Chapter 69: Chapter 68
Chapter 68
Kaen looked impassively at Jiraiya as he tried to act calm and carefree. He gave dozens of reasons why it would be better for him to leave, and then he continued to tell Kaen that he had to leave. Kaen listened in silence and got a lot of entertainment as Jiraiya's coolness broke down into a nervous wreck. It was so easy to read him that it wasn't even funny anymore.
"Three years, you say," Kaen commented, finally breaking his silence.
"More like two and half years," Jiraiya corrected Kaen as sweat dropped from his forehead.
"It is all good and all," Kaen smiled, but his eyes held no amusement. "Looking for more information on the Akatsuki and protecting Naruto is important. And Naruto is a sitting duck in the village where his movements can be observed. I probably wouldn't be able to send him on missions if Akatsuki watches him, so it might be better for him to leave now discretely."
"Glad you understand me," Jiraiya visibly relaxed. "If that is all, I must inform Naruto and let him prepare."
"I am just curious if Naruto is the only reason you want to leave," Kaen said, stopping Jiraiya in his tracks. "It wouldn't have anything to do with Lady Tsunade, would it?"
"What? I have no idea what you are talking about," The sweat on Jiraiya's forehead was now pouring down.
"How long are you going to run from your feelings?" Kaen asked, a bit disappointed at Jiraiya. "You aren't getting younger. And even I can see how you ogle her whenever she is in your presence. Man up and ask her out, already."
"It isn't that simple," Jiraiya cried out in desperation. "She will never go out with me."
"You won't know it until you ask her out," Kaen replied, tired of this nonsense. "Neither of you are young anymore. Stop playing those games. You can't just run off because she is back in the village."
"I am not running away," Jiraiya denied Kaen's accusations.
"Naruto can be trained in the village," Kaen replied, not believing in his sensei even a bit. "He will be safe within these walls, even though restrictions will be set upon him. As long as he gets strong and can defend himself, it won't matter much."
"I know Naruto can learn and get stronger without leaving the village," Jiraiya said in a rare moment of agreeing with Kaen. "But I want him to travel with me so he can see the world. He is too narrow-minded and doesn't understand how the world works. And he will get even less chance of experiencing life outside the village with time. I owe him at least that much."
"Don't bother to return until he masters the sage mode," Kaen said, giving up on not letting him go.
"Sage mode?" Jiraiya asked, like what Kaen said was ridiculous. "We don't even know if he is suitable and can use senjutsu. And even if he were, it would take more than a measly three years to master it. I was learning it for the better half of my life and haven't mastered it."
"Naruto isn't a loser like you, Jiraiya," Kaen replied, not surprised by Jiraiya's words. "How long did it take him to learn Rasengan? It might not look like it, but Naruto is no worse genius than Sasuke or I. Teach him seriously, and he will learn it in no time."
"I wanted to focus on his basics first," Jiraiya rubbed the back of his head.
"His basics aren't bad," Kaen struggled to say, as he knew that Naruto's control of his chakra was horrendous, and he knew nothing of genjutsu and only had a few ninjutsu in his arsenal. "Learning senjutsu will cover his control of chakra and his physical capabilities. The rest shouldn't be hard for him to learn. And even if you wanted him to access the Nine-tails chakra, he couldn't master it in this short period."
"Well, when you put it that way," Jiraiya felt embarrassed, and Kaen could only sigh at him. "But if he is too overwhelmed by the things he needs to learn and learns nothing, it will be your fault."
Kaen knew that Jiraiya didn't have bad intentions and almost thought what was best for others, but Jiraiya wasn't the smartest. He saw much of himself in Naruto, like he saw much of Orochimaru in Kaen and it took much time for him to realize that they weren't the same person. Kaen didn't want Jiraiya to spend too much time realizing that Naruto wasn't the same as Jiraiya.
"And don't worry too much about Akatsuki. They won't make a move for a while," Kaen said.
"Why would you say so?" Jiraiya asked, confused and curious.
"They are after the other-tailed beast, too, not just the Nine-tails," Kaen explained, as Jiraiya suspected that much. "But the Three-tails is gone. It will take a few years for it to reappear, and it would be foolish for them to paint a target on their back when they know they can't accomplish their goals right now."
"Then why did Itachi and Kisame come to the village?" Jiraiya asked.
"Maybe they wanted to test the waters," Kaen couldn't tell him that Itachi had come to inform him of the Third Mizukage's death. "Anyway, you can go. Don't return until Naruto is on Jonin level without his shadow clone jutsu. Even I know how broken that jutsu is with Naruto's chakra levels."
Jiraiya laughed it off as he left. It wasn't Kaen's business how Jiraiya decided to train Naruto, but Kaen had to ensure that Jiraiya took it seriously. Naruto was capable of much more than he imagined, but Naruto wasn't as intelligent as Sasuke or Kaen, so he would have a hard time learning on his own. He needed someone to show the ropes first.
As he was finally alone, Kaen made a note to see Naruto before he left and returned to work. It just seemed the more work he did, the more work he was left with. But he didn't complain much. With his Sharingan and shadow clones, he didn't find the usual work that challenging. But, when someone burst into his office with and scowl on her face, Kaen can only smile and prepare for the beating.
