The Savior

Author Note: first fanfic…. EVER. I think I'm going to make this fic into 2 separate fics cause there are some concepts of bleach I'm using and with that in mind I would like this fic to eventually end there cause sorry I'm disappointed in naruto lately. Anyways don't own Naruto or Bleach.


Kakashi was sprinting back to Kohona with his squad in tow carrying a stretcher and it's occupant in hopes of making it to the hospital in time. His squad's routine Anbu patrol was anything but routine. He was still in shock at what had occurred 5 hours before he found the gates of Konoha coming into view.

xxxxxxxxxx Flashback xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After a fairly uneventful morning of patrolling Kakashi, codenamed dog, decided his squad needed a quick break along their designated patrol along the Iwa border was in order. He wanted to maintain a readiness just incase combat was unavoidable.

Shortly into their rest they began to hear a roar that was not like any animal it sounded more like a roaring fire.

Dog looked up and saw a ball of fire flying high through the sky over head. The ball was headed for the distant border towards Iwa. A distant explosion was eventually heard and the impact craters debris that was flung into the air was visible for miles.

Dog weighed his options he could investigate the impact site to ensure no casualties happened since the impact was fairly close to an old trade route that was still in use or he could ignore and leave it to Iwa-nins if they felt curious. What Dog did not expect was the massive spikes in chakra that came in the direction of the site. They were definite indications of a battle being fought and since it was Land of Fire's and Land of Rock's border it could be another patrol that got caught in a conflict over something at the site. Dog decided would be best to investigate to ensure no leaf nins were in trouble.

Dog ordered his squad to move out and to ready for combat if necessary. He had only a squad of 4 including himself. Dog was already prepping scenarios in his head depending on the situation they found. They had a medic on the squad so if victory in combat was not possible they could quickly create an opening for their allies to attempt a tactical retreat and then set up an ambush if pursued. If the spikes in chakra were any indication the battle was fierce and a fairly sizable force. With the probability of being able to effectively fight and repel the attackers seeming less likely the closer they came and the multiple chakra signature Dog decided to prepare for the worse. He quickly ordered Bear to set up traps along with Neko since he didn't need his medic injured in the skirmish if there were injured. He continued on with Tenzou.

As they approached they could tell the fight was fierce jutsus were being thrown around all over the place and explosive tags seemed firing off in quick successions. Kakashi and Tenzou approached cautiously and suppressed their chakra to the bear minimum. They found the battlefield was the crater and what was once an area that would have been full of trees. In the center of the uprooted trees and clearing was a man fighting on what looked to be a patrol of Iwa nins numbering what looked to be about nine. If Kakashi had to guess on displays of posture, stances and chakra signatures three of them would have been jounin with 2 elite chunin and the rest your average run-of-the-mill chunin. Now that's not all that surprising since Iwa was beginning to get back on it's feet from the Third War as well as not wanting to lose their ninja that showed promise. Adopting the saying of "Safety in large numbers."

What surprised was the individual this squad was engaged with. He was obviously injured and must have been in the immediate area of the crash site. The singed clothing if one could call it that. Kakashi actually didn't recognize the style of clothing the man had on it was obviously for combat and designed to maximize mobility but in his honest opinion it looked like oversized one piece pajamas as odd as that was. Except this had cargo pockets and pouches all over it which either seals or designation patches on him which he didn't recognize any of them either (if you have trouble picturing what I'm talking about just think of a flight suit slightly modified). With the man's unfamiliar dress aside his health was not in much better shape than his odd clothing. The clothing could be classified as rags in the state they were in. Even without his sharingan active Kakashi could see the man was favoring his right leg but trying to not make it blatantly obvious. He looked to have limited mobility in his left arm and hand as well. Judging my the blood dripping from the limb it was a safe guess several tendons had been severed as well as probably muscle damage. The man was also looked to be paling from blood loss.

After this analysis of the situation Kakashi was once again stuck with a choice it was possible they would be able to put a good dent in the Iwa squad with just him and Tenzou and attempt to save the man with the hope that the ambush that had been set up a small distant back would discourage the Iwa nins from pursuing or he and Tenzou could hold position and watch a man, they had no obligation to help in the first place, try to fight his way out of them. Kakashi decided to hold position and see the outcome.

