---------- THE NEXT DAY ----------
It was midday when Sabuko left the hospital, only to be summoned by the Hokage right away.
"Sabuko," Hiruzen said, "I'm glad to see you're alright after the incident."
"..." Sabuko looked down for a second. "Hey."
"?"
"Thanks." Sabuko raised his head. "Didn't... uh. Y'know. For covering me back there. With my dad."
He scratched his cheek.
"I did pull out that kunai, y'know." He looked to the side.
Hiruzen took a slow drag from his pipe.
"...I saw nothing of the sort," he said.
Sabuko blinked, then let out a quiet breath.
"Sabuko Kanto," Hiruzen continued, "as much as I disagree with Guy's methods, you brought back great results on your first mission. Quite overwhelmingly so."
"...Thanks," Sabuko said flatly.
"I feel inclined to let you remain a genin," Hiruzen said, "though there is the matter of where to place you."
Sabuko closed his eyes.
"I'd appreciate it. It... would really help, Lord Hokage." His voice lowered.
"Hmh." Hiruzen nodded.
Sabuko found himself staring at his fist.
'...I just killed a dude,' he thought. 'And I don't feel the slightest bit different. I should, shouldn't I? I just killed a dude.' He frowned slightly. 'I'm not some psychopath, right?'
"I killed a guy, Lord Hokage," Sabuko blurted on instinct. "I should feel bad or something, right?"
"..." Hiruzen looked up at him. "You don't?"
"Oh." Sabuko cleared his throat. "O-of course I do. Like, it feels wrong. Yeah. Super wrong. You should never kill. It's immoral."
Hiruzen exhaled. "I see."
'Said like a boy answering a teacher.'
He tapped the ash from his pipe.
"It's a heavy thing," he said, "whatever one feels afterward. Or doesn't. I've known good men of both kinds."
'...? Fuck's he mean?' Sabuko thought, shaking his head. 'Of course it's wrong. Maybe it's a delayed reaction or something.'
"..."
A beat.
"Sabuko," Hiruzen asked, "once your status is restored, what will you do from then on?"
'...' Sabuko's eyes shot up. 'Ah. Right. I...'
The room stopped existing for him.
'I got what I wanted, right? Housing and income. No way I end up homeless now.'
'No reason to work my ass off when I can just use clones to take on ten missions a day. Fifty thousand ryō if they're all D-rank. I can keep growing my clone count, keep taking D-ranks until I can rent or even buy a house...'
He gulped.
'And then...'
'...My shadow clone harem.' He exhaled. Not quite a chuckle. 'I'm there. I'm actually there.'
"Well, Lord Hokage," he said, raising his head, "like I told you before, I'm planning to take my time, do quests to earn money, and... uh, do fun stuff with ninjutsu."
'Chūnin, jōnin, whatever-nin, Hokage... who cares about all that? Just leave it to Naruto.' Sabuko smirked, his shoulders loosening.
'Starting now, I can just take it easy, huh?'
He looked at Hiruzen.
'This old man may be a little neglectful toward Naruto, but he's not bad in the slightest.' Sabuko's smirk softened.
'Ah... I'll be sad when he dies.' Sabuko's hand twitched as he looked down.
'Oh well, what can you do?' Sabuko's lips pursed slightly.
'It's canon. I changed it way too much anyway.'
He looked up at Hiruzen again.
'It's been real. You're cool, Lord Hokage.' Sabuko nodded, recalling how Hiruzen had stood up for him—
"I'm afraid that will be impossible for now. You won't be a genin after all."
'WHAT IS THIS HALF-FOOT-IN-THE-GRAVE SHITTY OLD GEEZER SAYIN'!?'
"WHAT?!" Sabuko jumped. "BUT I DID SOMETHING PRETTY GOOD, RIGHT?! I SHOWED YOU I CAN HANDLE A QUEST! AND YOU JUST SAID YOU WERE INCLINED TO LET ME STAY A GENIN!"
"Y-you see," Hiruzen said, looking away with an awkward cough, "this is actually a difficult position. There is no such thing as a genin without supervision, and we cannot make an exception for one, even an exceptional one."
