This story takes place when the rookie nine are seventeen years old. The teams are the same as they were during the chuunin exam, as Sasuke has returned after successfully killing his brother and leaving a seriously wounded Orochimaru to die, though he was not sure if he did. Team seven had been called in to the Hokage's office to be assigned on a mission. They were all now high level chuunin and they were nearing the jounin exams, which they would be taking part in.

Knock, knock…

"Hn."

"Hokage-sama, you wanted to see us." Sakura said as the three bowed.

"Yes, I have a B-ranked mission for. You must escort and protect the son of one of the counsel members up north to the country of shadow. There you will help him conduct his research. He will be gathering information about the land there, seeing as it is basically unknown to us. Kakashi was supposed to be here as well but I see that he 'is lost on the road of life' as he might say. So tell him the details before tomorrow morning because that is when you are leaving. You'll meet at the northern gate at eight o'clock sharp. You'll have four months to complete this. Any questions? No? Good. You are all dismissed." Tsunade finished.

There was a poof and all three of the chuunins were gone. There was then another knock on the door and in came a seventeen year old, who was wearing; black ninja sandals, baggy black trousers which had countless pockets full of weapons and scrolls on, a black shirt and a long black trench coat, which also had some pockets full of weapons and scrolls. He also had a pair of black fingerless gloves which had metal spikes on the knuckles. His arms and legs were also covered with white wrapping and so was his neck and face, excluding the eyes. His eyes were a bright ocean blue which you could just get lost in. He had a large black hood which covered his hair, so no-one in the whole village know what his hair was like.

"Ah, Kioi, glad to see you're back safe, though I had no doubts that you wouldn't be. I see you completed your mission promptly as per usual. I get nothing but the best from you. Sorry to keep piling these up on you but I have just received an S-ranked mission for you. You must 'get rid' of three ANBU from the country of earth. They have turned rogue and have been terrorizing villages there, and conducting countless crimes. They are extremely dangerous, but for you, it shouldn't be a problem. You'll be leaving immediately."

Kioi nodded and was gone, he didn't need any smoke bombs to disappear, he had found his own way to do so; he just simply vanished into thin air.

Hmm… Why doesn't the he ever show anyone what he truly looks like. No-one knows how he looks like… Except for those beautiful blue eyes… They're a lot like Naruto's… Tsunade thought to herself. All her life, she had never come across anyone more mysterious then that guy. He truly was something.

…

Later that day, when Tsunade was still going through her dreaded paperwork, there was a knock on the door. She grunted, which, when translated, means 'come in quietly I just need to finish this'. But when she looked up, she was shocked to see who was standing there.

"Ki-Kioi… You're already back… did you forget something?"

"No. I finished the mission. I found the three guys extremely drunk. They were in the middle of a fight with each other, so I didn't really have to do that much to, as you said, 'get rid of them'."

"I see. Well… I haven't got any high missions for you to do… I only have a couple of C-ranked, oh and I have one B-rank… that is if you want it?" Kioi just shrugged, meaning that he would do it, even if it was a waste of time for him.

"Ok then. You need to escort the Mizukage's daughter back home." Kioi nodded and was off.

…He's going to make one hell of a Hokage… He just needs some people skills… Tsunade thought to herself. She had decided long ago that she would want him to become the next Hokage… He was already much more powerful then herself, and anyone else she knew for that matter.

The next morning…

Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke were waiting at the gates. Kakashi was yet to arrive and they could see the counsel member's son approaching. When he had reached them they all bowed respectfully to him.

"Hello, my name is Hinoiri. It is nice to meet you and thank you for your help." He then bowed to the team.

Just then Kakashi popped out of nowhere, with his eyes stuck in his Icha Icha book.

"Kakashi! You're late again!" Naruto shouted, he was obviously very annoyed with his sensei.

"I'm sorry… I found some gum on my shoe and I…"

"We don't wanna hear your sorry excuse, we just wanna leave so that we can do our mission!" Naruto shouted, again.

"Very well." So the five of them headed off North.

Three days later…

Team Kakashi and Hinoiri had been traveling, and they had covered a fair amount of distance. They had only stopped twice a day, to eat and rest. Kakashi was impressed with Hinoiri as he had been able to keep up with the fast pace which they were at.

It was getting dark so they decided to set up camp. Naruto went to collect wood, Sasuke set up the tents, Sakura cooked the food, Hinoiri was going through his scrolls, writing down details and such and Kakashi was just sitting against a tree, reading his precious Icha Icha book.

When they had all eaten, they sat down by the fire, enjoying the good weather. They all soon drifted into sleep.

"They're asleep… we can get them now…" A man with a hoarse voice whispered.

"They're too careless…" Whispered the other. The two then started creeping towards they group. The first man wore all brown; his coat, shirt, trousers, shoes and a mask. He had two giant swords. The other one, who was about a foot shorter, wore an identical wardrobe but instead of two swords, he had a large bow. On his back he had a pouch containing many arrows which had all been dipped in poison.

The two decided to go for the jounin first so that they could get him out of the way as they knew he would be the hardest to beat. But when the first guy had plunged both of his swords into Kakashi's chest, they were shocked to see it just explode.

"It must be a shadow clone. He knew we were coming… But where is he then if he isn't here…" He had been interrupted.

"Looking for me?" Kakashi taunted as he stood on a branch, high above the ground.

"How did you know that we were coming?"

"You breathing is quite loud for a shinobi."

The two shinobis cursed before the shorter one shot a quick arrow at Kakashi. But a kunai hit it, redirecting it into a nearby tree.

"Who did that?!"

"I did." Sasuke said in his 'I-couldn't-help-but-show-off' voice.

"How dare you. Do you even know who we are?"

"I'm guessing by your forehead protectors that you are shinobis from the hidden village of light. Am I right?"

"Nice. But that isn't enough for you to defeat us, for we are Kuro and Sendo. I'm sure at least one of you have heard of us."

"Everyone, get behind me. These two are extremely dangerous. They are jounin level and they are not to be messed around with." Kakashi then pushed his forehead protector up to reveal his sharingan eye.

"We are truly honoured to be in the presence of the great copy-cat-ninja, or as some people call him; sharingan Kakashi." The two mocked.

"You four, run. I'll hold them off. Get Hinoiri to safety. Now!" Kakashi shouted.

"No need for that. We'll be coming back later. We're not in the mood for a fight right now." The two then left.

The all stood still until they were sure that the two were gone.

"This is turning out to be a lot similar to our first mission in the wave country." Kakashi grumbled.