently cloaking it, shining its light on the room once more.

“Retrieve Uzumaki Naruto.”

Wind howled outside, striking the windows with a voracious wrath.