When Kakashi gets serious, he is extremely reliable.
Whether as a comrade or a friend, he is someone you can trust.
The problem is that most of the time, he isn’t serious at all.
Every now and then, he even falls into a depressed state.
There was nothing to be done about it.
Everything that had happened to him really was tragic enough.
“By the way…” Kakashi suddenly put an arm around Naraku’s shoulder and asked in a low voice, “Everyone else’s benefits in the ANBU have been increased.
What about me?
Why am I still getting the same treatment?”
“You’re the ANBU Commander!”
“If you want a raise, go ask the Third Hokage yourself!”
Naraku pretended not to hear him and simply waved Kakashi off, telling him to go find the Hokage instead of bothering him.
“Sigh, I’m an ANBU member too.”
Kakashi gave up once again, pulled out Make-Out Paradise, and began reading seriously.
“I forgot to congratulate you, Kakashi.
Soon you’ll be the Deputy Commander of the Jōnin Commander Council…”
This time, Naraku and Kakashi were heading to a Jōnin Commander meeting.
Aside from the usual matters, the meeting would also formally announce Kakashi’s appointment as Deputy Commander of the Jōnin Commander Council.
The Jōnin Commander Council was primarily responsible for helping the Hokage manage the village’s jōnin.
After all, Jōnin represented the village’s highest level of military strength, and decisions concerning them were extremely important.
Just as Sarutobi Hiruzen had remained Hokage for many years, Shikaku Nara had also served as the Jōnin Commander for a long time.
The Jōnin of Konoha greatly recognized and approved of Shikaku’s work.
“Shikaku-senpai has done an excellent job.
I’m just a figurehead.”
Kakashi himself didn’t particularly care, but Naraku thought about it a little more deeply.
ShihōinNaraku was the ANBU Deputy Commander, but he also managed two institutions within the Medical Department and enjoyed considerable prestige there.
Hatake Kakashi was the ANBU Commander, and now he was also becoming Deputy Commander of the Jōnin Commander Council.
What was the Third Hokage thinking?
Naraku couldn’t figure it out either, but he vaguely felt that Sarutobi Hiruzen seemed to be choosing between him and Kakashi for some other position.
At this point, Naraku still hadn’t realized that this concerned the choice of the next Hokage.
But that wasn’t entirely his fault.
Naraku knew the original storyline.
The Fifth Hokage of Konoha would be his teacher, Tsunade.
With that assumption in mind, he had overlooked Konoha’s current circumstances.
With the Third Hokage still alive and Jiraiya and Tsunade absent from the village, Naraku and Kakashi, as members of the Hokage’s faction, were indeed the most suitable candidates for Hokage on the surface.
…
ShihōinNaraku and Hatake Kakashi chatted as they soon arrived at the venue for the Jōnin Commander meeting.
“Yo…”
The moment they stepped into the conference room, a green figure leaped toward them and nearly knocked Naraku and Kakashi over.
“Let’s burn together!
The flames of youth are blazing today!”
Might Guy had appeared, as energetic and excited as ever.
Naraku hurriedly tossed him over to Kakashi and went to greet his other friends.
Kakashi wanted to leave with him, but Guy immediately latched onto him.
With no other choice, Kakashi could only stare at Guy with his trademark dead-fish eyes.
“My eternal rival, Hatake Kakashi!
How about a long-overdue battle?”
“No!”
Kakashi flatly refused.
He had absolutely no intention of fighting Guy.
After one fierce battle, his entire body would ache for several days.
Kakashi wasn’t interested in seeking out that kind of suffering.
“Naraku—”
Naraku had just finished greeting his friends and was about to sit down when a figure suddenly crashed into him, nearly knocking him off balance.
“What are you doing now, Anko?”
Naraku turned his head and found Mitarashi Anko already pressed up against him.
Not so close.
Yūgao hadn’t arrived yet, and she could show up at any moment.
“Don’t get so close.
Sit down properly.
The meeting is about to start.”
“Tch!”
Anko obediently sat down and swallowed the last dango from her skewer, chewing away.
“Those guys are so slow.
It’ll be ages before the meeting starts.”
