Chapter 4: Slow Progress

'I don't know how things have ended up this way, Minato. I want to believe that if you were still alive, things wouldn't have fallen down this badly. I don't even know how to go about it anymore. I'm out, I'm dry, and I'm tired, but then again, you won't be allowing me to give up, would you? I'm sorry for failing Naruto, by the way. I really do need to be there for the boy, don't I? But I can't yet, at least not with the threat of war coming from not only all sides but from within as well. I'm going to have to send someone from my place until I Hiruzen can stabilise things from here and I can stabilise the outside, but still, I do always wonder what you would do in this situation. You'd probably be able to bring the peace within the village far sooner than we could, and your reputation alone would have deterred even the thought of war from the other villages'

Jiraiya looked up in the sky. Tears started to fall from his eyes, a sad smile etched into his face, but after a while, he looked at the village once more, taking in the scenery one last time before he leaves.

"I think those two will do great to accompany Naruto; they're closer to each other's age anyway."

With those words spoken, Jiraiya disappeared from the Hokage monument, leaving nothing but leaves.

-Hokage Office-

'With Jiraiya gone, I will need to be extra vigilant. With Naruto needing some time for himself, I need to make sure that I can choose the guards for him, Jonin Jonin Jonin. Maybe Yugao will be a good pick? She's an anbu, but she's still young. I can have Hayate train her, maybe? No, that'll take too long. Kurenai is only a chūnin at the moment. I will need to help them improve; maybe they can be the first one to take the pills. No, I need to provide them resources now to make sure they can help Naruto as soon as I can. I don't have any female Jonin Jiraiya, but hopefully I can cultivate some'

Hiruzen checked the profiles of both, and a profile fell out of his hands. As he tried to pick it up, he widening his eyes at what was written within.

A deep sigh was released by the Hokage, rubbing his temple, feeling headaches about to come at such a night, but he didn't allow that to stop him from thinking of ways to either help Naruto or better Konoha.

'Wait, Kumo has done a blunder; they tried to kidnap Hinata, the hyuuga heiress, and with that, we have a good reason to demand something from them, but hasn't Hizashi died? No, I can also use that to our advantage. I apologise, Hizashi, but I will need to use your death for the betterment of Naruto's

Nothing stopped Hiruzen from writing a very angry letter to Kumogakure, or more specifically, to the fourth Raikage, a demanding letter about what they did and how to compensate.

'They have a kunoichi that is also a jinchuriki, don't they? Then they should be able to let her go for the sake of peace. Right now, I don't give a damn about reputation with anyone else. I need to make sure that Naruto is well protected. I need to train two kunoichi to be Jonin-level. I'm going to demand that the Nibi Jinchuriki be given to us and another kunoichi. To be more precise, someone of Naruto's age should do; they can be play mates of sorts; the Uchiha can wait until I can get more information from Itachi and the others; the lab will have to be done as soon as possible; despite Jiraiya saying it'll take some time, he'll probably send one and try to find Tsunade soon; I need to prepare immediately.

-Time Pass-

Naruto started to attend the academy; he was at first welcomed in a more welcoming manner, but as time passed, the majority of his classmates never bothered to talk to him due to his very quiet nature. The only ones that were remotely on his side were Sasuke Uchiha, Shino Aburame, and Ino Yamanaka, the last due to being asked by his father.

Naruto was quite surprised due to how he was being treated by the three. Shino, still being quiet, found solace in the quiet nature of Naruto. Despite them not talking much, a mutual respect has been formed. Sasuke, on the other hand, would be the most outgoing person Naruto has ever met. The brightest some would say, that Naruto slowly got envious of how much energy he has. Ino is still an enigma to him, not understanding why she sticks around nor what she wants out of all of this.

Though the weirdest would be from the Hyuuga clan called Toneri Hyuuga, someone from the main branch, the twin brother of Hinata Hyuuga and the heir of the Hyuuga, someone that is well respected due to his power and gene mutation leading him not to have the normally enlarged white irides, making him the unique one out of the entirety of his family.