"YOU WERE JUST ABOUT TO!" Sabuko spat.
"Calm yourself. I was about to do nothing of the sort." Hiruzen calmly adjusted his hat.
'THAT SHITTY OLD GEEZER SHOULD DIE RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW. He's straight up denying it!!'
"In fact," Hiruzen continued, "there are plenty of genin in this world far more impressive than even I realize, and they all stick to a team."
'Not sure what his game is, but fuck it! FUCK IT! I won't be homeless!'
"T-then PUT ME IN A TEAM!" Sabuko nearly shouted. "I proved myself, right!?"
"You did." Hiruzen took another puff. "But it has been over a month since the teams were formed. Placing you in one now would be problematic. Their chemistry and teamwork would have to readjust to you, which would stunt their growth."
'OH MY FUCKING GOD. ARE YOU SERIOUS.'
Sabuko's fist clenched.
'AFTER EVERYTHING?! AFTER FUCKING EVERYTHING!?'
"You now face two choices," Hiruzen said, his tone turning firmer.
"Either go back to the Academy."
Sabuko's teeth clenched.
If you can't stay a genin, you'll have to leave.
His breaths went shallow.
"OR!" Hiruzen said suddenly, his voice rising.
'...?'
"OR BEC..."
Hiruzen stopped himself.
"Be... Bec?" Sabuko tilted his head.
'Ah...' Hiruzen looked away again. 'I forgot. I mustn't reveal the existence of the upcoming Chūnin Exams. The spontaneity is part of the test.'
"B-Ben Beckman?" Sabuko muttered.
Hiruzen looked at him.
'I really was about to let him become Konoha's first lone genin. He's earned it.' Hiruzen exhaled.
'But...'
"Becc... Rebecca?" Sabuko added, his voice fading into the background.
Hiruzen's eyes narrowed.
'In such a short time, under stress and urgency, he grew almost exponentially as a ninja, without even realizing it. Remove that pressure, and I'd be removing the very thing that drives him.'
He thought of the Mist ninja Sabuko had dragged into this office. The one who was still breathing, and the one who wasn't.
"Bec... Becain?"
'No,' the Hokage concluded. 'Letting him settle for this would be a waste. It may be selfish, but both the village and the boy will benefit from his growth.'
"Sabuko," Hiruzen said, clearing his throat, "your genin status will be restored effective immediately, IF!"
Sabuko's eyes widened.
"If you agree to take the next Chūnin Exams, which will take place at a COMPLETELY random time in the future, and earn your promotion to chūnin. Only chūnin and above are allowed to operate on their own."
"If you refuse, or fail the exams, you'll be sent back to the Academy."
'...'
'The Chūnin Exams.'
'The Forest of Death. A snake-faced bastard. A village burning at the end of it.'
His eyes drifted to the old man across the desk, calmly puffing his pipe.
'And you die in that arc, old man.'
'...Fuck my life.'
Sabuko stared at the ceiling. It offered no help.
"Sabuko." Hiruzen's voice pulled him back.
"You are a fine ninja," he said.
Sabuko blinked.
A beat.
"One of the biggest reasons I'm giving you this chance is how cool your head stayed when it counted."
Sabuko's brows furrowed slightly.
'...Nah,' he thought. 'You're kinda wrong there, old man.'
Hiruzen glanced at the spot where Sabuko had stood that day.
"You had every reason to lose your temper. And yet you held yourself back where most wouldn't have, all without any of our help."
"So do your best."
'I didn't do that one by myself.'
He thought of Ino.
'It was sheer luck.'
Soon enough, he was dismissed. He walked out of the Hokage's office with his pouch still 5,000 ryō heavier.
'...If that clone hadn't dispelled right then, I'd have been fucked,' he thought, rolling the coins between his fingers.
'Damn, kid. You kinda saved my ass there.'
Sabuko stopped in place. His mind raced for a few seconds.
'Ahh, fuck it.'
He headed off somewhere. His destination: the library.
There, he opened a certain book and flipped to a very specific section.
"Got it." He pointed at a line on the page. "So I can find it outside, right? Hope it's there, since it's still July..."
