Chapter 43: The First Ripple.

Daichi became somewhat cheered up after the depressing event that happened several minutes ago. But he kept his emotions in check and made his way back to the village. Before long he reached the river and within no time he crossed it.

Daichi looked around and didn't see anyone. 'They must have left or the Anbu got to them and they're in the Hokage tower right now. Either way, no point in staying here.'

Daichi slowly walked forward trying to decide his next destination. Home, his friends or report to the Hokage what he had learned.

'Now I have an excuse to tell him about that bastard Kabuto. If the Hokage does a thorough investigation on him, he'll be in trouble and Orochimaru would lose his spy.' Daichi stopped that train of thought immediately.

'Wait. If I rat him out now, Orochimaru will just have another one take his place here. And my future knowledge will become useless and I'll lose my edge.'

Daichi was screaming in his mind. 'Damn it! Looks like I'll have to let him go for now. And it's not like the Hokage could know what Yota said before he was gone.'

Just then an image of Hiruzen watching Naruto through the crystal ball came to his mind. Daichi stopped in his tracks and his eyes widened in realization.

"Oh no!"

Daichi thought back to everything that's happened today. 'Anbu would have woken up soon after we had left and informed the Hokage of our situation and he definitely would have used the Telescope jutsu to find us.'

'And since I made an impression on him, I'm pretty sure he would have been watching me. So he definitely would have heard my conversation with Yota. Fuck! I can't lie or omit this information now. Wait, is he still watching me? Did he see me take out my cloak?... Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!'

Just as Daichi was having a mental freakout the Gamer's Mind activated and calmed him down. 'Maybe he's seen my inventory skills, maybe not. Can't take any risks. I'll tell him the info on Orochimaru and Kabuto but I'll keep quiet about the cloak and inventory skill. But if he asks about my ability, I'll show him and give limited info on that. And if he demands a look at the cloak I'll hand it to him. Since he's not a Mana user he won't be able to activate it anyway, so he'll think it's an ordinary item… I hope.'

[Due to making a logical and smart decision, you have obtained +1 WIS]

Looking at the notification Daichi calmed down a bit.

'Glad the system agrees'.

As he walked for a few more minutes, he saw the shadow of someone behind a tree. Daichi slowed down and was on alert. He walked a few more steps and finally saw who it was.

"You sure took your time." The Jonin commander Shikaku Nara said to the boy.

"I had a lot on my mind." Daichi cautiously replied.

Shikaku just grunted and turned to walk. "Keep up." Saying those words he took off.

Daichi knew it would be unwise to disobey, so he quietly followed the older man.

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Hokage Office

Hiruzen sat in his chair contemplating the events that just took place. 'Orochimaru… To think you would use such a forbidden and perverse jutsu… It seems you might be more dangerous to the village than I thought.'

His mind went to the day his late sensei showed him the reanimation jutsu. Hiruzen let out a sigh. 'Tobirama sensei. You never should have created that jutsu…Orochimaru is a perfectionist and a scientist. He would definitely study and try to perfect the jutsu. If… No! When Orochimaru comes for me there's a possibility that he'll use the reanimation jutsu. And it'll be more powerful.'

'It seems I'll have to take countermeasures against it and anything else he might have up his sleeve.' Hiruzen looked towards the location of the forbidden scroll in the room. 'Looks like I'll have to conduct a few researches of my own.'

As he thought about what he should do he heard a few knocks on the door. "Come in."

Shikaku entered with the students following him.

"That will be all. I'll have a word with the kids." Hiruzen said to Shikaku.

The Jonin commander heard the polite dismissal and quickly disappeared. Everyone was nervous. Even Naruto, who never hesitated to speak his mind to the person he considered his family, was silent.

Hiruzen's face showed no emotion as he stared at them. He looked at each one of them and after a few seconds of silence he spoke.

"You realize that you interfered with a serious village matter and have caused some commotion don't you?" The Hokage asked them in a neutral tone.

