Chapter 112: Naruto Chapter 112
The team waited in the lounge that was set up to give clients a place to wait for the teams that were assigned to the missions they had requested from Konoha. It was a comfortable, but not luxurious place.
The village was after all a military led place and not the Daimyo's palace. If negotiations were held in Konoha for the added protection that the ninjas could give, the nobles had to contend with what could be provided.
There were after all high class hotels with luxurious meeting places to choose from. The Hokage Tower was just for placing missions and meeting the teams.
At the announced time the door was opened and a stern-looking grey-haired woman entered.
"I assume you are the team that will be escorting Princess Natsuki around," She stated.
"Indeed, ma'am," Naruto took charge, "These three are Ino Yamanaka, Choji Akimichi and Kiba Inuzuka, all three genin. My name is Naruto Namikaze, special jonin and in command over the team for this mission."
"Really? They sent the saviour of Wave Country to lead the team?" Another female voice asked excitedly and a figure pushed past the older woman, "It's really him!" She squealed.
"Hi, I'm Natsuki, the Princess of Wave Country. Oh, I wanted to meet you so much, Naruto Sama.
I'm such a fan ever since you and your team freed Wave Country. Tazuna told my father and his court everything how you freed us from the criminal Gato. Can I have an autograph, please, please, please?"
Ino, Choji and Kiba were shocked at the behaviour that the girl showed. She was smaller than them by half a head, had long black hair, which was cut in a typical hime style with two long bangs framing her face, and wore an expensive red and white kimono.
But she behaved like the worst of Sasuke's fangirls at the academy, according to Kiba's and Choji's thoughts.
"Princess Natsuki! This behaviour is totally inacceptable!" The woman reprimanded angrily.
"But Lady Shiori, this is Naruto Namikaze!" Natsuki protested.
"You are a princess, not a peasant. You have to uphold your duties that come with the position," The woman insisted, "And that means following protocol."
"But the protocol is stiff and boring. And anyway, these aren't stuffy nobles like the ones that always try to gain favours with father, ever since he took over ruling Wave Country from grandfather, these are ninjas that are trained to fight and defeat evil tyrants like Gato. I doubt that they care about protocol," Natsuki insisted, crossing her arms over her chest.
The three genin looked at each other, trying to figure out if they should step in or not. Finally, Ino decided to break the glaring contest up.
"Well, how about we get started with the tour of Konoha? We can have a look around first and you can decide which places you want to see in more detail," She suggested.
"Okay, but can we first stop at the hotel to get something easier to wear? I couldn't convince Lady Shiori that this outfit wouldn't be more of a hindrance than proper attire. But if we walk around the village for some time, it wouldn't be easy to move around easily," Natsuki asked.
"You will not put on those clothes. They are beneath your station!" Lady Shiori insisted, "And a princess shouldn't walk around with the common people like that. We will need a carriage or something else appropriate to take the tour."
"Lady Shiori, there aren't any carriages in Konoha that could be used for this. We don't have any nobles living here all year round, therefore people mostly walk to the places where they want to go.
And I doubt that you would allow any of us to carry you and Princess Natsuki around, as it would be improper behaviour," Naruto calmly addressed the chaperone.
"Now, really, I have never experienced such a place. No large settlement should lack basic transportation ways for the nobility," She shook her head in displeasure, "And of course it is out of the question for any of you to carry the princess. She is a royal after all and only her family and future husband are allowed to have any kind of close contact outside of formal greetings."
"Then we will have to make sure that nothing too inappropriate happens. I think Princess Natsuki had a good idea by changing into something more practical. It would also serve as a better disguise to not have anybody attempt anything to harm her or use her as leverage against her father.
While Wave Country is still dealing with the aftermath of the crimes of Gato, the daughter of a Daimyo is always a primary target for unsavoury objects," Naruto pointed out.
"I guess you are right; I didn't see it from that point of view. It still isn't appropriate and I only agree under security concerns," She sniffed.
"Then it is decided, we will go to the hotel, Princess Natsuki and Ino can find an outfit that will let the princess move around easier without being recognised as a princess at once and then we can show you the village. While you won't have all the comfort you may be used to, I know a few very beautiful spots that I think you will like," Naruto stated.
"What kind of places?" Natsuki asked curiously.
"Just wait and see, princess, it is a surprise," Naruto answered, to which Natsuki squealed.
