Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
The jounin Captain and the three genin members of team seven made their way up a narrow dirt path which was leading them to a small outpost town, which they would be staying that night. Though calling it a town was being generous. It only consisted of a small inn, a restaurant and about seven homes.
Despite the town size it represented two things to team seven; the first and most important for them was that they would not have to make their own dinner. The second was it meant their mission was almost over; tomorrow they would be leaving the Land of Honey and reentering the Fire country. After that they would only have to do one more thing to finish their mission. Which was to drop off their message and then they could return to Konoha.
Naruto broke the uneasy silence that they had been traveling in. "Kakashi sensei why do we have to do such a boring mission, all we're doing is bringing one message to an old man from another old man," said Naruto as he put his hands behind his head and gave his sensei a disgruntled look?
"Naruto do not refer to the daimyo of the Fire country as an old man its disrespectful" said Sakura as she proceeded to hit Naruto upside the head.
With a sigh Kakashi said, "I'll explain" as he glanced away from his book, "it is customary for a genin team to deliver any official communications between the Fire Countries daimyo and any other countries daimyo. It doesn't matter that our village is still recovering from the recent attack. We cannot give the impression to anyone that anything is different it doesn't matter if their friend or foe." Kakashi finished speaking in the tone of someone who had been answering the same question for several days.
"That doesn't explain why we have to do it. We should be protecting a daimyo's daughter or hunting down a missing ninja," Naruto whined.
"Just be thankful we got a mission that is impossible for you to screw up," said Sakura though inner Sakura was beginning to agree with Naruto.
"Hey I was awesome on the last mission. Those grass ninjas didn't stand a chance against me" Naruto said turning his head to face Sakura.
"The way you make it sound Sasuke and I weren't even there" Sakura said as she glanced over at Sasuke hoping that he would join in the conversation and break his silence.
Looking on Kakashi could almost imagine that the tension he had felt within his team had disappeared. However, ever since team seven had returned from their solo mission to the Land of Tea, he had sensed tension within the team. It was different than the usual rivalry between Naruto and Sasuke, which would be normal. Usually by now one or the other would call their rival a name, a few punches might be thrown and that would be the end.
Unfortunately, he thought as he turned his attention back to the latest edition of Icha Icha that had not happened, instead Sasuke was managing to isolate himself even more than usual. This had the result of upsetting Sakura and considering her usual behavior towards Sasuke it had to be something serious. On the other hand Naruto was acting fairly normal for Naruto which meant he probably wasn't the main cause this time.
Not for the first time, Kakashi wished he had arrived at Sasuke's hospital room a few minutes earlier. Maybe if he had then he would have an idea of what exactly was going on with his team. The problem seemed to be circling around Sasuke but beyond that he didn't have a clue.
Two figures watched the progress of team seven up the path in the shadows cast by the nearby trees. One was a girl who was leaning against a tree; she appeared to be a little older than Sakura. She wore a simple dark green T-shirt and black shorts. Her black hair was shoulder length and was tied into a tight ponytail that rested on her bow which was currently strapped to her back. Her forehead protector was proudly displayed in its correct position.
She looked over at her 19-year-old companion who was crouched beside her and said, "Do you really believe that we will be able to convince them to help us?" Realizing what she just said could be interpreted as criticism of her sensei plan she quickly added "what I mean is there from Konohagakure and we are from Kumogakure we're not even allies why should they help us?" She finished with a concerned tone in her voice.
He looked up at her with a smirk on his face and said, "Shiori considering the situation, they are not going to have much of a choice in the matter. The only problem I see is if the genin will be of any use to us or just their Jounin." He pulled out his bingo book and handed it over to her "here you're eyes are better than mine. See if you can find out whom our new allies are it would be nice to know before I introduced myself to them."
She took the book from him and started to thumb through it. The bingo book contained information on missing-Nin for the most part. However, it also contained information on notable ninjas from other hidden villages. It was an essential asset to a ninja because it provided information to the owner that they may need if they come across a foreign ninja in the field. The entries in the book were fairly basic their name and description of the techniques used, bloodline information if they had one and a photograph or a sketch of their face. She really wasn't expecting to find him most jounin did not rate an entry but, there he wasShe read the entry to herself which was surprisingly extensive and handed the book back to her sensei.
