Better to Reign in Hell than Serve in Heaven

Better to Reign in Hell then Serve in Heaven

Chapter 3

Biting the Hand That Feeds You

Naruto breathed deeply into the clean cotton sheets waking up slowly. He could get used to having a bed again. Traveling was fun but there was something so good about having a soft bed underneath you each morning. Not to say he would not still be traveling if he would help it. After all he knew that Jiraiya still had so much to teach him. Hopefully he could find someone to replace Jiraiya at the academy.

Yawning he moved to the clothes at the bottom of the bed. As much as he would like to stay in bed a little longer, Naruto knew that he would have to go to his new job soon. It would not do to be late the first day. Jiraiya would also probably kill him if he skipped his morning exercises. Everyday rain or shine he would go through a series of muscle building workouts followed by two miles of running.

With Jiraiya not wanting him to let others find out about his skills Naruto was forced to remain indoors for the entire training using the walls above the rows of beds to run his two miles even though it forced him to take longer then usual. Damn Jiraiya’s rules, he rather be out in the open running in the woods, but had he done so it would have been clear to anyone that he was at least on level with Chunin… if they did not notice how effortlessly he used his chakra or that he only used the bare minimum needed from his natural huge stores of power.

His control was perfect though it was also the hardest lesson Jiraiya taught him. Jiraiya had pounded into his head that even his huge stores of chakra could be depleted forcing him to only be able to use Taijutsu. While he was able to perform Taijutsu well, he did not have the strength to really give damage without the extra burst of chakra to increase the impact.

