Asuma lit his cigarette and took a whiff.
(Hoof) He blew out the smoke after a moment as he stared at the sky like Shikamaru did, lazily.
"Shikamaru," Asuma called out.
"Hmm…?" Shikamaru looked at Asuma.
"Do you know that you have lunch after this…?" Asuma asked.
Shikamaru looked at the sky once again.
"Don't remind me…"
< Uchiha Reflect! >
Sasuke hit the fireball with all his might; however, his chakra instantly drained by half.
(WHOOSH!) The Fireball was instantly converted into a ball of wind release chakra which was returned back with twice the size at Kakashi.
< Earth Release - Hiding Like a Mole Technique! >
Kakashi instantly vanished into the ground following which the ball of wind blasted the wall which was the supposed dead end into smithereens revealing the house that was on the other side.
"What was that…" Kakashi murmured as he reappeared on the surface to see Sasuke breathing rapidly as he half kneeled on the ground.
"Hmph,"
"The kid overestimated his abilities," Tobirama commented.
"You can't deny that he has good stimulus-response," Hashirama praised.
"The Sharingan makes him react that way," Tobirama explained.
("Damn it!")
("I have drained almost my chakra completely…") Sasuke thought as he tried to bring back his control over his rate of breathing.
Kakashi slowly emerged from the ground as he gained a footing on the ground.
("The one just now was close…") Kakashi thought.
"Sasuke," Kakashi called out.
"huh…?" Sasuke stared at Kakashi.
"We don't have to go for a real battle,"
"Let's just stick to basic taijutsu shall we?" Kakashi asked.
Sasuke stood up.
"Too many words for someone who was just blown away," Sasuke replied following which he mounted his Gunbai Uchiwa onto his back and grabbed onto his sword with his right hand.
Kakashi also brought his kunai out in response.
(Whoosh!)
Sasuke ran in top speed.
(clang!)
Their weapons parried.
"Do you want to see what's under my mask so much?" Kakashi asked.
"Hmph," Sasuke snorted as he increased his power on to the grip of the sword while he tried to overpower Kakashi.
< MORNING PEACOCK! >
Gai shouted as he unleashed a torrent of fists at Naruto which converted into flames and headed towards him at high speed.
"CHA"
"CHA" "CHA"
"CHA" "CHA" "CHA"
"CHA" "CHA" "CHA"
"CHA" "CHA"
"CHA"
Gai chanted as he kept unleashing his fists.
Naruto, on the other hand, deflected the fireballs of jabs, one after another.
Gai was sweating profusely as he kept firing his jabs at Naruto.
("There's no use doing this,")
("Naruto is just blocking my attacks perfectly…") Gai thought.
(Bang!)
(Bang!) (Bang!)
(Bang!) (Bang!) (Bang!)
Naruto defended as though he was just deflecting tennis balls that were being shot at rapid speed.
("But that's the Seventh for you,") Gai burned with passion upon seeing Naruto put in the effort to deflect them all.
"There's more," Gai announced.
"AAAAHHHHHRRGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!" Gai powered up with a roar as he entered into a rapid fire mode.
"AAAAHHHHHRRGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!" Naruto also increased his rate of deflection in return.
The battle was quite the sight to see as Naruto deflected all the jabs as though he was launching fireworks into the sky which led to the crowd on the other streets gathering as well.
"Are we celebrating anything in special," A passerby asked upon seeing flames being deflected into the sky like a firework.
"Who knows," Another passerby responded.
*Horn Blows*
"Huh…?" People turned to look at an old man with white hair sit down by the side of the road behind a stall whereas a blonde-haired young boy in an orange jumpsuit was busy setting up a sign that read 'Book Signing Event.'
"Hey isn't that…"
"Ah, that's right,"
"The legendary sannin Jiraiya the mountain sage," A man confirmed.
"Not just that,"
"He also writes the famous Make-out series of books."
"Yeah…" A man with a lewd smile commented.
"Come one, come all!"
"Here's a special two hour only Book Signing event by none other than,"
"The author of the make-out series,"
"Pervy (Ahem!)"
"I mean, Legendary Sannin Jiraiysensei," Naruto announced with a megaphone.
"Huh…?" Gai and Kakashi turned towards the source of voice which seemed to be announcing from nearby.
("That voice…")
("Naruto…") Sasuke thought as he stared in the general direction of the voice.
"Hahaha," Hashirama laughed.
"That boy…" Tobirama who observed Sasuke and Kakashi's battle from the top of a building turned to see Naruto announcing with a megaphone a few meters away from them.
