The Chunin Exam Is Right Around the Corner

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

May, x788.

While working on one the of the training grounds in the Village Hidden in the Leaves, Alfonzo raised an eyebrow after feeling an abnormality through his [Magic Power Detection]. Despite that, he did not stop his work, nor did he lower the speed at which he worked.

'Looks like Gaara is here.' Alfonzo muttered internally. 'And if that's the case, I guess that means the Chunin Exams will be starting soon. I'm definitely gonna stop Orochimaru from biting Sasuke. But should I kill him when he shows up to give Sasuke the [Cursed Seal of Heaven]? Or should I let him get away so I expose him in front of Hiruzen. But if Hiruzen doesn't die, will that mess up the canon where Tsunade becomes the Fifth Hokage. But if she does, who will become the new master of Mermaid Heel?'

Despite the complicated thoughts running through his head, Alfonzo continued to work meticulously. So, Yamato did not notice anything wrong. Miyuki, on the other hand, could tell that something was on her master's mind. Though, she had no way of knowing what it was. Still, Elicia and the other women living in the mansion had asked her to stop him if he seemed to be pushing himself too hard. And this seemed like the kind of situation they were talking about.

"Master Alfonzo, perhaps now is time for a break." Miyuki said in a respectful tone. "From what I can tell, something is occupying your thoughts. And although I have complete faith that it will not hinder your work, I do believe it is better to be safe than sorry."

"Huh?" Alfonzo said, sounding confused. However, when he looked into Miyuki's eyes, he nodded his head.

'*Sigh* She's spent more time watching me than doing almost anything else for almost a year.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'So, I guess it's only natural that she can tell when I have something on my mind. Well, I guess now is as good a time as any for a break. So, why not?'

"Sure." Alfonzo replied with a smile and a nod. "I guess I could use a drink. It's getting a little hot out, and I'm getting a little thirsty. Besides, Maybe I can call Lici and get a chance to see Little Man for a few minutes before I get back to work."

"Understood." Miyuki said as she reached into the basket containing Alfonzo's lunch.

A moment later, Miyuki pulled a thermos out of the basket before quickly opening it. Then, she poured a cup of tea for Alfonzo. Meanwhile, Alfonzo stopped working and made his way over to where Miyuki and Yamato were watching him work.

"Blackberry Sage Tea, Master Alfonzo." Miyuki said as she presented the teacup to Alfonzo.

"Thanks." Alfonzo replied with a nod. Then, he smelled the tea with a pleasant expression on his face. "I love the smell of this tea."

A moment later, Alfonzo took a sip. Meanwhile, Yamato was looking back and forth between Alfonzo and Miyuki with confusion written all over his face.

'Just how did she know there was something on his mind?' Yamato asked himself in a dumbfounded tone. 'I mean, from what I could tell, he was working the exact same way as he usually does. This doesn't make any sense.'

Not long after that, Alfonzo finished his break and got back to work. Then, the rest of his day went on without issue. Though, he did notice a brief interaction between Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, and a group of three unfamiliar shinobi through his [Magic Power Detection]. However, there was no need for him to act in the end.

After the work day ended, Yamato escorted Alfonzo and Miyuki back to their residence. Then, as Yamato left, Alfonzo and Miyuki gathered with Saeko in the residence's living room.

"I guess Laki is out pestering Kakashi again, huh?" Alfonzo said with a smile.

"That's right." Saeko replied as she snuggled up to Alfonzo's side on the couch. "She seems to be completely obsessed about seeing what's under his mask."

"Yeah, but at least it seems like she's enjoying herself." Alfonzo said while shaking his head lightly. "But for Kakashi's sake, I hope she doesn't get fed up with the chase. Because if she decides to find out by force, I don't think there's anything he could do about it."

"Are you suggesting that Laki would forcefully capture him to find out if she got fed up?" Saeko asked with a concerned expression on her face.

"No, I'm not suggesting anything." Alfonzo said while smiling wryly. "I'm saying there's no doubt she would kidnap that mother fucker, take him to a secluded place, tie him up, take off his mask, and then put him through a round of torture for making her wait so long."