Hearing his words the kids lowered their heads. Naruto gathered his courage, took a step forward and spoke up. "We're sorry that we caused problems… But… We're not sorry we saved Yota."

Hearing Naruto's words to the Hokage surprised his classmates. They gathered their strength and looked at the Hokage.

"Naruto is right. We regret the troubles we created for the Anbu but we don't regret saving our friend." Shikamaru spoke in agreement with his friend and took a step forward standing by Naruto's side.

Hiruzen was internally surprised at the determination Shikamaru showed. He remembered the observations made by Daikoku on the files of each student.

'The heir of the Nara clan with good potential and high intelligence. But he has no ambition and energy. He only completes enough questions on the tests to get a passing score. This along with his behavior in class corroborates my observation. He won't even go out of his way to verify his results. He would rather be considered wrong than go to the trouble of proving himself right. Lazy unless properly motivated.' This was the observation made by Daikoku sensei in Shikamaru's file.

'Instead of being lazy and letting the situation play out, he took action. It seems his friendship with the boy Yota and this experience has somewhat changed him. And it seems for the better. Time to see how the rest of them fare.' Hiruzen wanted to see just what the kids in front of him were made of. He was going to test them.

"Is that how the rest of you feel? There will be consequences for your actions but if anyone wants to step forward and disagree with Naruto and Shikamaru now is the time." He said in a somewhat stern tone.

Sakura, Choji, Ino and Kiba looked at each other and then took a step forward.

"We agree with Naruto and Shikamaru."

"Yeah. We're sorry we caused trouble but Yota isn't a bad person. We couldn't just let anything happen to him." "Arf".

Sakura and Kiba said. Ino and Choji nodded agreeing with them.

Watching the students standing up for themselves and not turning on their friends brought a small smile to the Hokage's face.

"It's not a sin to fight for the right cause. Sometimes one would be stuck between their loyalty to their family or village and doing the right thing. It can be a very difficult decision to make." The friendly tone in which Hiruzen said it brought some relief to the students.

But the Hokage wasn't done. Regaining his serious attitude he spoke. "Still… This village is going through a troubled time. The security of everyone in it is the utmost concern of myself and the ninjas of this village."

"You kids have caused some difficulties with your stunt. But nothing too major. So you'll receive a black mark on your files and nothing more. But someone has to be punished for this. And since Daichi was the one who antagonized the Anbu and helped the young boy escape across the border he will face severe punishment. He will be expelled from the academy." The Hokage said in a stern tone, making them believe his words.

"What!? You can't do that.!" Naruto shouted in dismay.

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"Oh can't I? I'm the Hokage of this village. Daichi committed a crime by interfering with the people who do their jobs and letting the boy escape. He will face the punishment." Hiruzen spoke with a serious tone to Naruto for the first time and it surprised the boy.

Hearing the Hokage's reasoning, Shikamaru spoke immediately. "Please reconsider this Lord Hokage. Daichi is the last person amongst us who should be punished for this. He tried to convince us to not go through with this."

Naruto, Choji, Sakura, Kiba and Ino agreed and nodded their heads. "Yeah. Daichi told us that there's tension between the villages and if we do something like this it would cause trouble for the people here. He warned us not to do it. So please don't punish him." Ino said pleadingly to the Hokage.

"Is that so?..." Hiruzen appeared to mull over the information. 'It seems Daichi knew the risks of doing something like this and still went ahead anyway. He's got guts.'

"Regardless he still went through with it. He helped an unknown person escape the village with valuable information. He will be expelled but considering the circumstances, that's as far as I will go."

The Hokage really wasn't going to expel Daichi. He just wanted to see how they would react. 'Would they accept this result or would they challenge it?'

Naruto had his head down hearing the Hokage's words. He thought about his recent dream to become Hokage of the village and then to his interactions with Daichi. He remembered what Daichi said on his first day at the academy.

"My goal is to become the strongest." It was Daichi's ambition and dream.

Daichi was one of the few friends he made. Naruto thought back to the conversation they had at the lake.

