(Naruto) Hokage's Choice VII
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I could almost smell the burnt toast. Burnt toast has a distinctive smell, you know, especially when it is burnt properly. It’s annoying and clogs up your nose and when you hear the charred bread getting touched, it grates at your ears.
Well, it does for me at the least. That might have been because my mom used to burn it a lot when we still lived together. Usually, I would wake up to burnt food and a ringing alarm going off. The neighbors would either yell at us to turn it off or just ignore us and sleep-it happened so often that they were used to it. I’d quickly crawl out of bed, yawning and turn off the stove in the kitchen.
Sometimes, Mom (she was still ‘Mom’ back then) would give me a sheepish smile and say, “Maybe next time I’ll get it right.” I was only seven but I could see a barely good cook my mother was not.
Then she had to go and change on me and the neighbors no longer have to experience mother’s cooking experiments anymore. She usually eats at really fancy restaurants now days.
It had been so long since I smelled burnt toast but there was something nostalgic about it. I hated smelling it when I was younger, hated it and would have done everything in my power to get rid of it. Now I’m desperately sniffing the air, hoping to find the lingering traces of the burnt bread.
It’s funny how life changes so much.
“Sakura!” A voice called my name. It was familiar for some reason. The burnt toast, my name being called…
It couldn’t be.
Opening my eyes, I stared at the pink flowers in front of me and muffled a scream.
Yes, it definitely wasn’t what I expected.
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Hokage’s Choice
Chapter Seven-Back to start
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I scurried down the stairs, eager to find that ring and get somewhere with this game. Luckily, I was still alive. When I died earlier, I thought I was gone for good. That was just how real the simulation felt. Now, I still had a chance to save my life.
The key to that would be the ring. A list of suspects would be useful. After I yelled at the king’s messenger again, I ignored his speech and started to compose a list.
1) Parents - These parents of mine were dirt poor. They were married in the barn. There wasn’t even a party or gifts. They were poor even by the peasants’ standards. No ring here.
2) Messenger - I stared at his face for a moment and then his hands. He was ring-less, so I guess that answers that question.
3) Orochimaru - Uh, creepy, creepy man. If he had the ring, he could keep it.
4) Kiba -The flirt he was, he probably would have a dozen of them to woo the ladies with. Woo…the game was affecting my language now. Kiba = high suspect for now.
5) Ino -WHY THAT ANNOYING…she probably would have hundreds of rings. I wouldn’t mind scavenging her box. Especially if I got to break half the stuff in it. I had only met these people for a short time and already I hate most of them? This game had better pick up.
6) Sasuke - He didn’t seem like the kind to have rings. Unless he was married or engaged, which would make me sad. Then again, he seemed pretty blood-thirsty to me, so I’d rather not discover any secret fetishes he might have.
7) Naruto - He could have it. With the way he acts, he’d probably give me it if I asked.
8) Lee - Ditto on this guy.
9) Brat -Even though he killed me and I would love to get a little revenge for that…he seems a little young.
10) Someone else? -This is probably it. Considering I have barely started the game, I might not have even met that person. This left a lot of someones.
I wondered if it was a plain ring or a fancy one. What if it was hidden in some room or-
There were just too many places. Killing the guy who gave me that clue moved high on my priority list, just below saving my life.
“Please, let her wait for her father,” my mother pleaded once more and I took that as my cue to leave.
“Don’t worry, mother. Tell father I’ll be fine,” I told her as I got on the horse. “Now, let’s hurry.”
As we went through the countryside and up to the main village, I puzzled over what I should do next. Yes, I probably should meet the family again. However, I didn’t want a repeat of The Weakest Link and have them all turn on me.
Sniffing myself, the first thing I would do would be to take a bath. And maybe change my clothes too.
When we arrived, Orochimaru approached me once more.
“Hello, I’m Orochimaru,” he said, eyeing me like a hungry snake. “and you are Sakura?”
“Yes,” I held out my hand to shake his, restraining the urge to shiver when his cold hand accepted it.