The man was unflinching with the odds of survival against him. Kakashi could see the calm calculated mind behind those eyes but there was a set determination of surviving that Kakashi could only think of seeing in the fourth's eyes in some of those hopeless looking battles back during the Great Third Shinobi War. It happened in the span of an instant one of the jounins who seemed to have a rock armor jutsu in place charged, the iwa-nin was obvious taijutsu specialist. He led with a punch which the man quickly side stepped to the right and in one fluid motion spun with minimal effort past the man and held a bloodied open palm out to a duo of chunin running through hand seals and building a considerable amount of chakra for an attack. They never finished as a blast of air shot them into the surrounding foliage and through a few trees. The man while launching that attack in the general direction of the chunins had flipped forward and launched a kick at the jounin who was still near the back of the man however seeing the kick coming he had blocked with his forearm however the force that slammed into his arm was not completely expected as he was lifted off the ground. The stranger feeling his momentum stopped then used his heel while using chakra to grip as a handle to find leverage swung his body around and unleashed a palm strike at the Iwa jounin. The open palm strike separated them however what was not expected to be seen was the ball of fire that swirled to existence and shot towards the still airborne jounin. The Iwa nin quickly landed and jumped back as the ball exploded. The explosion soon engulfed an area five feet from the impact of the jutsu. The jounin was thrown back while being a little crispier than he was previously and in pain. Several of the Iwa nins made their presence known to the stranger with a quick shout of "earth style boulder drilling bullet" launching earthen bullets the size ranging from to a three feet diameter boulders. The man simply made a quick motion of his hand and a large eight foot high and 5 foot wide that cylinder of earth was ripped from the ground and used as a shield for the stranger. As soon as he hit the ground he closed the gap on the group of chunin who were preparing for another barrage. He was upon the unfortunate Iwa chunin before they could finish and in short precise shots to pressure points sent three to the ground with sweet dreams scheduled for quite some time. The last chunin in the group he removed him of one of his hands with the use of a blade of chakra that seemed to sprout from the middle of his back hand and was 3 inches wide and tapered to a point that was 8 inches and with a swift kick to the chest he sent the shocked chunin into a tree that welcomed to blissful unconsciousness. While the stranger's attention was on the chunin the other two jounin from Iwa had closed the gap one wielding a nodachi and sent a quick slice for the man kidneys intent on scoring a deadly hit to end this encounter. The stranger made a move to duck under the slice however he noticed the other jounin was going for a sweep of his legs. The stranger leapt up trying to get about the sword while his hand lashed out to catch the arm wielding it. The strangers bloodloss and slowing reflexes were catching up to him as the blade sliced his thigh but reduced the damage by rolling with it and followed through using his arm as leverage to send a foot into the face of the sword wielding nin. He was blocked and caught off guard by the impact of a blow that hit him in the middle of his chest from the follow through of the other jounin whom had been ignored as the lesser threat. The blow sent the stranger flying through the air into a nearby tree clearly knocking the wind out of him but they nins were not finished yet because soon a knee impacted with his head causing it to snap back violently back into the bark of the tree. The finishing blow was the sword that was stabbed through his left lung that penned the poor man to the tree. With a groan the man slipped into unconsciousness.

One of the jounin walked away quickly to assess his teammates health with his hands glowing a faint green signifying the use of medical ninjustu. From the fragments that were reported to the other two standing nins was that the chunins had been knocked out and would live. The medic nin had the taijustu specialist jounin walk off and find the other two chunin. Kakashi found only jounin seeming to be looking for any nearby threats was to be the jounin guarding the unconscious man. The medic was occupied with locating his comrades lost hand in hopes that it could be reattached. But it had gone flying after being detached from the chunin's limb. The obvious frustration of locating said appendage was made apparent with the medic's occasional shout of annoyance of "The hand just fucking disappeared." or "Did the hand just decide to take a stroll through the forest!?"

If Kakashi was going to aid the man now was the time. Kakashi quickly made a shadow clone and henged him into the mans form with the sword handle sticking out of his chest and all. Hopefully after a quick replacement jutsu the clone could keep the rouse going for a while so they could make a clean escape. Tenzou was already placed a few explosive tags near their position just incase they need some confusion to make their get away. Without even so much as a motion the mans unconscious form was caught by Kakashi. Suppressing the "mmph" he so wanted communicate how heavy this man was for his average size. He asked Tenzou to grab the legs while he took the torso and they quickly departed without the Iwa squad being any the wiser. They quickly arrived to their fall back point where Bear and Cat were waiting. They laid the unconscious man down on the ground gently.

