Naruto was sitting in his Hokage chair looking at the team in front of him. "Thank you for getting here so fast." He pulled out a file before opening it.
Looking closely Kuroto could see that it was hers, and one of the others was Kakashi's. "Where is Kakashi?" She asked looking around the room.
Naruto took a deep breath before performing his signature hand sign, in a poof of smoke an identical blond stood there only not wearing the Hokage cloak. In a flash of orange, the clone disappeared. "Give em a second." Naruto said smiling at the Nii woman.
"What are you…" She said before being cut off by the appearance of the clone holding a partially dressed Kakashi who had a toothbrush in his mouth.
"Was this necessary?" He asked looking over to the real Naruto. "I literally needed another minute before I'd be ready."
"You should've been ready twenty minutes ago." Kuroto said narrowing her eyes at the Uchiha.
"Hi." Kakashi said waving to the girl before turning to look at Naruto. "Why is she here?"
The clone disappeared dropping Kakashi on the ground holding his pants with only one leg in them. "The two of you are going on a joint village mission."
"Joint mission?" Kuroto asked raising an eyebrow and avoiding looking at the half dressed Uchiha who was fumbling to get his pants up.
"Yes." Naruto said reaching into a desk and pulling a mask out.
"You can't be serious." Kakashi said blankly. "She's good but I don't know if she can handle that."
"Ready for what?" Kuroto asked the two.
"What is about to be discussed is an S class secret in this village and I'm trust you with it because of how well I know your mother." Naruto said showing no signs of joking or talking lightly. "Do you understand what that means?"
"I do." Kuroto said nodding her head.
"Good." Naruto said gesturing to the mask. "These masks are worn by our elite assassination squad in the village. It was formally known as ROOT during the time of my predecessors. In recent years I've restarted the program under new leadership."
"Who's?" Kuroto asked.
"No one knows, besides Naruto." Kakashi said lazily while he mentally prepared himself.
"And I intend to keep it that way." Naruto said coldly. "ROOT is a group of elite ninja that do work in other capacities but will sometimes be given missions where they wear these masks."
"Like the Mist's hunter nin program?" Kuroto asked crossing her arms.
"Similar." Naruto said standing up and picking up the mask. "ROOT does not just hunt Leaf ninjas. From time to time they will also hunt other missing ninjas from other villages that have gone rogue and entered the Land of Fire."
He now stood in front of the Nii girl, "You don't have to take this mission but I could really use your help."
"Why?" Kuroto asked looking at him curiously.
"I saw what you were capable of during the tournament and I haven't seen many people like that at your age." Naruto said looking her straight in the eyes. "If I was being honest I don't think Kakashi would've been able to beat you had the final continued as planned."
The Cloud ninja looked at the Hokage in shock, and glanced at the Uchiha out of the side of her eye who looked like he was in his own world. "You're serious?"
"Deadly." Naruto said nodding his head. "For the time being I am giving you the chance to work with the ROOT team while you're in the village."
Kuroto looked to Kakashi who said nothing about the matter and pretended he hadn't heard anything. "Thank you Lord Hokage." She said gently reaching for the mask.
Naruto pulled it back slightly and kept his iron stare going. "Whatever you learn in ROOT is to be considered a secret of the Leaf. Your mother is already aware of me offering you the position and has approved it, if you want. I cannot stress enough, while you wear this mask and are on missions for all intents and purposes you are a Leaf ninja."
"I understand." She said nodding her head as she picked up the mask that looked like a cat.
"It's a coincidence." Naruto said shrugging his shoulders and going back to his chair. "Neko recently left the program so her mask was available."
Kuroto nodded as she looked at the mask.
"Alright." Naruto said sitting back down. "Now let's get down to business." Naruto said pulling out a scroll and handing it to Kakashi. "There's a former Cloud ninja in the Land of Fire that has been recruiting and training people and having them commit low level crime. We'd leave it to the Anbu normally but he is a Jonin so ROOT was the best option."
"Do we have a name?" Kakashi asked finally speaking again.
"All we have to go on is F." Naruto said calmly. "In the Cloud however that could mean he was somehow connected with a Raikage at some time."