Once his workout was complete he moved towards the bed once more to stare at his mask. He did not need to wear it anymore… but it did remind him of Jiraiya. With a sigh he left the building his mask in place. Some things would take time to change.

~~~

He was welcomed into the shop by a hearty shout as the old man ruffled his hair in an endearing manner like one would a son. Naruto beamed up at the other his eyes showing his thanks. Looking around her found that the store was just starting to open as the chairs had yet to be pulled down from their position on the tables where they were stored at night. Not to mention the lack of customers this early in the morning not that that was surprising considering that the store served mostly lunch and dinner and hit the few stragglers that came in around midnight after they got off duty. All in all, it meant that the mornings were the best time to get in some cleaning and training for the young boy.
“Let’s get to work boy, you ain’t gonna learn by sitting on your ass.”

The first thing Naruto learned was his position. It happened that the old man was currently on his own in the store for the moment due to a series of events that had left his without his employees for about a month till they got out of the hospital. Rather then wait for the idiots to get on their feet, the old man wished to train new people in their place. As civilians, they should have known better then to get into a fight with a drunken ninja. He was only lucky that only a few chairs had been broken in the scuffle that lasted only a few seconds.

His income depended on the ninja that frequented his shop and if it meant firing a couple employees that did not know when to keep their mouth shut not to mention were not all that good at churning out edible food he was happy his customer flow had not suffered. He smiled looking down at the little burst of sunlight that he had met last night in the company of two ninja that had often entered his establishment late at night once their sift was done. Getting the kid to work for him was one of the best ideas he had in a while. After all, if the kid had ninja friends surely they would frequent more and bring their others friends which would add more business. While it was true that Naruto has said he was planning on taking the Genin exam, as a Genin he would be able to continue working at the store. Was he hit Chunin though, he would probably have to quit, but by then he would hopefully get more employees.

That morning, learned how to prepare and cook most of the food. Being the one who had cooked all of the meals for the past three years had allowed him to pick up quite a lot about the field to be able to make the simplest of meals leaving the old man to take care of the more intricate and delicate operations. In turn the system they worked out what that the old man would take the orders which he would explain to Naruto who would create the required dish leaving anything that was too complicated to the old man. Naruto would then serve the meal to the customers who would then pay the old man.

All in all it would mean that the old man’s work was cut in half and that Naruto would be able to slowly work his way into being competent in everything that the job required that the old man might be able to take a few breaks for himself… though that would come later. It was hard running a business by himself and was very thankful for the help he could find.

Showing Naruto the ropes had taken all morning but by the time the first customers entered the old man felt Naruto was going to be fine. His orders had all come out fine though longer then it would have taken himself to cook but he relented that once Naruto had gotten the hang of it, his speed would increase. He also seemed to do well among the crowd as he served each proficiently. It would have been nice if his newest employee would remove the mask and actually talk to some of them that seemed like they would want a nice conversation but he did not want to rush the boy and make him uncomfortable.

It was clear though his new help was accepted rather readily by his regulars. There was something about his small form that was so full of energy that made people want to watch him. He had to admit the kid put on a good show even if it was not intentional. He did not know when the boy had started doing it. All he knew was the smattering of applause and his turning around to find Naruto balancing five bowls of ramen. Two bowls each were balanced on his arms that were positioned straight out in front of his body while the fifth sat on his head. Normally this would have made him yell at the little idiot but the way the blonde looked showed no concern for the bowls hot contents. Not mention the way he moved seemed to make everyone feel comfortable about the feat.

Watching his actually place the bowls down were also a sight to see as he moved the bowl from the center of his right arm to balance on top of the two bowls on his left so he could lower the bowl in his right hand down for the patron and quickly return the balancing bowl to his right hand so it too could be placed moving on to the bowl in the center on his left arm to the bowl on his head and finally the bowl in his left hand. By the end of the performance the all the customers were laughing and clapping as the boy turned bright red.

When Naruto was first balancing the bowls he had given no thought about the others only that he needed to quickly give the bowls to the customers and get back to the pot he was currently working on. This was why after been completely embarrassed, he raced back to his pot and removed it from the stove not noticing that he was not being laughed at but rather respected for his accomplishment.

More laughter erupted from the store at the display as the patrons believed that Naruto’s embarrassment came from modesty rather then being afraid of their distain. The old man saw it rather quickly and offered him a quiet word of praise which had the blonde beaming again as he worked. The old man could not help but smile as the store seemed to still have a steady stream of visitors even though it was past time for lunch to be over. Apparently today, something else was bringing the people in and the old man knew exactly who to thank. He would have to give Naruto a free bowl of ramen at the end of the day in thanks for his help.

“Naruto Nii-san!”

Looking over by the door, Naruto saw the slight frame of his friend Konohamaru. He blinked looking around to see the room only had a couple of people still there enjoying a late lunch. Looking over at the old man for permission he left at a run grabbing the little kid as he exited the door leaving behind a laughing owner and a couple of clients that smiled at the doorway where they had last seen the new employee.

Dark sleep deprived eyes continued watching the doorway long after everyone else had gone back to their meals. He always preferred cooking his own meals but if this is what the tiny shop down the street from his apartment had to offer, he might just have to become a regular. He did not like to be in public all that much due to his insistent coughing that made people think he had some contagious disease. To think that he had thought he been unlucky being forced to do overtime at the mission room because some unlucky Chunin had been slacking and thus had to be sent into speak with the Hokage who probably gave him an unwanted mission as punishment. Never mind the fact it left Hayate alone in the office until Genma took over for him. He had been starving enough that he had gone into the first eatery he found. A shame the blonde had to leave so soon but now that he knew where he worked… it was only a matter of time.

In a way he had reminded the Jounin of his old lover Yugao who was always so cute and feisty. He still cursed the day their Suna allies had in a misplacement of judgment and had stages a coop against them by siding with one of their enemies. His lover had been the one to spy on a secret meeting between two of the leaders that were planning the coop and had died before being bale to warn the village. Suna had been repaid for their defiance. Hayate smiled at that thought. He had been given permission by the Hokage to take his lover’s spot in the ANBU team that had assassinated a few key Suna leaders that quickly brought them back in line.

Konoha made the best of allies but the price for dissertation was harsh. The Hokage was ruthless when it came to giving examples of what happened to people that went against the land of fire. Even now, they had placed their own puppet Kazekage for Suna that was running the land for them. Who would have thought that the young antisocial brat of the previous leader would be so eager to take on the position as leader under them when we were the ones that killed his father? Then again he had heard that there had been no great love between the two family members.

~~~

“Naruto Nii-san, Naruto Nii-san, Naruto Nii-san, show us the tree thingy again!”

Naruto wondered how badly he messed up. I mean these where beginning level kids that hardly knew any jutsu… he though staring at the three children. Along with Konohamaru were two others. He had introduced them as Udon and Moegi both his same age of eleven and trying to become Genin at tomorrow’s exam. The moment they had seen Naruto they had gone into idol worship just as bad as Konohamaru had the other day. While Naruto found it amusing a big push to his ego, he had taken it far too much into his head and had proposed a race.

He had meant to go easy on them but when Udon had thrown a rock at him he had done the instinctive thing and placed chakra onto his feet as he climbed a tree thinking he was back on his travels with Jiraiya where his master would often attack him at of times to improve his techniques. So in front of all three of them he had stood side ways on a tree looking for enemies while they stared up at him.

“It’s just a trick I picked up. If I concentrate really hard on my feet I stick to things.”

