It took about an hour until Yuri finally reached the light. It was a simple lamp light hung over what looked like an inn. Unsure, Yuri tapped on the door, hoping to get a response.

"Wha- Whose there?" A voice from inside asked, opening the door a crack to peer out. Yuri stood still at the one brown eye glaring at him. "Whaddya want?" it asked, a little grumpily.

Yuri blinked, startled, trying to come up with a cover story. "Excuse me, but I-I got separated from the w-wagon that was bringing me here and now I'm lost. Do you think I could trouble you for a place to sleep?"

The eye looked me over, as if trying to determine if I was worth it or not.

"U-um, I have no money, but I'm willing to work if thats what it takes . . . ." Yuri trailed off when the door came swinging open to reveal an older woman, possible twenty-five to thirty years of age. She had brown eyes and purplish brown hair and was dressed in a kimono of all things, which really threw Yuri off. He was pretty sure he transported himself to another world, so why did it look like he was in Japan?

"Well, come on in, I don't have all night." Sighing in relief, Yuri scurried into the warm inn, trying to shake off the night air.

The woman handed Yuri a kimono, to which he bowed his thanks. "U-um, I'll be sure to pay you back. I can c-clean fairly well and I can cook-" He was cut off by a hand in his face.

The woman sighed before scratching the back of her head, "Don't worry about it kid. We'll talk about what you can do tomorrow. For now, go get some sleep." She handed me a key that said my room number. The language was in the common human language, to which I knew little about, but it gave me some reassurance that this was certainly not Earth. At least I could read numbers in the human language or else I would be in even more trouble.

I looked up at my host and smiled at her. "Thank you very much." She looked startled at my openness but decided to leave it at that. Shaking her head, she went off to a back room, where I assumed she would be sleeping.

I walked up the stairs and looked at the doors that were on either side of hallway. Finding my number, I opened the door to reveal a simple room with a desk and a futon. It was so . . . Japanese. Which was odd in itself, but strangely it helped me feel more at home. I quickly changed into my new Kimono and then took my contacts out. It would be bad to sleep with those in.

Bringing out the futon I stuffed myself underneath it, enjoying the warmth it provided. Looking out at the window I sighed in contentment at sleep took me. In the distance I could swear I heard a chime blowing in the wind.

~Present Time~

Naruto Uzumaki was bored. And his boredom usually came with the torment of pranks to his friends or any unsuspecting citizens of Konoha. Today, however, he was content to training just outside of the village.

Unfortunately, training by himself seemed to only increase his boredom.

"Naruto!"

The blonde turned to his pink-haired friend who was jogging toward him. Naruto stopped what he was doing (having two shadow clones spar each other) and turned to Sakura. "What's up, Sakura-chan?" He asked with a big grin on his face.

The young Shinobi stopped in front of him, pointing to the city. "We have a new mission from the Hokage-sama." The boredom that had seemed through Naruto's head was now gone in an instant. His big grin got even wider as he started running to the Hokage's office with one thought going through his head.

Finally, something to do.

Sakura was right behind him, who was soon followed by Sai. The three jumped from rooftop to rooftop until finally making it to Tsunade. Kakashi was there as well, reading what could only be erotica.

Tsunade was sitting in her chair with a thoughtful expression on her face. It was obvious that this mission wasn't normal, judging by how serious she was.

"Before I tell you anything, I need a vow of complete secrecy from all of you." She turned her eyes to Kakashi, who hadn't even moved. "This is a . . . delicate matter to which I hope I can trust you all with." The three shinobi looked at one another before nodding. Kakashi nodded as well, but no one could tell if it was because of his book or because of the Hokage's words. A sheet was passed around that each shinobi signed.

Standing up, Tsunade went over to look out the window. "How familiar are you all with Demons?" Naruto immediately stiffened, a hand went over his stomach almost subconsciously. Sakura winced as she looked at her friend but shook it off. They had a mission to do.

