Chapter 27 - Return to Konoha
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"Welcome back, Kakashi-san. How was the mission?" One of the two gatekeepers small talked
Kakashi scratched the back of his head and said in a bit of a forced voice "Um… Well… It went well… I guess…"
"Hahahaha! For Kakashi-san to feel like that, I guess it was a bit more of a pain than usual."
Kakashi sighed and replied as if they've known each other for quite a while. "You can say that again…"
"Hm? Who are these two people? The one with the mask and the good looking young lady?" He asked in cautiousness.
Haku smiled meanwhile the one with mask deadpanned as if annoyed even beneath the mask
Kakashi signalled that they were fine with his hands and replied "These are two mercenaries that Naruto hired. They will be registered as a ninja in Konoha… well… don't ask too much, it's a pain to explain…"
"Hahaha! Alright, come inside the village."
As they were walking, Zabuza approached Naruto "Looks like your village's security is pretty lax."
Naruto sighed and answered with a disgusted look "Are you dumb? How could a village's security be lax? They were only lax because Kakashi-sensei is accompanying us. If you entered on your own they'll probably have your mask removed and check all of your belongings. Seeing that you knew Kakashi-sensei despite not being from the same village shows that Kakashi-sensei has prestige. If it were an ordinary jounin we might not be able to enter the village."
Zabuza got annoyed and a vein formed in his forehead hearing Naruto's comment and acted like a tsundere "Hmp!"
Meanwhile Haku, who was following them, lightly laughed.
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Hokage's office…
"Oh, it's you, Kakashi. How was the mission?" Hiruzen said with a tired look as it seemed like he was working at the paperworks for days.
Naruto chuckled, "It seems like you're still busy despite my advice."
Kakashi sighed and reported "The mission became [A-Rank]. But we completed it anyway."
Hiruzen nodded as if it happened all the time and asked "How did it become [A-Rank]?"
"We encountered a missing-nin trying to the client and…." Kakashi reported everything about the mission leaving the part where Zabuza and Haku came with them.
"I see… then the mission reward for this time is pushed up to 700,000 ryo."
Kakashi bowed and said "Thank you, Sandaime-sama…"
Hiruzen nodded and turned his attention to Zabuza and Haku "By the way, who's the person in the mask? And the beautiful lady?"
Naruto complained "Ahhh! Jiichan! Don't look at her like that! Haku is my woman!"
Haku blushed and Zabuza smiled beneath his mask
Hiruzen coughed at Naruto's complaint and looked at Kakashi and asked "Who are they?"
Kakashi explained, "The person in the mask is Zabuza and the young lady, Haku, is his subordinate. Naruto hired them instead of letting them die because Naruto fell for the young lady."
Hiruzen stood up from his chair "Who?!?!?!?!"
Naruto interrupted "That's right, they are Zabuza and Haku."
Hiruzen in anger said with a solemn voice "Do you know what you've just done?! Naruto?!"
Naruto shrugged and replied "I know, I know. I saw Zabuza's bounty of 18,000,000 ryo. I'll pay for it okay? Deal?"
Hiruzen sighed and dropped to his chair, pinching the place between his eyes with his index and thumb finger "It's not as simple as that Naruto…"
Naruto sighed and said "I got it, I'll double it. Is it okay now?"
Hiruzen shouted in annoyance at Naruto "Stop bribing me! I'm the hokage! You brought a missing-nin into my office! It's not as simple as that!"
Naruto then replied with annoyance "Why not? They'll be my bodyguard and in name you'll provide them with Chuunin and Jounin origin in the village! I'll triple it!"
Hiruzen sighed and replied "Alright, alright. But you best be careful of his identity. He's a missing-nin in Kirigakure. Much more he holds one of the 7 great swords. We might have to go to war, in case they know that we're sheltering a missing-nin in our village."
Naruto smiled thinking 'I won.' and replied "I got it, Jiichan. It's not like I'm dumb."
Hiruzen sighed and looked at the window and signalled with his hand from them to go "Go."
Team 7 nodded and Naruto led Zabuza and Haku outside.
Kakashi stayed behind to talk with Hiruzen after they left. Hiruzen asked "Well? Why'd you let Naruto bring them back? You better have a good reason for it."
Kakashi nodded and reported "Naruto mastered the [Flying Thunder God] jutsu and also his mother's signature Uzumaki jutsu, the [Adamantine Sealing Chains.]."
