"Our mission? But I thought you were allowed to tell us after we were here for one week," Sasuke says, frowning.
"That is true, but the Hokage sent a message telling me to give you the mission earlier than normal. The level of urgency has increased. We have suspicions that Orochimaru is hiding in the area. Sadly, we have evidence to confirm these suspicions. We also have evidence to believe that he will be acting faster than we have planned. Be wary. Be vigilant. Do not allow yourself to be caught without your weapons. Our mission is to eliminate the threat that Orochimaru poses on this school and its occupants," Kakashi explains quietly.
"Why would he attack this school?" Temari asks.
"He wants to harness the power of the 'mage'," Kakashi says taking out a scroll.
"What's a 'mage'?" Naruto asks while sitting cross-legged on the floor near the door.
Kakashi pushes everyone fully into the room and closes the door. He then holds the scroll in front of himself and lets it unravel. "A mage: a highly skilled magician who does not use ninjutsu, taijutsu, or genjutsu. They use magic: an unexplainable force that allows the user to do the impossible," Kakashi says, showing the scroll to everyone in the room. "This school is filled with mages. Even the principal that we talked to was a mage. They can protect themselves for the most part, but if they end up in a difficult situation we must protect them. We also have to protect the normal students in this school, without revealing our identities as ninja."
"Wait. Can we reveal ourselves to the mages?" Sasuke asks quietly.
"Yes. After today. Right this minute, all the mages in the school are being informed of us. They will aid us in our mission. I also have a list of the mages in this school." Kakashi says, taking out seven scrolls. He gives a scroll to Anko, Naruto, Tenten, Sasuke, Hinata, and Temari, while holding onto the last one.
"WHAT ABOUT ME, SENSEI!" Sakura yells, angrily.
"Well," Kakashi says quietly. "I also have an order from the hokage that you have to leave. She said we don't need any unnecessary casualties." He then turns to Ino, ignoring his female student's dumbfounded look. "She said that you can stay if you want to," he says, holding the scroll out in front of her.
"As I said to the class, I'm probably not gonna be here long. I know I can't do anything without Shikamaru or Chouji to back me up. I admit that. So, I'm gonna have to decline the offer. I'll just head back to the village and train. No big deal," Ino says, leaving the room.
'Wow,' Sasuke thinks, 'I'm impressed. I didn't think she would be the better person. I have a little more respect for her.'
"Hm…I did not expect that," Kakashi says, putting the scroll back into his pouch. He looks over at Sakura. "Well, you need to go. This is a top secret mission and it is only to be heard by the ears of those who the hokage allowed on this mission. You were not allowed on this mission, you must leave."
"FINE!" Sakura yells before she storms out of the dorm.
'Immature bitch,' Sasuke thinks, annoyed.
"Okay. Let's go introduce you to the mages at this school," Kakashi says as he leads the remaining ninja out of the dorm.
Hinata picks up the letter she finished and sends it off with one of the ninja birds that were sent for the purpose of sending letters back to Konoha.
"I called you all here because there is something important we need to discuss," Konoemon says as he walks up to a large group of mages.
"I would understand why you had called the mage teachers of Mahora to discuss something important. But why call on mere students?" Mitsuru Nijūin, a rather large mage teacher asks Konoemon, pointing to some of Negi's students.
"Because they know of our existence and we could use their help," Konoemon says.
"Why would we need their help?" Takamichi asks, walking into the room.
"You need all the help you can get because your lives are in danger. One of our enemies is attempting to gain a mage's power," Kakashi explains, walking in with all the ninja following behind him. Kakashi frowns slightly at the mass of people in the room. 'I had no idea that this many people at this school knew of mages.'
"Ah, Kakashi-san! Have you informed your team?" Konoemon asks, walking towards the group of ninja.
Kakashi nods and begins introducing each ninja. "This is Uchiha Sasuke, the resident emo of Konoha. Uzumaki Naruto, the number one hyperactive baka shinobi. Mitarashi Anko, the snake jounin. Hyuuga Hinata, the heir to the Hyuuga clan. Tenten, the best marksman in Konoha. Temari, the best…um…wind style fan user in Suna. And I am Hatake Kakashi, the copy ninja."
"Ninja?" Paru asks, glancing at Kaede. "So that's what you meant by 'cover'. That's what you were hiding."
"We never once said anything about a cover!" Sasuke says angrily.
"We know. We just read your minds!" Paru explains, an evil smile spreading across her face, causing Naruto to shudder. "There is nothing you can hide from us!" Sasuke glares at her.
"So, who's our enemy?" Takamichi asks, walking up and shaking Kakashi's hand.