"Do you mean . . .like the Jinchuuriki?" She really didn't know how else to phrase the question.

Tsunade sighed and shook her head. "No, I'm talking about the Demon Kingdom." Kakashi's froze and lifted his head at the mention of the Demon Kingdom. He had not heard that name in many years.

The Godaime cleared her throat turning back to the team in front of her. "The Demon Kingdom is an old and mysterious kingdom South of the Elemental Countries. Twenty-five years ago, they waged war on the countries around them for provoking their villages on the boarder. They won, but afterwards the outside world hadn't heard from them in years." She sighed, running a hand through her blonde bangs. "Two years ago, they assigned a new king. The 27th Maou. Suddenly, all the surrounding countries started making treaties with the Demon Kingdom."

Sakura and Sai's eyes narrowed at that. "So what?" asked Naruto, oblivious as ever. Sakura hit him.

"ITE!"

"You idiot, a Kingdom with little to no allies suddenly getting every country they were once at war with to sign a peace treaty and become allies is a bit suspicious don't you think?" Naruto rubbed his sore head as he looked at Sakura with a pouting expression.

"Precisely," Tsunade cut in, face sober. This was more serious then they thought. "The Kingdom has hired us to escort their new King. Apparently his . . .transport, as they call it, left him in the Fire Country. We need to find him and bring him home unharmed." Kakashi closed his book, looked at the Hokage with his one eye.

"How will we know what he looks like?" he asked calmly. Tsunade sighed and handed him a photograph. The Jounin stared at the picture, trying to hide his surprise. It was the so-called Maou. He was seated on his throne with a leg crossed and his head resting on his hand. A small smile graced his lips as he seemed to be staring at something far away. The King couldn't have been older then fifteen when this picture was taken. The only thing that seemed to give away his kingly status was his pure black hair and eyes.

The picture was passed around to each member of the group. The only person who was unreadable was Sai, but the look on everyone's face was evident. Just how old was this Maou?

Tsunade sighed once again, anticipating this reaction. "I want you all to keep in mind that despite appearances, he could very well be older then me." Every member looked at her with questioning glances, "The Demon race are known for aging very slowly and therefore look incredibly young. It is important that you do not look upon this . . .man as a child, it might even offend him. Once again, this is a very delicate mission. While you are with His Majesty I want you to find out all you can about him." She gave a pointed look to Kakashi. "It was also noted that the Maou has a tendency to . . .wander. So please keep an eye on him. Kakashi will be the team leader."

The four recipients nodded, unsure if that part was a joke or not.

Taking the picture, the three younger shinobi disappeared. Leaving Kakashi and Tsunade.

"Two years? Hokage-sama, how does a country go from the brink of war to peace in only two years." In some ways, it was insulting. Kakashi had been fighting for some form of peace throughout the elemental countries for the last half of his life and Tsunade had been trying throughout her reign as Hokage. Yet this Maou, this Demon King was able to achieve it in only two years.

The Godaime sat in her chair and leaned her elbows in her desk in thought. "I have been thinking about that . . .and I came up with two possible conclusions." Kakashi looked at her with his one eye, waiting for her to elaborate. "Either the King is an outstanding political negotiator or he has something the other countries want."

"Is it possible that they simply fear him?" Kakashi asked with an eyebrow raised.

Tsunade shook her head, "It is, but I doubt they would be allies if that was the case. If they really just feared him then I could see them simply being held at neutral but . . . ."

The white-haired shinobi leaned back against the window, "So you think that this 'our King is lost' mission is just some ruse set up by the Demon Kingdom to try and get us on their side." The Hokage shrugged.

"I chose Naruto for that very reason. He is very strong-willed and will not back down against anyone, not even the Maou." Her eyes narrowed to whatever was in front of her. "I highly doubt that he is thereal Maou, but we'll play along."

Kakashi sighed, reaching into his pouch to pull out his book. "Yes, Hokage-sama." He said, disappearing without a trace.