Naruto - Light Ninja - Capítulo 99 - Konoha 02.

[Chapter Size: 1900 Words.]
Third Person PV
Land of Water.
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Kimimaro finally arrived at the apartment the village had arranged for them. He sighed as he went to put away his belongings. After finishing, he looked out the window at the Village of Konoha, which stretched out before him all the way to the Hokage Rock. He couldn't help but notice the last face there—the one belonging to Naruto's father, the Fourth Hokage.

“Naruto left all this behind to follow his ideals...” he commented. After all, he doubted Naruto could be doing what he was doing in Kiri if he had stayed in the Leaf Village. For a long time, he hadn’t understood why the blond had left his family, but now Naruto's actions were much clearer.

Naruto sacrificed his comfort with his family to follow...

"Now I must wait for him..." he murmured, knowing his students were wandering around Konoha.

It was then that he heard a knock at the door, which made him look up in surprise, unsure if it was his students. The knocking continued, louder than before, as if the person wanted to break down the door. He knew there were two people there as he calmly approached, opening it a moment later to reveal two red-haired women: one older and one young.

Both women stared at him intensely, while the older one took a step forward, her eyes cautious.

"Are you Kimimaro Kaguya, a friend of my son, Naruto Namikaze?" she asked.

Kimimaro was surprised to see the woman, nearly moved to tears at the mention of her son. She was desperately seeking information about Naruto and had finally found someone who had been with him all along.

"I..." Kimimaro didn't know what to say. Before he could react, he was grabbed by the collar by the woman.

"Tell me, tell me you know my son!" she exclaimed, lifting him. She was no longer merely seeking information but seemed like a demon, her hair coming alive like tentacles. Even Kimimaro felt a twinge of fear as she demanded information from him.

"If I know him?" Kimimaro murmured, his confidence faltering.

"Then tell me everything about him! How is he? Is he managing to live well even without us? Is he eating properly? Is someone taking care of him and making sure he's well-nourished? Has he made any friends? How is Naruto as a ninja? Has he become as strong as he wanted? Is he facing difficulties with courage? And... of course, ninja prohibitions! Tell me now, Naruto isn’t seeing a bunch of women, is he? He’s not getting into debt, dealing with alcohol, or gambling, is he? Hmm? Hmm? Answer me!!" Kushina shook Kimimaro, who was suspended in the air, unable to respond to the barrage of questions she was throwing at him.

"Mother, I don't think this is the best way to ask for information." Mizu approached and took her mother's arm, urging her to stop.

"But he has information about Naruto. Finally, after all these years, I'm not letting him get away without telling me what I need." This was the personality Sora had inherited, while Mizu was more like Minato.

Mizu looked uneasy about the discomfort the Kiri ninja was enduring; after all, this wasn't good for the village’s diplomatic relationship with the Land of Water.

"She's right. But you're overdoing it!" A new voice interrupted them at that moment, and Kushina looked to the side, seeing Tsunade Senju also entering the room.

It wasn’t surprising that Tsunade had returned to Konoha after Naruto fled; she had taken charge of the hospital and stayed away from frontline missions, instead focusing on treating patients and even training a few people in medical skills. She would leave for a few months to gamble and then come back to pay off her debts, earning money from the Hokage while working at the hospital.

"Tsunade..." Kushina murmured.

"I had to come here. After all, this boy was my patient many years ago. I won't let you harm him like this," Tsunade said in a firm tone as she approached, pulling Kimimaro out of Kushina's grip.

Kimimaro finally sighed. He didn’t want to hurt Naruto's mother in any way, still stunned by the approach that left him a bit lost. He was also surprised by the appearance of the woman who had saved him through surgery many years ago, after Naruto had sought her help and made a deal.

"I suppose you're right." Kushina sighed, lowering her head. "I'm sorry for that, but..." she said, reverting to her usual demeanor before looking at him again with a more cautious and nervous expression, like the same woman who had appeared at his door earlier. "Can you tell me anything about my son?" she murmured.

'Damn, how can someone change moods so quickly...' Kimimaro thought.

"All right... I'll talk about Naruto." Kimimaro replied, as Naruto had left no instructions for this kind of situation, and clearly, he could imagine Naruto predicting such a situation, but still, he hadn’t said anything.

"Great, it'll be good to hear about that brat again." Tsunade was also interested.

"I hope you don’t have any intentions towards my son, Tsunade!" Kushina resumed her fierce expression, glaring at Tsunade like a hawk.

"What do you mean by that?!" Tsunade couldn't help but grimace at the remark.

"What I mean... I know very well that you gave your necklace to him... don’t you know how suspicious it is when an older woman gives a gift to a young man when there's no blood relation!?" Kushina exclaimed.

"What you’re saying is absurd, Kushina!" Tsunade retorted, immediately cracking the ground, while Mizu and Kimimaro stood cautiously, wary of a potential dispute. "Listen here, I don’t have that kind of relationship with your son. I gave him my necklace because it could be worn by someone better than me. Your son moved me," she said.

