Second Chances

Chapter One

Naruto stood atop the Hokage tower, enjoying the sun after being shut in his office all week. A single glance showed him that almost everyone had joined the celebration in Kikyou Pass for Konoha's rice festival, making him smile... the mass of people would make his mission all the more fun. Jumping down, he headed towards the fairgrounds, waving in answer to the calls from the shinobi he passed. The whole village, as well as a large contingent from the daimyo's court, wandered through the entertainment areas, the gaming tents, and the open air weapons, crafts, and food stands; all of them having fun and fattening Konoha's bottom line... something that cheered him up immensely.

Wishing he could get away with enjoying the celebration like any other ninja, he mentally flipped off Kurama and the nine-tail's sarcastic "suck it up" and mingled with the rest of the village, public face firmly on and smiling. Keeping in 'respectable Hokage' mode was a pain, but it made the few pranks he could get away with that much more enjoyable.

It had barely reached midday, and already the shinobi on duty were escorting drunks to the medical tents and the unsympathetic hands of Sakura-trained medics. Having that many drunks so early in the day wasn't really surprising, since a major part of the rice festival was this year's new sake. Unfortunately for Naruto, however, being the Hokage meant that no matter how many toasts were made, he had to drink along with them and still walk straight, no matter how much his brain sloshed. That gave the festival an added edge... he had to be slick enough to dispose of the sake without offending anyone, including the daimyo.

Catching a movement in the shadows of a stand, he narrowed his eyes until he recognized his target. Tora, the sixth cat known by that name, was slinking his sneaky way though the stands, nose heading downriver... presumably for a small fishing village far from Konoha, at least for a cat. This was the smartest 'Tora' the Dowager Lady of Hinokuni, the current Daimyo's mother, had brought with her to Konohagakure, and his hiding abilities gave the genin assigned to catch him fits every time he ran away. Thankfully he wasn't the fighter that the 'Tora' from Naruto's genin days had been. As soon as this one was caught, he simply went with the program; at most head-butting his captors for cuddling that was a lot less overwhelming than his owner's.

It was the work of moments to flank the cat with his shadow clones, and not much longer than to secure him. However, Naruto just couldn't see turning the poor thing over to his tormenter right away, not with the party spirit everyone was in. Instead he headed to the river and caught Tora a fish, letting the cat eat as he headed over to the spring-fed well to get a drink. The icy cold water would make his teeth ache, but would also clear his head... and, in his own opinion, taste better than the raw sake everyone was guzzling down.

A clutch of the villages' troublemakers that had gathered near the well moved off when they saw him heading their way, no doubt plotting mischief. As he got a drink, he mentally gave them a thumbs up. He couldn't wait to see what kind of festival prank they came up with.

Ten years had passed since he'd received the title of Hokage from Tsunade, and little, self-assigned missions like this one were his escape, keeping him sane and in slightly better shape than he would have been otherwise. His assistant, as well as the council, had quickly found out that closing him into an office with no way of escape was dangerous for everyone's sanity, since he invented ways to prank the most troublesome of his visitors to relieve his boredom. His ex-wife had claimed he'd spent too long under the kyuubi's influence, to put it nicely, though thankfully no one would take her word for anything by the time she started making that accusation.

He got a chill down his back thinking about that utterly humiliating debacle. He'd married a merchant heiress out of Tea Country by the request of the council, the ties forged by the marriage improving certain trade agreements and bringing new prosperity to Konoha's civilians. He hadn't been terribly enthusiastic about the marriage, but knew his duties to Konohagakure as a whole. Naruto did his best to keep Yunako happy, treating her with respect and kindness. In public, they were an envied couple, everyone believing the arrangement was one of those where love had eventually blossomed.

Their private life, on the other hand, hadn't been satisfying to either of them. She was a very young, very shallow, very spoiled woman that couldn't deal with in a life in 'such a backwater town.' She longed for the sake houses and gambler's dens she'd been used to jaunting off to whenever she wanted. She was furious to be on a budget, something she'd only ever had as a punishment from her grandfather, and did her best to make Naruto's home life miserable, in hopes he'd shove some money in her hand and send her to a resort town. When he just ignored everything, even the worst trouble she dealt, she sulked for a month or so... until something new came along to distract her.

If only that had been the extent of it, he sighed inwardly.

Shaking off those dark memories, his enhanced senses caught the scent of blood, a little more than was necessary for ninjutsu. He immediately looked over to the group of boys he'd noticed earlier, all of whom enthusiastically not-quite-whispered kichiyose no jutsu!

Mentally cursing, Naruto was relieved when nothing happened. Time/Space techniques had a habit of going terribly wrong, especially when the user had no summoning contract or target object. He knew just by looking at them that they were too inexperienced to have signed a summoning contract, which meant that he couldn't overlook it as he did so many of the village youngsters' pranks.

