Disclaimer- I do not own Naruto or any characters.

Chapter 7

Reunion!

The Hokage took a puff from his pipe, when a white haired man with markings on his face appeared through the window.

"Boar!" called the Hokage. The ANBU guard appeared instantly and waited for the orders from the Hokage.

"Call for Fox and Hawk!"

Three figures silently travelled through the forest of Konoha at a speed that most jonins would be envious about. However they weren't any ordinary ninja they were the best of the best, the crème of the crop. The leader of the group had doubted that the two that he had been paired up with slow him down but he was surprised when they could keep up with him and even more shocked when they surpassed his speed. He thought that he was fast but he was definitely proven wrong. These two could possibly the fastest even surpassing the fourth Hokage himself.

Flashback

"Fox and Hawk?" New recruits?" the man questioned the Hokage. He moved to sit down on one of the chairs in front of the Hokage's desk. The Hokage took a drag of his pipe and finally looked up to his estranged student.

"Hardly" the Hokage replied, Jiraya felt two presences behind him and whipped his head around to see two very young ANBU. He was mildly surprised that he had not detected their approach. The one with the fox mask bowed to the Hokage while the one with the hawk mask stood defiantly. The other one nudged him and reluctantly bowed. However Jiraya could tell from his movement that the respect that he had for the old man was forced by the other one. Who does he think he is? Even Jiraya could admit that he wasn't at the top his game when it came to respecting authorities but this show of blatant disrespect to the strongest ninja in the village disturbed him and in some way angered him. Yes it was true that the bond he shared with the old man was different but that was because the Hokage was his sensei but ANBU's within the Hokage ranks doing that, it was unheard of. To top it off the old man didn't even seem bothered by it.

"Fox, Hawk I would like you to meet Jiraya" the old man said specially looking at the ANBU with the fox mask. It was as if the Hokage was gauging his reaction waiting for him to do something. The guy with the Hawk mask nodded his head in greeting while the other guy just stood there. So this is the fabled Jiraya of the sanin thought Sasuke to himself. He silently observed the man. Heh he doesn't look all that much, but then looks can be deceiving and he should know.

"I can't believe it!"

"Believe what?" Sasuke glanced at Naruto and then back at Jiraya.

"That" Sasuke was thoroughly confused now. What the hell was the dobe on about now?

"That?"

"He's alive and standing in front of us" Sasuke's brows knit in confusion beneath his mask.

"I still don't get it"

"He's alive Sasuke, its real" Naruto looked at Jiraya shocked. In his entire wildest dream he had never imagined that he would meet Jiraya this early. Yes he was aware that they would meet but he thought that he had more time to adjust seeing people who were supposed to be dead. But seeing his former teacher, master and godfather brought forth emotions that he didn't want to deal with at the moment.

"Dobe, get your shit together" Naruto came out of the trance that he had been in upon first seeing the man. The knowledge that his teacher was alive and well was enough for now.

The Hokage activated the privacy seal, he didn't want anyone to know what they were about to discuss here. After all it was a matter of the village safety.

"Jiraya has informed me that he has heard rumours of a group" Jiraya nodded in confirmation. From the lack of response that he got from the two ANBU he assumed that they knew about them. He continued worried about what he had heard about this group and their intentions.

"This particular group have less than honourable intentions towards the ninja nation" he stated, he nodded towards Jiraya to continue as he possessed the more knowledge of this group through his spy network.

"This group that the Hokage has mentioned was not a threat before," he looked to the ANBU's who nodded their head in understanding.

"They were a group of mercenaries that ninja villages hired to do their bidding, however, in recent years from the information that I have gathered suggest otherwise." He paused to collect his thoughts. The two ANBU members and the Hokage remained silent.

"They have been travelling in and out of the elemental nations searching for something" Jiraya pointed a meaningful glare at the Hokage.

"They have the clearance" The Hokage stated and registered the shock on his former students face. Obviously he had not been around when Naruto and Sasuke had first come to him so he wasn't aware that these two knew things that kids their age shouldn't.