"I've never met him." Kuroto said. "Only heard stories, by now he should be older."
"Only makes him more dangerous." Kakashi said calmly. "Beware the old where one usually dies young."
"Exactly." Naruto said nodding his head. "In history there has only been one Hokage that was able to retire and live. I'm unsure how similar the Cloud is, but we don't live long as ninja. For someone to get old it would make them either a coward or they're skilled."
"I'm going to assume skilled." Kuroto said rubbing her fingers along the mask in her hands. "For someone in the Cloud to earn a letter for a name they have to have shown great skill from a young age. My mother didn't even accomplish this feat."
"Do you want us to wipe out the camp, or just him?" Kakashi asked bypassing any more discussion.
"Yugito has requested a full extermination. He knows Cloud techniques and most likely passed them on to his followers." Naruto said resting his chin on his hands.
"Any idea where he is?" Kakashi asked the Hokage in a very casual manner.
"We have a few leads, it's all in the scroll." Naruto looked over to Kuroto. "Once you two leave the village you are only to refer to one another by your code names."
Kuroto was about to say something but Kakashi had already left the room in a blur of motion. "What's his codename?" She asked pointing to where he was standing.
Naruto let out a deep breath. "You'll figure it out." He said rubbing his eyes. "I also have an additional request while you're out there."
XXXX
Kakashi was leaning on the gate as Kuroto walked up to him. "After you fearless leader." She said gesturing to the path outside of the village.
"You sure you're ready for this?" Kakashi asked the girl. "It can get pretty gruesome out there."
"Let's just go." She said walking out of the village.
After a few moments she didn't hear anyone walking beside her so she turned around and saw that Kakashi wasn't where he was standing before. "Where did he?" She was about to ask as she turned around and came face to face with an orange spiraling mask with a single eye hole.
"Put on your mask." The upbeat man said as he started swaying from side to side. "See, Tobi already has his on." He said pointing to his face.
"Ok." Kuroto said confused as she slipped the mask on her face. "After you… Tobi." She said looking at him confused behind her mask.
"Wooooo!" Tobi shouted as he jumped onto a tree branch and started running. "Keep up Kitty!" He shouted behind himself.
"It's Neko!" The girl snapped following after the masked Uchiha.
XXXX
After a few minutes of travel Neko looked at Tobi before speaking. "Why are you acting so weird?"
"Tobi isn't acting weird silly." The masked man said waving her off. "Tobi is just being Tobi."
"Um, ok." The girl said looking around the area. "So how far away is F's camp?"
"Not too far." Tobi said in his usual off putting cadence. "We'll be there before you know it Kitty."
"It's Neko!" The girl shouted at her masked companion.
"Blah, blah." Tobi said using his hand to mimic her mouth. "Once we get to the camp, Tobi is going to complete his mission!" He shouted pushing his fist into the air.
"Is that why you're wearing that tanto?" She asked noticing the blade on his back.
"Tobi needs to be able to kill quickly." He said patting the handle of the blade. "There used to be an Uchiha who moved blindingly fast and used a Tanto."
"Is that his?" She asked.
"No." He said shaking his head. "This belonged to Kakashi." He said looking ahead. "He used it a lot when he was young, not so much when he got older."
"Oh." Kuroto said shaking her head as she wondered why Tobi was separating himself so much from Kakashi.
XXXX
A few hours later the duo was crouching in a tree above F's camp. "There's a lot of them." Neko said scanning the clearing.
"They're all weak." Tobi said happily. "If you use those abilities that Big Kitty gives you, you'll win no problem."
"Big Kitty?" Neko asked looking back at him. "You mean Matatabi?"
"Yes, Big Kitty." Tobi whispered as he gestured with his arms to mean big and held his hands out in front of him like cat paws.
"Won't that give me away?" She asked cocking her head to the side.
"Not if they're all dead." Tobi said in a much more sadistic voice than he had been using. "Kill as many as you can." He said standing up straight. "Tobi will get the rest." He said before leaping into the air above the camp.
In the air Tobi formed a set of hand signs. "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" He screamed still keeping his Tobi voice as multiple fire balls rained to the ground incinerating anyone in their path.