"Orochimaru," Kakashi says, taking out the bingo book and opening it to Orochimaru's page. "One of the Legendary Sanin, Orochimaru's goal is to become immortal and to learn every jutsu. He's a Kage-level shinobi who uses the Kusanagi Sword. He was once a member of the evil organization called Akatsuki. If they get wind of what he's after and they realize the power of you mages, they might attempt to go after you as well. If it comes to that, we'll have to withdraw our ninja and send in more capable ones to fight."
"SENSEI! That's not fair! We're plenty strong," Naruto shouts, appalled that he would have to go back to Konoha just because the mission got 'too hard.'
"Yes, yes, yes," Kakashi says, annoyed with Naruto once again. "But if we have to go against ten S-ranked ninja, then you would surely die." Naruto freezes. The entire room falls silent at the mention of death. "I mean that for everybody, but you especially Naruto, if the Akatsuki comes, you have to go back to Konoha." Naruto looks down, his eyes hidden by his hair.
Negi frowns, "Why would he have to go back? Are you saying that he's not very strong?"
The shinobi look away silently. They all had the same thing on their minds. 'The Kyuubi.' "Let's just say that the Naruto has something that the Akatsuki wants."
"What would that be?" Negi asks, generally curious.
Naruto grimaces and clutches his stomach. 'That stupid fox has put me through hell already, must he do it again?' "It's not important." 'It would be better if they don't know. They could say that they were genuinely not involved.' "It'd just be better if you never know."
"You can't tell us?" Touko Kuzunoha asks, grasping her sword. "Then how will we be able to trust you?"
"Wait, if those Aka-whatevers are after power, wouldn't that mean that Naruto's strong? Or does it have something to do with that Kyuubi thing?" Kotaro asks, coming through the window. He points at Konoemon. "And you! You were gonna leave me outta this meeting, weren't you!"
"Guilty as charged," Konoemon says.
The room got unusually quiet after that comment. Kotaro looks over at the ninja to see if they had heard him. All the ninja had paled at the word 'Kyuubi'. "H-how do you know about the Kyuubi?" Kakashi asks, his eyes narrowing, hand instinctively heading for a weapon. Sasuke pulls out a kunai and glares at Kotaro, his Sharingan blazing. Hinata activates her Byakugan. Naruto grabs a few shuriken and looks at Kotaro suspiciously. Temari takes out her harisen and glares at the magi. Anko takes out a kunai. Tenten summons a large mace.
'Is the Kyuubi really something important enough to immediately go into 'fighting mode'?' Nodoka ponders, holding onto her card, just in case the ninja attack.
"I assure you, Kakashi-san, whatever this 'Kyuubi' or whatever is of no importance to us. I have no idea how Kotaro-kun had heard of it, but I will personally make sure that word does not spread; if that is your wish," Konoemon says, causing the ninja to slowly lower their weapons.
"First, how did you find out about the Kyuubi?" Sasuke asks, still glaring. "I'm asking because where we come from, it's an S-class secret that is punishable by death."
Kotaro looks at him in shock. "Punishable by death? Isn't that a little harsh? And I got it from Nee-chan; we read it in her book that can read minds," Kotaro explains quietly, pointing at Nodoka.
Sasuke raises an eyebrow and looks up at Kakashi. "Let me see the book," Kakashi says.
Nodoka nods quietly. "A-adeat!" Nodoka's card transforms into the Diarium Ejus. She hands it over to Kakashi.
He frowns and turns it over. 'Is this Latin?' He opens it and flips through it. Stopping on a random page, his thoughts begin to appear on the page. His eye widens slightly. 'This is bad! If they had been reading our thoughts, someone could've spilled some information they weren't supposed to.' He looks up at Negi and his class with a stern look. "When did you start reading our thoughts?"
"Um…since Nodoka-san asked you your names," Negi explains.
"You were in on this too?" Sasuke asks angrily.
"Um…we were just curious as to who you were because you didn't really explain much about yourselves!" Negi answers quickly, scared that the ninja would end up hating him.
Sasuke growls and takes a step forward. Naruto puts his hand in front of him, stopping him from moving any closer to the magi. "It's okay. We're going to have to work with them, they should know what happened," Naruto says with a sad smile.
"You didn't tell us until after the chunin exams. Telling us was hard enough for you; you shouldn't have to tell them if you don't want to!" Sasuke yells, still pissed off that his new "classmates" invaded his privacy by going through his thoughts.
"It's okay, I have to tell them. That is…if you tell me your story," Naruto says, staring directly at Negi. "What is your reason for training to get stronger?" Everyone falls silent as the two boys with tragic pasts stare at each other.
Yay! I'm done with one more chapter! Hope you liked it! ^-^ (sorry for the wait)