"This group, they are researching about the tailed beast and searching for their host as well, as of yet I haven't been able to figure out their motives, however I am due to meet one of my confidantes in two days" he concluded, the Hokage nodded and the ANBU remained silent.

"Are they mute?" Jiraya suddenly asked. The Hokage nearly choked on his spit, he looked towards the ANBU and shook his head negative. This confused Jiraya more, they had not uttered a word throughout the whole conversation. As it stood the ANBU had requested that their identity remained a secret and in time they would choose to reveal themselves. It was more of an odd request that he received from Naruto that when there was any news about this group called the akatsuki he and Sasuke should be informed. That part remained a mystery to him as the young ninja didn't divulge any further information.

"Jiraya, Fox and Hawk will accompany you on this mission," The Hokage stood and walked towards the window overlooking the village. He sure hoped that they knew what they were doing. But then again only they would know of the consequence of their actions.

"I don't think so" Jiraya stated. No matter how skilled they thought they were, this akatsuki group was no walk in park.

"They will be joining you" The Hokage reiterated firmly. However Jiraya stood his ground.

"Listen, I know that ANBU's are skilled an all that but if I take them they will be a liability and the mission will be compromised" Jiraya shook his head. He would not take them with him, his position was already compromised and he needed to find out what this group was up to. Sasuke was seething inside. The argument between the Hokage and his former student continued totally oblivious to the two ANBU.

"Who does this guy think he is?"

"He is Jiraya, one of the sanin" Sasuke glared at him.

"Thanks didn't think I could have figured that out"

"You asked teme" Naruto smirked, Sasuke glared harder.

"Smart ass"

"You forget, that he does not know us, to him we are some nameless ANBU who will be a hindrance to his mission"

"He may be one of the sanin, one of the strongest but who is he to discredit us so quickly"

"The mission that he has proposed, has no option of failure"

"I know but still"

"Sometimes it's not about recognition"

"Sounds rich coming from you" Sasuke smirked

"Like you're any different"

"I so am dobe"

"Don't make me laugh teme"

"What did you say" Sasuke smacked Naruto across the head, halting the adult's conversation.

"Way to go teme" Naruto shoved him. Jiraya's frowned at their antics and the Hokage glared at them. Why in heavens name is sensei so adamant in taking these two idiots with me? He thought. So much for me pressuring Jiraya to take them two along and they have to act like the kids they are. Someone help me! The Hokage screamed internally. The Hokage cleared his throat and the ANBU stood to attention. Jiraya sighed there was no way that he was getting out of this. The Hokage gad made up his mind and he would be stuck with these two idiots for the next two day.

"Konoha gates tomorrow morning" With that the two ANBU disappeared without any swirls or smoke, there was simply no trace of them. It was as if they were never really there. Jiraya eyed the place that they stood. Hmm interesting he thought.

"Who are they?" Jiraya asked intrigued. Not many ninja were able to come and go undetected.

"All in good time Jiraya" The Hokage replied sitting down, his expression softening, it was good to catch up with his former student after so long.

End of flashback

Jiraya, who took the lead, raised his hand indicating that they should stop. The ANBU stopped right behind him.

"We will stop here and make camp for the night" He informed them and received nods. They had been travelling the whole day at a fast past, only resting for short periods of time to replenish their strength and eat. Their destination tea country, at least another days' worth of travel. Jiraya found a suitable place where they could camp without anyone detecting their presence. They started with their duties, Jiraya went to find wood for fire, Hawk went to refill their empty water canister and Fox went to gather some provisions. They didn't need to set up tents as the weather was quite warm which usually the case in fire countries was. Jiraya and hawk were already at the site when Fox returned. He had managed to hunt a couple of rabbits and gathered some edible leafs and nuts. They had their meal in silence. Jiraya silently observed the young ANBU's. Travelling with them had not been all that bad, he had thought that he would have to slow down for them but they had kept up with his pace. They had followed his instruction to the latter, however they had not uttered a word to him. He supposed that they didn't like to talk, ANBU can do that to ninja's. They were supposed to be weapons for their village, emotionless. He didn't think he would make a good ANBU, it went against what he believed in but he was aware that there was a need for it.