"We're under attack!" One of the men wearing a blank grey headband shouted. "Get Lord F!" He screamed before he saw a blade pierce his stomach.
"Gotcha!" Tobi said loudly as he wiggled the blade inside of the man before ripping it out and letting him fall to the ground. "You really shouldn't turn around when you're being attacked." He said looking at the dead man on the ground.
"You should take your own advice!" A large man behind Tobi screamed as he raised his fist to strike the mad man who jumped away from the attack as it crashed into the ground.
"Wow, you're really strong." Tobi said putting his hands on the sides of his head. "I bet I know a genin that would be the perfect sparring partner for you."
"Lord F doesn't even need to worry about you." The man said as he held his hands in a sign and extended his arm out. "Fry!" He screamed as an arc of lightning shot out of his hand going towards Tobi.
"Gah!" The masked man screamed jumping out of the way and landing on his face as he slid on the ground. He looked back up at the large man. "Careful, you could poke an eye out with that jutsu."
"Poke an eye out?" The man asked getting angry as he pointed his arm at Tobi again. "I'll show you poke an eye out."
"Tobi's going to show you a real lightning jutsu." He said performing a set of hand signs before lightning started to crackle around his hands and the sound of birds filled the air.
"Fry!" The man screamed as another bolt of lightning charged at Tobi.
The masked man waited until the last moment before he thrust his arm up cutting the lightning jutsu in two as it continued to fly past him. "Tobi's turn." He said in a very sadistic voice.
"How?" The man asked as Tobi barreled closer to him and shoved his arm elbow deep into the man's chest.
"Lightning Blade!" Tobi said excitedly as he pulled his arm out of the man who collapsed on the ground. "There's more to kill!" He shouted jumping deeper into the camp.
Neko found herself surrounded by ninjas. "Let's show her a good time." One of the men said cracking his knuckles.
"None of that." An older man said walking into the crowd. "She is a ninja, we shall treat her as one." He said resting his hands on the cane in his hands. "Kill her." He said dropping the happy tone he once had.
Neko braced herself back as she dodged a kunai that was thrown at her, after passing her the blade thumped into another waiting trainee. "Is that all you've got?" Neko asked looking around at the men surrounding her.
All of the fighters charged at her at once. Neko bent low to the ground before pouncing forward as her finger nails grew longer and she drove them into her first opponent before taking them out and slashing at the next nearest man.
She ducked under one who swung a large hammer over her head. She kicked back at him pushing him away from her. She grabbed onto the kunai from the dead man next to her and threw it at the hammer wielders head killing him instantly.
After a number of select moves later she stood in the center of a field of dead bodies when she heard clapping coming from behind her. "Marvelous." The old man said leaning on his cane again. "It has been a long time since I've had the pleasure of seeing that fighting style in action, Ms. Nii." The man said smiling at the girl.
"What?" Neko asked taking a step back from the man.
"I would say Mrs., but your mother wouldn't need to resort to a big fight like that. The power of the Two Tails is more than enough to turn this entire clearing into a smoking crater. I am however surprised that she let her daughter into a ninja hunter program."
He shrugged off the blanket that was draped over his back as he flexed his back muscles. "I suppose it has been a long time since I've been able to properly stretch my legs in a fight. Who better than the daughter of the Raikage?" He asked dropping his cane on the ground. "And besides, that fool of a friend you have is far too busy to help you now."
Neko braced herself for the fight ahead when in a blur her opponent was right in front of her swinging his fist at her. "You aren't fast enough child." He said slamming it into her stomach launching her into a nearby tree.
F looked proudly at the dust that was kicked up around the tree. "Shame." He said about to turn around.
"I haven't even gotten started." Neko said from within the dust as red chakra began to surround her body. "I'm going to kill you." She said as the animal inside was starting to peak through.
Within the eye holes F could see that Neko's eyes were now different colors. "Interesting." He said taking a taijutsu stance. "I've always wanted to fight someone with this kind of power."
