'Can we have a C-rank?' Naruto asked. 'I am so tired of being asked why I can't speak!'
'Me too!' Sasuke signed.
"Well, it just so happens that we have a joint mission with Uzushio," the Hokage said, picking up a scroll. "Bandit extermination."
Kakashi looked at his genin. "You good with that?"
Naruto nodded hesitantly, and so did Sasuke. Shikamaru just yawned, and Kakashi took that as a yes.
"We'll take it, Hokage-sama," Kakashi said. "Do we know which Uzu team we're doing it with?"
"Shisui Akai Arashi Uzumaki is listed as the jounin sensei if you know him."
Sasuke perked up. 'Yeah, we know him. Don't know his team though.'
The Hokage nodded. "Alright then. Here's the mission scroll. Shisui-san and his team will be waiting for you at the Uzu shoreline."
Kakashi nodded, taking the scroll, then ushering his students out.
Once outside, he scanned the scroll. "Alright, go home and pack for a couple of weeks. We meet at the gate in two hours."
The three nodded, Shikamaru separating to head to the Nara compound, and Naruto and Sasuke heading to their shared apartment.
They met Shisui on the shore to Uzu, as the Hokage had said.
"Hello!" Shisui shouted as soon as they were in earshot. "Fancy getting you as our accompanying team!"
Kakashi shrugged. "My poor little genin were getting annoyed with all of the curious civilians."
Shisui nodded. "Understandable. I went to the trouble of teaching my adorable little genin Konoha SSL for a reason."
"Something you forgot to explain, Shisui-sensei" one of the two female genin, a red-head with orange eyes said, mild irritation in her tone.
"Oops, well, this is Kakashi's team of cute little genin, and 2/3rds of them are mute!"
'The other third is too lazy to bother speaking most of the time,' Naruto signed, laughing silently.
"Why don't you introduce yourselves?" Kakashi said.
"Umihebiro. You can call me Umi." The red-head with the orange eyes said. "I'm from the Iyashino Shio branch."
"Yunikon," the male genin said, adjusting his sunglasses. He had red hair too, as did their third teammate. "I'm from the Difenda no Shio branch."
"Mameidoko. You can call me Eidoko," she had bluish-green eyes, and much darker red hair then her teammates. "I'm from the Akai Arashi branch."
'Naruto Uzumaki! Semari-baa-chan says I'm from the Hogo Uzu branch!'
'Sasuke Uchiha.'
'Shikamaru Nara.'
"Nice to meet you," Yunikon said, smiling. "Where is our joint mission actually going to be? You never said, Shisui-sensei."
Shisui glanced at Kakashi to see if he was going to tell them and realized that no, the lazy jounin wasn't. "A small town just a little ways from here. It's right on the border, which is why this is a joint mission instead of just one village or the other."
Kakashi nodded. "Also, Hokage-sama and Semari like to have joint missions, especially before Chuunin Exams, just to get a better feel for the teams the other will be sending. And let the genin get to know each other."
"So, we will be going to the Chuunin Exams," Eidoko said, grinning. "Nice!"
"I can still not nominate you!" Shisui threatened, grinning just as widely. "I haven't done that yet! It's still theoretical at this point."
His genin frowned at him.
"Just saying!" Shisui chirped. "Ah shoot, that means I have to go to Konoha. Drat."
"You'll be fine" Kakashi dismissed.
Shisui raised an eyebrow at him and gestured to his left arm. "I only have so many lives, Hatake!"
Kakashi waved a hand. "You've got at least seven more."
"I am not a cat, Hatake. I don't even summon them!"
Yunikon sidled over to Sasuke. "Do you know what they're arguing about? Why can't Shisui-sensei go back to Konoha?"
'Oh, He's supposed to be dead in Konoha. Konoha thinks he killed himself,' Sasuke signed, 'He's my cousin.'
"Uh, you're an Uchiha, he's an Uzumaki," Yunikon pointed out.
'He wasn't an Uzumaki for the first 16 years of his life,' Sasuke signed. 'He was attacked by a bad dude in Konoha, and that dude poisoned him, so he fell off a cliff, but Orochimaru-san found him and saved his life.'
