I Watched a Change in You

‘What a morning,’ Dan thinks, as he sneaks out of his office window. He feels bad he’s making his guard platoon, Genma, Raido and Iwashi, work extra today but he needs this moment to regather himself.

The mock evacuation is finally underway today.

So it’s a big day, he’ll finally get to see how Konoha can handle an emergency situation. It’s been months of preparation and working with different units from Anbu down to the Media, as well as signing off on hundreds of documents, to ensure this would be done today.

It hasn’t officially begun yet, however. He had just signed the go ahead at 10:00AM for the evacuation process to start at exactly 12:00PM. Originally he wanted to start early, thinking it would be better for the villagers to have experience getting to the bunkers while in a vulnerable state of just waking up. But after consulting with Tsunade she made it clear that for the best outcome it would be when everyone is alert and awake.

Better to see the village working at their best than at their worst to see how he can make improvements.

Tsunade also wanted there to be time for the elderly and disabled to have their medicine and be able to prepare for the mock evacuation. They have just as much right to participate if they decide to. And so some of the villagers will need medical assistance to get to the bunkers.

So he has until noon to panic about everything. In the meantime he would like to pick at his old mentors brain for just a bit. He body flickers to the side of the house and hurries to the front door hoping not to be seen by anyone. Even around here where it’s quiet and heavily guarded one can’t be too paranoid. Never mind his guard platoon watching him probably laughing at him right now.

He knocks on the solid door before him, the dark old oak glistens in the sun with intricate designs. It cracks open.

“Hokage-sama,” Asuma says throwing the door open and ushering him inside.

“Asuma, quit it already,” He tells his younger friend. “Where’s Hiruzen-san?”

Asuma nods his head to the side, “In the sunroom. I can’t get him out of there most days.”

Dan smiles, of course. The old man loves to sit with the plants and read his books. Now that Hiruzen retired he’s been taking it easy, barely leaving the house and living a quiet and simple life. One without massive amounts of paperwork and people nagging him all day. Must be nice. Oh what he would do to be wholed up in here all day, he thinks as he enters the Third’s beautiful sunroom with window ceilings and walls showing the lush greenery outside. The sun still shines through the trees and lights up the room with it’s two white couches that face each other, adorned with red and gold blankets and pillows. Sitting in the middle of the couch is Hiruzen Sarutobi, pipe in mouth and book in hand, he looks up at him.

“Hokage-sama, what a surprise,” Hiruzen says taking his pipe and setting his book aside. “I hear you’re having the whole village evacuate to the bunkers today. Sounds exciting.” His eye twinkles.

“Hiruzen-san please, enough with the formalities!” Dan takes off his hat and sets it on the table besides him. He and Asuma take a seat before the Third and Asuma takes out a cigarette of his own. With the two of them smoking Dan takes a large inhale and sighs. After marrying Tsunade he had to quit smoking…

“Want one?” Asuma offers out his pack.

“I better not, or you’ll never see me again and Tsunade will have a suspicious mound of dirt in the back of the hospital.” He jokes, but they know he’s serious. Hiruzen chuckles and takes a puff of his pipe knowing all too well exactly what Tsunade would do.

Asuma smiles knowingly, Kurenai has been nagging him up a storm since Mirai was born. He takes a drag, best savor it now, “I hear you, Kurenai said yesterday if she sees me smoking anywhere near a hundred mile radius of Mirai she’s going to put me in a genjutsu where I will be eating and shitting cigarettes. She says that might help me quit.”

“Kami, Asuma…” Hiruzen sighs and shakes his head then looks pointedly at Dan. “And you young man, what on earth are you doing here right now?”

Dan’s jaw drops a little in fake exasperation, “Can’t I drop by and pay a visit once a while?”

“No, not on days like today, in my day we didn’t slack off.”

Asuma takes a drag and looks over at the Hokage feeling a little bad but that’s the way his father is, clear and to the point. Dan nods in agreement and let’s out a small sigh.

