Wildflower | Naruto Fanfiction

Chapter39: Noble Venture!

"Hokage-sama, the village has been infiltrated!", Kuma cried as he fell to his knees before her. Neko did the same, not willing to speak as he kept his gaze low.

"I know.", Tama said, a small simle on her face.

He blanched, his breath hitching at the back of his throat. She narrowed her eyes mischievously at him, leisurely drinking from her steaming cup.

"I'd like to understand how this happened with you guys around. The guards are just Jōnin, you have to always be there to back them up.", Tama said softly. Neko and kuma shared a look, both startled under their masks.

"We were changing shifts, we really didn't see it coming Suzum— I mean taichō. Suzume-taichō... Hokage-sama...?", Kuma fumbled. Tama felt like stepping on him for that, she wasn't Hokage.

"Can we call you Godaime Hokage-sama? Since... Technically you're playing the part...", Neko asked awkwardly, his head still lowered.

"Please stop calling me Hokage, before I kill someone. Kuma, please get Izumo and Kotetsu here immediately so I can deal with that genjutsu. Neko, you get to base. No one enters or leaves the building or the village until I've found the imposters. Spread the message.", she instructed, smilingly.

"Yes, taichō... Hoka—", Neko sighed, exasperated. "Yes, boss!"

Boss... Boss?

Tama sighed, relaxing into the large seat. Not sparing them another glance, she put her focus back onto the documents before her. This was ridiculous, she had no time such nonsense. Jiraiya really lodged her between a rock and a hard place with this duty.

...

At Kushina and Minato's house, the real Tama was monitoring Naruto as he packed his clothes, when her clone sent in the news of a supposed infiltration. She paused, her gaze stuck on the sweaty shirts on the boy's bed. A clone would deal with that.

"Leave every dirty piece of clothing behind, you won't be smelling like a wet dog all the time.", she said. Naruto looked up at her challengingly.

"No way, dattebayō! I need clothes to wear!", he shouted. Jiraiya watched, unimpressed, from the doorway. If Kushina was around then this boy would have been so disciplined that it wouldn't be funny. Tama smiled sweetly at the boy, roughly grabbing him by the jaw and forcing him to look her in the eyes. He paused, startled.

"If your mother was here, you would already have died five times before being revived so you could clean the whole house before you leave. I don't remember teaching you to hoard rotten things and turn my aunt and uncle's house into a sty. Now, leave those clothes, before I forbid you from going on this trip and make you wash these clothes immediately!", she hissed, still smiling. If Kushina were to see this then, surely, she would be proud. Jiraiya was starting to really believe that she was in the girl's life. It wouldn't be unlikely, because she looked a lot like Mikoto, and those two were quite close from childhood.

Now then, to say that Naruto was startled would be an understatement. The boy looked like he would pee his pants. He immediately unpacked his ridiculously large bag. Jiraiya cast the girl a glance, her saw way too many people in her every time he looked. There was the stubborn, fierce and fearless Kushina, the sweet, intelligent and assertive Mikoto, the compassionate, soft but powerful Minato, and crude, secretive but kind Fugaku... But, there were more people. Far too many to put into just one child.

"You don't even need half the things in here, and almost everything is dirty, Naruto-kun. What do you get up to when I'm not around? Do you expect me to always be there to clean for you? Isn't this your house, Naruto-kun? Am I not only supposed to help you and not do everything for you?", the girl scolded worriedly. Naruto hung his head in shame, unable to respond. Tama frowned, sighing softly. She rubbed his head lovingly, her gaze softening conserably. Just that revealed more of Mikoto.