Naruto only hoped the extremely simplified version of what he did would be enough to sooth their curiosity. He regretted it a second later as Konohamaru shouted that he too would do the “tree thingy” and the next thing he knew all three of them where trying to run up trees. In all truth their effort was laughable but being the one responsible for showing them the technique he tried to help them and they did make a little improvement. Maybe things would be ok in the end. After all Jiraiya had said to pretend to be on the same level as his teammates. If he improved the level of his teammates then there should be nothing to complain about right?

With that mind set he went full tilt into teaching them that it was not until it started getting dark that he realized he was going to be late for work. He apologized to his new friends as he ran off cheating a bit when he was sure no one was about adding a burst of speed while still in the forest to then slow down once again while in town even though he knew he was still going to be late.

~~~


A senbon twitched slightly as eyes had seen the yellow flash that had raced through the forest below his tree. Unusual little wind that held a very curious chakra signature to be sure. He would have liked to follow his little wind but his friend Hayate had promised him a free meal in thanks for taking over his job for a while when he wanted a break for lunch. Considering it was the first free meal offer he had gotten from his friend ever since the death of his lover, Genma had been quick to take up the request. Hayate always made the best food after all.

Which reminded him, it was about time to head over to the Hokage tower where they both worked. Both Jounin held positions as Chunin examiners but because the test was only twice a year they also worked in the mission room weeding through the requests for anything suspicious and giving the others to the lower leveled ninja to be sorted and finally given to the ninja that were to complete the mission. Anything suspicious was heavily researched to then be rejected or allowed at a higher fee.

There were times of course when they would be given missions of their own. The Hokage did not approve of anyone that did not take on missions once in a while. He declared that desk jobs made ninja weak and the only solution was to enforce all ninja that worked in the tower to apply for a mission once every two months. Failure to do so would mean demotion as well as being put under review. Being put under review was one of the worst things that could happen to a ninja. They were given over to Ibiki who ran the torture and interrogation team.

If Ibiki found the person lacking in anything, they would be place on assignment with Orochimaru. Not many came back from that position and many rumors circulated Orochimaru’s scientific work with human bodies. Being sent to him was a death sentence in disguise. But it was something that everyone was encouraged to look the other way at. After all he was one of the legendary Sannin and one of the heroes of Konoha. All three of them were only behind the Hokage in power. The only other person that had more power had been the Yondaime… but he was dead and gone. There was no used bringing up old battle wounds.

~~~

Genma found his friend under a pile of books that seemed to have magically appeared on his desk since he had last been in the office. Considering that was only a few hours ago must have meant a new request had come under suspicion. His friend finally noticed his and after having one of his coughing fits waved him into the room.

“Anything interesting?”

“A request from the Kazekage asking for audience…”

“That is hardly unusual.”

“What if I told you the Kazekage wrote the message in blood?”

“Ah fuck. Shukaku is raging again?”

“That is the only explanation I can find. We can’t let him enter if he becomes a security threat.”

“Suna has been bitching lately about their new regulations. The meeting between the Kages must occur to prevent another example being set. Next time the Hokage might call for complete annihilation.”

“Do you think I did not know that? Why do you think this has been giving me such a headache already?”

“Tell you what why don’t you take off for the day and I’ll work on it when I come in tomorrow. What do you say?”

“Sure I need the break.”

“And dinner?”

“…what if I just take you out for dinner?”

”Aw, are you asking me out on a date?”

“…lets go idiot.”