"Hatake Kakashi the copycat ninja," he said with a grimace "guess I'll have to be careful of the jutsu I use around him." Standing he looked at the sky and said, "Shiori tell Otonashi he no longer has to keep the target under surveillance. The sun is setting and only a fool or another ninja would try to navigate these mountains at night."
"Yes sensei," she said and with that they went in opposite directions one to retrieve a comrade and the other to make a temporary alliance.
The restaurant wasn't good; of course any restaurant that didn't serve ramen wasn't good in Naruto's opinion. The restaurant was small; it only had two tables and a few stools at the counter. The menu had nothing he liked on it, even though he did eat other things on occasion besides his beloved Ramen. This was only because of Iruka sensei and Kakashi sensei urging to include fruits and vegetables in his daily diet. However, even knowing about the importance of good nutrition, he was seriously considering having some of his instant Ramen instead of what they're trying to pass off as food here.
He looked up from his so-called food to see Sakura sitting across from him. She was picking at her rice, not looking like she was going to eat any more of it. He thought that she still must've been upset that Sasuke had yelled at her in his hospital room. This reminded him to shoot a dirty look at his teammate who was sitting next to her. Who does he think he is upsetting Sakura like that; he would kill for a tenth of the attention she gave that bastard.
Unfortunately, his look went unnoticed because the Uchiha was fully concentrating on eating his dinner. He was about to say something to him, when he saw from the corner of his eye somebody standing in the doorway to the restaurant.
He appeared to be a young ninja wearing a jounin vest, though it was lighter in color than the ones that were worn by the Konoha jounin. He had a kunai holster on his right and left thigh. A light scar was on his right cheek. He was wearing a forehead protector that Naruto couldn't place. He looked fairly unremarkable for a ninja. Naruto was going to ignore him except, he was staring right at them.
The stranger slowly walked over to the table. He stopped an arms length away from the table. He had his hands on his hips and smiled while saying. "Well I guess I shouldn't be surprised to find Leaf ninjas here." The tone in his voice was overly friendly but at the same time had a smug arrogance about it. Naruto took an instant dislike to him.
After he spoke there was a long moment of silence. It was eventually broken by Kakashi "no, but it is unusual for a Cloud ninja to be this far south aren't you a little far from home."
The Cloud ninja shrugged and said, "Our mission take us where they will. My name is Katsuro Date and my mission is why I would like to talk to you Hatake Kakashi. You see my genin team was assigned the task of catching a ninja who has left our village. He's not anyone important just a blacksmith but, we don't like any of our ninjas to go missing. We followed some information that led us to this country. Apparently, he has set up shop in these mountains and picked up a few more followers than we first thought. So we were hoping that you would team up with us to."
Kakashi interrupted him by saying, "I don't see why you are telling us this it's not our mission. Our villages aren't even allies so, good luck and goodbye" he smiled with his eye as he turned his attention back to his book.
The stranger looked a bit crestfallen having his speech interrupted and being dismissed so abruptly. It took a moment for him to re-compose himself and rebuild his confidence. "Well you see" he took a moment to make sure no one was eavesdropping. He leaned on the table and said, "It's what he's making that not only concerns our village but every hidden village on the continent" he paused here for effect. "He is making forbidden weapons."
Kakashi's only response to this statement was a slightly raised eyebrow but, it didn't draw his attention away from his book. Not really wanting to be drawn back into the conversation he said, "What sort of forbidden weapons?" This caused the Cloud ninja to lean in closer to Kakashi. He whispered a single word that none of the other three sitting at the table could hear.
For a moment, a look that none of his students could recognize expressed itself through Kakashi's eye. The Cloud ninja straightened up and said, "if you're willing to help us. My team has made a camp west of this town by a stream. We only have two days to complete this mission, so please meet us there with your team at dawn. I look forward to seeing you again" and with that he beat a hasty retreat.
All three of his students were staring at him but, Naruto was the first to speak the question that was on all their minds. "So come on sensei what did that guy say to you." He was almost jumping in his seat with excitement, hoping that this latest turn of events may lead to an exciting mission.
Kakashi sighed, seeing his simple D ranked mission turning into at least an A ranked mission he said in a voice that could pass as a whisper "muskets."