Sighing, he used his favorite kage bunshin jutsu to catch them all, and had the clones march them to Iruka-sensei. No one could set kids straight better than his old teacher.

~oOo~

Iruka looked over at the five boys, each restrained by a Hokage clone, and pinched the bridge of his nose to ward off the oncoming headache. "Hokage-sama, what did you catch these troublemakers doing this time?"

The five Narutos looked at the boys with interest. "Are they anywhere as troublesome as I was?" The question came in chorus, making the kids smile.

Iruka made himself laugh, though a chill went down his back at the thought. Gods forbid... I'm too old for Naruto-as-a-child-clones. "No, Hokage-sama. But I doubt you're holding them for no reason..."

"They tried all tried kichiyose no jutsu at the same time. I had a bad feeling about inexperienced students summoning at the same time, especially since none were strong enough to sign a contract, dattebayo-" he shrugged his shoulders.

"WHAT?" Iruka looked as though he was going to blow a fuse. "Of all the lame-brained ̶ where did you boys learn that technique, and who had the bright idea ̶"

Not caring to listen to the rant that was coming up, as they'd heard it all before, the Naruto-clones dispelled the jutsu and left the boys in the Jounin-sensei's capable hands. Naruto grinned as he got their memories. After Iruka got finished with them, they'd think twice before doing something so bone-headed again.

Looking over to where he'd left Tora, he saw a little girl carrying him off, the cat looking like he'd fallen in the cream. That got a chuckle out of him ̶ the people closest to him grinning at their Hokage's good humor and waving at him.

Oh well, Naruto thought, Shijimi-dowager-sama really should give up on the pets. I have a feeling, though, that her son has taken a page out of his father's book and redirects her attention from the grandkids with those poor cats...

Deciding to get another drink of water before he was toasted yet again and had to kill his stomach with more raw sake, he went to the well to lower the bucket, only to find the limp body of a richly dressed woman inside, her fingers twisted in the rope and holding her nose just out of water... the only thing keeping her from drowning. He hurriedly sent a bunshin down the rope to untangle her and push her up so he could pull her out, noting the blue lips that indicated the onset of hypothermia. Thanks to Sakura, he knew he had to get her out of the cold, soaked silks immediately; it could make a difference between her life or death, even with him racing to the hospital at his top speed,.

Signaling the ANBU nearest to him, he told him to hide the three of them with genjutsu so no one else would get an eyeful, and to reduce any future embarrassment for the noblewoman. With a wince for the damage he was doing to the exquisite formal kimono, embroidered prominently with an unfamiliar cherry blossom mon, he cut through the obi and numerous ties and cords holding the junihito in place. A moment's thought on the issue had him pulling her arms out of all the layers of fine silk, rather than trying to pull the silk off of her. He pulled off his top and slipped it on her, but not before a glimpse of furled pink nipples on perfectly formed breasts brought his nether regions to a stiff, standing ovation. Care for her health thankfully overrode the shock of his instant attraction to her... Naruto could imagine what Bear would think if he could see the situation he was in. He prayed it would die down quickly, as running with a frozen woman would be difficult enough without a raging hard-on.

"Bear, collect her clothing, maybe we can figure out who those mon belong to. Meet me at my office." Hoisting the petite woman up into the more comfortable fireman's carry, he shifted her a little higher on his shoulder before taking off and running at his Kurama-enhanced speed. This close to his face, he could smell the soft scent of her underneath the scent of spring water, the combination driving him crazy. He'd never reacted to a woman like this, not even during his long-time crush on Sakura. He gave up on the hope his dick would deflate as her soft breasts pressed against his chest, triggering the memory of her perfect pink nipples. Well, at least now I know I can have a normal reaction to a woman.

That cheered him up enough he decided he didn't mind the oncoming complaints from the council about a complete stranger being in Konoha. Being Hokage came with perks... the council was not one of them. But he hadn't changed that much from the boy he'd been, so it wouldn't be surprising to them that he'd found another stray...

Oh, damn... I didn't find her, those boys summoned her. It's Konoha's fault she's even here. Kurama, I damn well hope we haven't started a war with her clan.

The great fox flicked his tails, eyes narrowing. «"There's something nagging me about those mon. I'll tell you when I remember."»

Naruto didn't bother stopping at the gate, his speed and blond hair would be automatic identifiers for the guards and he didn't want them to see the woman he was carrying. Almost as quickly as his father, Minato Namikaze, the Yellow Flash, he ran through the village to the hospital. He ignored everyone, shoving past the medics and taking her into a room where he kicked everyone out except Sakura. Not bothering with niceties, he ran through the most important information. "She was unconscious in the spring well in Kikyou Pass. I stripped her and gave her my shirt before bringing her. Sakura, you have to save her. Treatment and woman classified, only you working on her. Don't let anyone else even see her. I'll help as needed."

