The best of a bad bunch

The mission site

was a fairly large two-story villa with a side yard.

At a glance, parts of the surrounding fence were damaged. The boards lying on the ground had splintered, rather than simply fallen off, and the flowers and plants showed signs of being trampled.

Before seeing anyone, Luo Mang began assessing the situation.

A small villa like this was worth a fair amount. Given the flowers growing beside it and the request for help repairing the house, the person receiving them would most likely be a woman.

Luo Mang glanced over and saw Naruto trembling slightly with nerves.

"Ahem! Don't be nervous."

He cleared his throat twice, interrupting Naruto's anxious thoughts to reassure him.

Based on his analysis, their client would probably be a woman, and her temper might fall at either extreme: especially nice or especially nasty.

If she was especially nasty, they could simply leave.

"Okay."

Naruto quickly patted his cheeks, took a deep breath, and nodded.

"This is my first mission. I'll definitely do my best to finish it."

"As long as you're confident. Let's go."

After offering that encouragement, Luo Mang led him to the entrance and knocked gently.

"Hello, we're here for the mission!"

"Oh, coming, coming!"

Click.

The door opened, revealing a beautiful woman with her hair pinned up, dressed casually in a nightgown. She froze when she saw Luo Mang outside.

"What a handsome little boy. Taking missions at such a young age?"

Luo Mang's mouth twitched at her words. He hated being treated like a little boy. He wasn't little!

"Well, my friend and I came to take this mission. The pay seemed fairly high. Do we need to gather the materials ourselves? If so, we'll confirm the details with you and head straight out."

He pointed to Naruto beside him.

The woman followed his finger with her gaze. Her smiling face instantly stiffened when she saw him.

"Uh..."

"Well, um..."

Naruto noticed the change in her expression too. His identity really did seem to be a problem. He wondered whether he was dragging Luo Mang down.

"Heh, you don't need to worry about the rumors. As long as we fix everything, all you need to do is inspect the results."

"If that's acceptable, we'll get started right away. If not, we'll withdraw from the mission, and you can find someone else."

Luo Mang shrugged, keeping his tone polite. After all, she hadn't said anything nasty; at most, she had teased him a little.

"Uh."

After a moment's hesitation, the woman looked back and forth between Luo Mang and Naruto Uzumaki, then finally nodded.

"All right. You do need to gather the materials yourselves. The deadline is a little tight, so I'll provide lunch and dinner, but you must finish the repairs today. While you're at it, check the fence and the little shed in the yard for any safety hazards."

The woman lightly stroked her chin. After thinking it over and confirming that there was nothing else, she nodded and pointed toward the doorway.

"That should be everything. The tools you might need are to the left of the entrance. You can take them with you."

Although she still had some doubts, she ultimately decided to give them a chance. Too few people accepted house repair missions unless she sought someone out herself or offered a suitable price.

Having money didn't mean she wanted to be taken for a ride.

"But, little boy, I'm very strict about inspecting the work. If it isn't to my liking, I might dock your pay."

"Mm."

Luo Mang's mouth twitched. He gave an awkward smile, then turned and left without even saying goodbye.

"Ah, wait for me!"

Naruto could only nod and answer the woman before hurriedly turning to follow him.

Heh...

The woman paused at the sight. He didn't seem to be anything like the rumors suggested, nor did he look particularly frightening. Those rumors seemed rather harmful. Shaking her head lightly, she went back inside.

"Brother Mang, what should we do first?"

Naruto had no idea what their first step should be. Did repairing the fence mean they had to go cut down trees?

"Let's gather some information first and see exactly how much fencing and timber we need to replace. Then we can collect the materials with a clearer idea of what we need, so we're less likely to bring back too much or too little."

Luo Mang picked up the tools, then carefully made his way into the woman's side yard.

"You check here, and I'll check over there. Shake the boards gently, using very little force, to see whether any are loose or broken and need replacing."

"It'll be faster if we both work at once."

"Okay!"

On his very first mission, Naruto Uzumaki quickly nodded at his assignment and ran toward the other end of the fence.

Luo Mang didn't watch him go. Instead, he crouched down and began his inspection.

The process was boring, and took neither very long nor very little time.

After finishing his assignment, Naruto Uzumaki hurried over to report. He wanted credit for his work, and he also wanted praise.

"Brother Mang, my side's inspection is done. Three broken ones and two wobbling ones-I've already marked them all with conspicuous weeds!"

"Mm, good job."

His pen scratched across the paper as he recorded Naruto's report and combined it with his own findings.

"I checked my side too. Between the shed and the fence, we'll need quite a bit of timber. It'll be hard physical work, so we'd better pick up the pace, or we won't even make it back for lunch."

"Okay, I'll keep working hard!"

The Hokage Building.

Seated in the Hokage Office, Hiruzen Sarutobi smoked his pipe and stared intently into his crystal ball, a faint smile on his face.

"Mm..."

"They seem to be getting along well today. He really is a good choice for building a bond."

As for the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki, Hiruzen Sarutobi naturally hoped to become someone important to Naruto. Otherwise, he wouldn't have secretly helped things along when Danzo spread those rumors.

The Third Hokage couldn't possibly have been unaware of his old friend's intentions.

Danzo wanted Naruto to fall into despair, then enter Root to be conditioned into an emotionless weapon of war-a tool.

But Hiruzen Sarutobi believed that approach carried far too great a risk of failure. It wasn't as though they had never seen the Nine-Tails rampage. If something went wrong during the conditioning and the Nine-Tails broke free to wreak havoc on Konoha, who would be the next to die?

Then why had he secretly helped things along despite believing the approach was flawed? Naturally, he had a plan of his own.

After letting Naruto experience despair, he would show him the light, make him feel valued, and give him the goal of becoming Hokage and earning everyone's recognition.

What other reason could he have for personally delivering Naruto's money every month?

It was just that the amount was a little small...

But overall, that was still better than those who did nothing at all. Take those lackeys, for instance. Could they really not know Naruto's identity?

Yet they did nothing, and their words were filled with fear of the Nine-Tails. Perhaps fleeing from the Gold and Silver Horns had left them traumatized. Without Hiruzen Sarutobi, the other higher-ups who knew the truth might have been only too eager to see Naruto conditioned into a weapon of war.

(Come to think of it, this really was choosing the best of a bad bunch. Hiruzen Sarutobi actually did have a conscience...)