("Naruto,")
("Great idea,") Minato praised internally following which he looked at Kakashi who was also staring at the direction from where the announcement was made.
("Now,")
("Are you going to take the bait?")
("Kakashi-kun?") Minato thought.
Naruto looked around as a crowd started gathering in front of him and Jiraiya.
Naruto looked at Jiraiya, only to see him nodding back to him.
"As a special offer,"
"We also have a draw for a role in the upcoming make-out movie,"
"Be warned that this offer is available to the first twenty customers only," Naruto announced through the megaphone.
Sasuke turned towards Kakashi.
"Hmph,"
"What are y-" Sasuke stared at a scarecrow of Kakashi that was blocking his sword.
("A SUBSTITUTION!")
("When did he…?")
*sounds of hurried footsteps…*
Sasuke turned around to see Kakashi doing a ninja run at top speed towards Jiraiya's stall.
Naruto and Jiraiya were happy to see Kakashi run towards their direction.
However, to Jiraiya's dismay more than fifteen men showed up with a make out book for an autograph.
Naruto assumed the role of Jiraiya's assistant and made people form a line.
("Kakashi-sensei,")
("Please make it in time…") Naruto prayed as the Eighteenth man took his place.
(Whoosh!)
Kakashi appeared at the nineteenth place in the line, following which he took out two make out book series from his pocket.
"Safe!" Kakashi announced.
("You'd better be, cause we are going to…")
("Hehe…hehe…") Naruto was in a cheerful mood as he imagined various possibilities for Kakashi's face to look like.
"Next," Naruto called out as the second person walked to the front and rotated the wheel that contained small colored balls which would determine their fate with the movie.
"Ah,"
"Blue ball again…" Jiraiya and the customer murmured in defeat.
"Well, Thank you for showing up," Jiraiya said as he brought out his hand to collect the book from the customer who stood in front of him.
*Sounds of inscribing*
"Thanks," The man said as he walked away with his book.
"Next," Naruto called out.
Kakashi, however, was waiting impatiently as he desperately prayed that the chance be given to him.
Naruto and Jiraiya grinned.
("The wheel has about ninety-nine balls, With the hundredth one in gold that will be held on to until Kakashi shows up,") Jiraiya thought.
("Once it's Kakashi sensei's turn,")
("Pervy-sage will insert the golden ball into the wheel, and then…") Naruto thought.
*Sound of footsteps*
"Sasuke," Naruto looked at Sasuke who just arrived.
"Naruto,"
"What's this?" Sasuke asked.
"Wait for it,"
"We are going to see his face no matter what," Naruto said with a grin.
"Next," Jiraiya called out.
*Footstep!*
"Kakashi!" Jiraiya called out.
Kakashi silently kept the two books he had, on the table.
Jiraiya took the first book.
"Kakashi, You can use your Sharingan if you want," Jiraiya said.
"What?" Kakashi was surprised.
"Yup,"
"The chance will be given to you,"
"All you have to do is show us that face under the mask,"
"Also no second or third or infinite layer of masks," Jiraiya said.
"All Right," Kakashi nodded.
"…" Jiraiya, Naruto and Sasuke stared at Kakashi.
"R-Right now…"
"Did you just agree?" Naruto asked.
"Mm!" Kakashi nodded.
"Ehh…?" Naruto opened his mouth wide-open.
"But Kakashi-sensei," Naruto called out.
"Hmm…?" Kakashi looked at Naruto.
"That's your mask ya know,"
"It's like a legend ya know…" Naruto hesitated.
< Sharingan! >
Kakashi walked to the wheel and gave it a spin.
*sound of spinning wheel*
Jiraiya and Naruto stared eagerly at Kakashi's result.
*spinning slows down…*
*Sh!*
"A blue ball appeared," Kakashi said.
"Eh?" Naruto and Jiraiya stared dumbfounded at the blue ball.
Kakashi collected his two signed books and walked away.
"Hmph,"
"As if he will ever reveal it," Sasuke commented as he stared at Kakashi who was walking away.
"Now, I really wonder what's underneath that mask of his…" Hashirama sighed.
"…" Tobirama was silent.
"Too bad…"
"Naruto…" Minato murmured.
(Poof!)
Naruto who was a clone the entire time disappeared.
Hah!
Hah!
Hah!
Gai breathed up and down heavily as he laid on his back on the ground.
Naruto also breathed heavily as he deactivated his nine tails mode.
*Sh!* information flowed into Naruto's mind.
"Damn it!" Naruto cursed upon finding out the operation had failed.
