77 Naruto : Uchiha : Chapter 77
Meanwhile, With Squad Six
"Hmm …" Hiruzen's off-handed hum showed just how disinterested he was in the current situation.
"Who are we escorting? I bet it's some awesome princess or royal girl or …" the younger Sarutobi heard his hormone induced subordinate list out all the possibilities of who their client could possibly be - all guesses being females that is ...
"Are those the people who we are assigned to sensei?" Orochimaru's pointed finger did manage to shut the excited boy by his side up, something Hiruzen was quite glad for.
Jiraiya could be such a handful, he sighed wearily …
"Whoa, she's …" as if trying to find the proper word, Jiraiya bit his tongue for a moment. He licked his lips, as if testing if the next word felt right or not. "… fat …" was all he could mutter before a fist bonked his head harshly.
"You idiot, she's not fat!" Tsunade glowered, looking as the Devil incarnate while looming over her perverted teammate like a hungry soul reaper.
"Then what the hell do you think that large bump on her belly is supposed to mean?!" he half growled, half shouted back at her. Tsunade glared right back, meeting his glare with one of her own fiery ones.
"She's pregnant you baka!" just like that, Jiraiya's next words died down within his throat. Now that he looked closely, she was quite slim with just her stomach bumping out …
But still …
"How would you know?" he asked suspiciously. Though he had to rub another lump when he was bonked yet again, on top of the first one. Courtesy of an irate kunoichi who looked as irritated as they came right now.
"Because I've read dozens of medical books and scrolls. And that is not counting how many times I've been to the hospital with Baa-chan." she fired hotly, the boy in front of her still not looking quite convinced.
So she decided to let him see a bit more reason - from her perspective.
"Plus, I'm a girl. We can tell stuff like that." she mumbled to convince him, though why she needed to do that was frankly above her.
But she did, that was all there was to it …
"Yeah right…" Jiraiya's snort actually made her snap her attention and her neck back to him with narrowed eyes. Orochimaru went on to stop their little bout, already knowing what his oblivious friend was going to let loose from his mouth next.
And to be honest, he wasn't quite fond of what followed after that.
But alas, he was too late this time…
"With how flat you are, it does make me suspicious of your gender…" even Hiruzen had the sense to slap his palm over his face when he saw Tsunade's face go almost beet red from pure fury.
"Why you thrice damned, perverted excuse of a life form!" she glowered down onto him while raising up her sleeves to teach him a lesson. Only for Hiruzen to stop her dead in her tracks before she let her wrath loose over the slightly cowering boy.
"We are in front of our clients now. Show some restraints you two …" the jounin in the group sighed tiredly when the two glared at each other and turned away in unison with a pointed huff - none too wise to notice the woman's amused smile on seeing the two's energetic argument come to an abrupt end due to her sudden presence.
"How long do you have?" Tsunade's ever curious voice made Jiraiya glance back with a lone half lidded eye to see her standing a bit away from him - something he was relieved about.
The enthusiastic kunoichi was apparently talking to their 'client', who was rubbing her bumped belly with a fond smile while she prepared to answer the chirpy girl in front of her.
"I'm due in two weeks, that's why we are returning home." the white haired boy did seem genuinely curious seeing Tsunade's star struck eyes as if she had found Kami's gift to man.
He couldn't quite understand her excitement - or the source of it, that is.
The woman was pregnant, which meant she was fat.
What was there to be happy about? It was such a waste of beauty in his eyes…
"We?" once more, Hiruzen proudly smiled seeing his star pupil picking up on the slightest of details almost instantly.
The woman gave him another gentle smile, and this time Jiraiya took the time to gather what she looked like. Apart from that simple blue maternity gown she wore, the woman had shoulder length brown hair and matching brown eyes.
Nothing exotic, but a plain simple civilian woman that would have been quite the eye catcher had she not been pregnant that is… - at least to Jiraiya…
"Yes, my husband is waiting at the gates of the capital with a couple of our servants. We've hired some men to carry me in a small litter carriage, since I cannot walk too much given my condition …" Orochimaru nodded seeing her point and her condition.
The fact that she was walking all by herself showed just how independent the woman must be… at least to the snake eyed boy that is.
"So, is it a boy or a girl?" Tsunade started asking questions upon questions in rapid fire, prompting quite a few laughs from the lady who was quite glad to answer the chirpy girl.