"Do you trust me?"

"Yeah. I do."

"Then trust me when I say I'll get Yota to safety. I promise."

Naruto made his decision. He looked up at the Hokage and spoke in a resolute tone. "If you're going to expel Daichi then you might as well expel me too."

Hiruzen looked surprised hearing that response. "Are you sure about this Naruto? You'll never be Hokage if you don't become a Ninja."

"Yes." Naruto lightly glared at the old man as he responded.

"If Daichi's expelled then I'm quitting too. Besides, the academy is way too much work anyway." Shikamaru said in a nonchalant tone.

Ino and Sakura also agreed with the two. "Well if you guys aren't going, then I'm not going too." Ino said in a somewhat childish tone.

"My mom's soo not gonna be happy when she hears I quit the academy." "Arf, Arf"

"Yeah. Same here."

Both Kiba and Choji shivered when they thought about their mother's reaction to the news.

Looking at his classmates, Shikamaru couldn't help but chuckle. "Guess Daichi was right. We really are a bunch of reckless fools."

Hiruzen was surprised at their resolve. 'Even most genins wouldn't have their stones. This ordeal has definitely brought them closer. And it seems Naruto has gained some truly wonderful friends. I'm glad. Time to end this charade.'

A wide genuine smile appeared on the Hokage's face and it surprised the students. "You never turned on your friends or let one take the fall by himself. I'm impressed."

Hearing the Hokage's words, cogs started turning in Shikamaru's head. "Wait, that was a test? You really weren't going to expel him?"

Looking at their shocked faces, Hiruzen chuckled. "No. I lied. It's something I said to see if you would truly stand by him."

Relief flooded their faces as they heard the old leader's words.

"Whooo…. You really had us going there for a minute, old man." Naruto said with a smile.

Looking at the smiling faces of Naruto and his friends, Hiruzen spoke. "True loyal teammates would never turn their back on their friends. It's one of the many lessons my sensei taught me. Usually you would learn this only by the time you become a genin but it seems you've all grasped that lesson a few years sooner."

"But what about the situation with Yota and everything that's happened?" Shikamaru couldn't help but ask.

"I'm aware of the boy and after reading the reports, I have come to the conclusion that he is not a threat to the Leaf… But unfortunately at a time like this, he cannot be allowed back in the village. I'm sorry." Hiruzen didn't want to tell them that their friend had departed from this world, so he phrased it in such a manner.

Hearing his words made the kids happy and sad at the same time. But they understood the situation. They knew this was the best outcome that could have happened considering everything.

"Now just because this isn't a serious matter doesn't mean you'll be scot free… First you're going to clean up the mess you've made on the Hokage monument and then you'll clean every classroom in the academy. I'll inform the teachers to give the cleaning staff the day off." Hiruzen chuckled looking at the dumbfounded faces of the students.

"But…" Naruto was about to protest but Sakura gave a sharp elbow to his ribs, shutting him up. "We understand Lord Hokage." Sakura said, bowing her head.

"Good. Now go on. I believe you have a lot of work ahead of you. Oh! And tell Daichi to come in. I need to speak with him." Hiruzen dismissed the students.

"Daichi's here?" Naruto was excited. He ran outside the room and the others followed. Naruto found his friend leaning on a wall waiting for his summons.

"Daichi you're back." At Naruto's shout, Daichi looked up.

"Hey Naruto." Daichi walked to him. He saw Shikamaru and the others coming as well.

"Yota! Is he gone?" Naruto couldn't help but ask.

"Yeah. He's free." Daichi nodded.

Hearing the answer brought sad smiles to everyone. "Hey you better go in. The Hokage wants to talk to you." Shikamaru said to him. "And we have a giant face and an academy to clean up." The young Nara gave a long sigh. "Could've been worse I suppose."

Daichi nodded and went inside to meet the leader of the village. He walked in and stood in front of the Hokage.

—----------------

Author's Note:

Hit me up with some power stone guys. Let's get this story up the rankings.

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