“Good.” He smiled and I cringed slightly. “Then I will take you to where the others are waiting. Fine?”
Now that I knew what to expect, I could tell these lines were scripted and rehearsed to perfection. He probably knew what would happen to me if I met the rest of the family-in fact, he was probably anticipating what would happen.
Well, all bets were off. I shook my head. “I’d rather take a bath first. I need to look presentable after all.”
He raised an eyebrow, not looking startled like I hoped he would be, and nodded. The smile returned and so did that odd chuckle as he turned around. “Follow me,” he said leading down a different hall than the one he lead me to before.
We passed countless hallways, climbing steadily higher and higher up the building until we reached a door at least. Knocking once, he opened it and motioned for me to get in. “They will help you change.”
Curious, I took a step in and peered around. There were various scraps of cloth on the floor, cut and ripped and stuck together with pins and needles. A box of needles lay in one corner and a whole set of mannequins-not the ordinary female ones that you found everywhere, but life-sized figurines of people I passed in the halls-crowded one corner of the room. A table with a small candle on it stood off to one side and there were several outfits on the chair in front of it. A young man with spectacles and a bandage on his nose and fingers smiled and nodded at me.
“There’s a guy in here,” I said immediately.
“Oh,” Orochimaru finally looked in the room. “My mistake. This is the tailor for the royal family and one of the healers as well. This is my assistant, Kabuto. Kabuto, this is the girl, Sakura-chan, that is now the heir to the kingdom.” Hold it, where did this guy get off calling me ‘Sakura-chan’?
“Hello, Sakura-chan,” Kabuto said after glancing at Orochimaru. Oh, so now this guy was also doing it? He held out his hand and I sighed as I took it. As we shook hands, I felt a small shock go through me before he let go. Static energy, perhaps.
Leading the way once more, Orochimaru passed three more doors before stopping once more and knocking again. A brash voice yelled, “Coming,” before the door clicked open and I could see brown eyes peering curiously at mine.
“Yeah?” The eyes turned to face Orochimaru and I could see there was another boy in front of me, one with dark brown hair covered with a small cap.
“This is the new heir, Sakura-chan. She wants a bath. I’m sure your lady won’t mind if she has another with her.”
“…” The boy paused, considering this, and then nodded. “Fine.”
“Good.”
“Hey, he’s a boy!”
“His lady isn’t,” Orochimaru replied as he left me alone. I glared at his departing figure but really, it could have been worse. At least I wasn’t in the clutches of the angry heirs.
“So…” I smiled awkwardly, toeing the brick floor. A cool draft breezed by, causing me to shiver, and the boy sighed before turning back in.
“Follow me, my lady should see you first.”
“Ok…”
I might survive today.
-x-
To: SUchiha
From: Uchiha Headquarters
Subject: Re Malfunctions
It is disappointing that something like this should happen to one of our branches, especially to the one you were visiting. As one of the scions, you should have never let this happen. As it is, we trust that you will deal with this matter efficiently and quickly, minimizing the damage by controlling the situation effectively. Watch the customer’s actions and notify us for any changes in the customer’s condition.
We’d also like you to send us information on the client so we may find a way to deal with any potential lawsuit that may occur, whether she is alive or not.
-x-
His lady was a quite girl. She was a tad boring sometimes-she fainted and blushed a little too often for me.
She was cute, for sure, with her lace and ribbons decorating her dress. Her dark blue/purple hair-it was hard to tell-reached just below her shoulders, curling slightly with the front bangs. I was jealous; mine was ragged and stopped around my chin. Apparently I cut them myself, to save a trip to the barbers because I was too lazy.
I hate my all-to-accurate lazy self.
At first, I thought she was blind because of her pale, moon-coloured eyes. There were no pupils and what was I supposed to think? When she got up from her chair, bowed to me, and then returned to her chair without any assistance at all, I realized I was wrong.
Good thing I didn’t mention anything.
