6 Meeting

"You did a great job today, Naruto." Iruka commented as he and Naruto were walking through the bustling streets of Konoha. Naruto had a meeting with the Hokage and Iruka offered to walk with him.

Naruto grinned at him. "Thanks Iruka sensei!" He replied, feeling happy that he was getting praise from his strict but kind-hearted instructor.

"But did you realize what you and Shikamaru did today?" Iruka asked him. Naruto sighed and shook his head.

'And here comes the bad news.' He thought before opening his mouth to speak.

"Yeah, we were not following your orders during the chakra control lesson." Naruto replied. Iruka chuckled and nodded.

" That you two did. But if it weren't for you two not following my orders, you two wouldn't have created the advanced version of the Leaf Concentration Practice in class." Iruka revealed.

" Wait we did!?" Naruto looked at Iruka in disbelief. Iruka smiled and nodded.

"Yes you did, Naruto. You and Shikamaru's discovered that you can hone your concentration better by being doing exercises since it is stressful to the mind and body. " Iruka explained. Naruto cheered loudly.

" Yay!!!! That's one more step to becoming Hokage!!" He declared. Iruka chuckled at the blonde.

" Naruto, you should keep your voice down. We're almost at the Hokage's Office now. "Iruka warned him. Naruto hummed in response as they walked into the building.

They greeted the receptionist who winked at Naruto before giving him a bag full of candy. Naruto grinned and thanked her, receiving a giggle and a head pat in return.

Iruka and Naruto walked up some stairs before arriving in front of a wooden double door that has the Hokage's Office inside of it.

"Alright Naruto, treat Lord Third with respect. See you at tomorrow's class." Iruka advised Naruto who waved back at him.

"Bye Iruka sensei!!" Naruto shouted at Iruka who waved back as he walked fown the stairs. Naruto immediately pushed open the door to the Hokage's Office.

The Hokage's office is a large, somewhat oval room usually filled with stacks of unfinished paperwork. Behind the Hokage's desk is a large window through which the Hokage can survey the entire village. On the desk itself is a stylised kanji for shadow followed by the symbol of the village.

"Gramps!!!" He shouted cheerfully, gaining the person's attention. That person is Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage of Konohagakure. A disciple of the village's two previous Hokage, Hiruzen was a powerful ninja, hailed as a 'God of Shinobi' like Hashirama, the First Hokage when he was alive.

His skin is light, his hair is grey, his face is gaunter, and he has the wrinkles and liver spots of old age. He had a single line running vertically under the outer corners of each eye, which stretched down into his face as he aged until they reached his cheeks.

Hiruzen wears the official uniform — the customary hat and haori with a red, full-length kimono that is tied using a white sash. He often smokes during his spare time.

"Ah, Naruto! Good to see you! How are you doing?" Hiruzen asked with a warm smile. Naruto sat on a chair and sighed.

"Not good gramps. I don't have any money left. The apartment is gonna collapse and me and my clothes smell like shit." Naruto replied bluntly. Hiruzen stayed silent.

" I always wondered why you gave me a shitty apartment and little to no money every month gramps. Do you hate me like the villagers do too? " Naruto asked Hiruzen while looking into his eyes. Hiruzen widened his eyes in shock.

" What?! I would never!" Hiruzen shouted. Naruto deadpanned at him.

" Tell that to my house." Naruto grumbled. Hiruzen sighed and rubbed his head, appearing to be in deep thought now. Naruto stayed silent while he looked around the office.

He looked at a full body picture of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze hanging on the wall. It was a full body picture that was taken when Minato was inaugurated as Hokage.

Minato was a tall, fair-skinned man. He has blue eyes and spiky, blond hair. Minato also had jaw-length bangs framing either side of his face. Minato was considered to be very handsome as many girls became infatuated with him. In the picture, Minato was wearing his normal attire consisted of a standard Konoha uniform with two bands on both of his sleeves, a green flak jacket, blue forehead protector, and blue sandals.

He was also wearing a short-sleeved long white haori over his normal attire, closed in the front by a thin, orange rope. The haori was decorated by red flame-like motifs on the edges, with the kanji for 'Fourth Hokage' written vertically down the back.