"I'll take the first watch, Fox and then Hawk" They nodded indicating that they agreed. Jiraya sighed, he understood all this secrecy stuff about ANBU but hell, it would be nice if he had someone to talk to rather than these two. Sometimes it felt like he was talking to himself.

"No hostiles detected within ten mile range."

"Area secured, simple or advanced?"

"Simple, would be enough" Hawk nodded.

"Don't want to give anything way"

Fox nodded and Hawk stood up, Jiraya didn't know what he was doing therefore he just watched him. Even though he didn't need to say the name out loud, he thought it was time that the old man with them saw some of their skills.

"Illusion art: False surrounding" his voice sounds quite young, Jiraya thought to himself wonder who it could be. Who knew that the brat was clever enough to put a genjutsu over them to conceal them. Granted it was only a C rank but still to be this young and talented. To be honest he didn't think about it, he didn't think they needed it. Blah ANBU and their paranoia. He thought that they would stop there however he was dead wrong.

"Shadow clone jutsu" Fox said gleefully without doing any hand sign after all it was one of his favourite. Jiraya's jaw dropped at the spectacle. It wasn't the fact that this brat of an ANBU could perform the shadow clone jutsu it was more to do with how many he could create. There in their camp site stood five solid clones of Fox. With a nod from the original they took off in different directions.

"Wake me up when it's my shift" with that Fox lay down on his makeshift bed and drifted off to sleep. Hawk following suit. Jiraya stared at them wondering just who the hell these ANBU were? He knew that ANBU in Konaha were very strong and talented. Konoha had produced many strong ninja's for instance his team mates, Sakumo Hatake, his son Kakashi, the Fourth Hokage and Itachi the list was long and many. However what had surprised him about this ANBU was that he was able to perform a forbidden technique and so easily. That was a standard jutsu in the ANBU division however there was no one within konoha that could create that many clones at one time. The amount of chakra needed to create a single clone was enough to put many jonins and ANBU into coma from chakra exhaustion not considering the mental stress when the clone dispersed. This brat created five clones like it was nothing. How much chakra does this kid possess?

The night went by without any incident and soon it was morning. Hawk came down from the tree that he had been sitting on. Jiraya was already awake and packing his things. Fox was however still asleep. Jiraya looked at him and then at Hawk who shook his disapprovingly.

"You gonna wake him up or should I?" Jiraya asked pointing to the sleeping ANBU.

"I'll do it" Hawk calmly walked up to the sleeping ninja and nudged him with his foot. There was no response. It was as if he was dead to the world. He knew that Naruto never took any job lightly so it was strange that he was still asleep. Or he was talking to his tenant. He tried again, this time he crouched down and shook him.

"Wake up moron" he hissed, he could feel Jiraya's eyes trained on his every move. The man was trying to suss them out. Still nothing.

"Fine have it your way then" the irritated raven spat out. He rose from his position. He raised his hand and a jet of water hit Fox in the face. Fox jumped up coughing.

"Why the hell did you do that for?" Fox shook his head to get rid of the water.

"You wouldn't wake up dumbass" Hawk gritted out glaring at his friend. Hmm interesting he is a water element.

"There are other ways to wake me up you know!" Fox exclaimed.

"Don't you think I tried idiot" Hawk retorted. Jiraya looked on. These ANBU acted very peculiar, one minute they were all business and the next they acted as children.

"Look at me, am all wet now" Fox complained. Sasuke's patience was running thin.

"Dry yourself off then" He snapped and started to walk off.

"No shit genius" Fox muttered under his breath.

"I heard that" Fox glared at him trying to burn a hole through his mask. Jiraya was amused. He thought that ANBU's were boring and rigid but these two idiots were providing him with some entertainment.