“Okay, I’ll be honest. I’m nervous… There are many things that can go wrong, even with this being a mock evacuation, it’s still an evacuation and…” Dan stops his ranting and rubs his forehead.

The entire village will be going into bunkers, Anbu will be deployed around the perimeter of the village to avoid outside trouble, while chuunin and genin will be escorting the civilians into the bunkers, and the Military Police Force will be patrolling the empty village. There were many exempt from the evacuation both civilian and military and it had to all be documented so the police force can know who is still remaining. Like the people who are too sick, or have jobs that require them to stay like doctors and nurses, and some are clan heads taking responsibility to stay behind.

“You must be sure of yourself, Hokage-sama. The best you can do in your position is to make sure everyone believes in you no matter what. Any tactical concerns you take up with your Chief Strategist and Intelligence Division. In my opinion, this evacuation is a very good idea, one I should have thought of myself. It’s smart to know what your village is capable of.” Hiruzen stands up from the couch and Dan and Asuma stand with him.

“Things will turn out fine, even if they don’t, you do the best you can do for your village.” He picks up the Hokage hat and puts it on Dan’s head. “Oh and before I forget, have you spoke with Tsunade recently about Orochimaru?”

“Not recently, no, why is there something I should be concerned about?” Dan can think of plenty of things this can be regarding, but right now he really doesn’t want to know!

“Ah, we were jus’tryin ta pin tha damn bastard down.” Asuma says, his cigarette dangling from his mouth. “Tha same old same old…. Well bes’ be off, eh?”

Hiruzen looks at Asuma for a moment then at Dan, “Let Tsunade know I want to talk to her.”

Dan bows his head, “I will, and thank you for the pep talk. I really needed that.”

“Any time my boy.”

———

Uchiha Sasuke is officially at the end of his rope. You would think that an evacuation drill would be enough motive for the villagers to act as best as possible and in proper formation. No… no why would they do that? Why would civilians make a ninja’s work any easier? He looks over at Naruto who looks like he’s about to sock a guy. The civilian is around their age and he’s complaining about something or other, walking sloppily and bumping into others causing unnecessary frustration.

“Naruto,” He calls out. Naruto looks over to him glaring then walks up to him. “This is such a pain… maybe…”

“Don’t finish that sentence, too many people around.” Sasuke says knowing exactly what Naruto’s about to say. Maybe say fuck it and let all these villagers deal with the consequences when the real evacuation happens.

They continue to walk besides the group they’re escorting. From noon it took them over an hour to walk through their part of the village, go door to door with their roster, and pick up their ‘bunker people’ as Naruto calls them. They are in charge of sixty people in all, a first for Team Seven.

“I wish Sakura was here, she would get these people in order somehow. We gotta figure this out.” Naruto lowly says besides him. He looks the unhappiest he’s ever seen with his hair disheveled and a purple tint under his eyes as if he hasn’t slept.

“Right now let’s focus on getting this figured out. I’m actually beginning to think she has it lucky,” Sasuke says, getting Naruto mouth to twitch up just a bit.

“I hope so…” Naruto says then something catches his eye, “Hey you! Walk in a straight line would’ya! You gotta think of those around you pipsqueak!”

A little kid looking around ten years old is busy kicking a rock along as they walk, it goes skipping and hitting the shoes of the people in front of him. He jerks up as he becomes aware he’s getting yelled at. “Sorry!”

Naruto sighs and they separate once again as they get to the main road that leads to their destination. Sasuke takes the front, leading the group towards their designated bunker and Naruto at the end of their group to ensure no one is left behind. Each of the chuunin and genin teams have a designated bunker, some will be in pairs and or in groups of three teams, depending on the size of the bunker.

The bunkers throughout Konoha are different sizes. Some of them only able to hold up to two hundred people, while some are double that. The one they are going to is only able to hold up to two hundred and so they will be meeting another team at this bunker, speaking of…

“I don’t think my nose can handle your stench!” Kiba shouts once he spots Naruto, the poor civilians besides him wincing. Akamaru scouts ahead of their group deciding to leave his owner to his embarrassment. “Let’s hope this place has some ventilation!” Now the villagers besides him are pissed.