"Cat I need a quick assessment of his health." Called Dog

Cat came over and preformed the seals for a diagnoses jutsu and quickly scanned his body noticing that the Captain had a bit of urgency in his voice. After a few minutes of scanning his body Cat turned around "How the hell he's even still alive is beside me. I can maybe give him a few hours with some patch up and blood pills but his internal injuries our too extensive. He has a concussion, a punctured lung with four broken ribs; his left arm has muscle, tendon, and minor nerve damage. His back has 3 fractured vertebrae and to top it off the already massive blood lose is an issue and he's still bleeding from his arm, leg and internal injuries. They will probably make him bleed to death before arriving to Konoha and unfortunately Konoha is the only village close with any actual hospital facilities that could even stabilize him enough for travel."

Dog gave a quick nod "Do what you can to stabilize him we will heading back to Konoha non-stop once you are finished."

xxxxxxxx End Flashback xxxxxxx

Still trying to comprehend how this man had been able to combat those nin in such a sad shape granted some of his injuries were given to him during the fight. Still he took on an entire squad of six chunin and three jounin while knocking on death's doorstep and was able to incapacitate the chunin while holding the jounin at bay. The Anbu squad had Konoha in site and their package still unconscious laid out on a make shift stretcher. They had been able to keep him alive just barely and their first stop was the hospital. After a quick stop at the guard post Dog asked Tenzou to report their arrival while the rest made their way to the hospital in hopes of keeping the man alive as well as to find out the mystery surrounding him and the unusual events that had happened that day.

Tenzou had just puffed into the Hokage's office to find one of the older genin teams to be present apparently giving a report of a recently successful mission.

The Hokage's attention was instantly on the new arrival and looked mildly surprised to see Tenzou back so soon from his Anbu patrol since his team had only been sent out in the last couple days to do the routine patrol.

"Forgive me for the interruption Hokage-sama, but Dog felt that you would like a report of why we have returned so soon," said Tenzou as he felt Sandaime's gaze land on him as he entered.

After a quick motion for him to continue he reported the events that Kakashi had just been musing over and also reported that the team was at the hospital to see the man was admitted and guarded until relieved.

The genin's had their jaws on the floor from the report of the man's abilities and their jounin sensei wasn't fairing to well from his astonishment either. The Sandaime in the mean time of the course of the report being given had pulled out his pipe and had lit it. He sat there for a while pondering while the genin team he had forgotten about were picking their jaws off the floor. The situation and events were extremely unusual and decided to take a note of caution towards the situation he informed Tenzou that the team would be relieved shortly and they were to get a good nights rest before the became the mans active guard since Kakashi and he had witnessed the man's abilities. Sandaime hoped the man would gain consciousness in a peaceful manner but considering how he had left the conscious world and no recollection of his rescue it would probably be good to have at least a guard on him.

Sandaime quickly roused from his musing on the situation and dismissed both Tenzou and the genin team. As the genin team was leaving his office Sarutobi gave them a quick "Good luck at the exams."


Kakashi was sitting patiently, with anbu mask firmly in place, for the man, which he had rescued two months prior, to regain consciousness. It wasn't so much his curiosity that fueled his want for the man to gain consciousness anymore it was more of the boredom of guard duty that was getting to him and his team. For crying out loud he couldn't read his precious Icha Icha Paradise while on duty. All he got to do was stare at the unconscious man and listen to the beeping rhythm of the heart monitor.