XXXX
In another part of the camp Tobi had just cut down another man before leaping into the air and unwrapping a scroll that unleashed a barrage of kunai below him killing those that were trying to escape his wrath. "Mary, Mary quite contrary." Tobi sang as he landed on the ground pulling his tanto out. "How does your garden grow?" He asked charging forward and decapitating one of the still standing fighters. "With silver bells, and cockleshells?" He asked again throwing a set of kunai into another man. "And pretty Maids all around?" He asked once again as he held his hands together as water clones filled the area tackling everyone to the ground before they started to boil them alive.
"You guys are boring." Tobi said putting his tanto away and standing with his hands behind his head.
He turned around as he heard a loud crash in the distance. Sensing around the area he could only detect two sources of chakra and one of them was clearly Neko.
He ran to the area and looked at the destroyed terrain as Neko smacked a small old man into a tree.
"We both know that won't work." He said standing up again. "You can beat me all you want, but you'll never hurt me. My absorption jutsu negates all physical damage you do to me."
"Can't hurt to try." Neko said popping her neck as a second tail sprouted behind her.
"Bringing out the big guns I see." F said with a smile. "It doesn't matter, with this power I am invincible."
Neko charged forward slamming her fist into the man driving him to the ground. She continued to beat on him as she started to snarl from the pure animal chakra in her body.
Tobi slowly walked over and took a seat on a stool and watched the fight go on.
F kicked Neko into the air as he performed a set of hand signs. Clouds started to form in the area above them. "I stole this trick from the Leaf a few years back." He said with a smile. "Thank you for using so many fire jutsus just now." He said as the clouds above them started to flash with lightning.
"Kir…" he was cut off by someone grabbing his throat.
Neko looked at her opponent but was shocked to see that Tobi was already holding him by the throat. "No one hurts my friend anymore." Kakashi said not using the Tobi voice. "I'm curious." He said looking the small man as he lifted him into the air. "Just how much can your absorption absorb?"
F tried to speak but Tobi kept his grip tight. He started trying to scratch at the Tobi mask but his arms were too short to reach so he tried scratching Tobi's arm.
"Let's test your power." Tobi said his voice starting to return. "I want to see if I can make you bleed anyway." He said reaching for the tanto on his back.
Tobi looked at him closely and using his Sharingan he could see the layer of chakra over the man acting like a full body armor, only this armor had a constantly moving chink that he was going to exploit. "I see your weakness." Tobi said happily. "Now let's see." He said slicing at the old man's side as the moving weak spot went past his ribs.
"Look at all that blood." Tobi said before whistling. He wiped the bloody blade off on the man's shirt. "So you do bleed." He said cheerily. "That means you can die."
Fear was clear in F's eyes as he looked to Neko who's chakra had returned to normal as she silently watched what was happening.
"But I'm going to play with you first." Tobi said.
"No." Neko replied quickly. "He may be a rogue ninja, but he is still a ninja. Just kill him quickly so we can go back."
"Party pooper." Tobi said as he sunk his Tanto into the weak spot that had hovered over the man's shoulder forcing the blade to turn into F's neck. "Bye." Tobi said as he violently ripped the blade out killing the man quickly.
"Well that was fun." Tobi said dropping the man and turning around. "How many did you get?" He asked putting his hands on his hips.
"I wasn't counting." Neko said shaking her head.
"Oh well." Tobi said walking past her through a puddle of blood. "Let's go back to the village, I'll buy dinner."
XXXX
Back in the Hokage office Naruto was looking at the two masked ninjas in front of him. "The entire camp was dealt with?"
"Yep!" Tobi cheered putting his hand behind his head. "Even their boss who had this cool barrier jutsu."
"Well done." Naruto said standing up. "The mission is complete you may remove your masks."
Both of the Jonin took off the masks and looked at Naruto. "Discussion of the mission is top secret and should be treated as such after this. Good job on your first time out Kuroto." Naruto said noticing the amount of blood on Kakashi.
"Thank you Lord Hokage." Kuroto said with a short bow.
"Dismissed." Naruto said sitting back in his chair.
"I'm gonna clean up before we grab something to eat." Kakashi said walking over to the open window.
"Ok." Kuroto said as Kakashi jumped out of the window and into the rest of the village.
Naruto looked to the Cloud ninja. "How did your mission go?" He asked leaning back in the chair.
The girl let out a long breath. "It was terrifying."