“Y-you!!” Naruto growls.

“Watch where you’re shouting asshole!” One of the villagers near Kiba pushes him away causing him to stumbles forward.

“There’s no ventilation?!”

“There will be ventilation,” Hinata says to the concerned villager then walks over to Sasuke and Naruto. “Kiba, please keep it down. Hello Naruto, Sasuke.” She bows slightly. “I didn’t know you would be joining us, where’s Sakura-chan?”

“She’s not feeling well.” Sasuke says, then looks over at bug boy, whatever his name is… what a creep. Suddenly he feels something on his shoulder, he looks over and there’s a large spider!

“AH!”

Sasuke jumps, swiping the arachnid off him unintentionally bumping into Hinata who holds him steady, “You okay?” She asks him, surprised at his reaction. Sasuke glares over at Shino.

“I’m good…” He suppresses a shudder, he hates bugs.

“It wasn’t one of mine. Why? Because I would never attack another Konoha ninja. I see this place has a plethora of different species of insects. Why you ask? Because these bunkers haven’t been cleared since they were built, and they are dark and cold, a perfect breeding ground.” Shino says, sounding quite happy about the new discovery.

Sasuke notices the villagers steadily growing more and more antsy as Shino goes on.

“I wantta go home mommy, I’m scared!” A little girl cries out.

“You got to be kidding me, these bunkers haven’t been cleaned?!” A man shouts.

“What kind of evacuation is this?! We mine as well stay home and be killed in our beds than be eaten by giant centipedes!” An angry teenager besides Naruto shouts. Naruto grabs his arm and pulls him aside.

“Please, everyone it will be alright, Shino won’t let anyone be eaten by centipedes.” Hinata laughs, albeit nervously, “Right, Shino?”

“Centipedes don’t eat people.”

“And there you have it folks, nothing to worry about!” Kiba says to the group then turns to Sasuke, and gives look, 'These people.'

Naruto goes up to the front of all one hundred and twenty people at the bunkers entrance.

“I know none of you want to be down here, but being prepared is your best chance at survival, you got that? Let me remind you all, this is for your safety, and if you’re going to let some bugs get in the way of that, you’re making a huge mistake!” Naruto gives them a moment and when no one else speaks up he continues, “Our group has sixty people. Hinata, how many are in your group?”

“We have sixty as well.”

“That makes one hundred and twenty of you all together in this bunker. We have an hour down here, and while that sounds long we have our own drills we have to run with you. Sasuke-“ Naruto nods to him.

Sasuke nods back, “Thirty of you will be with me, the other thirty with Naruto, this is just the main hall we are in, once we are in the actual bunker there will be more room and a place to sit.”

Kiba, Hinata and Shino follow their lead and divide their villagers up equally amongst them before following behind them into the bunker. Once inside there are beds, that line the wall and on the other side cabinets. There’s even a bathroom in the corner of the room.

“We are going to start with the basics, okay?” Kiba says to his group, “On the beds are emergency packets that have very helpful items, now I know we don’t have enough beds for each person here but not to worry. There are three futons under each bed. In an emergency situation the beds really should be for people in a medical emergency.”

While Kiba continues to talk to his group, Sasuke is with his group going through the food cabinets.

“Each cabinet has food, medical supplies and weapons. On the door of the cabinets there’s an itemized list and quantity of everything stored here. For our current situation we may experience high enough temperatures in Konoha that would have us take shelter here it’s best to ration your food and water the best you can. There should be two individuals who ration out the food and water, these two individuals will be volunteers amongst you and if you can’t decide the majority vote wins, how you decide will be up to you. Remember this is just a guide to help you in a future detrimental situation, but it is not the standard.”

“What’s the reason for there being two people, why not one?” A young woman with brown hair and eyes asks him, the little girl that was crying earlier is holding her leg.

“So that way the responsibility is shared. With more people in the bunker there will be more responsibilities that should be distributed. While these volunteers are keeping an eye on the rations, others will be helping with the injured, or making sure no enemies are getting in.”

