Uzuki Yugao

"Danger? Difficulty?"

"That's exactly what I want! Danger and difficulty!"

"Kakashi, just wait and see!"

Shihōin Naraku tossed the documents in his hand onto the desk, a confident smile spreading across his handsome face.

At the sight, even Kakashi Hatake had to admit that the guy really was rather handsome.

Of course, he still fell a little short compared to Kakashi himself.

Over the next few days, Shihōin Naraku quickly familiarized himself with Anbu procedures and, with Kakashi Hatake guiding him, met all its members.

"This is Tenzo," Kakashi said, bringing a ninja over to Naraku and introducing him. "You should know him."

"Sir, I'm Tenzo."

Tenzo stepped forward and bowed slightly to Naraku.

This was Yamato, though Tenzo had yet to change his name to Yamato.

"Of course I know you. I've treated quite a few of you in the Anbu."

The missions Anbu Ninja usually undertook were extremely dangerous, and casualties were common. As Konoha's most skilled practitioner of Medical Ninjutsu at the time, Shihōin Naraku had indeed treated many Anbu Ninja.

At the time, however, he had not realized that so many of his patients were from the Anbu.

Now, it seemed to be a good thing. At the very least, it would help him fit into the Anbu as quickly as possible.

"Tenzo has other important duties to attend to, so I didn't assign him to you."

Kakashi Hatake mentioned it briefly, but even without his explanation, Naraku knew what Tenzo's assignment was.

Monitoring the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki-Naruto Uzumaki!

Although many people said that the First Hokage's Wood Release had dominated the Shinobi World while Yamato's Wood Release merely landscaped the village, there was no denying that Wood Release was highly effective at suppressing tailed beasts.

It did not matter if he could not compare to the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju. As long as he could suppress the Nine-Tails' power for a short time and keep Naruto Uzumaki from going berserk, Tenzo was the most suitable person to monitor Naruto.

So, apart from certain urgent and extremely important missions, Tenzo generally stayed in Konoha to monitor Naruto.

After chatting briefly with Kakashi Hatake and Naraku, Tenzo left the Anbu to carry out his surveillance assignment.

"Is he really that busy?"

Kakashi noticed Naraku's puzzlement and said:

"Tenzo's assignment is very important. He only gets a few hours of rest a day, and often he doesn't even have time to eat."

"Actually, he already has it pretty good. Anbu Ninja who go out on missions face even greater danger."

"But that's why the Anbu exists. Our sacrifices bring prosperity to the village."

Damn!

That's way too much work!

Shihōin Naraku's face nearly darkened. Fortunately, he was only the Deputy Head of the Medical Department now. If he still had to treat patients as well, he would surely work himself to death.

The two chatted a while longer before Naraku left the Anbu and headed to the Hokage Building, where he found Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"The Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi took his pipe from his mouth and tapped it. He understood what Naraku wanted to do.

He did not actually approve of Danzo using the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal to control Root's ninja, but he had not said much about it either.

"I only need the Unsealing Method for the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal. I don't need the sealing ninjutsu itself."

"All right!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi agreed, then sent someone to fetch a scroll.

After handing the scroll to Shihōin Naraku, Hiruzen Sarutobi held his pipe between his teeth and reminded him:

"Get familiar with the Anbu as soon as possible. In a few days, there'll be a mission that requires you to lead a team."

"Understood."

With the scroll in hand, Naraku turned and left the Hokage Building.

Rather than returning to the Anbu, however, he planned to go straight home.

As Deputy Captain, he had that authority. In any case, his main assignment for now was still to familiarize himself with the Anbu.

Compared to the other ninja clans in Konohagakure, the Shihōin Clan was only a very small clan.

In fact, before Naraku grew up, it had been a long time since anyone in the Shihōin Clan had become a jōnin.

There was no helping it. The entire Shihōin Clan numbered fewer than a hundred people.

There were too few of them.

According to the clan records, however, the Shihōin Clan had once enjoyed a glorious past. During the chaotic Warring States Period, it had even become a subordinate clan of the Senju Clan. The records stated that the Shihōin Clan had also helped the Senju Clan fight the Uchiha Clan.

He believed that the Shihōin Clan had indeed allied with the Senju Clan. After all, in the chaos of the Warring States Period, virtually every ninja clan had allies and closely related clans in order to survive.

For instance, the Ino-Shika-Cho Clans were subordinate to the Sarutobi Clan. Besides its distant relatives in the Uzumaki Clan, the Senju Clan had many subordinate clans like the Shihōin Clan, while the Hyuga Clan was also related to the Kaguya Clan of Kirigakure.

So Naraku sometimes wondered whether the Shihōin Clan's current small population was because it had become subordinate to the Senju Clan and lost too many ninja fighting in the war between the Senju and the Uchiha.

After all, everyone knew how brutal the war between the Senju and the Uchiha had been. Even the Uchiha Clan had been unable to endure the fighting, so one could imagine how many ninja from the participating Shihōin Clan had died.

In that light, given Tsunade's standing and position, it was perfectly normal for Shihōin Naraku to become her personal disciple.

"Rustle..."

A sound came from inside the house, and someone could be seen moving around in a room.

Naraku knew who it was.

His girlfriend, Uzuki Yugao.

"You're back."

Her long purple hair hung loose as her delicate, fair, beautiful face peeked out of the room. Uzuki Yugao greeted Naraku with a broad smile.

"Just wait a little while, and dinner will be ready."

Naraku was not at all surprised to see Uzuki Yugao. After all, she was also an Anbu Special Jōnin, and as Deputy Captain, he naturally knew that she had completed her mission and returned to the village yesterday.

"You only got back yesterday. You should rest some more."

He walked over to Uzuki Yugao, who was busy in the kitchen, in a few strides. "We can eat anytime," Naraku said helplessly.

"It's fine. I was going to come see you anyway. You're usually much busier than I am."

The two chatted and joked, and soon the food was on the table.

"Try this. It's good..."

"You should eat too."

Naraku and Uzuki Yugao served each other food as they chatted with smiles.

They soon finished eating, and after a quick cleanup, they sat in the courtyard and began talking.

Uzuki Yugao briefly mentioned a few things that had happened during her mission. Naraku was now an Anbu squad leader, so naturally, she did not have to worry about leaking secrets.

Naraku, in turn, told her about amusing things that had happened in Konoha, as well as his own promotion.

The atmosphere between them was lovely. Within a few minutes, the distance between them grew smaller and smaller, and soon they were leaning against each other.

"Ahem..."

Naraku stopped holding back and swept Uzuki Yugao into his arms.

"B-but it's still daytime."

"What are you afraid of? Exercise after a meal is good for your health."

Uzuki Yugao's fair, lovely face immediately flushed red. She was breathtakingly beautiful.

With a bang, the door shut.

The light was blocked out, dimming the room, and the atmosphere gradually grew heated.

"Mmph..."

"The Medical Department suited you so well, but Lord Hokage insisted on transferring you to the Anbu."

Sitting against Naraku, Uzuki Yugao could not quite understand it, confusion showing on her flushed, lovely face.

"What? Are you worried I won't adjust to the Anbu?"

"I just think it's a bit of a shame. You were doing so well in the Medical Department, and you had so many connections. Now that you've left, could it..."

A faint smile appeared on Shihōin Naraku's face as he confidently stroked Uzuki Yugao's long purple hair.

"It won't be that easy. They've got it all planned out, but if they really want to remove my influence from the Medical Emergency Response Unit, they simply can't."

"Yashiro Ao is a medical ninja too. His proficiency in Medical Ninjutsu isn't exactly low, is it?"

"That depends on who you're comparing him to..."