Chapter 1
Naruto glanced down at the slip of paper in his hands.
Then back at the building in front of him.
He did that for ten more minutes, trying to make sense of the jumbled letters which Jiji had eventually explained to him because apparently apprenticeships were important. Everyone was given one and they all seemed to get really good ones too! Shikamaru told him that he got to work with his dad, even stupid Kiba got to work with the Tracking Unit.
Of course, Sasuke-teme was allowed to apprentice with the Council.
Which was almost like saying he could become Hokage.
The day they let him become Hokage was the day Naruto spontaneously combusted.
Thinking about his own placement, Naruto knew exactly three things about the Sabotage and Demolitions team;
- They blew stuff up.
- They might let him blow up stuff.
- ...Actually, that was all he knew.
The office building looked like something from the civilian section, despite it being close to the Hokage tower - the entire street seemed very beige. All paneled windows and office buildings, a few shops and their keepers who watched him warily from a distance. Naruto expected to be booted out as soon as he walked through the doors but the receptionist just smiled at him, directly at him .
(Minoru, her name tag read.)
“I’m here for an ‘pprenticeship?”
“You must be Naruto-kun,” Minoru said and he tried not to stare too much. She was pretty, some wicked looking scars, her hair tied up with what seemed to be knives - so cool! Still, he didn’t like it when people stared at him so he tried not to do the same. “Captain told me they were expecting you, you just need to go through these doors and up the stairs. They’re in the second room on the left.”
Naruto stared at the large set of doors next to her desk.
“It’s okay,” Minoru reassured him, why was she so nice? People scolded him for much less than hesitating. “This is the first time they’ve taken an apprentice so they’re just as nervous to meet you.”
Doing his best impression of a mouse, he scurried through the doors without another word - shuddering as he passed the threshold. Fingers crossed, he hadn’t offended her because it’d be kinda awkward if he had to come back for the next six months. It might not even happen since they’d taken one look at him and realized who they’d been saddled with, he’d end up back at the Academy and Iruka-sensei would get that look . Like he was disappointed but not surprised, like he’d lived up to their low expectations.
He almost face planted on the last step when Naruto realized that someone was waiting for him at the top, a placid white mask which he’d only ever seen out of the corner of his eye. The markings were different but it was similar to those who used to babysit him or guard him as Jiji explained when he thought Naruto was old enough.
(Then why didn’t they stop the civilians when they hit him? When they threw stuff at him? Called him names? )
“Uzumaki Naruto, right?”
“Uh, that’s me?” Naruto mumbled.
“You don’t sound too sure,” the man squatted so they were almost eye-level and Naruto watched, wide-eyed as he pulled off his mask. It was kind of anticlimactic since it was just an ordinary face, he didn’t know what he’d been expecting but the man looked like someone he could see at the market. The only telltale mark was the silvery scar over his mouth. “Y’know, I was promised a loud-mouth brat as an apprentice, not a shrinking violet.”
“Eh?!” Naruto glowered. “Who you callin’ a loudmouth brat?”
“Ah,” the mask was strapped to his waist and he smiled at Naruto like the receptionist had. “There he is.”
“Who are you anyways?” Naruto asked, rudely.
“Captain of Sabotage and Demolition, Mukai Jun,” he grinned. “You can call me Fox. Lets go meet the team.”
(One day, years later, Naruto would look back and laugh.)
He followed Jun quietly, unsure of what to do or what to say. Too loud and he’d be kicked out, too quiet and maybe they’d forget about him entirely? The Captain knocked three times on the door before walking in, holding it open for Naruto to walk ahead of him.
“Alright, apprentice is here!”
“We’ve leveled up in the world,” one of the men at the table commented dryly, placing down three cards with a quiet murmur. “Hopefully, you don’t scare this one off.”
“Hey!” Jun huffed as he let the door slam shut, Naruto jumped ever so slightly when the man placed a hand on his shoulder. “Naruto-kun, am I scaring you?”
“M’not scared of anything,” he insisted but his eyes were focused on the rest of the room.
“I dunno, working with these guys might change that,” Jun sighed dramatically. “Well, c’mon, introduce yourself, ya bunch of ingrates.”
“Hosokawa Hiyoko, codename Hawk” the woman sat at the table greeted Naruto with a small smile, slapping her own cards down eagerly. “Two jacks.”
“Hyuuga Yuuto, codename Viper” the man from earlier waved but he was too busy with the card game to give Naruto his full attention. He tried not to stare when the veins protruded from the man's temples, almost glaring at Hiyoko. “Bullshit.”
“Dojutsu use is cheating!”
“Since when?!”
“Since always, you mother-” Hawk glanced over the impressionable young child who stood next to her Captain, who was giving her a look that could curdle milk. “- fusser.”
“It’s probably best to ignore them, Naruto-kun,” Captain insisted. “Stupidity's contagious.”
Naruto grinned as the pair of them spluttered.
“Usually we have a team of five, maybe six at a push,” Jun explained as he guided Naruto over to the table which was already in use. It was covered in gouges and scratches, there were a few burns, one acid stain and there were three shuriken already embedded in one of the legs. “Genma joins us every now and then, Minoru - who you met out in the hallway - is currently on medical leave.”
“I miss her,” Hiyoko bemoaned.
“You just spent an hour flirting with her this morning,” Yuuto scoffed, smirking at her flustered stuttering. “Look how pink you are, Hawk, got a lil’ cwush on Tiger-chan?"
“How old are you?!”
“Old enough to know better, she’d chew you up and spit you out.”
“Naruto is now my favorite,” Hiyoko declared much to the boy's bewilderment, his own cheeks flushed ever so slightly as all their attention turned to him. He almost fell off his chair. “Look at him, he’s adorable and he’s not you.”
“You’ll get used to them,” Jun reassured him as the cards were collected and dealt out once more, dealing Naruto into whatever game they were playing. “...eventually.”
(Maybe this won’t be so bad, Naruto hoped .)