Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, the Village Hidden in the Leaves.
May, x788.
While working on one the of the training grounds in the Village Hidden in the Leaves, Alfonzo raised an eyebrow after feeling an abnormality through his [Magic Power Detection]. Despite that, he did not stop his work, nor did he lower the speed at which he worked.
'Looks like Gaara is here.' Alfonzo muttered internally. 'And if that's the case, I guess that means the Chunin Exams will be starting soon. I'm definitely gonna stop Orochimaru from biting Sasuke. But should I kill him when he shows up to give Sasuke the [Cursed Seal of Heaven]? Or should I let him get away so I expose him in front of Hiruzen. But if Hiruzen doesn't die, will that mess up the canon where Tsunade becomes the Fifth Hokage. But if she does, who will become the new master of Mermaid Heel?'
Despite the complicated thoughts running through his head, Alfonzo continued to work meticulously. So, Yamato did not notice anything wrong. Miyuki, on the other hand, could tell that something was on her master's mind. Though, she had no way of knowing what it was. Still, Elicia and the other women living in the mansion had asked her to stop him if he seemed to be pushing himself too hard. And this seemed like the kind of situation they were talking about.
"Master Alfonzo, perhaps now is time for a break." Miyuki said in a respectful tone. "From what I can tell, something is occupying your thoughts. And although I have complete faith that it will not hinder your work, I do believe it is better to be safe than sorry."
"Huh?" Alfonzo said, sounding confused. However, when he looked into Miyuki's eyes, he nodded his head.
'*Sigh* She's spent more time watching me than doing almost anything else for almost a year.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'So, I guess it's only natural that she can tell when I have something on my mind. Well, I guess now is as good a time as any for a break. So, why not?'
"Sure." Alfonzo replied with a smile and a nod. "I guess I could use a drink. It's getting a little hot out, and I'm getting a little thirsty. Besides, Maybe I can call Lici and get a chance to see Little Man for a few minutes before I get back to work."
"Understood." Miyuki said as she reached into the basket containing Alfonzo's lunch.
A moment later, Miyuki pulled a thermos out of the basket before quickly opening it. Then, she poured a cup of tea for Alfonzo. Meanwhile, Alfonzo stopped working and made his way over to where Miyuki and Yamato were watching him work.
"Blackberry Sage Tea, Master Alfonzo." Miyuki said as she presented the teacup to Alfonzo.
"Thanks." Alfonzo replied with a nod. Then, he smelled the tea with a pleasant expression on his face. "I love the smell of this tea."
A moment later, Alfonzo took a sip. Meanwhile, Yamato was looking back and forth between Alfonzo and Miyuki with confusion written all over his face.
'Just how did she know there was something on his mind?' Yamato asked himself in a dumbfounded tone. 'I mean, from what I could tell, he was working the exact same way as he usually does. This doesn't make any sense.'
Not long after that, Alfonzo finished his break and got back to work. Then, the rest of his day went on without issue. Though, he did notice a brief interaction between Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, and a group of three unfamiliar shinobi through his [Magic Power Detection]. However, there was no need for him to act in the end.
After the work day ended, Yamato escorted Alfonzo and Miyuki back to their residence. Then, as Yamato left, Alfonzo and Miyuki gathered with Saeko in the residence's living room.
"I guess Laki is out pestering Kakashi again, huh?" Alfonzo said with a smile.
"That's right." Saeko replied as she snuggled up to Alfonzo's side on the couch. "She seems to be completely obsessed about seeing what's under his mask."
"Yeah, but at least it seems like she's enjoying herself." Alfonzo said while shaking his head lightly. "But for Kakashi's sake, I hope she doesn't get fed up with the chase. Because if she decides to find out by force, I don't think there's anything he could do about it."
"Are you suggesting that Laki would forcefully capture him to find out if she got fed up?" Saeko asked with a concerned expression on her face.
"No, I'm not suggesting anything." Alfonzo said while smiling wryly. "I'm saying there's no doubt she would kidnap that mother fucker, take him to a secluded place, tie him up, take off his mask, and then put him through a round of torture for making her wait so long."
"She's not that bad, is she?" Miyuki asked cautiously. "She seems quite nice to me."