'Whatever. I've got the whole day. Should be pretty breezy with Shadow Clones.'
Soon enough, Sabuko set off for the outskirts of the village with the eight shadow clones he could summon, and started searching.
Several hours later, back in Konoha, he walked into a particular shop.
"Excuse me." He held up what he'd brought. "Can I leave this here for her? It's a thanks for helping me out the other day."
The shopkeeper looked at what was in his hand, and a sly smile tugged at her mouth.
"No," she said. "We don't accept flowers from strangers. Policy."
Sabuko rolled his eyes with a sigh.
"...Can you give it to her, then?"
"No," she said. "I can't. If you leave it here, it'll get tossed. Policy."
'It's for your kid, dumbass.' Sabuko raised an eyebrow.
"Guess you'll have to hand it to her yourself," she said with a sigh, turning away. "She should be with her team at the barbecue place."
'...What a pain.' Sabuko turned and walked out.
He never saw the huge smile on Ino's mother's face as she watched him go.
---------- A FEW MINUTES LATER ----------
"Great job on today's mission, guys!" Asuma said as he sat down with Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji at the barbecue restaurant.
"Haaaah... nobody listened to me!" Ino complained.
"It's not like we needed to," Choji said, munching. "Shikamaru used his Shadow Possession."
"If we'd listened to you, we'd still be out there... give it a rest already..."
"What was that!? That's so rude!" Ino shrieked.
"Now, now, you guys...!" Asuma sighed, trying to calm them down.
"There you are," said a voice beside them.
They all turned.
"Oh!" Asuma's eyebrows shot up. "Sabuko-kun. How are you doing?" His eyes went to what Sabuko was carrying.
Ino blinked.
Sabuko stepped up to where she was sitting. "Here. You said you liked these." He held out the flower.
'P-purple bush clover...?' Ino thought. 'W-wait... when did he... how...'
Mine's the purple bush clover... Just a shame I have to wait until autumn to see it.
'He... remembered that...?' Ino swallowed.
"Ohh!!" Choji's eyes popped open.
Even Asuma was speechless.
"A-..." Ino looked at the purple bush clover. Then at Sabuko. Then back at the flower. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears.
"S-Sabuko-kun... I... this is..."
'How...? It shouldn't bloom for months... T-THAT ASIDE!'
Her eyes snapped up to him, and she pushed it away.
"I told you! I-I only like Sasuke-kun—"
"That's not what this is, dumbass." Sabuko narrowed his eyes. "I'm not confessing to you. Chill."
'Like I'd ever date some kid.' Sabuko sighed. 'Especially one crushing on a future homicidal maniac, then crushing on half the guys in the show later on.'
Ino's shoulders dropped. "Then... what is it...?"
Sabuko looked her straight in the eye.
"You seriously saved my ass. Uh, like..." He looked to the side, scratching his cheek. "With the catnip thing, I mean," he said.
"And since I'm flat broke, this was the only thing I could think of to say thanks." He pushed it back toward her.
"Just take it. Don't make a big deal out of it."
She blinked and carefully took the flower. Sabuko let go only once she was holding it.
"R-right. Sure. Thanks...?" She tilted her head, holding the flower. "I think."
Sabuko stood there.
Silence.
Then he turned around.
"See ya later, guys," he said with a wave. "Got more stuff to do."
"See you soon, Sabuko-kun!" Choji waved. Shikamaru just looked away, picking his teeth.
Asuma waved too.
"Feel free to give it to Sasuke if you really don't want it," Sabuko called over his shoulder. Then he was gone.
Ino looked down at the purple bush clover, blinking.
"Sabuko's really nice... Sensei, let's invite him to barbecue next time!" Choji suggested.
"Hm. I just might," Asuma said with a nod.
Meanwhile, Ino studied the flower.
'They only bloom in autumn... and it's July. It should be nearly impossible to find one...'
Her lips parted slightly.
"For the love of God," she exhaled, leaning on her elbow.
"It's really pretty. I'm totally giving it to Sasuke-kun..."
She smirked down at it.
"...Later."