Slowly the rhythm on the monitor picked up and a groan escaped the man's lips. Dog called for Bear to go get the Hokage since he had requested to be notified when the man was regaining consciousness. A nurse and doctor shortly entered the room as well. The man shot up once he realized he was not in a familiar place. He to a quick glance around and moved to pull out the IV that had been placed in his left arm but the nurse moved to stop him. In an instant the patient had his hand around her throat in a strong grip while she clutched at this hand and wrist. Kakashi wasted no time and had a kunai to the man's throat ready to slice it should harm come to the nurse. Despite the obvious threat to his life the man simply looked calmly into the nurses eyes that should fear for her life. He gave her a brief disarming smile and let go while holding his hands up and a submissive manner. Kakashi watched the exchange before the man released the nurse and surrendered. He let a sigh of relief as removed his kunai from the patient's throat as well. The nurse took a few steps back rubbing her soar neck. The doctor quickly walked over and preformed a jutsu to minimize the bruising. The patient seemed to study the nurse and doctor's interaction with a calculated look. Just then the Hokage walked in asking what happened as he noticed the doctor tending to the nurse medically and calming her down as well. Kakashi relayed the recent events as he and the Hokage eyed the man to make sure he didn't do much.

After a quick nod Sarutobi decided to address the patient to see how he was handling all this. He began with a quick "How are the feeling?"

The man had still been watching the doctor and nurse and ignored the Hokage. The Hokage cleared his throat in attempt to get the patient's attention and it worked. The man's gaze shifted from the doctor tending to his nurse to the Hokage. The Hokage gave a smile to the man and asked again "How are you feeling?"

The man had a look of confusion pass through his eyes and then took a contemplative look. His brow furrowed further as his hand came to rub his chin repeating the phrase Sarutobi had just addressed him with slowly.

After a few minutes of this it dawned on the Hokage the man didn't know what he was saying. He had a language barrier to overcome before he could get the answers he wanted from the man.

Tapping the man on the shoulder to get his attention this time the man made no move of aggression just merely turned his eyes to meet Sarutobi's. The Hokage gestured towards himself this time saying "Sarutobi." The doctor after getting the nurse to calm down and ready to do their check up on the patient had dropped their jaws and Kakashi seemed at bit disbelieving and voiced it. Kakashi had begun with "Hokage-sama wha-" his sentence quickly died when Sarutobi gestured in his direction giving his real name and seeing where the Hokage was going with this. The Hokage proceeded to the other two in room and identified the nurse and doctor by name. The stranger repeated each as well as the word "Hokage-sama" that he had heard Kakashi use. The Hokage quickly went through the others names again gesturing to each with his hand and then gestured towards the patient indicating for him to respond. For a minute they didn't think they were going to get a response until he responded with calm "Sano," and proceeded to gesture towards himself. The Hokage gave a quick smile and addressed the doctor and nurse to come forward to do their check up. He asked them to show the patient some of the tools they would be using and Sano gave a quick nod indicating he would allow the check up. However, while he did them he called each one by their name and their job. He had not used them all at just on the occasion to see if their attention turned to him.

While the check up was underway the Hokage and Kakashi had their own conversation going on considering their options in how to deal with Sano. The Hokage wanted Kakashi opinion if it would be worth teaching Sano the not only how to speak but to read and write as well as the customs of this area. It was obvious he had would not be able to function in the immediate future without help. But how much of a threat would he pose to the villagers and other ninjas. He seemed not to be violent unless provoked so that was a good thing but it was almost like having a newborn that could only read body language, facial gestures, and tone at best. Kakashi suggested it would be a good trial for a chunin that was interested in teaching at the ninja academy. The Hokage thought about it for a bit and realized he had the perfect chunin for the job. She had been wanting to join the academy instructors since she got promoted even though the were no openings at the moment and the school year was in the middle of completion. Kakashi was right if the chunin would be able to teach Sano enough to get on his feet before the school year started and ended then she would definitely be worth having as a teacher at the academy especially since teachers in genjutsu were rare. The academy had one that was too stubborn to retire but wasn't nearly as talented. With Kakashi's suggestion in mind Sarutobi decided on a course of action.

After Sano was given a clean bill of health however it was apparently how sore he still was from his injuries as he moved his limbs about for the doctor as he motioned for him to do so. Sano's left arm had healed surprisingly well. The minor nerve damage had been repaired and seemed to have it's full range of motion. Sarutobi feeling the sooner he started on Sano's schooling the sooner he function on his own within the village as well as hopefully inform him of the many questions they had surrounding this stranger. The Hokage asked the nurse to get Sano ready to be discharged from the hospital while walking over to a small closet within the room and took out a pair of tan pants and a tan t-shirt as well as a pair of boxer that had been sized to fit Sano upon his release from the hospital. Sarutobi set them on Sano's bed and motioned for the doctor and nurse to leave. He gave a quick glance to Kakashi and with a chuckle told him "I hope he can at least figure out how to dress himself. I'll be waiting in my office hopefully with someone to relieve you from watching Sano." With that Sarutobi left to summon Sano's teacher to his office.