"Oh, don't get me wrong." Alfonzo said with a smile. "As outside of what people consider normal as Laki is, she's not a bad person. But the reason she'd do all that is a little different, I think."
"It's so that she could assert dominance, right?" Saeko asked, basically finishing Alfonzo's thought. "She's quite the sadist from what I can tell."
"That's right." Alfonzo replied with a nod. "Though I don't think she realizes it yet. But she's pretty into him."
"Indeed." Saeko replied. "I don't think she's noticed that she spends less time staring at you, either."
"Anyway, we can talk about Laki and her pursuits later, Naruto is almost here." Alfonzo said with a chuckle. "Sasuke and Sakura are coming this way, too. But they're moving at a much slower pace."
Smiling in reply, Saeko dug into Alfonzo's side more fervently. Meanwhile, Miyuki made her way towards the kitchen to prepare drinks for the guests.
A few minutes later, the sound of the door, that Alfonzo had preemptively unlocked with his [Metal Magic], could be heard slamming open. That was quickly followed by the sound of footsteps. And finally, Naruto burst into the living room with an excited expression on his face.
"Hey, Big Bro Alfonzo!" Naruto shouted. "I met the Jinchuriki of the One-Tailed Beast today. And man, he was really crazy. Like crazy, I'm gonna kill everyone one minute to I'm still gonna kill everyone, but I can talk to them without sounding crazy, crazy."
Hearing Naruto's colorful explanation, Alfonzo and Saeko could not help giggling a bit. Meanwhile, Miyuki did not laugh. However, she did crack a hint of a smile. A moment later, Alfonzo stopped laughing and spoke in a stern tone.
"I assume the Fox told you that this person was a Jinchuriki, right?" Alfonzo asked.
"That's right." Naruto replied with a nod. Then, as if he could read Alfonzo's mind, he replied to the next thing he would have said. "Don't worry, I didn't tell anyone that he told me. I just told them that I could feel the [Seal] holding the One-Tailed Beast inside of that creepy guy."
'Gaara may be nuts, but until you've seen Orochimaru, you ain't seen creepy.' Alfonzo thought to himself while shaking his head.
["Yeah, I've never even seen him in person."] Bedlam said from Alfonzo's inner world. ["But just the thought of being near him creeps me out. And I don't like that feeling. So, why don't we kill him next time we run into him."]
["Yeah, what did that one Ice Goddess chick from that fan fic say about him?"] Riot asked in a disgusted tone. ["He likes piercing young men with things... And they aren't kunai... *Gag*"]
While Rioted gagged, Alfonzo and Bedlam shivered in terror. Although Naruto did not notice, because she was snuggling with Alfonzo, Saeko noticed his shivering immediately.
"Alfonzo, are you okay?" Saeko asked in a concerned tone.
"Huh?" Naruto made a confused sound after hearing Saeko's question. "Is something wrong, Big Bro?"
At around the same time, the sound of the residence's front door closing could be heard. A moment after that, Sakura and Sasuke entered the living room.
"Seriously, Naruto…" Sakura said while resting her hands on her hips. "You couldn't even stop long enough to close the door behind you? What if someone had snuck in after you came inside?"
Despite registering Sakura's words, Naruto did not respond, which made her rather angry. Instead, he was staring at Alfonzo, waiting for his response to Saeko's question.
"Don't worry about it." Alfonzo said while waving one hand dismissively and pulling Saeko closer with the other. "I just remembered something really fucking unpleasant. It still creeps me out to this day… and it happened almost four years ago."
Hearing that, both Naruto and Sakura widened their eyes in surprise. Sasuke, on the other hand, narrowed his. Neither of the three could think of anything that would be able to creep out someone as strong as Alfonzo.
"I can tell what the three of you are thinking just from the looks on your faces." Alfonzo said while smiling wryly. "And no, I'm not scared of that little pedo-snake. But he's just too fucking creepy."
"Pedo-snake?" Sakura asked in a confused tone.
"Anyway, I guess Naruto told you about the One-Tail's Jinchuriki, right?" Alfonzo asked in an obvious attempt to change the subject. "So, what do you think?"
