Chapter 1
Mission Debriefing
The fifth hokage stared out over the village of Konoha, sighing as she tipped back her first glass of sake for the day. The sun was just barely peeking over the horizon of the leaf village, spreading out its morning tendrils. Shopkeepers were just beginning to open up for the day. And already Tsunade could make out the orange blur of her annoying adopted grandson.
'Why does Naruto always have to be up so early' she mused to herself, turning away from the window and preparing a set of chopsticks. Within moments she heard the now-familiar sound of the Leaf's "Number One Hyperactive Knuckleheaded Ninja" attempts at sneaking in to her office. Throwing the chopsticks at a certain ceiling tile, the Godaime was satisfied to hear a resounding crash followed by muffled curses a moment later.
"Good Morning, Grandma!!" came the cry of the nineteen-year old Naruto. 'He's wearing his ANBU outfit' Tsunade noted, a slight smirk stealing across her lips. Naruto was dressed in a black outfit with umber orange streaks on the side and his twin blades across his back. The blades were a remnant of Zabuza's sword, shattered by Naruto during a fight with the group Snake. Two edges had been reformed from the steel and forged anew by the snow country, a gift for the riddance of an akatsuki member that had holed up there. (For more complete information on this, please see my other stories when I post them "A Tale of Two Blades" and "A Frozen Heart") Naruto really did not look any different physically then he had when he first returned with Jaraiya several years ago. His personality also had not been overly affected. More than anything, it was his eyes that betrayed his change. They usually sparkled with the same youthful exuberance, but every now and again, they would have seemed to befit an old man more than Naruto.
"HELLLLOOOO!! Grandma, you in there? You didn't go and die on me, did you!?" Naruto's shouts broke Tsunade out of her mental side trip. "Jeez, you tell me to report to the tower early and then you're not even awake enough to give me my mission? How lame is that? You're not getting senile in your old age, are you?" An annoyed expression crossed his face and his hands reached back behind his head, lacing together in his familiar stance.
"SHOW SOME RESPECT, YOU BLOCKHEAD!!" Tsunade yelled, decking Naruto. 'Sometimes, that kid just asks for it' she thought to herself. Without waiting for the grumbling to subside, Tsunade reached into her desk and pulled out the file she had already prepared. "You are going to be undergoing training concerning avoiding tracking and capture, as well as interrogation. For this purpose, you will trying to evade Kiba, Ino, Shino, and Hinata while traveling through our newly gained territory, the land of rice (again, if you want fuller information, see the story "A Tale of Two Blades" when it is posted). You are to avoid there capture, and if caught, avoid revealing the information contained within this folder. If you can last a month or more, while performing a counter-intelligence operation on them, I will designate you the area coordinator for all ninja activities in the land of rice"
The look on Naruto's face was priceless. He had not been expecting a mission anywhere near this size. It was a great chance for him to show his stuff to the village big wigs who worried about his skills as a ninja and as the eventual hokage. If he managed to outwit and outlast prominent members from almost every single clan in the village, he was assured the power aspect of being hokage. And if he managed to coordinate the villages first actual area outpost, that would go a long way to cementing his diplomacy skills. All in all, Naruto was obviously excited by this prospect; a grin that would put the Cheshire cat to shame was plastered all across his entire face.