Kakashi watched as Sano looked at the cloths then at Kakashi then back at the cloths. Sighed and shook his head then proceeded to dress himself when he heard Kakashi sigh in relief at not having to dress a grown man Sano let out a hearty chuckle. With him dressed quickly motioned for Sano to follow him and they were on their way to the Hokage's office.


Kurenai was not happy she had just been summoned by the Hokage just as she was about to relax in the hot springs after a long uneventful day of guard duty at the northern gate. Many villagers steered clear of the very irate looking teenager as she walked towards the Hokage tower.

After greeting the Hokage's assistant she was allowed in. When she walked in the room she found she was not alone there was an Anbu with a man sitting on the Hokage's couch. The man sitting next the Anbu wasn't in shackles and chakra repression seals so obviously not a prisoner or criminal so what needed the attention of Anbu that involved rookie chunin. Redirecting her focus on the Sandaime as he greeted her he asked her to sit in the chair before her as she was still pondering the reason for the other occupants of the room other than herself and the Sandaime.

"How have you been Kurenaii-chan," Sarutobi greeted. Grinning as the kunoichi's eyebrow began to twitch.

"I'm doing well Hokage-sama and have actually enjoyed the new apartment I was able to afford with the increase in pay that came with my new rank." Informed Kurenai in as calm a voice as she could manage while being annoyed at how familiar the Hokage always seemed to be with her.

Sarutobi nodded while pulling out his pipe to smoke while he calmed his nerves considering how Kurenai was likely to take this assignment.

"If I remember right you wanted to teach at the ninja academy and are waiting for one of the teachers to retire there as well as the academic year to start anew." As Sarutobi was hoping to lead Kurenai into this so she may be more receptive.

Kurenai wondered where Sarutobi was going with this he had already been quite firm at the fact there was no room to teach at the academy not to mention the school year was in motion and students had been assigned their teachers for the year. Unless one keeled over dead she wasn't going to be able to join for some time. With those thoughts aside she figure she should humor the Hokage and see where it lead. "Yes that is correct Hokage-sama."

The Hokage nodded as a puffed away on his pipe. "It's not often a rookie chunin is allowed to teach the students since we feel we need to make sure they have the proper experience to express the reasons for the skills that are taught there as well as the reasons for the academic criteria that is taught as well."

Kurenai was starting to get annoying she had already heard all this before in several of her meetings in trying to get the Hokage to allow her to teach at the ninja academy. "As you have stated in our past meetings I well aware of that fact now and it is a major concern that is holding my approval for becoming an instructor at the academy."

Nodding sagely once again it was time to see how open to the idea she would be. "How would you like to prove you are capable of teaching as well as gain experience with a single student that needs to be taught much of the basics that are taught in the academy in the early and later years?" Sarutobi questioned while eying Kurenai to judge her reaction.

Kurenai was about to make another retort when his words fully sunk in and she actually went wide eyed for a split second. The Hokage was giving her a chance to prove that she was ready and capable of teaching at the academy as a rookie chunin. There to be a catch the Hokage was always a crafty one especially when it came to bending the rules it usually came with a price. She eyed him for a moment then replied "What all would this private teaching assignment involve?"

Not quite the response looking for she was definitely cautious as to not get in over her head, which was a good thing and proved she deserved her current rank. Sarutobi had to think of how exactly he was going to respond to that cause the majority wouldn't be too bad he'd probably have to sugar coat it a little for her to finally bite.

Kakashi and Sano were in the corner while Sano simply waited patiently and mumbling the honorifics every now and then. Kakashi was enjoying watching the Sandaime lead Kurenai into this assignment and couldn't wait for her reaction of the full mission. He would of let out a perverted giggle had he not been mindful of ruining Sandaime's plan to talk Kurenai into this mission.

"Well it's fairly straight forward your student would need to be taught how to read and write, be able to speak our language allowing your student to hopefully function within society fairly easy. He would also need to be shown some arithmetic and be given some history on the village and surrounding area."