"He's highly unstable and dangerous." Sasuke replied solemnly. "And not just to his enemies, as the two who should have been his team mates seemed to be scared of him, too."
"Yeah, he even threatened to kill one of them." Naruto added. "And the guy started shaking like the legs of a newborn deer."
"I really don't have any idea how someone could be that crazy." Sakura said, gently shaking her head as she did so.
After hearing Sakura say that, Naruto looked a bit downcast, and Alfonzo and Saeko knew exactly why. As a Jinchuriki himself, he could understand why he would end up like that.
"Are you serious, Sakura?" Alfonzo asked while rolling her eyes. "The kid is a Jinchuriki, he literally has a demon [Sealed] inside of him. And with him acting like that, it's more than likely his whole village knows about it. I mean, have you forgotten how you and all the other villagers treated Naruto just because it was rumored that he was the reincarnation of the Nine-Tailed Fox?"
As a matter of fact, she had not forgotten. However, because Naruto was never malicious in his actions, Sakura did not equate them as the same type of person. Though, when Naruto used the Nine-Tailed Fox's ominous magic power during the mission to the Land of Waves, she remembered the fear it made her feel at first.
"Anyway, if he's here at this time, he's probably a participant in the Chunin Exams." Alfonzo said after seeing Sakura lower her head in shame. "So, you guys need to be careful if you run into him during the exam. I don't know what kind of tests you'll have to go through, but I'm certain that your lives will be on the line at some point during the exam."
"Wait, how do you know about the Chunin Exams?" Sasuke asked with narrowed eyes. On top of that, his Sharingan activated so that he wouldn't miss any of Alfonzo's expressions. "We just found out about it a couple of days ago, ourselves."
"Oh, it's because Kakashi had dinner over here the day before yesterday." Alfonzo replied with a smile. "And to make Laki lose focus on getting him to take his mask off for even a few moments, he told us about it."
While Sasuke looked completely dumbfounded about the reason, Sakura wore an expression that suggested she was interested in seeing under Kakashi's mask, too. Naruto, on the other hand, was thinking about something totally different.
"Hey, you invited Kakashi-Sensei to dinner, but you didn't invite us?" Naruto asked indignantly.
That immediately made Sakura and Sasuke's expressions change. Then, they both stared at Alfonzo' with aggrieved expressions. At the same time, Miyuki finally came back from preparing tea. Then, she placed five teacups on the coffee table, filled each from the pot of tea, and finally took her place behind Alfonzo.
After Miyuki finished her task, and while ignoring the aggrieved expressions on the young shinobi's faces, Alfonzo unhurriedly picked up his tea cup, sniffed its aroma deeply, smiled satisfactorily, and took a sip. Then, he looked back at Miyuki with a smile.
"Your tea is great as always, Miyuki." Alfonzo said.
"I thank you for your praise, Master Alfonzo." Miyuki said while bowing her head politely.
"Hey! Don't try to change the subject!" Naruto shouted.
"So, since you're yelling at me, I guess that means you won't be staying for dinner tonight, right?" Alfonzo asked as he turned back towards Naruto with his eyes narrowed.
Immediately, Naruto's face paled. Then, he jumped over the coffee table, landing on the couch next to Alfonzo while fawning on him in an attempt to make him change his mind. Naturally, Alfonzo teased Naruto the entire time, seemingly making things hard on him. However, as soon as Wendy and Carla got home, he quickly got up and started preparing dinner with Miyuki.
Sometime before the dinner was ready, Laki, while dragging Kakashi, who was wearing a helpless expression, behind her, came home as well. Naturally, seeing Kakashi looking so helpless was a first for the three Genin in the room. However, they were smart enough to not say anything.
Eventually, Alfonzo and Miyuki brought dinner to the dining room where everyone sat down and ate together. And once dinner was over, Team 7 went home while Alfonzo, Laki, Wendy, Carla, Saeko, and Miyuki retired to their bedrooms for the night.
Thanks for reading, I hopeyou're enjoying the story so far.
Comments, Reviews, and Power Stones are alwa;ys appreciated.
Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, the Village Hidden in the Leaves.
May 25, x788.
