A/N: Um... This is my first fanfic on this site, and I got the idea for this after listening to one song from midnight to two AM. It made me think of fairies and magic and junk, and my brain somehow found a way to link that to Naruto. Somehow. Anyways, here's the end result.
Summary:The leaders of the Elemental Nations never considered exploring beyond their lands, seeing as they were busy enough with their own villages. Well, that is, until a variable comes in that wasn't there before. When Allyce, a foreign performer from the Eastern Continent requests a long term escort mission to safely return her to her home from Konohagakure, Hiruzen sees an opportunity to not only keep Naruto safe, but to learn more about the Eastern Continent. After all, knowledge is power, especially to a man with the moniker 'the professor,' is it not?
Allyce walked through the door to stand near the Hokage, seafoam orbs curiously looking at the multiple teams assembled before her, anklets chiming as she walked barefoot. She wasn't completely sure why there were four teams there, especially since she only needed one to escort her. Not to mention, she could only afford one team. Oh well, she never was one to look a gift horse in the mouth. The more the merrier, right?
"Teams Seven, Eight, Ten, and Gai, meet Allyce, the client," the Hokage said, gesturing to her, slightly stumbling over the foreign name. She smiled and curtsied slightly to the people standing before her, dark auburn hair falling over her shoulder as she did so.
"It's nice to meet you, I look forward to being with you for the next few months with you," Allyce said, an accent tinting her voice. The separate teams looked at her curiously, until a blond haired boy spoke up.
"Your words sound sort of funny," he said, and Allyce found her face flush a little from embarrassment. It seems that even though she had been able to fluently speak the language here for many months, her accent would never disappear. Almost immediately after the blond haired boy said those words, a girl with… pink hair? Punched the boy's head, causing him to fall to the ground and Allyce to gasp.
"Don't be rude, idiot!" The girl exclaimed as Allyce rushed to the boy and kneeled down to make sure he was okay. The boy was holding a hand to his head, where a bump was forming.
"What did I do, Sakura?" he whined, not noticing Allyce's fussing over him until she spoke.
"Are you okay?" Allyce asked, hands on his arms, forcing him to stare at the young woman. He blushed at her closeness, unused to having someone concerned for him, before smiling, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.
"Yeah, I'm fine!" he shouted, shooting up so fast he almost lost his balance. Allyce frowned worryingly, before nodding and getting up to her feet.
"Ah, well, I leave tomorrow, so I guess that means you have until then to get ready," she began, her gaze spanning all of the people in the room, stopping momentarily on some of the more… odd looking people there. "I'll see you all tomorrow morning at the front gates then, alright?"
"We'll be there, my lovely lotus blossom, or else we shall run 500 laps around the village, on our hands!" A man in a green jumpsuit proclaimed, giving a blinding smile and a thumbs up, causing Allyce to wave her hands in a placating manner.
"That won't be necessary. I guess I'll see you all tomorrow." With that said, Allyce left the room, hair swaying behind her while her anklets rang. Only the sensei's and the Hokage noticed that while she walked, her feet didn't touch the ground.
Once Allyce left the room, Kakashi, along with everyone else in the room turned to the Hokage.
"Lord Hokage, why are all of us needed to escort one person?" Asuma said, voicing what everyone else was thinking. Not to mention if the mission were to pose any kind of trouble aside from bandits, it would've made more sense to send a squad of chunin, not four teams of genin, especially if three of four said teams are rookie teams. The Hokage put down his pipe, instantly gathering Kakashi's attention from his thoughts.
"Allyce… I'm sure you all noticed her accent, correct?" he said, getting nods.
"I've never heard something quite like it," Kurenai said, brows furrowed in thought.
"What are you getting at, Old Man?" Naruto said bluntly, issuing a collective sigh from Team Seven. The Hokage smiled at Naruto slightly.
"Your official mission is to escort Allyce to her home safely. The reason this mission requires all of you, though, is that she is from the Eastern Continent," he said, causing all of the sensei's to go wide eyed, along with Shikamaru and Sakura.
"But no one from the Eastern Continent has been seen since before the Warring States Era!" Sakura blurted out, causing everyone to look at her.
"U-um, Sakura, what is the E-Eastern Continent?" Hinata asked, surprising everyone by speaking up, but opposed to Sakura answering, it was Kakashi.
"The Eastern Continent is the land to the East of the Elemental Nations. They broke off contact with us during the Warring States Era, and we haven't done anything with or to each other since then. We've been busy with our problems, and they didn't want to get involved. The fact that we now have the ability to meet someone from the Eastern Continent, not to mention get first hand experience being there… it's essentially an information goldmine," Kakashi said, his chin in his hand, looking down in thought.
"That's where the second part of the mission comes in," the Hokage began in a serious tone. "You are to gather as much information about the eastern continent as you can, that's why I need all twelve of you to go. You will be gone for multiple months, in unknown territory, and you all need to watch out for each other. Everyone in this room will be your teammate, and they will entrust their lives to you. Protect them, so even when you are far from home, the Will of Fire continues to burn brightly." He paused, looking at each of the genin before him, entrusted with a mission that could very well determine the fate of their village in the future. "I believe in all of you, and expect the best from Konoha's best. Is that clear?"
With his words, backs straightened, and determination filled all of the genin's eyes, prepared to complete their task to their best ability. "Yes, Lord Hokage!" They chorused together, and the Hokage smiled at them as if they were his grandchildren.
"Prepare for a long journey, and make sure take everything you'll need. You'll never know what's out there after all."