48. Old man’s worries


    <span style="font-weight:400">As expected Tomoka got an earful from her parents… after they managed to contain theirughter that is. The notice had stated that she would be suspended for a week and if such behavior were to be repeated she would instead be expelled. However, the very next day, another message came exempting Tomoka from her suspencion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">~shback no jutsu~


    <span style="font-weight:400">Inside the Hokage’s office an old man could be seen fighting a losing war. No matter how hard he fought or what he did the mountain of papers would only grow in size. With a heavy sigh the third stopped writing to take a break. His right hand hurt with the exertion of writing for hours straight.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Why am I so unlucky? None of the potential Hokague sessors want the position. Now I have to keep the position or who knows what will be of Konoha” Massaging his aching hand Hiruzen felt depressed. However, he had no time for that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Hokage-sama” Suddenly a ninja with a dog mask appeared kneeling in front of him. This worried him as this anbu is one of two in charge of looking after Tomoka.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Inu and Tenzo had been tasked with watching after the girl ever since the attack on Konoha four years ago. To this very day no one has any idea of the reason nor the entity behind the attack. After a thorough investigation no losses were found be it information or personal. Even Shikaku couldn’t form a usible reason behind it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nevertheless this event opened Sarutobis eyes. He realized he had been toox with the protection of what could be arguably called the strongest of Konoha’s weapons as well as its biggest danger. Because of this, both Naruto and Tomoka now have anbu looking after them at all times.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“What happened? Is Tomoka alright?” Had their enemies somehow found her identity as a jinchuuriki? What came put the Hokague at ease but also gave him a headache.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“She is fine sir. However, she has been suspended from the academy for pranking a teacher” After Inu finished his report Hiruzen could do nothing more but smile wryly. For the past four years after he had assigned the two anbus to her he had received report after report of odd or concerning matters.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The kid is extremely slippery. More than once has she somehow disappeared right in front of them through unknown means. Little did they know that in those cases the anbu pair had mistakenly gone after one of her clones. Another odd thing about her is how she would create odd concoctions. Due to the nature of the mission, neither anbu had actually interacted with them. However, their instincts told them that those liquids and powders were dangerous.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I see, were you able to glean a reason behind her behavior?” Hiruzen took this matter quite seriously. That kid held a lot of potential and he worried that she might get isted and missguided.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Yes sir. In her conversation with the principal she stated that their teacher, Mizuki-san, is inconpetent as a teacher. She also mentioned that she would prefer Iruka-san as her teacher or she would continued pranking the assigned teachers”


    <span style="font-weight:400">An exasperated sigh escaped the old man’s lips. He felt so tired of dealing with everything in the vige. As much as he loves his home and his people he can’t help but wish for a calm and rxing retirement. Why would the girl ask for Iruka? He did not know nor did he care. He couldn’t have the girl not be taught in the academy. If all it took was to give in to such a simple demand, so be it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Taking his time to redact a message for the principal of the academy the old man felt how his hand still ached from the hours of working. Even though chakra helped with the pain a little it was not a permanent solution.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Take this to the principal of the academy and then go back to your mission” With that said, Inu disappeared from the Hokage’s office.


    <span style="font-weight:400">~shback end~


    <span style="font-weight:400">With that taken care of, Tomoka went back into her ssroom the next day to everyone’s surprise. After all, what she had done had been a little extreme for a prank. After chatting and giving a few made up excuses the girl had been left to her own device. With some time before their new teacher arrives she decided to prepare a new prank.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her walk towards the ssroom door with calm and rxed steps caused a few students to flinch. However, this time all she did was ce the chalkboard’s eraser on top of the door. Nothing more, nothing less.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Hey! Wasn’t you the one that told me that that prank would not work?” Of course Naruto had to call her out on it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Dear Naruto, you are still too green in the pranking ways. You will see '''' With a mischievous smile Tomoka sat down to wait. Today is going to be a good day.