Like every morning, Alfonzo and the other visitors to the Village Hidden in the Leaves woke up shortly after sunrise. Then, they took the time to get prepared for the day. Also like always, Yamato was waiting for Alfonzo and Miyuki outside the front door of the residence. However, instead of just escorting them to the training grounds, he had a different order to fulfill.
"Hey, morning, Yamato." Alfonzo said with a smile. "You know, if you were to show up a little earlier each morning, you could join us for breakfast. In fact, Kakashi used to do that every now and then, too."
Taken slightly aback, Yamato found himself annoyed with his senior shinobi. He had met with Kakashi on more than a few occasions since Kakashi first got the mission to follow Alfonzo while he worked. And every time he did, Kakashi would brag about how good Alfonzo's cooking was.
However, when he was assigned the same mission after Kakashi received a Genin team, Kakashi never told him about the fact that he would come over early to join the visitors for breakfast from time to time.
"*Sigh* It looks like I need to have a long conversation with Kakashi next time I run into him." Yamato muttered in a discontent tone. Then, he shook his head to rid himself of those thoughts. "Anyway, Lord Hokage asked me to escort you to see him. So, if you wouldn't mind following me."
Hearing that, Alfonzo had an idea of what Hiruzen wanted to talk to him about. So, he nodded in understanding. Then, he turned back to Miyuki.
"Alright, Miyuki, you don't have to follow me to the Hokage's office." Alfonzo said. "I'll come to get you before we head to the training grounds."
"Understood." Miyuki replied. "I'll await your return, Master Alfonzo."
Then, with a polite bow, Miyuki turned around and retreated into the house.
"Alright, let's go." Alfonzo said with a nod.
Nodding back in return, Yamato, with Alfonzo following him, turned around and started walking towards the Hokage Tower. Then, after about fifteen minutes, the two arrived outside Hiruzen's office.
*Knock!* *Knock!*
"Lord Hokage, it's Yamato." Yamato said respectfully after knocking on the door. "I've brought Alfonzo Marcus per your request."
"Come in." Hiruzen said from the other side of the door.
Once again nodding to Alfonzo, Yamato grabbed the doorknob before opening the door and gesturing for Alfonzo to enter.
Wasting no time, Alfonzo stepped through the open door before Yamato followed him inside Hiruzen's office and closed the door behind him. Then, as Yamato stood by the door, Alfonzo strode towards Hiruzen's desk and took a seat after Hiruzen gestured for him to do so.
"Good morning, Alfonzo." Hiruzen said with a grandfatherly smile. "I've heard about the progress of your work on the training grounds from both Kakashi and Yamato. And I must say, I'm quite impressed."
"Well, I aim to please." Alfonzo replied with a smile. "but I doubt that's why you actually called me here. In fact, I have a pretty good idea why you asked to see me. But just in case I'm wrong, can you tell me what's going on?"
"*Sigh* I figured you would understand before I even had the chance to tell you." Hiruzen replied while shaking his head. "but just to make sure we're on the same page, I'll tell you."
Reaching that point, Hiruzen picked up his pipe, held it to his mouth, and lit it before taking a deep drag. Then, after holding the smoke in his lungs for a moment, he exhaled a cloud of smoke.
"I'd like you to postpone your work until the Chunin Exam ends." Hiruzen said. "Although we can stop the visiting shinobi from the other large and small villages from going to the classified areas of the village, we can't justifiably stop them from travelling to the public training grounds. And I'd rather not chance them seeing you working to upgrade our facilities."
"Yeah, that's exactly what I was expecting to hear." Alfonzo replied with an understanding nod. Then, he put on a cunning smile as he continued. "You're looking to have an advantage over the other villages, so you don't want them to see me working and inquire about what I'm doing. But I have a question for you."
Knowing that Alfonzo would see through his request, Hiruzen nodded. But he was quite curious about Alfonzo's question. At the same time, he was dreading to hear it.
"Please." Hiruzen said, gesturing with his free hand for Alfonzo to continue.
"What exactly do I get out of accepting your request?" Alfonzo asked in a solemn tone after shifting his expression to one that matched his tone. "As you know, I'm a businessman. And working with those villages would bring me quite the profit. So, why should I stop working and preventing them from seeing the upgrades. You should also keep in mind that this was not mentioned in the contract."