The woman nods.

Hinata opens the Medical cabinet, “Please take a look, everyone,” After everyone gets a chance to peer inside she continues, “In this drawer are medical items that maybe you have never seen before, ne?” She smiles over to an older lady amongst the group who hesitantly nods.

“That’s okay, because in this drawer there are instructions for what everything does and what to use it for.” Hinata points to the drawer on her left.

“How should we know? We’ve never taken lessons in this stuff!” A guy with a headband on growls out. “You expect us to treat our injuries? Where are you ninja gonna be, huh!?”

Some people agree with him.

“We will be protecting Konoha, of course. This is for your knowledge, and what you do with it is you learn from it. Maybe after this you may want to take a course. I know that Tsunade, the director of The Konoha Hospital, has free basic training courses periodically throughout the year.”

Shino is also going over with his group about the beds and their futons underneath them.

“There is enough space in this bunker to house all one hundred and twenty of you, why? Because the dimensions calculated for this specific bunker was made with two hundred people in mind.”

“What’s this?” An elderly woman holds up the pouch laying on the bed.

“That is a sewing kit for clothes, why? Because you may need to repair cloths. If you need to stitch a wound you can find those medical items over at the medical cabinet, which we will be going to now, why? Because Hinata is done with her group and it’s time to switch.”

Shino and Hinata switch places with their group.

Naruto has his group over at the weapons cabinet. Boxes of kunai are stacked as well as a dozen swords and a dozen tantos.

“The weapons in this cabinet could save your life in more ways than one.” Naruto picks up the kunai, “This is a kunai, you throw this short distance with enough force it will take someones eye out. Without force it won’t do anything, when you throw these you have to mean it. Not only are these weapons to protect yourself from enemies but also if you need to go out to hunt for food.”

“How come there’s none of those fancy tag things.” A teenager asks eyeing all of the weapons eagerly, a little too eager…

“Well that’s cause, one, you need chakra, and two, you need to know how to activate it. If it’s done incorrectly it might blow you and this whole place up.” Naruto laughs at his look of shock, “Yeah, you don't want that, ya know!”

Sasuke walks over with his group and looks into the weapons cabinet. “Wow, they sure gave them one hell of a supply…”

“I know, and look these kunai are brand new.” Naruto says showing it to Sasuke.

“Let’s hope they don’t cut their fingers off before were out of here.” Sasuke responds while looking around at the younger children of their groups. “Only a few more rotations and then we’re done.”

“Right,” Naruto turns to his group, “Let’s head for the food cabinet, I hope they have ramen!”

……………

Sakumo is just cleaning up in the kitchen when he hears a knock on his door. He throws down his dish towel. Who could be here? Everyone he knows is helping with the mock evacuation and Kakashi is out on a mission. His heart drops and he rushes to the door and swings it open.

“What, Jiraiya-kun!” Sakumo chuckles, “What are you suppressing your chakra for?”

“Oh you know me, can’t ruin a surprise visit! Tsunade would jump me for one reason or another. Can’t make her happy.” Jiraiya laughs out and walks in immediately turning around to Sakumo with a small book in hand and raising it to him. “It’s done.”

Sakumo grabs the small book that’s half the size of the Icha Icha novels. “Your holy grail.”

“That it is… our last conversation got me thinking. Being discrete is key, we are ninja after all, and being on missions it’s so hard to pull out such a large book. Kami knows I’ve heard Kakashi complain about it enough.”

“This will definitely be banned. No wonder you don’t want Tsunade to find you! She’d kill you for this. The distraction on the field this will cause… I can picture it now.” Sakumo laughs.

“You haven’t even seen the best bit!” Jiraiya radiates with excitement. “Open it, to the back page!”

Sakumo with giddy hands opens to the back. A mini centerfold of a barely clad double d breasted beauty pops out. He gasps, “You’re a genius! When are these going to be available?”