Was Sarutobi response to Kurenai's inquiry of the mission.

If that was all then hey this would be a cake walk for her. Wait a minute he said I'd have to teach the student to speak the language usually the kids entering the academy know a little bit and only need the finer details hammered out through the years. The student in theory should be able to function in society from just being able to speak our language. She narrowed her eyes at the Sandaime getting more skeptical with this assignment. "Most children who can speak our language can function in society to some degree how is my proposed student unable to even do the basics of speaking our language unless they were a recent foreigner that was dumped in our lap without being able to pick up anything while traveling here."

When Sandaime saw her in thought and then narrow her eyes at him he knew he'd just have to release the full assignment and hope for the best and maybe a few compromises. "Kurenai-san you are correct." Quickly going to business mode and using a serious tone. "Your student will be a foreigner who doesn't know anything of the surrounding area or customs. In a way you are correct he was dumped into our lap when Anbu rescued him from battling a patrol of Iwa nins. We are assuming he was in the wrong place at the wrong time since he has not shown any hostility unless provoked. Abilities and skill were only briefly seen by the Anbu before he was incapacitated. He is obviously not able to function except through basic gestures and hand signs. He is able to identify people by name and that's about it. Do to his inability to function on the basic level and that was proven when Kakashi had to show him how the toilets functioned. He is in need of a caretaker until he can properly take care of himself you will be that caretaker while teaching him what he needs to know in a improvised crash course or your choosing. I am not asking you to train him in how to be a ninja just the basics that are taught early on in the academy. Kakashi's talents are needed elsewhere so once released to you he will be your full responsibility. I am offering this as it does show how well you could teach a person in regards to your request to be approved for teaching. " Sandaime really didn't want to tell her this last part. "As being his caretaker he would be forced to live you in your new apartment for a brief period however this mission will pay as a B class for any inconvenience to you as well as getting a stiffen for any needs your charge may require that includes clothing, food, and if approved arrangements to live elsewhere. Do you accept this mission?" Sarutobi waited for her response.

Kurenai couldn't suppress the groan as they headache of this assignment set in as it was explained. The teaching was the bad thing it was the fact she would possibly be taking care of a full grown child for at least the few couple days. One who couldn't cook and possibly didn't even know how to use the utensils to consume the everyday food. She was stuck with the headache of the first few days or be bored to death by guard duty the choice was tough. The fact that it paid as a B rank mission was good especially she wouldn't have to split it with any teammates. She messaged her temples as she pondered her response of whether she accepted or not. Her new apartment at least had a spare bedroom and a spare futon. She could manage and the benefits wouldn't put much burden on her plus she might get some insight into what having children was like at home. Not that she planned to have them any time soon but it wouldn't hurt to have the experience when the time came.

Kakashi was smiling ear to ear the groan and grumbling coming from the usually optimistic teenage chunin was almost priceless to him. Oh the fun she was going to have with education the poor bastard next to him. He let out a perverted giggle by accident as the accidents that would happen between his charge sitting next to him and the kunoichi that was quickly beginning to catch the eye of several males around the village. Sano simple looked at him with a questioning gaze for a few moments before turning his attention back to the Sandaime. However as he turned his attention back Kakashi didn't miss him scooting a few inches closer to the side of the cough away from him.

After much grumbling and debate Kurenai finally raised her head so her eyes could meet the Hokage's. As her red eyes burned a hole through Sandaime she begrudgingly accepted the assignment. The Sandaime smiled and responded with a "Great. You may started immediately."

Sarutobi turned to Kakashi before speaking "You are dismissed but please detail Kurenai on any techniques she'll need to nullify if someone provokes her new charge."

Kurenai eyes widen for a split second before turning her full attention to Kakashi for his report.

With a quick clear of his throat "My assessment of his skills is he's easily Anbu material and would probably give me a run for my money in an all out fight. He has astounding chakra control and is able to use several jutsus that do not require seals. His taijutsu is most similar to the jyuken of the Hyugas with it's fluid movements however from what I observed during his skirmish with the Iwa nins was that he changes speeds of his attacks constantly adapting to his attackers movements and has an excellent to fight and focus on multiple individuals. However that is just was I can speculate from the brief fight I was able to observe while he was badly injured and how much of that is a usual fighting style is unknown. He is however able to sprout a blade from the back of his hand which suggests high chakra control as well he has kept it to an average civilian level since he's has been awake. That would suggest a high skill in stealth. Affinities he is aligned with are unknown and he did not seem to favor one in his fight but he was capable for manipulating earth, fire, and wind during his fight." After a moment he nodded to himself showing that was the conclusion to his report.