Hiruzen groaned internally after hearing Alfonzo's question. In fact, that question was the exact reason why he was dreading Alfonzo's question. To keep him from disclosing his ability to upgrade the training grounds, Hiruzen knew it would cost him quite the sum.
["You're really crafty, Alfonzo."] Bedlam said from Alfonzo's inner world with a shit-eating grin on his face. ["We all know that you're absolutely against doing another job like this one. So, even if Hiruzen had not asked you to stop while the other village's shinobi were here, you would have come up with a reason to stop on your own."]
'Yeah, but he doesn't know that.' Alfonzo replied, smiling like an old fox on the inside. 'And if I can, why shouldn't I get some extra benefits for myself. It's not like I'm doing anything against my conscience or that breaks the contract, right?'
["Hell yeah!"] Riot shouted ecstatically. ["fleece the fuck outta that negligent old man. He can see this as a punishment for letting Danzo run wild for so many years. It's not like he doesn't deserve it. Hmph! He's supposed to be the leader of this village. Yet, he let his personal feelings affect the way he dealt with his subordinates."]
["For one of the few times since we were created, I fully agree with Riot."] Bedlam said with a chuckle. ["I just didn't expect you to go this route, Alfonzo."]
'Well, the fact that he let so much evil fester in his own village, for so long, made me think he needed to be punished, too.' Alfonzo replied internally. 'I just couldn't think of a way to justifiably punish him for it. I mean, he's too worshipped in this village to take a heavy handed approach. But running his pockets won't bother anyone, right?'
While Alfonzo was conversing with his [Armament Spirits], Hiruzen was visibly grimacing. He knew everything Alfonzo said was true. And like Alfonzo discussed with Riot and Bedlam, it was not against the terms of the contract he signed with the village. So, there was no reason for Alfonzo to heed his request.
Meanwhile, Yamato and the Anbu hidden in the room were staring at Alfonzo with dumbfounded expressions while their mouths hung open. Never had they expected Alfonzo to counter with such a reason. And although they were not happy with Alfonzo's attitude, they knew he was right. And as a businessman, everything he did was for the sake of his profits.
Eventually, Hiruzen put on a resigned expression. Then, he took another long drag from his pipe. After once again holding the smoke in his lungs for a few seconds, he exhaled a cloud of smoke. Then, he looked at Alfonzo with a pleading expression.
"*Sigh* What would it take for you to accept my request?" Hiruzen asked.
"Hmm.... Now... That's the million Jewel question, isn't it?" Alfonzo asked while cupping his chin with his right hand. "Hmm.... How about you let me pick a few of my guild mates to get their chakra affinity tested. Then, when we discover their affinities, you let me teach them a few Jutsu?"
Hiruzen audibly groaned once again.
"Haven't we already done that?" Hiruzen asked.
"Nope." Alfonzo replied. "That was compensation for Danzo's attack on us, remember? Besides, you only let them learn one Jutsu each."
"And how many do you have in mind?" Hiruzen asked apprehensively.
"The three from before and the ones who have come since." Alfonzo replied. "That would make a total of..."
Reaching that point, Alfonzo began muttering the names of everyone who has accompanied him to the Village Hidden in the Leaves over the past year and a half while counting on his fingers.
"Nine." Alfonzo said after he was done counting.
Though he struggled for a while, Hiruzen eventually agreed. At first, he was expecting Alfonzo to want a monetary reward for accepting his request. However, only allowing nine people to have unrestricted access to their library of Jutsu was a lot less of a hit than he expected.
In fact, the reason the number was so small, was simple. Most of the wizards in Fairy Tail were not smart enough to comprehend the intricacies of [Ninjutsu] or [Genjutsu]. And those who were, were either wielding stronger magic or were not willing to split their attention to another branch of magic.
"Oh, I wanna teach some of my wives and wives to be, too." Alfonzo added after a few seconds of thought. "So, I guess that would add another eight to the total. Oh, I think the guild master, Ur would benefit from learning another discipline, too."
As Alfonzo continued to speak, Hiruzen's expression grew more and more pale. Because despite wanting to reject, He knew that Alfonzo was not being excessive if you considered how much money he stood to make if he cooperated with the other villages.
