Land Of Waves Arc (13) : End.

Tachibana looked at Maruboshi's body one last time before the ANBU sealed it up. So he walked to the closest ANBU member and handed them a stack of papers.

"These seals were plastered all over the underside of the bridge."

The ANBU looked at the paper and became puzzled for a second before he remembered what the Kiri Shinobi who was part of the Hozuki clan had tried to do before he merged with the sea.

"These are explosive tags?"

"Yes." Tachibana nodded before walking away and sitting down with Naruto and the rest of Team Seven as they waited for orders to be delivered.

Since the Genin had just been through the shock of losing their teachers, the ANBU kept them out of handling Gato and his men as they quelled the villagers by killing tying Gato up for the villagers to decide his fate.

While sitting and waiting each member of the genin squad was lost in their own world.

Sakura wondered about how easily it was to lose life as a shinobi, and Sasuke wondered if he'd be able to kill his brother if he was weaker than Kakashi and he still died. While Naruto blankly tried to piece together the bits and pieces he remembered through the sheer rage he felt for Zabuza when he killed Kakashi.

Tachibana was staring at his system screen which had a new notification for him.

[ The host has avoided the worst possibility by preventing the explosion of the bridge and letting all of Team Seven die. ]

[ Hence as a reward, the Host gets ten contract scrolls to contract with creatures that roam the spirit world. ]

'System do I have to conduct a ritual like Klein to summon messengers and then make contracts with them for payment?'

[ The Host is right. ]

'I see. What functions do these spirit messengers have in the world of Naruto?'

[ The spirit messengers can deliver letters to anyone's chakra they know about irrespective of their location. If the host successfully makes a better contract, the spirits can also protect the host in times of danger. ]

Tachibana *sighed* mentally as he read the system's statement.

'Do I just say they are my summoned beasts that I've signed a contract with if I use them in front of someone else?'

'I guess that'll have to do for now.'

Tachibana looked at the system exclusive inventory and examined the contract scrolls, he could easily understand what was written in it even though he didn't know the language.

'Are you translating what's written in it for me?'

[ Yes. ]

'I see.'

Everyone spent two more weeks helping with the completion of the bridge and Tazuna named it 'Haiiro no Hashi', meaning 'The Grey Bridge' in remembrance of Kakashi and Maruboshi who both lost their lives protecting the bridge and had 'ash' coloured hair.

Team Seven had all gained a little bit of their smiles in the meantime since Tachibana had enlisted their help to work hard and act like a clown to entertain the villagers of the Land of Waves.

Tachibana enlisted Team Seven's help not only to distract them from Kakashi's death but also because the ANBU were constantly monitoring Naruto since news of him being the jinchuriki had escaped with the Kiri shinobi who used the hydrification technique to escape.

Using the ANBU to watch his acts as a clown, Tachibana quickly digested what little of the Clown potion was left.

Now he just wanted to go home and drink the next potion in his home in peace.

"Tachibana-kun, what are you going to do now that…" Naruto asked but he didn't have the heart to continue his sentence.

"It depends on the Hokage. I will listen to whatever he tells me to do next." Tachibana said calmly. It wasn't like he would reveal his next plans to Naruto. And even if he wanted to, he wouldn't have told him when the ANBU were constantly watching him.

"Why don't you join our team!?" Naruto asked loudly causing even Sasuke and Sakura to pay attention to Tachibana's answer.

Tachibana had a thinking face for a few seconds, but unlike how everyone expected him to be thinking about Naruto's proposal, he was thinking something else.

'How do I reject him?'

'Can I even reject him?'

'I don't want to get dragged into another ridiculous mission like this one..'

'But I will only be able to grow stronger as long as I face such difficult missions since they'll be the ones where I can 'act' against powerful enemies and digest my potions the most.'

'But Yamato's right here…'

'I think I know what to do…'

Tachibana looked at Naruto for a few seconds as if he was analyzing something before he said, "I want to start a new department in the village."

Tachibana's answer threw everyone in Team Seven off guard, even Yamato who was leading them back to the village while the other ANBU stayed back to prevent other shinobi from occupying the Land of Waves again.

Yamato with his ANBU mask still on asked, "What department do you want to set up Tachibana-kun?"

"Yes! I want to know too!" Naruto shouted.

"....Well, I wondered why there wasn't a department in the village researching new jutsu. I mean if we knew more jutsu wouldn't we be able to defeat our enemies more easily? Like the Hydrification technique that the Kiri shinobi used to catch Maruboshi-sensei off guard and kill."

"Ah…" Yamato nodded understanding Tachibana's request even though it was poorly worded, so he did his best to explain, "The village already does that."

"They do?"

"Well not exactly as you described it, but something similar. Creating new jutsu is extremely hard and involves a lot of effort and time to make sure it doesn't damage the body when it is used-"

"-So while the village does not directly research jutsu, we do examine the corpses of our enemies to learn the pathways they used the most to understand the jutsus they used and decipher them."

"How do I join them?" Tachibana asked quickly.

"Hmm…although it is not exactly hard to join the department that researches jutsus, you need to be a good chunin to have a chance."

"How does one become a chunin?" Tachibana asked even though he knew.

"A chunin exam happens twice yearly and is held by a different village each time. The next one happens in three months and will be held by Konoha. If you have completed twenty D-rank missions and three C-rank missions by then, you can participate in it to gain the chance at a chunin promotion."

Before Tachibana could say anything else, Sasuke questioned, "Can I gain access to higher-ranked jutsus if I become a Chunin?"

"Yes, you can access most B-rank jutsus by becoming a chunin."

That was when Sakura asked Yamato her doubt, "How can I become a Medical Ninja?"

"Oh, the Konoha Hospital is another department in Konoha just like the one that researches new jutsus, they also require you to be a chunin before you can be trained to become a full-fledged doctor."

Tachibana then looked at Naruto and asked, "Are you going to participate in the chunin exam with your team Naruto?"

"Yes! I'm going to become the Hokage! And for that, I need to become a chunin!"

Tachibana nodded and then questioned Yamato, "Can I enter the Chunin exams alone?"

Yamato stared off into the distance for a few seconds before speaking calmly, "It is not unprecedented to take the chunin exam alone if you match the required qualification, but it is deemed too risky to do so."

"So it's possible?"

"Yes. In fact, Kakashi became a Chunin when he was only six years old. And he did it alone." Yamato explained much to the shock of everyone on Team Seven.

"Then if you and your teammates don't have a problem, I'd like to join your team for the next few months Naruto."

"No problem!!!!" Naruto cheered without even asking Sasuke or Sakura, causing the pink-haired girl to punch his head while shouting, "At least ask us before you make decisions you stonehead!!!!"

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A/N : Thoughts?