Konoha Notes.

Chapter 499 Stairwell and Top

Chapter 499 Stairwell and Top

Kakashi stood up from his seat.

When faced with the request to approve additional funding without hesitation, Director Hatake replied, "This is not something that can be approved simply by my or my colleagues' agreement."

He raised his hand, his fingertips pointing towards those figures sitting in the middle of the seats, who belonged neither to the Five Great Nations nor the Five Great Ninja Villages.

"We still need their approval."

The representative on the podium remained silent for a moment, then bowed slightly. There was no further entanglement, no additional conditions.

"Then, let's adjourn for now. We'll decide again in an hour."

Kakashi was the first to leave.

Representatives from the five great nations and the five great ninja villages rose one after another and left the main conference room. Some went upstairs, while others went downstairs.

Director Hatake walked towards the stairs leading upstairs. Accompanying him were the speaker from before and the daimyo's envoys.

Uchiha Itachi walked downstairs from another direction.

Green Aoi appeared in his field of vision with Naruto.

Itachi approached Midori Aoi: "Where's the apprentice?"

Green Sunflower straightened her posture and answered quickly, "I'm already in my position in each department."

"It's been a week," Itachi said. "Take the trainees to the chief's office for their progress report."

Green Aoi immediately agreed. He turned around, told Naruto to "wait a moment," and then quickly walked towards the stairwell.

"Brother Itachi." Naruto was as familiar as ever.

"Naruto, why are you here?"

"I'm here to promote the badge name."

Itachi said, "The secret service will be quite busy today. I'll have Sasuke take you with me later."

The events of noon haven't completely passed. Sasuke didn't do anything to him in the classroom this afternoon, but now, having Sasuke lead him around doesn't feel quite right.

"No need, Itachi-nii. I can manage on my own."

Naruto made his voice sound more confident.

"I have obtained everyone's consent at the Ninja Academy."

The blond boy's smile was the same as usual, but his gaze unconsciously drifted to the side for a moment. It was only for a fleeting instant before he quickly looked away.

That barely concealed fluctuation is indistinguishable from a face written all over someone who is good at discerning subtle expressions.

Itachi didn't expose it.

"My younger brother has a somewhat awkward personality."

Naruto's hands started to wander. First he scratched his hair, then rubbed his cheeks, and finally landed on the back of his head.

"Ah, haha—right? Sasuke really is—"

"Although he never said it out loud," Itachi said, "you are someone he cares about."

Naruto's hand remained suspended in mid-air for a long while before finally returning to his side.

"So, I hope you can get along well."

Naruto nodded vigorously.

Itachi nodded slightly: "Now, can we wait for him downstairs for a bit?"

Naruto immediately went downstairs with light steps.

He couldn't hide his smugness as he saw Green Sunflower in the hallway.

Karin and Sakura followed behind Green Aoi, and he wore an apologetic expression.

"I might need a little more time, Naruto."

Naruto waved his hand with a grin.

"It's alright, Ms. Green can go back to her work."

He ran downstairs without looking back and stood in the middle of the lobby of the administrative building. He put his hands behind his head and looked happily toward the entrance.

His mouth was practically stretched to his ears.

The hall was bustling with people. Ninjas in various colored vests hurried by, while clerks carried documents as they moved through the crowd. Occasionally, someone would glance at the blond boy standing in the center of the hall.

Naruto didn't care at all.

He waited there. His heels unconsciously twitched, and his whole body bounced upwards.

The clock on the wall has gone more than halfway around.

Sasuke finally appeared at the entrance of the hall.

Upon seeing the blond figure in the hall, the second son of the Uchiha clan immediately darkened his expression.

"What are you doing here, you idiot?"

Naruto's expression began to change.

Too many thoughts flooded into my mind at once, each vying for control of that face. I had to retort as bluntly as usual, yet also soften my stance slightly because of what happened at noon, and I was also thinking about Itachi's words from earlier.

In the end, all the thoughts mixed together, leaving only a smile that looked utterly irritating.

"I won't hold it against you."

Then he said slowly, "Itachi-nii told me to wait for you here."

"—Itachi?"

Sasuke was momentarily confused. Why should this idiot wait for him? No, more importantly, what was with that strange sense of superiority on the idiot's face?