“When the meeting’s over, want to go get some dango?
Your treat.”
Naraku turned his head and looked Anko up and down.
At this age, she was youthful and attractive, with a rather good figure as well.
“I’m telling you, if you keep eating like this, you’ll turn into a chubby girl sooner or later!”
Mitarashi Anko absolutely loved sweets.
Most of the time Naraku saw her, she had a skewer of sticky rice dumplings in her mouth.
Fortunately, as a shinobi, she was extremely active.
Otherwise, Anko would have become terribly overweight long ago.
“What are you talking about…”
Anko didn’t care about Naraku’s warning in the slightest.
Their exchange alone showed how close the two were.
The main reason was that both of them had been taught by Orochimaru.
After Orochimaru defected from Konoha, Anko suffered quite a bit because of her identity as his student.
Naraku was different.
He really was Tsunade’s disciple.
He had merely studied various subjects under Orochimaru and had never officially become his student.
As a result, he wasn’t dragged into the fallout.
He had also helped Anko several times, which was why their relationship had grown quite close.
All around them, people like Naraku and Anko were chatting with their familiar friends.
As time passed, the members of the Jōnin Commander Council gradually gathered.
Aside from a few who were unable to attend because of urgent missions, practically all of Konoha’s Jōnin were present.
Shikaku Nara arrived shortly afterward and began presiding over the meeting.
Kakashi also forced himself to look alert.
After his appointment as Deputy Commander was announced, the meeting continued.
Several important matters were quickly resolved.
By the latter half of the meeting, however, everything that remained consisted of trivial and troublesome matters.
The Jōnin began doing their own things beneath the table, each finding ways to pass the time.
Shikaku was helpless about it.
Some of the Jōnin sitting below him had even more seniority than he did.
What could he say?
Naraku was equally bored.
His mind had already drifted to his own plans, and he had long since mentally checked out.
After quite some time, the Jōnin Commander meeting finally ended.
Because of their missions, many of the Jōnin hadn’t seen each other in quite a while, so everyone suggested going out for a meal.
ShihōinNaraku, Hatake Kakashi, Might Guy, Asuma Sarutobi, and several others headed to a restaurant together.
Yūgao Uzuki and Mitarashi Anko followed behind Naraku.
Yūgao was his girlfriend, while Anko was one of his admirers.
Tenzō (Yamato) followed Kakashi, looking somewhat reserved.
Asuma Sarutobi walked alongside Kurenai Yūhi, quietly whispering to her.
From Kurenai’s flushed face, it was obvious Asuma was making some rather suggestive remarks.
Might Guy was on his own, happily bouncing along.
Not long after everyone sat down at the restaurant, Morino Ibiki, Aoba Yamashiro, Genma Shiranui, and several others also arrived.
The group began their dinner.
The Jōnin gathered here represented the middle and upper echelons of Konoha.
Even the Third Hokage sometimes couldn’t simply ignore their opinions.
Of course, some of the people present technically didn’t have enough strength or seniority to participate at this level.
Anko and Yūgao, for example, had decent seniority but weren’t strong enough.
Tenzō had sufficient strength, but his seniority was lacking.
As for Kurenai Yūhi, she had only recently become a jōnin.
Her strength was passable, but she had virtually no seniority.
Without Naraku, Kakashi, and Asuma bringing them along, these people wouldn’t have been able to enter Konoha’s decision-making circles so quickly.
…
After the gathering ended, Naraku directly drove off the completely oblivious Mitarashi Anko, who still wanted to tag along.
Then, taking advantage of the moonlight, he went strolling through the streets with Yūgao.
Watching a group of laughing children run past them, Naraku looked at Yūgao.
“Yūgao, would you like to become a Jōnin instructor and lead a genin team?”
“Huh?
Why the sudden question?”
Yūgao’s beautiful face showed surprise.
She was doing perfectly well in the ANBU.
Because the Konoha Twelve were about to graduate.
Well, not exactly.
The genin team led by Might Guy had actually graduated last year, but for the sake of caution, they hadn’t participated in the Chūnin Exams yet.
◇ THE STORY DOESN’T END HERE…
◇
Want to see what happens next?
Read ahead.