Kurenai eyed Sano for a minute before turning back the Hokage and quickly spoke. "Are you crazy?! You want me to keep him in line when he could give Kakashi a run for his money from that report and Kakashi himself even said he would be hard pressed in a fight." She shouted while standing to make her point clear. The Hokage simple puffed on his pipe smiling.

She paused considering once more since she had already agreed to take the mission. She leveled a hard gaze on the Hokage before in an icy tone giving her compromise at this new information "This is to be considered A rank and paid as such for the shit I'm going to have to possibly deal with."

Sandime had to suppress a shudder from the tone and pondered her words for a moment he was asking a chunin to guard someone who could get Kakashi a run for his money if a serious fight broke out and that was probably suicide for a rookie chunin. With a sigh Sarutobi nodded his approval of the alteration to the mission parameters.

The Hokage dismissed Kakashi who simply puffed out of the office causing Sano to be slightly surprised. Sano had sat there the entire time through the heated argument and could tell the young lady was not happy with whatever it was that was being assigned to her. He was actually starting to decipher this language it was similar to one he had come across in his distant past and was able to get the majority of the conversation was about him and his need to be taught properly. He understood the women was probably his teacher hence her reaction and the man next to him in the mask seemed to be giving a report of some kind from his tone that did not set well with the woman. He swore if looks could kill Sarutobi, as he had identified himself, would be burning in the deepest depths of hell. Despite the look he got the Hokage, as the title Sarutobi seemed to go by, just kept smiling. With a nod the woman made her way over to Sano as he stood up indicating that he understood something was up wit the woman coming over. He got a good look at her for the first time since she entered. She had black wavy hair but what stood out were her cherry red eyes. Sano had to admit in all his years he hadn't quite seen something that captivating. The eyes had an exotic but deadly and calculated look that exuded a suppressed amount of warmed. Do to her irritated state he figured he was on the receiving end of a day that could have gone better for her. Her face was beautiful but marred with a frown at her lips as she gave him a calculated look. Sano tried to give her a disarming smile but saw her brow furrow. He settled with a sigh as they stared each other down.

Kurenai once getting the nod that she would get her compromise finally decided to see what her charge was really like up close. She walked over him gave him a good once over before leveling him with a glare while she considered his look. He was not a tall man probably standing at about 5'10 or 5'11. He had light brown hair and slightly tanned skin. His frame was defined but not overly bulky indicating he did not rely on brute strength to win his battles. His eyes had a calm calculated look that seemed to be filled with years of experience and wisdom. She didn't know why but they looked knowing. He tried to give her a disarming only further agitating her of the already annoying situation. She continued to look into his eyes searching for anything that would give her some incite as to what she could expect from him. He had kind looking eyes that were light blue on the out side but turned almost silver on the inner iris. It was strange she had never seen eyes like that. As she was boring into what she could tell from his eyes he let out a sigh that must of unbeknownst to him allowed a briefed window into his past and she gasped at the brief before it was quickly buried. That didn't go unnoticed by the other two occupying the room with her.

The Sandaime asked "what's wrong Kurenai?"

Kurenai quickly shook her shock at that little tidbit of information and thought of a response. "Sorry I thought I saw his eyes exuding extreme pain. It was only briefly I'm not even sure it was there."

Nodding sagely he responded with "Nothing is known about his past but someone who can fight supposedly as good as Kakashi is likely to have seen some hard times at some point after all everyone who has stayed in this career for any length of time has lost at least one friend. Now I think he could use something to eat he hasn't had more than a rice ball since he woke up."

Sandaime let out a quiet chuckle at how Kurenai didn't even try introducing herself but neither did Sano.

With a sigh she grabbed her charge's shoulder she guided him out the door and closed the door behind her. He turned around with a questioning gaze on her and she simply slipped her hand into his and led him what would be his new home for a least a few days. She watched as he didn't exactly seem like a kid exploring a new world he stayed calm but his wondering eyes were obviously taking everything in around him.