"He what?" Hiruzen lost his composure again but regained it in a few seconds and coughed "*Cough* I see… Naruto is really a monster… I get why you let him do what he wants."
Kakashi nodded and continued "Furthermore, after we left, we saw the [Flying Thunder God] jutsu scroll. He never practiced once as he was always on duty with me. I gave him 1 day off and after he came back, he already mastered the [Flying Thunder God] jutsu."
Hiruzen glanced at Kakashi and asked "You're saying that he mastered it in a day?"
Kakashi nodded
Hiruzen sighed and said "This is an [SSS-Rank] secret. No one must know this. Kakashi. Tell Naruto that when he uses those jutsu's he must make sure he'll kill them all until he grows up and doesn't need to fear anyone anymore."
Kakashi nodded and replied "I think, Naruto gets that already, Sandaime-sama. If it's killing, he will do fine."
"Will he do fine?" Hiruzen asked
Kakashi replied "Yes. At the start of the mission, he killed someone, and I asked how he was feeling. His answer was 'Hm? I don't feel any different. I killed someone who would kill me if I didn't kill him so why would I feel any different?' Despite his physical body that is still in its youth, his mind is already at Jounin class or much more than that with his mental strength and planning. He probably knew that you would question me about why I let Zabuza and Haku come with us because he smiled at me when he was going out of the door."
Hiruzen sighed and let his body lose all of its strength as he laid back to his seat "What a monstrous child. How did Minato and Kushina give birth to such a monster? In any case, we can't let Naruto die, he's a ninja that will take over the village in time."
Kakashi nodded and said "He said during introduction that he wants to become the strongest, in terms of the hokage position, I don't think he has any interest. He just wants to become the strongest so no one could disrupt his peace."
Hiruzen glanced at Kakashi and smiled "Isn't that fine?"
Kakashi also smiled and replied "Indeed."
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Zabuza who was walking behind Naruto said "Is that fine? Will the hokage really approve of our admission into the village?"
Naruto shrugged and waved his hand as he smiled "It'll be fine. After all that I've shown, they know that they can't antagonize me. The reason why jiichan, let me go with what I want is because of the potential I have shown and I'm the jinchuuriki of the nine-tailed fox. Kakashi-sensei will back me up why he let you two come with us to the village."
"You're the jinchuuriki too on top of your talents? You're really a monster in that case…" Zabuza said in disbelief as he didn't know Naruto was a jinchuuriki too.
"Oh you didn't know that? Now you know." Naruto chuckled
Haku, who was following from behind, stared at Naruto and smiled 'This is the man who fell for me? I still don't know everything about him but… I want to know more…'
Naruto asked as they were walking "You don't mind staying at my house right? I have two more rooms in the house."
Zabuza nodded and said with a knowing smile "It's fine as long as you won't do anything to Haku."
Haku blushed and said "Zabuza!"
Naruto was surprised for a moment as that didn't slip to his mind just now when he asked and chuckled "Of course not." Then smiled, "At least not yet."
Zabuza replied "Hoh…"
Haku just followed with her head down in embarrassment
As they were walking Zabuza and Haku noticed that villagers were looking at Naruto with hostility "Naruto? Why are they looking at you like that?"
Naruto simply replied "Someone spread that I'm the incarnate of the nine-tailed fox so it's no wonder that they look at me like that."
Haku who heard that and asked with solemn tone "Who did that?"
Naruto chuckled and teased Haku with a look "Are you worried for me?"
Haku blushed and nodded
Naruto replied "I see… hahaha! That feels greater than I imagined."
Zabuza who was with them said "Um… I'm here too…"
Naruto replied then smiled "I know. But Haku. Don't worry. I'm sure it's someone way up in the hierarchy. I'll kill him myself when I get enough power to not be ignored by the laws of the village."
Naruto continued to walk towards the house with his back witnessed by both Zabuza and Haku
Haku stared at Naruto's back with a smile learning more about the man that fell for her, she thought it won't take long until she as well, fell for him. Meanwhile Zabuza smiled and thought 'I think I followed someone who will really make it a reality that he will become the strongest.'
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(A/N: For those who are looking for a harem novel that's akin to catching pokemons, please look for other novels. I want my love stories to actually have a backstory instead of just mc looks at fmc then fmc falls in love lol. Leave a power stone if you like the story. Thanks!)