22 Messenger and Apology

I body flickered to the main camp and to Sakumo camp but he told me that he culd not as his child was to be expected very soon. I stayed talking to the two of them a bit before departing again to Konoha. Am I a f**king messanger ? So I again arrived to the Hokage tower and when I entered he clearly surprised to see me again. I said"Lord Hokage, I am here again to tell you thay Sakumo won't be able to come to this mission as his child will soon come to this world."

The Hokage face palmed and grumpily said"How could I forget that when I saw his wife. My old eyes are playing me tricks..."He stopped whispering to himself, even thought I heard it all, and said" This is a quite important mission and I think it would be better to make it as a team. What about you genin team ?" I though about it, I do not want them to be in danger but I could make this mission alone…

I accepted the offer"Yes Lord Hokage, I think that would be great for them, that would make them stronger I think." The hokage nodded and ordered me"Come back tommorow at noon with your entire team. And also, stop calling me Lord Hokage, just call me Sarutobi. You now are as revered as me, and make us distant." I replied quickly"But Lord Hokage, that is against the rules and…" The Hokage stopped me with another order" Now this is an order, you are to call me Sarutobi and not Lord Hokage." I smiled hearing this and said"Then we should meet tommorow, Sarutobi."

I decided to go sleep at the Uchiha mansion as it was now almost night and I wanted to sleep in my bed. I woke up the next morning, and walked around the village to eat. After ten minutes I found a new restaurant, it was Ichuraku ramen. I entered and was surprised to see a kid about 16 years old behind the bar. As he saw me he quickly bowed looking nervous and said"Greetings Lord Red Sword !" After he said that I smiled and said"Don't stand on ceremony. Here I am only another customer, not Red Sword."

I saw that he relaxed and got up after hearing what I said. He then looked at me in the eyes"Sir, you can see the menu there. You tell me what you want." I looked toward it and quickly choose."I would like your special ramen, please." The boy nodded and began to make them silently. Curious and having nothing to do I asked"So you are the only one working here ?" The boy did not turn and just said "Yes, my parents died when I was little and now that I am 16 I can legally open this restaurant. To tell you the truth, you are my first customer."

I was surprised at this and said" Well congrats for opening the restaurant. I hope you will succeed. And by the way, what's your name ?" At that he laughed"My name is Teuchi Sir, and the fact that my first customer is the famous Red Sword will help me a lot." After he said that he turned and handed me a bowl"Have a good meal !" He also handed me sticks and I tasted. It tasts heavenly ! It is even better than Sakaki cooking ! I quickly emptied my bowl.

Teuchi looked at me curiously and I said"This is the best ramen I tasted in my life !" He seemed to beam in joy and just when I was handing him the money he said"Well to be honest I would prefer you to sign a paper for me than money."I nodded and asked for a marker and a paper. I signed Red Sword and still handed the money. I then used body flicker to go to the main base first and then to the third stronghold of Suna battlefield.

There I did not dare to ask around as there were an entire corps that now was defending it, and as Sarutobi said, I am nearly as much known as him, so I have to avoid people as much as possible if I want to be left alone. I took only ten minutes to find them as the three were already together. The three turned to me and surprinsingly Kimio gaze was not as cold s before. I greeted them all, even Kimio.

I began to speak before they could"First nothing changed between us because of my new position, we still are friends and I am still the same person." The three nodded. I continued"Second I am sorry but I am not only here to see you, I am here to bring the three of you to the Hokage." After I said this the three were clearly nervous, so I added"Do not worry, it is not to punish you or something." The three relaxed and just as we were going Kimio asked me if we could talk.

We distanced ourselves from the two others and Kimio talked first."Well, I think you understood that I became cold toward you, right. I am sorry for that I hope you can forgive me, I just was jeolous at how fast you were becoming stronger and I was stuck at my level. This even caused me to regress. But now I am fine, I passed around it and I became as strong as I was before, maybe a little stronger. So I hope you will forgive me for what I did."

As he looked to be honest I nodded"As long as you become like you were at the beginning I do not have any problem with it. Now let's go and meet the Hokage." With that we went to Denji and Ayami and we used body flicker to go to Konoha. We arrived and we were all three in front of Sarutobi's office for the first time since long."