"I meant you to" Jiraya could tell that if he didn't intervene now he would have to separate their fist fight, both of them were tense ready to strike. He cleared his throat to gain their attention.

"If you idiots are done bickering, let's get moving shall we?" As they walked out of their came site Jiraya could see the steam coming off Fox's clothes as the water evaporated. He wondered how he did that.

"How did you do that?" Jiraya asked curious. He never had the need to perform such a trick but in all honesty it would be handy he thought to himself. Fox smirked behind his mask.

"It's a simpler form of flame of sphere technique" Fox explained.

"I use my body heat and then amplify it with chakra and extend it all over my body" he finished. Jiraya's interest was piqued. He had heard of the flame of sphere technique, it was a defensive technique. Using the body as a heat source, the user moulds chakra to amplify it and make it entirely visible. Then the user expands it, using more chakra, and takes on a red spherical shape, it was mainly used for defence against ninjutsu and taijutsu. He had seen some ninja in the first and second ninja war use it but mainly they were the Uchiha clan members.

They were approaching tea country border, they slowed down not wanting to alarm anyone. They had reached the village just before sunset. Like the day before they only stopped for short breaks. Time was of the essence here and Jiraya pushed the two even harder. If he was right his confidant would already be in the village awaiting him. The only question was how to communicate with him. They reached the village in record time once they cleared the border patrols. The sun was just setting when they approached a derelict house on the outskirts of the village. Jiraya instructed them to mask their chakra. What he had not expected was that these to ANBU became totally undetectable even he could not sense a trace of their chakra. They approached the house always staying in the shadows as not to be detected.

"Why are we sneaking in, if the person in there is your confidant?" Fox whispered.

"Because he is not alone, and I do not wish for the other member to find out that we are here" Jiraya replied keeping his voice low.

"Why would he bring someone with him if was going to meet with you?" Hawk asked a little while later. They were not told as to who this informant was or where he was travelling from.

"Because they always travel in pairs, it's one of the rules or something" he shrugged his shoulders. The pair nodded. They stopped in front of a window and peeked in slowly to assess the situation. Both ANBU's eyes widened at the sight before them. When Jiraya had said that he was meeting his informant they did not expect that it would be two of the akatsuki member. The shock dissipated as soon as it came. They could see a man laid down on a battered sofa with his eyes closed. Fox wiped the dirt of the window slowly to get a glimpse of the man inside. He nearly choked when he saw who it was. The man in question was blue with shark features. He donned the traditional black akatsuki cloak with white and red clouds on it.

"See that man over there, he is Kisame Hoshikage, he was one of the seven swordsmen of the mist before he became a missing nin." Jiraya informed them. He felt bad leading them here without telling them what they were up against.

"He joined the akatsuki not long ago and now he is.."

"Known as the tailless tailed beast" Fox completed for him. Jiraya looked at him confused.

"You know of him" Jiraya asked.

"Him we know of" Hawk hissed. Fox looked over at him, Sasuke on the other hand remembered that this missing ninja was paired with his brother. What he wouldn't do to just go and end his pathetic life right there and then. He kept his emotions in check, they still had a mission to execute.

"Hawk" as soon as the command came Hawk was on the move. He casted a genjutsu on him that completely made him disappear to the naked eye. Jiraya looked on in wonder.

"Genjutsu is his speciality, this specific one messes with the opponent's sights and hearing. He isn't actually invisible only hiding in your blind spot. What the eye and ear cannot see and hear cannot be transmitted back to the brain", Fox provided him with an explanation. They looked on as the door crept open. The blue man must have sensed a shift of change in the atmosphere. He rose from his position.

"Tsukuyomi" the shark like man flopped down again on the couch.

Jiraya had not heard what Hawk had intoned but he saw Hawk's mouth move however Naruto knew exactly what happened. He started to walk casually towards the door when suddenly Jiraya grabbed his uniform collar.