The midday blunder had barely subsided; where did this person get the audacity to act this way in front of me?

But now it's in the Joint Affairs Bureau.

He remembered those warnings and had no intention of pushing the clan and the bureau chief's office into the spotlight again.

"I don't need you to lead the way."

He walked towards the stairs on his own.

Naruto followed, not saying a word, just walking beside him, keeping a step's distance. His shoulders swayed slightly as he walked, looking like he was in an excessively good mood.

After climbing the first set of stairs.

Then comes the second layer.

Sasuke finally couldn't take it anymore. He stopped and turned to look at the blond boy beside him.

"What exactly do you want?"

"Promote badge name".

"This isn't a school," Sasuke said in a low voice. "The village hasn't even agreed to this yet, what right do you have to come here and make decisions?"

"Itachi-nii didn't object either."

Sasuke pursed his lips and simply went upstairs. After climbing a floor or two, he couldn't help but ask, "Since Itachi agreed, then go ahead. What are you doing following me around?"

Naruto then revealed the trump card he had been hiding for so long.

"Brother Itachi wants you to come with me."

Sasuke felt a throbbing in his temple.

Want to hit someone.

I held back.

"I will confirm this with Itachi."

"That's really awkward, Sasuke," Naruto said, shaking his head and speaking with a serious expression. "He doesn't know how to call me 'brother' at all."

Sasuke finally couldn't hold back and grabbed Naruto by the collar.

"What are you talking about?"

Naruto just laughed. Even with his collar being grabbed, the smugness on his face didn't diminish at all.

Footsteps came from around the corner.

Sasuke released his grip.

The two stepped apart. Several clerks carrying a stack of documents passed by them, their conversation briefly echoing in the stairwell before fading away with their footsteps.

Sasuke stopped looking at Naruto and continued walking upwards.

Naruto followed behind, still with that same cheeky look on his face.

After passing the fifth-floor stairwell, Green Aoi and the trainees came down from upstairs. Sakura walked at the front of the group, holding a notebook in her hand.

Karin followed behind. The trainees' expressions varied as they saw Sasuke and Naruto walking one after the other.

Green Sunflower, however, remained calm and composed.

"Was Naruto assigned to help Sasuke?"

Sasuke did not respond. He walked past them expressionlessly, his pace not slowing down at all.

Naruto turned around and smiled at Green Aoi.

"Yes, Ms. Green, I'll go up first."

He quickened his pace and caught up with Sasuke again.

The seventh-floor corridor was much quieter than the downstairs. Officials from the Daimyo's liaison office were chatting in small groups in the corridor. When they saw the two boys coming out of the stairwell, their eyes all fell on them. Mainly on Sasuke.

They all maintained a friendly facade.

Sasuke hated those stares. All the complaints, the Uchiha clan, the chief's office—it all came from that floor.

But now he knows that showing his disgust on his face won't solve the problem; it will only give those people new ammunition against him.

He suppressed his discomfort and gave a response that was equally appropriate.

Naruto stood beside him, beaming. That smile was exactly the same as the one he'd shown in the hall and the stairwell, from the corner of his eyes to the corner of his mouth. The blond-haired boy waved to the officials in their fine clothes, showing not a trace of unease.

The air on the top floor was much quieter.

Kakashi just came out of the office.

He watched the two approach and said, "There's nothing special to do today. Sasuke-kun, just sit in the office and draw something to pass the time."

Sasuke's eyelids twitched uncontrollably.

What do these people think of him today?

"Kakashi!"

"Sorry, sorry." Kakashi's voice was still the same old tone, "I shouldn't have said that in front of your classmates."

Naruto turned his face away, covered his mouth with his hand, and let out a muffled "pfft." He tried very hard to cover his mouth, but the smile still leaked out from between his fingers.

"You draw things, is that all you're good for, Sasuke—"

There were no outsiders in the rooftop corridor. The gazes of those on the seventh floor, the representatives on the sixth floor, and the clerks coming and going from various departments were all below.

There was only a blond idiot laughing so hard he couldn't catch his breath, and a silver-haired, unscrupulous teacher primarily responsible for it.

Sasuke couldn't bear it any longer.

"Do you want to die, Naruto?"

Naruto was still chuckling, clutching his stomach, his shoulders shaking.

