Looping, oh the fun! (Naruto)

Ch17 Regret Message

In a cold, early morning, just when the first ray of sunshine cut through the grey, gloomy sky, a certain blond looper hit his head on top of a modified computer and fell asleep. His face was filled with tiredness, dark rings covering the downside of his eyes, almost making him look like a certain red-haired jinchuuriki. Drool slowly slid down the corner of his lips, down his chin, and hit a key on the keyboard. On the monitor was an over 30 pages document filled with heavy chunks of texts.

Naruto continued to sleep. And as the sun rose, sky brightened, shops opened, the other looper began to stir awake. Sasuke slammed a hand against his eyes, grimacing at the brightness. It took a while for him to get used to the light, and he opened his eyes. His gaze immediately set upon the source of the brightness.

"NARU-" Halfway through his yell, Sasuke stopped himself when he took in the blond's peaceful sleepy face. He shook his head and decided to let it go for once. After a few quick taps of keys, Sasuke saved the document and shut down the computer, all the while grumbling about "wasting electricity and money".

When Sasuke had done his morning routine, he still had time to spare before Kakashi would show up at the assigned meeting spot for Team 7's first mission, so he jogged out and bought back a copy of today's newspaper.

The front page headline made him curl his lips into a wide grin.

HIGA SEITO HAS GONE INSANE!?

Written by Rita Sukita

Yesterday evening, Konoha Publisher's Head Editor Higa Seito had made a decision that shocked the entire company. This was what he had said, "anyone who can find me the hidden messages in Nakamura Tenzoi's poems will receive one million ryou!" Yes, what you have just read is not a joke. Higa Seito is willing to spend one million ryou to know some hidden messages. Why would he do that? As a fellow reporter of Konoha Publisher, I haven't been able to find any reason for Higa Seito's outrageous move. I had questioned a few reporters, but the answers I received were the same.

"In all my years of working here, Seito-san had always appeared to be a level-headed person. This is my first time seeing him lose his cool," said reporter Kiki Tanaka.

"I have no ****ing idea why Seito would waste ONE MILLION RYOU on some stupid messages! What's so great about this Nakamura guy anyway!?" Said reporter Yuma Haso.

Although Nakamura Tenzoi, the newbie poet who wrote 'Daughter of Evil' and 'Servant of Evil', had utterly defeated the professional writer Sakamoto-sensei by breaking his record on multiple accounts, what does his hiding messages in his poems have to do with Higa Seito? What's the significance of these hidden messages? How does Higa Seito know about their existence anyway? Are they worth spending one million ryou on? Or has Higa Seito gone insane?

Follow up for more info to come.

"Good move, Seito-san." Setting down the newspaper, Sasuke entered the kitchen and began preparing breakfast for both him and Naruto. Knowing their first mission was going to be a huge pain in the ass, Sasuke made twice the usual amount of food he'd eat in the morning. After finishing his breakfast, he moved to wake Naruto up. Nudging the sleeping blond's shoulder, Sasuke said, "Hey, wake up, dobe."

Receiving no response, Sasuke nudged Naruto again. Still, no response. Sighing, Sasuke glanced at Naruto's weary expression, and took off his hand that's resting on the blond's shoulder.

I'll give him a free day, seeing how he's been working hard last night. With that thought in mind, Sasuke made a shadow clone and transformed it into a clone of Naruto, clothes and all (1).