Naruto found peace at such a slow few months in his life, allowing him to digest and slowly comprehend what has happened to him that day, creating theories as to why he was treated as such, or even why the people see him with either pity or utter hatred. He also grew a little bored with the slow pace of the world; he learned things but not enough, and even at this time, discrimination was abundant due to him being asked to leave classes midway for no reason, which made the other students despise him, mirroring the hatred the teachers showed him.

"You were kicked out again."

Shino looked at Naruto while they ate lunch; along with Sasuke and Ino, none of the other students bothered to talk to the blonde.

"Yeah"

"Do you know why?"

"I don't"

"Why don't you report it to the hostage?"

"He's too busy."

"You know you both are boring."

Sasuke whined, finally having enough of his friend's monotone conversation.

""Why?""

Both Naruto and Shino looked at Sasuke for an explanation, only being given a deadpan expression by not only Sasuke but also Ino for this matter, as both Naruto and Shino looked at one another confused.

"Shino, you keep looking for the most logical assessment in every situation; that's fine, but at least from time to time, let your imagination run wild and let the conversation just flow with no rhyme or reason."

Sasuke pointed an accusing finger at Shino, and Shino, for his part, raised an eyebrow, thinking about the reason why he should.

"See? You're doing it again; just don't think let our conversation come naturally, Naruto."

This time Naruto was being pointed at, and with a flinch, Naruto looked at Sasuke.

"At least reply with more than necessary words. Despite Shino being quiet and outright anti-social, at least I can proudly say he's trying, but failing greatly. Still trying, but you? Your not even trying to start a conversation; I don't even think you've started one. The majority of the conversations your part of normally starts from us, and we have a hard time trying to incorporate you because you make it difficult to bounce off of whatever you say."

Naruto looks down at this. No one has ever tried to talk to him before, let alone talk. No one ever came close to him with good intention. He understands the need for it, but he finds it hard for now.

"Sorry, Sasuke, I'll try."

"Don't try Naruto; besides, we're here, aren't we? Outside of Ino" "Hey!!"

"We're always going to try to break you out of your shell; at least for me, Shino is still a work in progress."

With that, their lunch came to an abrupt silence, with Sasuke being satisfied with what he said to the both of them, and the two taking whatever Sasuke said to heart and trying to understand how to be better.

-Hokage Office-

Hiruzen was looking at the young childrens interaction with Naruto. While initially he was worried about how they would treat Naruto, he calmed down a bit, seeing that despite how others treated him, he was still able to make friends of his own.

But as his observation of the childrens small lunch break came to an end, Hiruzen closed his crystal ball, finally acknowledging the pile of paperwork he has to look into and sign.

"*Sigh* I will surely learn how to conquer this problem someday; if Minato could do it, so can I."

Piece by piece, he was able to lessen the amount he would need to do, but that didn't stop the Hokage from grumbling about how unfair his life is—that is, until he got to a paper saying that the construction had been completed, and a sigh of relief came out of the Hokage.

"Finally some good news. Now that the lab is done, I just need to make sure someone occupies it. It's been months, and Jiraiya has yet to contact me or return. Hopefully he was able to locate Tsunade. I truly need her at this time."

Rubbing his temples started to become a daily occurrence considering how close the majority of the deadline is. The Uchiha was able to be persuaded to be at peace for a year or two thanks to Itachi and Mikoto talking to Fugaku, while Shisui, Mira, and Izumi talking to the elders, with the elites of the Uchiha clan being so against the coup, is helping him greatly, but right now his worries are trying to get those two kunoichi up to the task.

"Hopefully my investments aren't in vain."

-Random Training Ground-

We see the two kunoichi standing; Kurenai, a black-haired and red-eyed Chūnin; and Yugao, a violet-haired and brown-eyed Anbu. They look at one another suspiciously. While they had an idea of each other's existence due to being from the same village, the duo never truly talked to one another, and suddenly being introduced by the Sandaime didn't make their impression on one another any better.