Naruto kept staring into Minato's blue eyes. He noticed that it looked exactly identical to his blue eyes.

'He died fighting the Kyuubi. Question is, how the hell did he even kill that fox? There are no records detailing the battle at all.' Naruto mused. He was snapped out of his musings by Hiruzen clearing his throat.

"Naruto, I might have a solution. You can work as a deliveryman of Konoha. But instead of delivering letters to the villagers, you will be delivering weapons or food supplies to warehouses, even delivering documents." Hiruzen explained as Naruto listened to him attentively.

"The pay is the same amount as a D-rank assigned to genin fresh from the Academy which is between 5,000 and 50,000 ryō. The amount you will receive is determined by how difficult that task was." Hiruzen explained.

" So Naruto, do you accept—

"Yes!" Naruto answer with a determined expression. Naruto was determined to get himself out of that dump, even if he had to work overtime.

Hiruzen smiled but that smile turned into a frown quickly. " Naruto, I'm so sorry for letting you live like that. I don't deserve forgiveness." Hiruzen bowed his head deeply, feeling ashamed for himself.

'I failed you, Minato, Kushina. I broke our promise. I cannot face you two now.' Hiruzen thought to himself as Naruto looked at his surrogate grandfather with a shocked expression.

"G-gramps." Naruto whispered. Hiruzen kept bowing, not saying a word.

"Gramps, I forgive you. Now how about we just forget about it and move forward?" Naruto suggested. Hiruzen looked at Naruto with a shocked expression.

"J-just like that?" He muttered. Naruto grinned at him.

"Treat it as a way to start redeeming yourself, gramps. You already did a lot by offering me a job." Naruto replied before looking at the clock.

" Oh crap! I gotta go meet with Bushy Brows!!" Naruto cursed before jumping of his seat. Hiruzen raised an eyebrow at the nickname.

'Bushy Brows? Is he talking about Guy?' Hiruzen thought before opening the drawer on his desk and start scrambling to look for something.

"Wait! Naruto!" Hiruzen called Naruto who was about to dash out of the office. Naruto turned around and caught something Hiruzen threw at him.

"What's this gramps?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Open it when you're training." Hiruzen requested. Naruto nodded and kept the scroll into his shuriken holster.

" Bye gramps!! See you soon!! " Naruto waved happily at Hiruzen who smiled and waved back. Soon after, Naruto left the Hokage's Office.

Hiruzen sighed and looked at the picture of Minato. "Minato, I'm getting too old for this. Why did you have to use that Jutsu that day? Is this your punishment for me for not acting on that promise?"

.

.

"The Body Flicker Technique, a high-speed movement technique." Naruto whispered as he is sitting on a big rock and reading the scroll Hiruzen gave him.

By using the Body Flicker Technique, a ninja can move short to long distances at an almost untraceable speed. To an observer, it appears as if the user has teleported.

It is accomplished by using chakra to temporarily vitalise the body and move at extreme speeds. The amount of chakra required depends on the overall distance and elevation between the user and the intended destination.

A puff of smoke is occasionally used to disguise the user's movements. Other elements or substances can be used instead to distract the opponent.

"Damn, where's Shikamaru where you need him? I don't understand this theory stuff unless someone shows it to me or teach me to do it." Naruto whispered.

" Good afternoon!!! Naruto!!! " Naruto smiled and looked up at Guy who was rushing towards him by running with his hands. The blonde put away the scroll back into his shuriken holster and waited for Guy to stop.

Guy launched himself up to the air and did multiple flips before landing on the ground gracefully. Naruto clapped his hands in amazement.

"Hehehe!!" Guy grinned broadly, doing the 'nice guy' pose. Naruto grinned back at him.

"So Naruto, are you ready to push yourself and break your limits with the Flames of Youth behind you again?!" Guy asked him. Naruto cracked his knuckles and smirked at Guy.

" You betcha! What are we gonna do today? "

" The same as yesterday! But if you want to add more to it! You're welcome to do so!!"

" Alright!!! Let's start with the pushups!!! "

" I shall do them with you!!!"

To be continued...