Sakura nodded at his quick assessment, but was puzzled by the rest. "Good job, Naruto. Who is she; I don't think I've ever seen her before?"

"I don't know, and before you get mad, a bunch of kids not even out of the Academy tried a summoning technique. I sent them to Iruka, and went back to the well to get a drink and found out that they had managed to summon someone..."

Sakura narrowed her eyes. That was such an unlikely tale, she immediately began suspecting it was a trick, even as Naruto continued with "...She was wearing a junihito with an unfamiliar cherry blossom mon, so right now my main thought is avoiding a war."

"Naruto, that is a ridiculous tale. Who are you trying to prank now?"

Slapping his forehead, Naruto whined, "It's not, Sakura! Bear had an idea on how to identify her by the junihito, and the five boys who summoned her are being lectured by Iruka-sensei. You can ask either one."

Satisfied there was no prank in there against her, Sakura considered the evidence. "With an expensive junihito, and how pale she is... she could be a noblewoman, or some sort of high-ranking courtier. That's a horrible thought, considering how malnourished and run-down she is. No one held her in high esteem, but I bet they would be delighted to use her as an excuse for all out war."

Especially now that we're just now getting back to our old prosperity," Naruto pointed out. "That's why she needs to be kept secret, so we can honestly say we looked out for her reputation."

Sakura kept running her diagnostic, her glowing hands slowly tracking over the woman. "Understood. Hopefully she'll have some useful information for you when she wakes up. She's not sick, she's just in shock from the summons and getting drenched in that cold well. I'll put her in a tepid bath to ease the chill. But those boys... if she's a misfired summons, how are we going to get her back home?"

"I'm going to go talk to them now, hopefully they're still all with Iruka. Maybe I can learn something from them. Meanwhile, can you give her something to suppress her chakra? I have a feeling we might want to sneak her out of the village at some point, and her chakra is too unique to make that easy."

"That's easy enough. I'll have someone come get you when she's awake and stable. Do you want me to answer questions, or do I need to leave it all to you?" Sakura stuck her head out of the room and sent one of the medics to set up the bath for a hypothermia victim. Closing the door again, she looked to Naruto, obviously waiting for an answer.

"Answer any of the little questions, but leave the explanation of how she came here to me. I think I have an idea that might help diffuse any anger on her part."

And so, instead of returning to the festival, he went looking for Iruka and the idiots. Thankfully they were easy to find, since Naruto had once faced the same punishments that Iruka was dealing out now. Slipping into the Academy classroom, he put on his best cold mask; difficult for him to do at most times, since his natural expression was a smile, but this time it seemed to come easily. He had already been dressed in complete Hokage rig, so the occupants of the room got the full you-are-in-so-much-trouble treatment.

"Iruka, these young idiots have precipitated a potential diplomatic incident." Iruka went stiff, immediately guessing what had happened. Naruto continued, "It seems that you five did manage to summon someone," he started out, making everyone's eyes go wide. "We have a young woman, dressed in noble's clothing with unfamiliar mon, unconscious at our hospital at the moment. She almost drowned in the well." The boys gulped, fear on their faces. "So now I am forced to apologize on behalf of our village and do my best to mitigate the circumstances."

Amid cries of we didn't mean it, is she okay, and I didn't know you could summon humans, Naruto closed his eyes and sighed as Iruka yelled, "Quiet!"

"I know you all didn't mean to harm anyone." Naruto focused on the one that seemed to be the leader, trying to think back to how the Sandaime had lectured him. "However, good intentions aren't acceptable excuses for what you did. As shinobi, we tell you to look underneath the underneath, but you also have to think through the immediate and long-term consequences of your actions before doing something as dangerous as you did today. You all do realize that if you had succeeded, the summons would have the right to kill you, since they had no contract with you?"

Wishing he could frog-slap the two who's eyes were glazed over, he decided the others looked sufficiently scared and repentant... and suddenly had an idea to straighten them out. "First, you all are going to tell me the exact signs you made, your thoughts on what you intended to call, and how you said the words. Then, as soon as she is awake and cleared for visitors, you are all going to apologize to her properly. If she is forgiving, then your only punishment will be waiting one more year before you graduate, since you all seem to have missed Iruka-sensei's lectures on the proper use of ninjutsu and what forbidden means. Your parents on the other hand, may have more to say about that.

"If our visitor is not forgiving... well, you better hope that she is. The punishment will be that much greater, dattebayo."

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I'm back, no thanks to the Trojan that took me down, and with a brand new crossover. Thanks to Recuva, an excellent free data recovery software, I was able to find older versions of the files the worm ate on a drive I deleted long ago. Then it was mostly rewriting and trying to remember where I was going with stories.

For fans of my story Every Little Thing, Thor 2 was completely uninspiring, but the new Captain America was perfect. So a sequel is now underway! Look for it next year.