"Wha?" Naruto hissed at Jiraya handing stopping at the door. Jiraya just stared at him as if he was stupid.

"What are you doing, that bastard could wake up anytime" Jiraya hissed. He was marvelling at their stupidity. What did these brats think that a simple genjutsu would be enough to take out one of the ex-swordsman of the mist?

"Don't worry, he won't be waking up anytime soon" Fox went first and stood next to Hawk who was standing over Kisame trying his hardest not to just end his life.

"Good job" Fox patted his shoulder. Hawk growled at him. Jiraya walked in cautiously. He looked around the rundown house, it seemed empty save for themselves. He extended his senses he could only feel one other presence. He eyed his two temporary counterparts suspiously, he couldn't feel their chakra at all and it seemed to him that they supressed their chakra unconsciously. Amazing not many ninja were able to achieve this type of suppression not even him. Who were they? He would solve this mystery in his own time he thought to himself. He re focused and flared his chakra, just enough to let his informer know of his where about, although he didn't doubt that the other already knew that he was here.

"Jiraya-sama" The other person stopped short looking at the two ANBU that were present. He raised his brows questioningly. The two in question was looking Kisame over awestruck.

"Do you think that he really is blue?" Fox whispered to Hawk, not wanting the other two hear, although it was clear that they were listening to him. Hawk shot him a look that promised pain if he did anything stupid. Fox put his hand up in surrender. Then he suddenly took a swipe at Kisame's face.

"Does the Leaf not one of their trusted Sanin anymore?" the informer asked monotonously, eyes trained on the two ANBU.

"The Hokage was quite adamant I bring these two idiots along" Jiraya replied. Hawk slapped Fox on his head.

"Oww, that hurt!" Fox hissed rubbing his head, glaring at Hawk.

"What the hell are you doing?" he hissed.

"Just checking he really is blue" Hawk sighed, idiot. Fox crouched over Kisame and lifted his lip to see shark teeth.

"Awesome, hey look at this he has sharp pointy teeth just like a sharks" He was talking mainly to himself now. Jiraya and the other person sweat dropped.

"What are they doing?" the informer asked Jiraya, quite confused at the display. What surprised him even more was that Kisame was not responding. Jiraya shrugged, their idiocy was reaching a whole different level.

"What kind of jutsu did they use on Kisame?" Jiraya shook his head. His Attention drawn to the two idiots who were arguing quietly.

"You check"

"You're the one who wants to know"

"But I checked the rest of the stuff!"

"I didn't ask you to"

"Come on just check" Hawk glared at him behind his mask.

"No" He hissed.

"Just do it" the other countered.

"Why do you want to know?"
"I just want to, hurry up, you're wasting time" Fox stressed. Hawk sighed again, how the hell did he get stuck with a dobe like him? Hawk crouched down, and slowly moved the collar of the akatsuki cloak to reveal Kisame's neck. Satisfied with the findings Fox nodded and Hawk got up from his position.

"Called it" Fox said happily like as if he had won some big prize or something. They both turned and were met with the other two occupant's confused expression.

"What the hell are you doing?" Jiraya hissed annoyed at their childish antic. Fox put his hand behind his head and rubbed sheepishly. Jiraya was stunned, that posture reminded him of someone he knew was long gone. Yet there was an indescribable feeling within him that screamed out that he should know this brat.

"I wanted to know if he had gills" Fox answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. This confused them even more.

"Well he looks like a shark so naturally I had to check" He waved his hand dismissively. While Jiraya was engrossed in Fox's stupid logic Hawk had moved and stood in front of the other person. They stood there just staring at each other. Hawk raised his hand which was fisted, however the other didn't make a move. There was something familiar about the way Hawk moved, full of grace and pride. His movement was precise and not wasted. He was slightly shorter than the other person however that didn't stop him. He shot his fist forward, the other's eye widening in surprise when he felt himself being poked in the forehead.

"Sas..Sasuke?"

Thanks to everyone that stuck around. Next chapter will be up as soon as possible. Hopey1