"What is she so happy about?" Jiraiya huffed, not quite understanding her excited demeanor in the slightest. A large palm covered the top of his head and ruffled his hair playfully.
"You really are naive Jiraiya, but you'll get it one day…" Hiruzen answered wisely following his words with a throaty laugh that leaked out involuntarily upon seeing his genin pout childishly with a slight puff of his cheeks.
Jiraiya hated when his sensei treated him like a child - this time being no different.
So, Squad Six began their journey onto the Fire Capital with a carefree mood surrounding them...
...
With Naruto, Sakumo and Duy
"Hey guys…" Duy's obliviously innocent remark broke the two stunned boys out of their stupors. "…what's the matter? We going or not?" Naruto was about to answer in a yes when Sakumo cut him off - before he could even open his lips.
"There's a heavy stench of blood coming from the village." that comment certainly did the trick.
Duy along with Naruto looked at him in shock, both opening and closing their mouths with nothing audible coming out of them.
"A-Are you sure?" Naruto was the first one to make a coherent sentence, with a slight stutter and Sakumo's nod did anything but to suppress his fears - when said genin bobbed his head up and down in affirmative.
"Yeah…" Sakumo's finger raised up in the air to get a feel for the air, and he nodded in confirmation - more so for himself, than for his teammates.
The air current was downwind, coming towards them from the village. It was the only proper reason why he had caught it even with his sharp sense of smell while being so far apart from the village.
"Come on…" both Naruto and Sakumo murmured in unison, though the green boy in the middle blinked seeing them walking in polar opposite directions - one towards the village and the other going away from it completely.
"Uh…guys?" Duy finally decided to stop them, and it certainly did the trick too. Naruto narrowed his eyes at Sakumo, when he watched Sakumo's expression of complete disbelief pointed straight at him.
"You can't be serious?" his voice was as incredulous as was his face, and seeing Naruto's firm stance he stomped down closer to him angrily.
Naruto didn't even so much as an eyelash when Sakumo's finger whizzed past his ear to point at the dark village over his back.
"That village reeks of blood. There most probably was a massacre, or an invasion or Kami knows what?!" seeing Naruto staring at him blankly with his active Sharingan made him almost shake in fury.
And Kami be kind, he had half a mind to bitch slap his blonde friend senseless until he did regain that 'less' part back from wherever he had lost it.
"Naruto…" he finally growled out, it was almost stupid. No that wasn't it, it was downright suicidal. "…that village reeks of 'BLOOD'… you get me 'BLOOD'?" he quoted the word with his fingers to emphasize that point, but the blonde merely crossed his arms with a little nod to show he was listening.
" And the stench is still fresh, which means the people who must have done the deed are most probably in the village too." he reasoned with the thrice damned, whole heartedly stubborn Uchiha .
But that same damned pride of his would just not budge - not today, not ever.
Naruto slid Sakumo's palms that he was shaking his shoulders with, off of him. And started making his way to the village that was emitting a ominous aura of pure death from it.
"What the hell are you trying to prove?" Sakumo almost snarled, pulling back his arm harshly only to see Naruto's own stern eyes staring at him intently now.
"Let go." it was barely above a whisper, but Sakumo glanced down to see he had caught his collar in a burst of anger and let it free - albeit, a bit reluctantly.
"Naruto, why do you want to go?" Duy asked as calmly as he could, looking the most sensible and reasonable of the bunch right now.
As much as he trusted Sakumo's intellect and the boy's honed analytic abilities, he trusted Naruto's instincts a lot more.
Sakumo was always their mind, but Naruto was the heart of this team. And he had been in a couple of situations such as this before, where as reckless as the blonde was - his way always pulled through.
Though his sore body and injuries the next day were a different matter altogether…
And it was almost funny that in times like these, when his always calm teammates were angry, he was always the moderator and intelligent one.
Just like today.
"If there can be the people who caused the kills in there…" Sakumo's intensifying glare was completely ignored by Naruto who was staring straight at Duy right now.
" Then there can also be people of the clan and their village. Survivors, people who might need our help …" his statement was once more interrupted, by the same boy who was getting even more restless by the minute.
The Uchiha was spouting off nonsense in his eyes right now.
"That is not our mission Naruto …" Sakumo hissed in a retort.
Had his friend truly lost it?
...
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