"She's not that bad, is she?" Miyuki asked cautiously. "She seems quite nice to me."

"Oh, don't get me wrong." Alfonzo said with a smile. "As outside of what people consider normal as Laki is, she's not a bad person. But the reason she'd do all that is a little different, I think."

"It's so that she could assert dominance, right?" Saeko asked, basically finishing Alfonzo's thought. "She's quite the sadist from what I can tell."

"That's right." Alfonzo replied with a nod. "Though I don't think she realizes it yet. But she's pretty into him."

"Indeed." Saeko replied. "I don't think she's noticed that she spends less time staring at you, either."

"Anyway, we can talk about Laki and her pursuits later, Naruto is almost here." Alfonzo said with a chuckle. "Sasuke and Sakura are coming this way, too. But they're moving at a much slower pace."

Smiling in reply, Saeko dug into Alfonzo's side more fervently. Meanwhile, Miyuki made her way towards the kitchen to prepare drinks for the guests.

A few minutes later, the sound of the door, that Alfonzo had preemptively unlocked with his [Metal Magic], could be heard slamming open. That was quickly followed by the sound of footsteps. And finally, Naruto burst into the living room with an excited expression on his face.

"Hey, Big Bro Alfonzo!" Naruto shouted. "I met the Jinchuriki of the One-Tailed Beast today. And man, he was really crazy. Like crazy, I'm gonna kill everyone one minute to I'm still gonna kill everyone, but I can talk to them without sounding crazy, crazy."

Hearing Naruto's colorful explanation, Alfonzo and Saeko could not help giggling a bit. Meanwhile, Miyuki did not laugh. However, she did crack a hint of a smile. A moment later, Alfonzo stopped laughing and spoke in a stern tone.

"I assume the Fox told you that this person was a Jinchuriki, right?" Alfonzo asked.

"That's right." Naruto replied with a nod. Then, as if he could read Alfonzo's mind, he replied to the next thing he would have said. "Don't worry, I didn't tell anyone that he told me. I just told them that I could feel the [Seal] holding the One-Tailed Beast inside of that creepy guy."

'Gaara may be nuts, but until you've seen Orochimaru, you ain't seen creepy.' Alfonzo thought to himself while shaking his head.

["Yeah, I've never even seen him in person."] Bedlam said from Alfonzo's inner world. ["But just the thought of being near him creeps me out. And I don't like that feeling. So, why don't we kill him next time we run into him."]

["Yeah, what did that one Ice Goddess chick from that fan fic say about him?"] Riot asked in a disgusted tone. ["He likes piercing young men with things... And they aren't kunai... *Gag*"]

While Rioted gagged, Alfonzo and Bedlam shivered in terror. Although Naruto did not notice, because she was snuggling with Alfonzo, Saeko noticed his shivering immediately.

"Alfonzo, are you okay?" Saeko asked in a concerned tone.

"Huh?" Naruto made a confused sound after hearing Saeko's question. "Is something wrong, Big Bro?"

At around the same time, the sound of the residence's front door closing could be heard. A moment after that, Sakura and Sasuke entered the living room.

"Seriously, Naruto…" Sakura said while resting her hands on her hips. "You couldn't even stop long enough to close the door behind you? What if someone had snuck in after you came inside?"

Despite registering Sakura's words, Naruto did not respond, which made her rather angry. Instead, he was staring at Alfonzo, waiting for his response to Saeko's question.

"Don't worry about it." Alfonzo said while waving one hand dismissively and pulling Saeko closer with the other. "I just remembered something really fucking unpleasant. It still creeps me out to this day… and it happened almost four years ago."

Hearing that, both Naruto and Sakura widened their eyes in surprise. Sasuke, on the other hand, narrowed his. Neither of the three could think of anything that would be able to creep out someone as strong as Alfonzo.

"I can tell what the three of you are thinking just from the looks on your faces." Alfonzo said while smiling wryly. "And no, I'm not scared of that little pedo-snake. But he's just too fucking creepy."

"Pedo-snake?" Sakura asked in a confused tone.