'*Sigh* Maybe I should have let him just cooperate with the other villages.' Hiruzen thought to himself. 'If I did, there's a good chance he and his guild would end up destroying those villages after they tried to keep him from working with the other villages by force. Because despite each village having thousands of shinobi, I'm sure that woman, Irene Belserion could destroy most, if not all of them, by herself with very little effort.'
While Hiruzen continued toying with that thought in his head, he eventually forgot about it as his conversation with Alfonzo came to an end.
After speaking with Hiruzen, Alfonzo and Yamato left the Hokage Tower. And while they made their way back to the residence where the visitors from magnolia were staying, Yamato could not help but look at Alfonzo with an awed expression.
Never before had he ever considered doing anything but following the Hokage's instructions without question. But that was natural, as he was a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf who did not have any traitorous thoughts.
"Is there something on my face?" Alfonzo asked, snapping Yamato out of his revelry.
"Huh? Oh, no." Yamato replied as he quickly looked away.
"Anyway, since I don't have anything to do for the rest of the day, wanna come over and grab a bite with us?" Alfonzo asked. "But since there's a while until lunch, we could have a little spar in the meantime... If you're up for it, that is."
Remembering how Kakashi bragged about getting to eat Alfonzo's cooking on more than one occasion, Yamato immediately agreed to have lunch with him. As for the spar, he did not mind, either. In fact, Yamato was looking forward to it. Since he knew that Alfozo was one of the stronger wizards on Fiore, he knew that it would definitely broaden his horizons.
Eventually, the two arrived at the house. And when they did, they immediately headed to the backyard to spar, which attracted the attention of those in the house. So, Laki, Saeko, and Miyuki also made their way out to the backyard to watch. At which point, Alfonzo explained the result of his conversation with Hiruzen.
After Alfonzo's explanation, Laki, Saeko, and Miyuki backed away, giving Alfonzo and Yamato enough room to spar. And when she saw Yamato's [Ninjutsu], which was a combination of [Water-Style], [Earth-Style], and [Wood-Style Ninjutsu], Laki could not keep from having her eyes light up at the [Wood-Style] in particular.
Alfonzo had told her about the [Wood-Style] after his first trip to the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Unfortunately, he did not have the permission to teach it to others at that time. But getting the chance to see it for herself, she was having all sorts of ideas how she could use her [Wood-Make Magic] in combat.
Naturally, that was Alfonzo's reason for wanting to spar with Yamato at his residence. In fact, with Hiruzen's promise, he was even allowed to teach Laki all the [Wood-Style Ninjutsu] that were cataloged in Danzo's records.
["Are you sure you want to do that?"] Bedlam asked with a cheshire grin as Alfonzo dodged away from a wooden tendril that grew from right beneath him. ["You did so much to get her interested in Kakashi. But if you actually teach her all those [Ninjutsu], she might shift her focus back to you."]
'*Sigh* I know what you mean.' Alfonzo replied as he closed the distance with Yamato and lashed his right leg at the shinobi's left shoulder. 'But that's not a good enough reason to not help her get stronger. And considering all the shit Hashirama could do with the [Wood-Style], Laki will probably be a god damn monster if she combines that with her high amount of magic power, her [Soul Armament], and her strange imagination.'
["Yeah, I know you're right."] Bedlam replied.
["Quit your bitchin'." Riot interjected. ["We all know that if Laki was willing to share, Alfonzo would accept her. So, just let shit happen as it's supposed to."]
With that, Alfonzo's conversation with his [Armament Spirits] continued while he simultaneously sparred with Yamato. Eventually, the time for lunch came and they stopped. Then, with Miyuki's help, Alfonzo cooked a rather large lunch and the group sat down to eat. And while they did, Laki energetically questioned Yamato about his [Wood-Style Ninjutsu].
Then, after lunch ended, not sure if they had already had her lunch or not, Alfonzo, accompanied by Yamato, brought some lunch he packed away for Wendy and Carla to the hospital. After that, the rest of the day passed peacefully as the number of visitors to the Hidden Leaf increased due to the Chunin Exam.
Thanks for reading, I hope you're enjoying the story so far.
Comments, Reviews, and Power Stones are always appreciated.
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