“They’re not,” Jiraiya sighs but cuts him off before he can object. “Not for long, but it’s going to take some time for my publisher to get to it, apparently he’s on vacation. So that is your little gem for now. Try not to let Kakashi catch a whiff of it.”

Sakumo stashes it away in his pocket, “Oh he’s never going to find out.”

::: Deep in the forest on the edge of Suna, Kakashi turns his head towards Konoha and squints, what's this he's sensing?:::

Famous last words, he cringes. “I might need to find a good hiding place before he gets back.” Sakumo frowns and directs them to the kitchen where he starts making them tea. “Any news?”

“Just that your son has quite the Chunin team.” Jiraiya says sitting at the kitchen table, “He’s gonna have his hands full but I’m going to take Naruto for a bit. I want to give him the Toad Summons.”

Sakumo turns from the kettle and looks over at the Sannin, “Something's changed.”

“You and your nose, I can’t seem to hide anything from you… Well… Yes and No I want to say, but nothing to worry about for now.” Jiraiya says looking around the kitchen, “Pretty clean here, what have you been up to?”

He raises an eyebrow, withholding information, well two can play that game, “This and that… I do the occasional missions for the Hokage but nothing much. I’m as retired as you can get. ”

Sakumo brings over their tea to the table and sits down.

“Well, if that’s the case, maybe I can ask for a favor?” Jiraiya takes his tea and looks down at it looking thoughtful. In all the years Sakumo has known the man he has never asked for a favor.

“For you, anything.”

Jiraiya hums taking a sip of his tea, “Oh this is good,” he exhales heavily, “and strong!”

Sakumo gives a toothy grin, “I added some Hatake whiskey, nice right?”

Nodding, Jiraiya sets his tea cup down and looks up at him, “Can you keep me posted with anything you hear or see that seems peculiar with Kakashi’s team.”

He straightens at that. He knows Kakashi’s team consists of Naruto and the Uchiha’s boy… there was a girl on the team, Sakura he believes her name is… Then Tenzo’s boy… Sakumo sighs, he knows from what Kakashi has told him the kids are head strong and can find trouble on the easiest of missions. His son’s team a direct reflection of Kakashi’s own.

“What’s going on, Jiraiya?” He lowers his voice, tea aside.

“I wish I could-“

“Don’t with that-“

“No, seriously,”

“Jiraiya!”

“Sakumo!”

They both stare each other down. Jiraiya finally breaks and shoots back the rest of his tea then stands up. “Hey, you promised! Let me know!” He hops to the window and launches himself out of it.

“Damn him…” He sighs still looking out the window getting lost in thought.

Jiraiya was the one that was there for him when he was on the brink of committing the unthinkable that day. But he had found him and got him to Tsunade in time.

He didn’t think he could sink so low mentally, but there was just something about the failure of that mission that snapped something inside of him… Jiraiya brought him back.

It started after they had done a few S rank missions together that Jiraiya would join him at the training grounds. It became a fast friendship and they were both unstoppable with his kenjutsu and Jiraiya's senjutsu. There is of course an age gap, Jiraiya being about ten years his junior… but they got along and had plenty in common. Sakumo would teach Jiraiya all he could and felt pride as he saw Jiraiya go through the ranks, becoming an amazing ninja, and finally a Sannin. Then came the day Jiraiya finally got his own team. He had joked that maybe one day he would mentor Kakashi… and then Minato ended up being Kakashi’s mentor.

Through the years Sakumo would touch base with Jiraiya, getting the details on how Minato thought of his son. Especially when Kakashi would get oddly quiet, he would be able to make sure it wasn’t something serious. Being a parent to a prodigy is stressful, even now… and Jiraiya giving him updates helps him not to stress as much. He owes his friend a lot.

Reflecting on it, it feels like everything has come full circle, especially now that Jiraiya wants to teach Naruto the Toad Summons. Minato will be so proud.

But what could it be that he wants to know?

He sighs and tries not to stress about it. All he can do is return the favor. Hopefully it’s nothing. He finishes his tea then goes outside to the Hatake training grounds. He needs to shake the dust off his fists.