Chapter 17: Interlude

I stood ramrod straight in front of Lord Fifth. He had called me into his office after receiving a letter from Lord Jiraiya. I was informed that it was in regards to Naruto and his return. I was beyond excited. Two years had come and gone, yet they felt as if they had dragged on for eternity. Naruto was a constant in my life since the age of 6, so not having him around had made everything just seem off.

Lord Fifth cleared his throat, pulling me out of my introspection. "I have bad news, Kenta." Lord Fifth said solemnly.

My heart dropped. Please, don't tell me what I think you're going to tell me. My mouth opened. "Naruto… Is he…?" My voice cracked and I couldn't finish my thought.

Lord Fifth's eyes darted down to the letter and he began to read. "Oi. I'm not coming back until I master this technique, you hear you Old Pervert?! Kenta is probably a Jonin by now and has a bingo book entry. I'm not letting his smug face show me up, ya know! Tell him we're not coming back for another year, ya hear?!"

I stared at Lord Fifth, he stared back. The pit in my stomach seemed to fall out my ass and I breathed a sigh of relief. I laughed, loudly. The worry in my body evaporating.

"That sounds just like Naruto. Did you interpret that yourself, Lord Fifth?" I chuckled.

He shook his head. "Naruto's creation. A seal you place on a piece of paper and then as you talk, the words transcribe themselves. A nifty little seal, wouldn't you think?"

That made me laugh even harder, knowing that was word for word what Naruto more than likely screamed at Lord Jiraiya.

"So another year?" I asked, calming down from my laughter.

Lord Fifth nodded. "At least. Lord Jiraiya hinted it might even be longer. They will update us at that time. That is all I needed to tell you. I trust you'll ensure everyone who needs to know will find out?"

I nodded and gave a salute. "Yes, Lord Fifth. It will be done by the end of the day."

"Good, dismissed."

I flickered away, determination reignited in my soul. Naruto was working hard, I couldn't let HIM show me up!

Quick little Segway for you all into PART 2! It's FINALLY here.

I just finished Ch1 and I'm pretty happy with it.

I wanted to put this here for instruction for all you lovely readers of mine.

Part 2 WILL BE A NEW WORK!

I repeat. PART 2 WILL BE A NEW WORK!

It is titled: Reincarnation? Ok, Pal. The Story of Kenta Yamanaka. (FFN is lame and will more than likely take out all the punctuation besides the first question mark leaving my story title looking like a shitty run-on sentence.)

Ch1 Part 2 will be posted about 30 minutes AFTER THIS GOES UP AND READERS CAN SEE IT ON THE HOMEPAGE!

If you don't see Part 2 right away, just be patient.

Love you all and thanks for you support along this journey of my first fanfic!