"Ah, I see, I think. So Semari took him in and made him an Uzumaki. Wait, if he was an Uchiha, why are his eyes like that?"
'The bad guy stole one of his eyes, and he gave the other to his friend. Orochimaru-san gave him new ones. Shisui doesn't mind,' Naruto volunteered.
"I would hope not, not being able to see stinks."
"You would know," Umi agreed. "Being blind and all."
'You're blind?' Shikamaru asked. 'How are you knowing what we're signing?'
Yunikon tapped his sunglasses. "They have seals on them that bypass my optical nerve, connecting it to my glasses instead, which let me see."
Naruto touched his throat, tilting his head.
Yunikon got the gesture's meaning and shrugged. "It may be possible to adapt it for bypassing your damaged vocal cords, but I'm not an Iyashino Shio branch member."
"I am," Umi offered. "It should be possible, but I wouldn't be able to draw up a prototype for now. And it'd need something to latch onto, something that would go around your throat. Not to mention you would have to relearn to speak, and remember to put it on, well, it would be an interesting adjustment."
'Troublesome,' Shikamaru signed, yawning.
"Whatever," Shisui said, folding his arms and turning away from Kakashi. "We'll deal with it later."
Naruto glanced between them for a bit, then shrugged, and started signing. 'So, are we doing this, or not?'
Shisui perked up slightly. "Right! This way. Bandit camp over there!"
"Shisui-sensei?" Umi asked quietly, tugging on his sleeve.
"Yeah?"
"Would now be an appropriate time to summon?"
Shisui tilted his head, surveying the bandit camp they were watching. "Sure, we could probably use the help."
"Your kids can summon already?" Kakashi hissed to Shisui.
"Uzushio kids can summon when jounin get them," Shisui whispered back. "And I got these ones second hand."
Umi, ignoring the jounin, bit her thumb, drawing blood, and slamming her hand down on the ground. A puff of smoke appeared, and when it cleared, a girl stood there. She had dark blue skin and hair, except for a thick stripe of tan running down her stomach, and yellow on her sides.
She glanced around, noting the bandit camp. "Hello!" She said quietly.
"Anmari," Umi greeted.
The newly named Anmari turned to face her summoner. "Oh, Umi! I haven't been summoned by you in a while! Who're they?"
"Anmari, meet my team, Yunikon, and Eidoko, and the non-redhead teens are a Konoha team."
'Hi!' Naruto sighed, waving.
Anmari waved back. "Name?"
'Naruto Uzumaki!' Came the enthusiastic reply.
Anmari inclined her head. "Nice to meet you, Naruto. Is there a reason you're from Konoha?"
Naruto chuckled soundlessly, rubbing the back of his head. 'Ah, my mother was an Uzumaki, and she lived in Konoha. Got my dad's coloring.'
"Ah," Anmari said. She turned to Sasuke. "You are?"
'Sasuke Uchiha,' Sasuke replied, nodding politely. 'That's Shikamaru Nara.'
"From the clan of lazy geniuses?" Anmari asked, a faint smile on her face.
Sasuke and Naruto nodded in sync. Anmari snickered softly. "So, what's going on?" She asked, glancing at the bandit camp. "Other than a joint mission."
"Bandit extermination," Umi said, glancing at their still arguing sensei.
Anmari nodded. "Alright, I can work with that!"
'So, why are you the Iyashino Shio branch's summons?' Shikamaru wondered.
Anmari grinned, showing a different set of teeth, this set all sharp and pointy. "Mers have a high affinity for healing jutsu."
"And their chakra is basically entirely nature chakra, so they can heal a lot easier and do more water jutsu than most people," Umi agreed.
Anmari smiled again, the sharp teeth no where in sight. "Shisui Uzumaki, Kakashi Hatake," she greeted.
"Anmari," Shisui replied. "You're partnered with Rogan, right?"
Anmari nodded, smiling. "That's right. I assume you've met him?"
Shisui nodded. "So, everyone ready now?" The genin nodded obligingly, and Shisui grinned. "Let's go then."
(A/N) Annmarie, or Anmari, is from the same universe as the Emma that appeared in Lilo n Stitch, if you're wondering. Yes, they know each other. Honestly, like everyone from that universe knows each other… Anyway, I have a poll, so go see that, and yeah!