She pulled Ino with her to get her outfit chosen quickly to enjoy the day with her idol.
Kiba and Choji looked at each other.
"And we have to deal with that for the next two days all the time?" Kiba asked.
"Yeah, but at least we have one advantage. We aren't her target," Choji commented, "Poor Naruto."
"Poor Naruto? He gets that hot chick hanging off his arm, when he already has an army of fangirls. Why do some guys get all the luck?" Kiba complained.
Choji shook his head. Kiba really had no idea what he was talking about.
...
Ino was quick to find a nice outfit for Natsuki among her large collection of clothes that she had taken with her to Konoha. She now wore a violet skirt that went down to her lower legs, but was swishy and a nice, short sleeved pink shirt in Chinese style.
"Very nice. Well, shall we go, Princess Natsuki?" Ino asked kindly.
"Oh yes. I want to see so many things. I managed to get Tazuna to tell me more about how Konoha looks like when he reported about the success of the mission to Konoha and how Naruto Sama's team saved our country. And especially the huge part that Naruto Sama played in the whole mission," Natsuki nodded enthusiastically.
"I heard about it from my friend Sakura Haruno. She was on the team as well. It was really bad when Gato was still alive, wasn't it?" Ino asked.
"Yes, very bad," Natsuki nodded looking sad, "We lived in fear of what he would do next. We didn't realise his plans at first and appreciated the idea of him bringing more business to our country. You see, Wave Country isn't rich.
We have some fishermen, some shipping industry and farms that produce the goods that are sold in the shops in the villages on the island. Contrary to other countries we don't possess mines or the like that would give us valuable goods that we could export.
"At first it worked well, with Gato Corporation bringing more money into the country, but he only needed half a year to have the whole shipping industry under his control and as an island nation, we depend on shipping. He could cut us off from the mainland and install his regime of terror.
My grandfather couldn't do anything. While he was the Daimyo, he at least managed to mainly put the target on himself and not so much my father. Still he abdicated in father's favour after the crisis was over, wanting the country to have a fresh start.
And father isn't as rich as for example the Daimyo of Fire Country. He doesn't have as many soldiers as other countries have them to protect the country and the royal family equally. I was forbidden to leave the palace during the whole time.
"I wished that we could have helped the poor people that had to deal with the brunt of Gato's crimes, but it was too dangerous. He would have killed all of use and probably planned to do so, once he had crushed the last resistance.
It is still hard to take in that four people, three of them only a little older than me, could free a whole country that was oppressed by one thousand thugs under Gato's command," Natsuki explained.
"Yes, that would be scary. While a thug isn't really a problem for a trained ninja, these numbers would overwhelm a normal team quickly. But there is a reason why Kakashi Hatake was chosen as the Fifth Hokage after all.
He is the best ninja we have in the village and he had trained his students to be much stronger than normal rookie genin were. We found it out very quickly, even if at first only Naruto and Sasuke were that outstanding.
Sakura at first was actually weak. But she trained hard and worked her way up. I can't believe that she was promoted to chunin before me. And that Naruto is already special jonin," Ino said.
"Well, with how he defeated hundreds of the thugs and then the ninjas that tried to get the bridge builder Tazuna on top, it was to be expected that he would be promoted quickly," Natsuki spoke with conviction.
Ino could only nod and then they reached the rest of the group. Lady Shiori didn't look pleased with the choice of clothes of the Princess.
"Princess, this is not appropriate for a person of your station to wear," she protested.
"It is actually very conservative for an outfit worn in Konoha. She won't stand out negatively and I doubt anybody will look at her in indecent ways," Naruto countered.
"I think we should start with the tour, so that you can get to see a good number of things today before we go and find a nice place to eat lunch."
"Oh yes, I want to see the Hokage monument, how one of the training grounds looks like and of course the Senju Tree," Natsuki voiced eagerly.
"We can do that, your highness," Naruto agreed, not seeing a problem with that.
Natsuki nodded happily and grabbed Naruto's arm, wanting to be escorted around by him. Thankfully, for Naruto's sanity, Ino took to pointing out interesting spots and basically took the role of tour guide for the Princess and her chaperone.
It was very clear that Lady Shiori didn't like Natsuki's behaviour towards Naruto at all, but she kept it to annoyed looks for the time being.
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