"What is Shikamaru doing?" Naruto sighed.
(Whoosh!) Kakashi appeared.
"Kakashi," Gai spoke in a weak voice.
"Got it!" Kakashi nodded as he lifted Gai up who was utterly exhausted to the point that he wouldn't be able to move.
Kakashi looked at Naruto who was thinking about how he had failed today, as he thought back to the time Naruto took an Oath in the Office after receiving his title.
Kakashi pulled his mask down to reveal his hidden face over all the years.
"Naruto," Kakashi called out.
"Hmm…?" Naruto looked at Kakashi.
"I was surprised to see you look forward to protecting this village again considering all the things you had gone through in your previous life," Kakashi said upon which Naruto's expressions changed.
"Congrats on becoming a Jōnin again Naruto," Kakashi said with a smile.
Naruto stared at Kakashi.
"Umm…"
"Who might you be…?" Naruto asked slowly.
"Eh?" Kakashi stared at Naruto in shock.
Post Chapter Shorts.
Naruto: Hi there Web novel readers! And Welcome to our daily interview.
Author-san: Hi!
Naruto: Ah! Author-san, today I was astonished.
Author-san: Hehe, How does it feel?
Naruto: I guess Kakashi-sensei, is not Kakashi-sensei without his mask ya know.
Author-san: (nods) indeed!
Naruto: All right, onto the q/a session, We received only two questions yesterday.
Author-san: Oh! That's an improvement from yesterday.
Naruto: True…
Well Here's the first question. It seems to be addressed to you author-san, from a reader named MemeDaoist.
Author-san: Haha, my regular commenter in the chapters.
Naruto: So here's his question.
Are Hinata and Karin confirmed medical nin for Tsunade's team reform?
And if so, is Karin going to join a team in the future (like alongside Sai and Jūgo for example)?
Author-san: At this stage, they are confirmed as Medical nins, and are already a part of the team except for Karin-chan. However, it is yet to be explored if they can become a team, referring to Sai, Jūgo and Karin.
Naruto: Ah! Sai, I would really like to see what he's doing right about now.
Author-san: You could probably teach him art yourself. Art is an explosion lol!
Naruto: Art is an explosion…
You really put me in a pinch there, Author-san.
Author-san: Well, it did play out good since we had a great response, Haha.
Naruto: Yeah…
Onto the next question seems to be addressed to me from a reader named Moaning Frodo.
Author-san: Ah, Naruto-kun that's the person who gave me the idea of you facing against Deidara.
Naruto: Frodo-san,
Author-san: Ah, Naruto-kun, he prefers to be called mdrmr.
Naruto: I see…
Mdrmr-san, please don't put me in a pinch.
Author-san: What was the question Naruto-kun?
Naruto: Ah! I forgot!
Let's see…
The question is addressed to me.
How does it feel to have both first kisses stolen accidentally? And what redeeming feature does Sakura even have that gives her an edge over her 2 other overpowered teammates aside from her amazing chakra control that's barely even explored?
Author-san: That's a tough one.
Naruto: Hmm…
Well, technically the second first kiss cannot be counted as a first kiss. However… (thinking back to Sasuke's) As you have seen my reaction from that episode, you could say that it was probably the worst thing that could happen to you at that moment. It's definitely not a pleasant experience. Not to mention Sakura and other girls except Hinata ganged up on me to beat me down.
Author-san: Poor Naruto-kun.
Naruto: Well, I did get a kiss from Sakurchan this time only to be beaten down by her…
Author-san: Karin-chan was by your side Naruto-kun.
Naruto: Author-san, that just complicates things further.
Author-san: What about the other part of the question?
Naruto: Hmm…
Let's see…
The second one depends, aside from chakra control, we can only talk about the elemental release I suppose.
Author-san: No comments.
Naruto: Truthfully, I am happy that she has that huge chakra reservoir in the space behind her forehead which is more than mine and Sasuke's regular capacity, though we have much more offensive attacks than she does.
Author-san: It makes me wonder if she had ever fought to the point of using it up.
Naruto: Even if she did, she would not end up like granny Tsunade. Haha.
Author-san: I see...
Naruto: Well, That concludes the Interview for today. See You all tomorrow!
Author-san: See You all tomorrow!
Naruto: Next time on NRe. Shikamaru and his dad go out for lunch with Kazekage and his family.
Shikamaru: Just when I finally finished battling girls…
Naruto: Cheer up, You get to hang out with your father-in-law ya know?
Shikamaru: …
Naruto: Next time on NRe - Invitiation.