Kurenai didn't exactly feel like cooking meal for them this evening and it was already time for dinner she decided on a quick dinner of ramen was in order at a local stand near her apartment. She dragged him through the curtains and sat down a seat away from young blond who was gorging himself on the stands main course of ramen. She saw that Sano did not follow suit and set down so she motioned to the seat that was between her and the blond brat. Sano shrugged and sat down but he noticed the kid slightly tense and take a quick glance in his direction. This amused Sano so he turned to gaze upon the blond. The boy slowly turned a pair of fearful and sad eyes on Sano. This whole event didn't go unnoticed as she realized who the blond finally was and quickly understood his reaction. Before she could say anything to calm the boy Sano had given the boy a quick smile and pat on the shoulder before turning back to her. The boy sat there for a minute in shock. He had been cursed, beaten, belittled, anything except he received a friendly smile and pat on the shoulders from a face and eyes that had exuded amusement and indifference.

The blonde turned back to the ramen with one quick glance at the stranger next to him he returned to his eating with much gusto. Kurenai just stared at Sano for a minute before he started to wave his hand in front of her then snapping his fingers to bring her out of her musings of how he had just calmed the panicked stricken kid with just two simple gestures after said boy to deal with mistreatment for his entire life. Granted five years was not a huge lifetime it was still longer than anyone had deserved especially if the rumors were true of how badly he had been beaten at times. After being snapped out of her musings she quickly shook her head of the rest of that line of thoughts and order for the two of them. Now the fun part of tonights dinner was for her to show him how to hopefully properly eat with chop sticks. Once their food arrive she grabbed a pair for her and her charged and placed the chopsticks in his hand and showed him how to snap them which she followed suite. She continued by turned to her food be show him how to pick the noodles up and the various pieces of food mixed into the ramen. Understand was written on his face as he tried to eat. Key word there was tried. He tried several times unsuccessfully trying to get even a small bite of food. She couldn't stifle the giggle that came as she watched his cool and calm manner slowly dissolved into frustration and annoyance as he eyed the utensils. She finished her bowl and was patiently waiting for him. She checked the time and saw it was getting late. Deciding that making himself to degrade him into mumbling curses in a language she couldn't understand she would let him get the hang of it later she still had to clear out the spare bedroom for him to sleep in. She quickly tapped his shoulder hold her hand out for the utensils and see what she wanted he placed them in her hands. She showed him how to hold them once more and grabbed the bowl off the counter and held a handful of noodles up. A look of annoyance showed on Sano's face as he finally understood what Kurenai intended to do. With a sigh he opened his mouth to allow her to feed him. Ayame watched in amusement that a grown man had to be fed like a little kid. Even Naruto stopped long enough to look over and not so subtly ask if those two were on a date. A twitch started to develop in Kurenai's brow as she was forced to feed Sano. He had a small look of annoyance in his eyes as well but she figured it was being tried like a kid hell all she had to do was start talking kiddy talk and choo choo noises that he couldn't understand anyways. Okay maybe he'd know what a train was and would get what she was then doing and take it as being belittled further. Once dinner was done and gone

Kurenai led him to a residential district that held several apartment buildings and through the gate; up the stairs and finally in front of her apartment door. She dug through one of her pockets for her keys and quickly unlocked her door motioning him to go in. He didn't seem to get it so she gave a sigh and a roll of the eyes while pulling him in front of the door. She quickly shoving him in and following in to shut the door behind them.


Figured an author's note was in order to make sure some things were not confusing like ages and such.

Sano looks to be about 25

Kurenai at the beginning of this is 16

Naruto of course stated at the end is 5 right now

Kakashi is 15

Tenzou is 16

Cat is not this one from invasion who's name escapes me atm but I'll put her and Gekko Hayate as a small side plot.

Also I need preference on who Naruto falls for and I'm leaning kind of heavily towards Kurenai as for the OC.

The plot should pick up soon with where this story is going and I'll follow cannon for a bit but I'm going to really trail off after the sand-sound invasion. Cause I feel the majority of naruto's plot completely turned to shit shortly there after. Also if anyone is actually interested in beta reading for me the spot is open since a writer can only catch so much themselves. Criticism and reviews is appreciated let me know what you guys think so far.