"Anyway, I guess Naruto told you about the One-Tail's Jinchuriki, right?" Alfonzo asked in an obvious attempt to change the subject. "So, what do you think?"

"He's highly unstable and dangerous." Sasuke replied solemnly. "And not just to his enemies, as the two who should have been his team mates seemed to be scared of him, too."

"Yeah, he even threatened to kill one of them." Naruto added. "And the guy started shaking like the legs of a newborn deer."

"I really don't have any idea how someone could be that crazy." Sakura said, gently shaking her head as she did so.

After hearing Sakura say that, Naruto looked a bit downcast, and Alfonzo and Saeko knew exactly why. As a Jinchuriki himself, he could understand why he would end up like that.

"Are you serious, Sakura?" Alfonzo asked while rolling her eyes. "The kid is a Jinchuriki, he literally has a demon [Sealed] inside of him. And with him acting like that, it's more than likely his whole village knows about it. I mean, have you forgotten how you and all the other villagers treated Naruto just because it was rumored that he was the reincarnation of the Nine-Tailed Fox?"

As a matter of fact, she had not forgotten. However, because Naruto was never malicious in his actions, Sakura did not equate them as the same type of person. Though, when Naruto used the Nine-Tailed Fox's ominous magic power during the mission to the Land of Waves, she remembered the fear it made her feel at first.

"Anyway, if he's here at this time, he's probably a participant in the Chunin Exams." Alfonzo said after seeing Sakura lower her head in shame. "So, you guys need to be careful if you run into him during the exam. I don't know what kind of tests you'll have to go through, but I'm certain that your lives will be on the line at some point during the exam."

"Wait, how do you know about the Chunin Exams?" Sasuke asked with narrowed eyes. On top of that, his Sharingan activated so that he wouldn't miss any of Alfonzo's expressions. "We just found out about it a couple of days ago, ourselves."

"Oh, it's because Kakashi had dinner over here the day before yesterday." Alfonzo replied with a smile. "And to make Laki lose focus on getting him to take his mask off for even a few moments, he told us about it."

While Sasuke looked completely dumbfounded about the reason, Sakura wore an expression that suggested she was interested in seeing under Kakashi's mask, too. Naruto, on the other hand, was thinking about something totally different.

"Hey, you invited Kakashi-Sensei to dinner, but you didn't invite us?" Naruto asked indignantly.

That immediately made Sakura and Sasuke's expressions change. Then, they both stared at Alfonzo' with aggrieved expressions. At the same time, Miyuki finally came back from preparing tea. Then, she placed five teacups on the coffee table, filled each from the pot of tea, and finally took her place behind Alfonzo.

After Miyuki finished her task, and while ignoring the aggrieved expressions on the young shinobi's faces, Alfonzo unhurriedly picked up his tea cup, sniffed its aroma deeply, smiled satisfactorily, and took a sip. Then, he looked back at Miyuki with a smile.

"Your tea is great as always, Miyuki." Alfonzo said.

"I thank you for your praise, Master Alfonzo." Miyuki said while bowing her head politely.

"Hey! Don't try to change the subject!" Naruto shouted.

"So, since you're yelling at me, I guess that means you won't be staying for dinner tonight, right?" Alfonzo asked as he turned back towards Naruto with his eyes narrowed.

Immediately, Naruto's face paled. Then, he jumped over the coffee table, landing on the couch next to Alfonzo while fawning on him in an attempt to make him change his mind. Naturally, Alfonzo teased Naruto the entire time, seemingly making things hard on him. However, as soon as Wendy and Carla got home, he quickly got up and started preparing dinner with Miyuki.

Sometime before the dinner was ready, Laki, while dragging Kakashi, who was wearing a helpless expression, behind her, came home as well. Naturally, seeing Kakashi looking so helpless was a first for the three Genin in the room. However, they were smart enough to not say anything.

Eventually, Alfonzo and Miyuki brought dinner to the dining room where everyone sat down and ate together. And once dinner was over, Team 7 went home while Alfonzo, Laki, Wendy, Carla, Saeko, and Miyuki retired to their bedrooms for the night.