“Hello,” I said, smiling when we were introduced. “I’m-”
“The future Hokage,” the boy cut in, rudely interrupting me.
“O-oh…” his lady mumbled, stuttering and bowing profusely. “H-hello, H-Hokage-sama.”
“I’m not the Hokage yet.”
“W-well…s-sorry, H-Hokage-sa-sama.”
“I’m the future one, if I survive. Not present.”
“Ok, H-Hokage-sa-sama.”
I sighed after this went on for a while, the boy grinning amusedly as he watched. The louse. After he a while, he grew bored and helped. “This is my lady, Hinata-sama. She’s one of the heirs of her noble and ancient clan, the Hyuuga’s. My lady, Orochimaru-san wants her to be dressed.”
“O-ok, w-what shoul-d-d we g-get h-her?”
“I’ll get the clothes, Hinata-sama, you just sit here and entertain the guest.”
“O-ok.”
I doubted this would be nothing more than an awkward conversation but after we got past the opening, she wasn’t that bad. In fact, I learned quite a bit about this place from her. Not enough on the other characters-apparently, Hinata had been doing some work outside Konoha for a while, under her father’s orders.
Apparently, most of the heirs are actually the dead Hokage’s grandchildren. With the exception of me, of course. I would be twenty years or so younger than any of his children, had they survived. Lee was more of a black sheep compared to the rest, with no real talent, and was more or less raised by one of the guards. Naruto was adopted or orphaned really young, no one knew which, and Kiba was a cousin them both. Ino was a niece twice removed and while she had a huge crush on Sasuke, she flirted with Kiba a lot too. Sasuke, the enigma he was, wasn’t really related to any of them but was one of the most skilled ninja’s (kind of like a knight) in the kingdom.
So, when it came down to it, I was the only one who was actually immediately related to the Hokage.
Which meant, that I was really the only one with a legitimate claim on the throne and they were all angry that they just got bumped down a spot. No wonder they tried to kill me.
“I’m back, Hinata-sama,” the boy called out as he opened the door and brought in trunk. “Here are your ordinary clothes, the ones we can spare.”
The clothes that were brought were nice enough, silky garments that went down past my ankles and pooled on the floor. A little too expensive for me but considering they were Hinata-san’s ‘plain’ clothes, I took them.
“First, a bath,” the boy said firmly as I reached for a dark green dress. He grabbed my arm and pulled me towards one of the attached rooms. “We can’t have you walking around with that smell.”
The bathtub was marble, nothing like the wooden ones that my ‘parents’ had. Steaming hot water was already in it, showing the real reason the boy took so long to bring the clothes.
“I’ll take it from here.” I pushed the boy towards the door, eager to jump in, when the boy laughed and wouldn’t budge.
“I can’t let you, the future Hokage-sama , take a bath without any help. Do you want me to lose my job?”
And I couldn’t let a boy watch me bath. Did he want me to kill him? “Then go find a girl to do it.”
He laughed once more and this time the voice was lighter than before. “Considering that Hinata-sama trusts you and asked me to do this, I suppose I can reveal it to you. I’m a girl.”
I gaped. Probably looked like a fish, my mouth was so wide and open. I knew I stared for a long time, since she kept laughing and I couldn’t believe I didn’t notice it before. Sure, she didn’t have more than a short covering of hair and no chest, but her figure…
When I finally closed my shut, I opened it again to ask a question. “Why does everyone think you are a boy?”
She gave me a wry grin, her eyes a little darker, and I might have just asked something I shouldn’t have.
“It’s…easier that way. Now, I need you to get in already. It’s getting late and my lady still hasn’t had her afternoon walk.” Without much further ado, she stripped me and pushed me into the tub.
I wasn’t complaining and I didn’t ask anymore about it. Hot water = heaven.
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A/N: Look, a longer chapter. A new chapter. I haven’t forgotten this story, for those of you still reading this. Though, uh, is Sakura IC? I’m a little worried…
And, I hope it is obvious who the maid is…
Review!