I never thought my story would last this long, I've dropped all of my projects, including another fanfic, for this. And I must say this story is the best thing I ever wrote.
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Sakura cursed under her breath multiple times. Why did her father have to be stupid and not accept Naruto as the great ninja he is? She sighed, her father would probably have to see the proof with his own eyes. She arrived in Root quicker then she had expected, and was suprised to see a large group of ANBU's standing in front of the main building. She walked past them and entered Kakashi's office. "Back already, Sakura?" Kakashi asked. "Already? I was gone for 6 hours, what did you do the entire time? Sleep?" Sakura joked as she tossed the envelope on Kakashi's desk. Curious, he opened the envelope and began to read the letter. "Can you bring Naruto and Shikamaru over first thing in the morning?" Kakashi asked. Sakura nodded. "Now go get some sleep. You must be tired." Kakashi said as he put the letter away.
Sakura opened the door to the appartment to see Naruto making home made ramen. "Hey Sakura, how were things back in Konoha?" Naruto asked. "My father and Tsunade were as stubborn as ever." Sakura said. A bang on the door caused Naruto to concentrate his chakra around his hands. Sakura opened and almost fainted at what she saw. Standing in the door opening were Sakura's parents. "Mom? Dad? What are you doing here?" Sakura asked, but she already knew the answer. "Well honey, your father was feeling worried, so we were wondering if we could move into your second bedroom?" Kaoru asked. "I would, but Naruto lives in the second bedroom. "That freak lives under the same roof as you!?" Hattori exclaimed. "What did you call me?" Naruto asked as he stepped out of the kitchen. becoming infuriated, Hattori charged at Naruto, who let Hattori hit him. "What have you done to my daughter you monster!?" He cried out as he slammed Naruto into the wall. Naruto simply got up and let Hattori punch him. "Father stop it! He didn't decide this! Naruto, just fight back, I don't care about people that call you a monster!" Sakura yelled. "You think this punk will be able to land a punch on me? Why your as foolish as Kakashi!" Hattori snorted. Now Naruto was getting mad. "Outside... Now..." Naruto said as he walked out of the appartment.
"Bring it on, you demon fox." Hattori said as they arrived at the academy training grounds. Naruto charged forward towards Hattori, who threw a clumsy punch at him. Naruto grabbed Hattori's fist and started putting pressure on it. "I suggest you give up before I break it." Naruto said calm. Hattori spat in Naruto's face "I will never give up to the likes of you!" "Very well then." Naruto said as he broke the bone and swung Hattori away. Naruto ran through some handseals and a small tornado smacked Hattori into a nearby tree. "I think I overdid it..." Naruto mumbled. Hattori fell out of the tree and tried to stand up. "Now if you'll excuse me, I left my dinner on the stove." Naruto said as he turned and walked back to the appartment.
Naruto awoke early in the morning, which was unusual. Opening his eyes, he noticed that Sakura was shaking him around. "Sakura? What's the matter? It's still early!" Naruto said as he turned away from Sakura. "You are wanted in Kakashi's office, he says it's important." Sakura said patiently. Naruto cursed under his breath as he got up and got ready to go to the office.
Naruto, Shikamaru and Sakura were standing in Kakashi's office, wondering what was going on. Kakashi cleared his throat"Ok, first of all good news for Naruto. Your fired." Naruto's eyes widened. "FIRED!?" "Yes, I'm giving you a new job, free-lance guard." Kakashi said. Naruto grinned before saying : "You just made that job up, didn't you?" Kakashi nodded. "Anyway, your going on a mission, we need the three of you to go and convince Sagara Sanosuke and Himura Kenshin to come to Root." Kakashi said as he gave Shikamaru two pictures and some files. "They travel from hidden village to hidden village, they were last seen on their way to Cloud from Sound. Now go!" Kakashi said as the three ninja dissapeared.
"Where to first? Cloud?" Naruto asked as the team sped through the forest. "No, the main route between Sound and Cloud, there is a small town that acts as a border, and no matter how fast you travel, the authorities will keep you in there for several days. And going around it is impossible, because the border is surrounded by mountains that would take weeks to climb." Shikamaru explained. "Why are we after them anyway?" Naruto asked. "I have no idea, Kenshin is a wellknown rurouni, and Sanosuke is a brawler and used to be a fighter-for-hire." Shikamaru said as he gave Sakura the pictures. "Looks like that Sanosuke will give us some problems, the Kenshin fellow doesn't look so bad." Sakura said as she gave the pictures to Naruto. "Trying to make me jealous?" Naruto asked as he cast a look on the pictures.
The rurouni had red hair that went down to his thighs, and was bound together in a ponytail from the neck down. He had a cross shaped scar on his left cheek and had a katana, strapped to his belt. His clothes were a number of yukata's worn over eachother. The brawler was wearing a white jacket that he didn't bother to close, it also had a small 'wicked' kanji on it. He had black spikey hair, with a red lint tied around his head where his hairline started. His pants were white, but the most interesting thing about him was that he had a sword hanging over his shoulder that was longer then him. The sword seemed to drop all defence for offense. "At least we won't have trouble finding him, that sword is huge!" Naruto said.
After going through customs, Naruto's team arrived in the border town. "Alright, the town is small so there are only a few places they could be. The bar, the hotel or the hot springs being the best guesses. Naruto will go to the bar, Sakura the hotel, and I'll go to the hot springs." Shikamaru said as he pointed towards the locations. "We'll keep in touch with our headphones and when we find them, we'll meet back at here, alright?" Everyone nodded and they started running towards their target.
"Goodafternoon miss, how can we help you today?" The woman behind the counter asked as Sakura walked in. "I'm looking for Himura Kenshin and Sagara Sanosuke." Sakura replied. The woman turned her attention to a book in front of her and flipped some pages "Room 16 on the second floor." Sakura thanked her and ran up the stairs. She opened the door to the room and saw the rurouni sleeping in a corner, his katana laying across his chest. Sakura walked towards him and tried to give him a shove to wake him up. However two inches before she touched him, he grabbed her hand and drew his katana, holding it at her neck. "Who are you and who sent you?" Kenshin asked in a cold voice. "Haruno Sakura from Root." Sakura said between gulps. Kenshin withdrew his katana and let go of her hand. "I'm sorry, it's just that our package for Root has lead to a number of assaults, so we had to stay on guard." "Package? What package?" Sakura asked puzzled. Kenshin took a ring out of his robe and showed it to her. The ring was completely white, but the front part was a small red circle with the kanji 'Sky' in it. "What is this?"
Naruto walked into the bar and instantly saw a man with the 'Wicked' kanji on his back and a huge sword wrapped in cloth leaning against the wall sitting at the bar. He sat down next to him. "Sagara Sanosuke, I presume?" Naruto asked casually. "Who wants to know?" The man answered annoyed. "Uzumaki Naruto from Root." Without saying anything, the man got up and walked out of the tavern, motioning for Naruto to follow him. "Hey guys, I found Sagara." Naruto whispered in his headset. "I found Kenshin, let's meet in their room, number 16 on the second floor in the hotel." "We're on our way." "Troublesome, but I'll be there."
"So, what's the deal with this ring?" Shikamaru asked, holding it up for all to see. "This is Orochimaru's Akatsuki ring." Kenshin said. The mouths of both Naruto, Sakura and Shikamaru fell open from that statement.
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I hate to stop here, but for one thing I want to keep SOME of the story intact. For those who don't read the manga, the importance of the ring will be explained in the next chapter.
Sagara Sanosuke and Himura Kenshin are characters from Rurouni Kenshin, I'm just borrowing them.