Flashback

The Hokage has called upon the two kunoichi that are to be chosen for investme—at least the two that will be put on the most resources that are needed to make sure they can improve as soon as possible.

As the two arrived relatively at the same time, they eyed one another before kneeling in front of Hiruzen. Being waved off, they stood once more, awaiting the words of their hostage.

"I have a mission for you two."

There was no reply, as they waited for the details of the mission.

"Don't worry, it's not going to be dangerous; well, it can."

The hostage took a puff of smoke.

"I want the two of you to be the bodyguards of a specific child."

""WHAT?!""

Not missing a beat, the two suddenly screamed. Normally,  this would be grounds for a punishment, but due to the absurdity of the request, the hostage just let them off.

"Yes, bodyguards, but not now. You see, the requirements for being a bodyguard are to be at least a Jonin-level kunoichi, and among the two of you, only one has the title and none has the power."

This statement felt like a stab in the heart by not only one but both of the kunoichi in front of him, the other taking it harder than the chūnin, but none the less still affected.

"I'm not going to beat around the bush and say it; I want to invest in you two. You see, I see you girls having potential to not only be Jonin but also kage-level kunoichi, and by providing you ladies with the resources you need to get to that, I can rest easy knowing that such powerful ninjas reside within Konoha."

"But Hokage-sama, if that were to be the case, why not choose elite jonins such as Kakashi or Maito Guy?"

Yugao being the most reasonable among the three inquired.

"Normally I would, but unfortunately a requirement is being a woman, don't worry by the way this isn't due to the request of the client, infact he doesn't even know"

"And why us, Hokage-sama? I mean, I can understand Anbu-san, but why me?"

Kurenai was the most confused among the two, as she is only a chūnin, a rank below Jonin, and she certainly doesn't have the power to be called one.

"Well, because I see potential, and due to the lack of kunoichi within the village that can suffice, I wanted to add some more, but I don't think anyone fits the bill. Hana Inuzuka isn't someone that takes missions of this magnitude; in fact, she's only a genin, and Anko Mitarashi is going to be a bad influence, so that leaves you two of our few active kunoichi."

The two looked at one another once more confused about how they would go about it, even somewhat anxious due to the overassurance of the hostage.

Flashback End

"*Sigh* I guess we would need to get along to get the mission?"

Kurenai, asks looking at the masked woman.

"Not necessarily, but if we want there to be no bloodshed among us, yeah, we need to get along."

Yugao answered.

"Well, if we're being invested by the Hokage, there has to be a reason why the three of us are right? I mean, could we have good chemistry? Or could our styles complement one another? I'm a genjutsu specialist, by the way."

Kurenai said, looking at the Anbu.

"I'm more of a swordswoman myself."

With that, the two knew what they had to do. While chemistry can be moulded, their opinions of one another are as important, if not even more so, and with a nod from the both of them, they went and got something to eat.

-Hokage Office-

The Hokage continued to sign papers after papers, and when it came to the last two, he first saw that Jiraiya finally wrote back, explaining why it wasn't a messenger, which Hiruzen doesn't understand.

Sarutobi-sensei 

I finally found Tsunade!! In fact, she took in three other apprentices outside of Shizune. Crazy,  right? I mean, who would have thought that she of all people would have had it in her? Now she's trying to run away from me, but thanks to my trail on her, I can keep up. I just need to convince her to come back, and hopefully I can be back before a year passes. You know how she is, and that's all for the update. I'm going to send another letter next time with a messenger toad.

PS: There should be around 3 kunoichi that will come by the end of the year, and one of them is a scientist; unfortunately, I couldn't get a hold of the others.

With a sigh of relief, Hiruzen shakes his head, thinking how typical those two students of his are, but surprised at the fact that Tsunade took more students besides the niece of Dan; hopefully those students are helping her get through the dark times she was in.

Looking at the last piece, he saw a letter from Kumo.