…
Kaen could only sigh and look disappointed at the ANBU as they whistled innocently while they helped clean the office. Kaen should have expected Tsunade to be angry after she received a notice that she was made the medical staff chief. She probably got furious when she realized that it meant all the medical staff in Konoha was her responsibility now.
One hospital was probably a lot to ask, but then add the new hospitals Kaen wanted to build, the trainees, and medical-nin. It was probably more work than being a Hokage. Well, too bad for Tsunade, she already has agreed to it, even if she didn't know all the details. And too bad for Kaen as he had to throw away the furniture that was broken to pieces.
Kaen wasn't brave enough to stand before Tsunade's fist, nor where the ANBU was. It was fine. He already thought the furniture was too old-fashioned and tacky for his liking, and it was the perfect time to change it. And how could he work with a hole in the wall? Kaen was against bringing work home, so he had no choice but to leave his work until his office was fixed and do something else.
"If you are leaving, you should inform us, Hokage-sama," A certain purple-haired cat-masked woman said. "It would be problematic if we can't protect you."
"Of course, please follow me, cat," Kaen replied, even though he wanted to comment that she tried to protect him from Tsunade by doing nothing. But he has already angered one woman. He would rather not anger one more, especially when this woman wielded a sword. Kaen wanted to have his dinner without a sword in his stomach.
…
The next morning, Kaen found Jiraiya and Naruto by Konoha's gates. It took a lot of effort for Kaen not to look at Jiraiya's black eye. He probably listened to Kaen's advice and tried to ask her out. Too bad, by then, Tsunade was probably too furious about Kaen tricking her into taking an enormous amount of work, and Jiraiya just happened to take Tsunade's anger.
"Don't you even dare," Jiraiya could tell that Kaen was about to laugh at him.
"Don't worry," Kaen tried his best to hide his smile. "I am only here to say goodbye and wish you good luck."
"Thanks, Kaen-sensei! I'll come back stronger. You better believe it!" Jiraiya hit Naruto's head and mumbled about unfair treatment.
"Don't worry, I will make him a fine shinobi," Jiraiya said as Naruto stared at him angrily.
"I am sure you will," Kaen replied with a smile. "Well, take care of yourselves, and don't disappoint me."
With a final nod, Naruto and Jiraiya set off, leaving Konoha's gates behind them. Kaen watched them disappear into the distance before turning back. It will surely be quieter in the village without them. Kaen headed back towards the village, his thoughts already shifting back to the myriad tasks that awaited him in his office.
"You should have said your farewells, too," Kaen stopped at the corner and addressed Tsunade hiding behind the corner.
"I am too busy to do so because someone tricked me into doing the work of five people," Tsunade replied, and Kaen didn't want to point out that she wasn't doing anything right now.
"You are out of touch if you believe that it is only the work of five people," Kaen smiled at how ridiculous Tsunade sounded. "Try ten times that number, then you would get closer."
"What?" Kaen could hear the cracking of Tsunade's fingers as she formed a fist.
"Well, if your old bones can't take it, I might consider taking your letter of resignation," Kaen couldn't help himself in the end. "It only had to have written with black ink that you are too old for the job."
Kaen quickly jumped away as Tsunade's punch almost obliterated him. He would rather take a kick from Gai than a punch from Tsunade. But he couldn't help himself from not making fun of her. It was too easy. After almost destroying the street and scaring the civilians, Tsunade gave up on catching Kaen. At the same time, Kaen smiled slyly at his victory.
"By the way," Tsunade turned away from Kaen in a huff. "The old man will be fine. Just don't let him smoke and read those novels written by that perv."
"That's good to hear," Kaen replied, feeling relaxed as Tsunade confirmed that Hiruzen would be fine.
Kaen knew that, after all, he checked him, himself. But it still relieved him that Tsunade said that, as he trusted her more than anyone else in these matters. He trusted her abilities more than he trusted his own. So, if she said Hiruzen would be fine, he would be fine. Kaen couldn't let the old man die so soon. He had too many changes to implement into the academy to let Hiruzen leave his job.
"Here you are," Kaen stopped as he was about to enter Hokage Tower, and Anko got his attention. "I got the information of our redhead. The places she mentioned match those that Kakashi found out from the Daimyo."
"Didn't the Sound Daimyo provide only three hideouts?" Kaen asked, remembering the report he had received not long ago.
"Tayuya provided more hideouts," Anko replied with a feral smile.
Kaen understood what she meant. While Orochimaru probably knew of the Sound Daimyo capture, he didn't know of Tayuya. He probably thought that she had died with the rest of his subordinates. That meant that the hideouts Tayuya provided weren't wiped out yet. And while he was dealing with Kakashi's team, it would be a perfect time to strike those hideouts.
"Find a perfect route to most of them," Kaen said as he matched the feral smile with Anko. "I can only take a few days off. So, you better make it my worth."
A.N. As always, If you want more, up to seven advanced chapters, you can support me on pa treon. com \ ironwolf852. And if you have any requests for stories, I will only take them on my pa treon.
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