As usual their conversation had been interrupted now and again by Hayate’s coughing. Neither was really sure what his condition was only that it was bad enough that he was not allowed any stealth missions. But he was just as powerful as any Jounin not to mention his quick brain and ability far surpassed most his age reassuring his position. It had been a wonder when Yugao had become his lover as he did not really like being out in the open all the much. So being invited out to a restaurant was really something else.

~~~

They entered the small hole in the wall store that Hayate insisted they went to. Genma was very surprised the other even knew of a place to eat out but then figured that it was probably one of his and Yugao’s old hangouts. He was quick to notice as they arrived at the opening to the store his friend’s eyes never left the form of a cute little blonde kid that currently appeared to be balancing bowls of ramen.

“Can I take your order?”

Looking away from the blonde and his friend, Genma’s eyes found the owner’s and gave a small smile as he made his senbon twirl in his mouth.

“We’ll start with two bowls of Miso Ramen.”

He pushed his friend to a table in a corner giving him the side that looked out into the room so he could continue watching his new interest. To think that his friend was finally bitten by that malady once again. And to a male no less this time… a very young male that could be mistaken for a child. Damn things could end badly if Hayate did not play his cards right. Genma was not up for another bout of depressive Hayate. His lack of sleep over Yugao was enough to make his friend worried without adding another rejection to the list. He would just have to ensure his friend got exactly what he wanted this time. Looking at the blonde from the side he smiled, he might as well have a little fun while they were at it.

“Stop thinking whatever it is your thinking about.”

Genma looked over to his friend with a smile. It seemed the other finally came back down to earth from his little sightseeing trip. Looking back he realized that the blonde was behind the counter making food currently so that all that could be seen was the bright shock of his wild hair.

“Are you jealous that I might move into your territory or just paranoid I might embarrass you?”

“Both”

“He could be a lot of fun together.”

“I’m not going to watch you molest the child.”

“But you want me to watch you do it?’

The pause in conversation that was not from a coughing fit gave Genma some hope. If he had immediately answered then there would be no hope in moving him into the right direction. If he was question himself… he was easy to topple.

“He will probably think we are too old.”

“Don’t you dare call me old. You’ve been hanging around all those damn Chunin again making you feel old. Anyone will feel old after hanging around with that group.”

“…”

“Hell why don’t I just ask him?”

“…”

He was about to question Hayate’s silence when a bowl was suddenly placed in front of Hayate. Looking up he found the object of their conversation. He looked to his friend who was having another coughing fit as the boy placed an identical bowl in front of him. Unlike most times when people ignored the man while he had one of his fits being so used to them, the boy actually held out to him a package of tissues.

There was silence as both the boy and Genma wondered if Hayate would take the offering. Hayate found his hand gravitating to the other’s to gently pluck the package from his hands. As the boy turned to leave, Genma frown at his friend who did not seem to have the courage to do anything more and stopped the boy by grabbing onto his orange jacket. He did not notice the many different pairs of eyes watching him wondering what the ninja could want with the little bit of hidden sunshine they had stumbled upon.

“Maybe you can help me.”

“…”

“My friend here believes he is too old to appeal to people younger then him. I think he is full of shit. What do you think?”

“…”

Looking up he saw two of the most blinding blue eyes he ever laid eyes on. He could not believe he had not noticed at all having been caught up with his friend’s plight. He also saw the reason for the other’s silence as he know saw the black mask that covered up his mouth rather teasingly with buckles down the side to restrict the other from talking. His eyes watched as the blonde deftly removed his restraints and pulled down his mask to show off the face hidden beneath that seemed to be more suited for a girl as it was delicately structured though odd whisker like marks marred each cheek taking away from the girlish aspects.

“How can he think he is too old? He does not have white hair or wrinkles. Does he think it because he is sick? I know a good remedy for coughs that my father taught me.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, it’s hard to explain but if you want to come back when my shift is over I can show you.”

“You don’t have to do…”

“Shut up Hayate.”

Genma held out his hand in a warm fashion knowing that the fact that Hayate’s coughing was not a curable illness did not needed to be brought up. He had just gotten the both of them some hanging around time with the blonde and his love struck friend was not going to ruin his life again by being noble about it.

“I’ll make sure he is here. What time are you off?”

“Around 9:00 when business is suppose to slow down, but I’ll need to get supplies in order to show you.”

“No worries just give us a list of what you need and we will be waiting for you here when you’re ready to go. It’s the least we can do.”

“Ok, One second and I’ll make the list.”

Genma was happy to note that before leaving the table he had fixed his mask back in place to the disappointment of the other customers. Apparently they were not the only ones interested in the little blonde. Not that he could really blame them now after having the privilege of seeing his bright innocent eyes and being a victim of his warm personality. Well, they would have to make do with the leftovers once Hayate and himself were done with him.

“I can’t believe you just did that.”

“What? Get you a date?”

“He is probably going to give me cough syrup and put me to bed.”

“I thought you wanted to get him into your bed.”

Genma stared as a blush crept up Hayate’s neck turning his ear red which he hid with the excuse of yet another coughing fit as Naruto had come back with a list of materials written in almost illegible print. Well they can’t all be perfect though he did admit to think the child like scrawls on the paper to be rather cute. Reading through the list he could not help the smile on his face.

“Nope, no cough syrup. But I do want to know what the Vaseline is for.”

The only answer that Genma received was another coughing fit, though whether from choking on the miso ramen or from his usual illness Genma could not tell. Looking back down at the list he put it aside as he grabbed his own bowl of ramen, no use letting it get cold, they had plenty of time before the blonde was off.

A/N
I decided to split this into two chapters so I could get something out early not to mention it felt like a good stopping point.

I'm afraid the answer to my last question has yet to be answered correctly so it is still up for grabs. But to keep things rolling can anyone tell me the name of the Shopkeeper? I called him Old Man because I could not remember at all.