"It's better not to say things like that in front of the teacher, Sasuke," Kakashi kindly reminded him.

"The same to you!"

Director Hatake, who was being criticized along with his disciple, shrugged: "Yes, yes—well, that's how it is. Anyway, you can play around in the office, but don't go too far."

Sasuke clenched his back teeth.

We can't let these adults be so smug anymore.

Absolutely not.

Getting angry will only make them happier.

Where is Itachi?

'

"Do important work on the sixth floor, Sasuke-kun."

Hearing the obviously teasing tone, Sasuke walked past Kakashi with a straight face and pushed open the door to the office.

The office window was half-open, and the evening breeze made the curtains flutter slightly. Looking at the paper and pen on the desk, Sasuke had no desire to pick them up.

Naruto followed him in and looked around for a while.

"If Itachi isn't here, let's set off quickly, Sasuke."

Sasuke sat down in the chair against the wall, his back against the wall, and finally felt the suffocating feeling that had accumulated today dissipate a little.

"Itachi is busy on the sixth floor, which means there's a big meeting today. The people who can make decisions aren't here, so there's no point in you going to promote it."

His tone returned to its usual coldness.

"Go downstairs and wait for Sakura and the others, then go back."

Naruto shook his head.

"I'll wait."

Sasuke was extremely annoyed. Thinking of Kakashi's words telling him to stay in the office, he finally stood up, closed the half-open window, and walked towards the door.

"Hey, Sasuke."

"The meetings on the sixth floor are all held by various representatives and key figures. If you go to the third or fourth floor, there aren't many people who can participate in the meetings there."

Naruto immediately responded cheerfully and followed Sasuke out of the office.

After the footsteps of the two men faded into the distance, silence returned to the highest levels of the Joint Affairs Bureau.

The light in the office gradually dimmed. The slanting evening light slowly retreated from the window, the words on the documents spread out on the desk gradually blurred, and a layer of light gray covered the white paper on the low table.

The shadow of the filing cabinet stretched from the corner to the ceiling, plunging the entire room into darkness.

As the door was pushed open, the corridor lights rushed in first.

Shuji walked into the office and turned on the light. He placed a lunchbox on the coffee table in his other hand and sat down on the sofa.

Kakashi and Itachi appeared at the doorway.

"How rare. Lord Shuji has actually come to offer his condolences in person." Kakashi walked in, his gaze sweeping over the food box. "Is he waiting for the results of the meeting I'll bring back after my fierce resistance?"

Itachi sat down opposite Shuji and reached out to open the food box. The three layers of food box opened one by one, and steam rose from the food under the light. He set out the chopsticks before speaking.

"The keyword map created by Karin played a significant role, senior."

"The intentions of the offices of each ninja village have been investigated in advance, including Akatsuki, nobles, missions, the future, war, organizational structure, income, and funding."

"The complaint against the patrol team has been confirmed as part of a cover-up to contact the ninja village."

Kakashi sat down as well and picked up another pair of chopsticks.

"That's it. Should we just let Karin stay in the Joint Affairs Bureau? That way we won't have to worry about her so much before meetings in the future."

77

Shuji said, "Medical ninjutsu and sealing techniques are the future."

Kakashi wasn't surprised: "In short, despite my strong opposition, the decision to accept ninjas from Takigakure, Kusagakure, and Yugakure, who joined the ninja villages, into the Joint Affairs Bureau's direct command was unfortunately approved."

"As a result, the personnel who joined the Joint Secretariat were nominally under the unified command of the Secretariat and were not subordinate to any of the individual offices."

"As for whether they will all be won over in the end, or what will happen, that's completely unclear."

Shuji picked up his teacup and took a sip, seemingly unsurprised by the result.

"There's no way to avoid this. If we let them pull it along, eventually those villages that don't have enough appeal will naturally disappear."

"It saves a lot of trouble."

"The rest can be handled in a unified manner, which is also convenient."

Kakashi said, "So, what are your plans regarding the matter in the Land of Tea? They brought it up by name at the meeting just now, so it was intentional."

Shuji asked, "Are you going?"

Director Hatake showed a hint of surprise upon hearing this.

"Really?"

"Fake."

Kakashi picked up his chopsticks and continued eating, as if nothing had happened.

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