Kushina's expression changed at that moment, looking at Tsunade blankly.

"What is it...?" Tsunade murmured, not understanding Kushina's face.

"He moved you... Moved you... Moved you..." Kushina began repeating it before starting to cry. "Naruto has become a womanizer!!" she exclaimed, seeing that Naruto had fallen into ninja prohibitions.

"That's not what I meant!!" Tsunade roared with a grimace, but Kushina just cried, paying no more attention to her.

While this was happening, elsewhere in the village, the three young Kiri ninjas were still wandering around, getting to know the village over the past hour.

"Damn, I think that's enough... I wanted to go to the Hokage Rock, but I don’t think we can go there, so we'd better head back," Iryn said with a sigh.

"Yeah, he should be at the apartment waiting for us by now," Ikua commented timidly.

"..." Haku remained silent, following the group.

"Hm?" Ikua raised an eyebrow, noticing something strange in front of them. "Hey, something’s going on over there!" he exclaimed, pointing to a commotion in the distance.

"I think we’d better not get involved..." Ikua murmured.

"Don't be boring... it looks interesting!" Iryn said, moving ahead regardless of his companions, who, having no choice, also followed.

The Kiri ninjas went to the location, and upon arriving, they saw someone holding a boy in the air before being hit by a rock. With a groan of pain, he let go of the boy because of the pain in his hand, growling at the man in the tree.

"You guys are far from home..." Sasuke said to the two Sand ninjas.

"That's..." Haku murmured, recognizing the boy she fought on the bridge in the Land of Waves before being defeated by Naruto. She also noticed the dog boy and the pink-haired girl.

"That guy knows how to hide very well." Iryn was intrigued by it, also noticing the red-haired man with a carapace below the boy who had thrown the rock.

"You bastard, do you want to get beaten?" Kankuro said, starting to remove his carapace. Sasuke was calm, but Gaara's presence changed the situation.

Gaara finally stepped out from his hidden position, surprising everyone and even scaring Kankuro. Everyone looked at the Sand boy with mixed expressions.

Then they heard clapping, and they all looked back, seeing Iryn enjoying himself. "This is too much!" he exclaimed, breaking the tense atmosphere.

"Who are these guys?" Kiba asked, looking at the headbands of another village that wasn't Suna or Konoha.

"Those headbands..." Konohamaru looked cautiously with his other two companions at the new ninjas appearing outside the village.

"They're Kiri ninjas!" Sakura said.

"That's right... they're wearing the same headband as that monster!" Kiba recalled Naruto on the bridge now.

Everyone focused on the newcomers. Ikua approached with Haku, though no one recognized her since she wore a mask during their fight. As long as she didn't use Ice Release, she wouldn't be recognized.

"What's going on? Why are there so many ninjas from different villages in Konoha?" Sakura murmured.

"Haven't you heard about the Chuunin Exam?" Temari, who was next to Kankuro, replied with an arrogant tone.

"What are you talking about?" Kiba asked, as they still didn't know about it.

"Seriously? You don't know what that is? Well, all right, let me tell you." Iryn spoke with a smile. "Konoha is holding an exam for genin to become chuunin, and it's inviting various countries to participate. We were selected from our village. So, don't cry when you get defeated," he added arrogantly.

"Kakashi-sensei didn't say anything about this..." Sakura murmured.

"WOOF!" Suddenly, Akamaru barked as he began to growl.

"What's wrong, Akamaru?" Kiba asked curiously as he saw Akamaru start barking at the Kiri ninjas, particularly the girl among them.

"..." Haku was surprised by this, though it was quite logical that a dog would recognize her scent after the fight.

"Her...?" Understanding everything Akamaru was saying, Kiba looked stunned at Haku.

"She's the ninja we fought on the bridge, with Ice Release!!" he exclaimed.

"What?!" Sakura and Sasuke were stunned, looking at the girl, who was more beautiful than Sakura.

But before they could say anything more, an even stranger scene occurred. No one expected Gaara's sudden movement. He had been shocked to see a bracelet on Iryn's wrist, bearing a symbol he knew very well. There had been only one person who humiliated his very existence, not long ago, and that person wore a cloak with that same symbol.

A burst of sand erupted, making everyone look at him in surprise as he landed in front of them.

"That symbol... tell me who it belongs to!" Gaara said in a tone that didn't sound like he was negotiating.

"What's wrong with the symbol of justice? Do you have a problem with it?!" Iryn didn't care about the sand flying around like the Konoha and Suna ninjas, who looked almost frightened.

"I will destroy him and prove my existence..." Gaara said.

"What... did you say...?!" Iryn looked at him with a dangerous glare this time, ready to beat up this idiot who thought he could say those words.

"He can't do anything here, Kankuro..." Now Temari had a look of fear, seeing Gaara's strange behavior once again.

Gaara had changed since that confrontation in the desert, where no one could understand who that opponent was. They thought he was just an intruder, but the power of that guy was simply overwhelming, and they were lucky that Naruto's final attack almost didn't hit them...