Eclipse of the Moon: Prelude
A/N: This is my first fan fic so please be kind with the reviews. Critique is welcome. If you see that I get a Jutsu wrong or something is out of place, let me know. I've only seen up to episode 90 of the anime. Also, keep in mind that this is AU so some things might be out of place.
Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine, but some Jutsu's I made up, same with a few characters.
Kakashi leaned back against the tree in which he had perched himself to read his book in peace. He noticed that lately Naruto kept trying to read over his shoulder and he didn't think the book was proper reading for the twelve year old Genin. Hell, it wasn't proper reading for anyone in general. He smiled beneath his mask as he turned the page but that smile faded quickly. He had just finished the book. He sighed and tucked the book away in his vest for safe keeping until he could pick up the latest copy. He was just about to head home when he heard a squeal from below. Curious, he leaned to the side to see what all the noise was about.
"Ooo! Look Sasuke-kun! There's an exhibit in the Rock country!" Sakura squealed happily as she waved a flyer in the Uchiha's disgruntled face.
Sasuke grunted in acknowledgment and continued cleaning his kunai, which Kakashi noted, was already clean. The young Uchiha must have been only doing it now in hopes that Sakura would leave him be.
"C'mon, Sasuke-kun! It looks like fun! I think we should ask Kakashi-sensei if we can all go." She said as she leaned over the seated boy in front of her. "It has displays of all sorts of different Jutsus." She said trying to at least get his full attention. She knew he had a soft spot for learning new moves, but his Sharingan made it easy enough. All he had to do was see a move once and he knew it.
"What kind of displays?" He asked as he looked up at her for a moment.
"It says that they are sculptures, but in this picture they look so real." She said as she handed him the flyer.
Sasuke took it without comment and glanced at the picture, "Real. Right." he said as he rolled his eyes and handed the flyer back, "They don't look so real to me." He said with a grunt as he stuffed the Kunai into his holster and pulled out a rather dull looking shiruken and started rubbing the oiled cloth on it instead.
Sakura's shoulders slumped forward, "Aw c'mon. I think it would be a great learning experience." She said with a half pout as her inner self cursed at Sasuke furiously. Why did he always have to be so difficult?
"Then ask Kakashi-sensei."
Sakura stood with her hands on her hips now, "Well I would, but I can't find him."
"Did you try looking up?" Sasuke asked as he looked straight up at Kakashi and nearly startled the Jounin out of the tree.
Sakura did just that and when she saw Kakashi-sensei she waved the flyer in his direction, "Well, Sensei? What do you think?"
Kakashi dropped out of the tree and landed in a crouch beside Sasuke, "Depends on where in the Rock country it is. Konoha isn't on very friendly terms with some villages there." He said as he stood and took the flyer from Sakura. Seeing that the location of the exhibit was in Yamakage City, well known for it's large marketplace, it seemed safe enough.
Yamakage. Named as such because the city was situated at the base of a mountain and was dark for the better part of the day because of the mountain's shadow.
"Well?" Sakura asked as she looked up to Kakashi with what could be best described as puppy dog eyes.
Kakashi shrugged, "I'll have to ask the Hokage. I'll let you guys know tomorrow after training. Mind you, if you guys get lazy, I won't even think about taking you." he said with a tone that clearly said 'The harder you guys train tomorrow, the better your chances of going'.
Sakura nodded, "Hai, Sensei!" she also shot a glare at Sasuke. If he really didn't want to go, he might get lazy tomorrow.
Sensing the glare from his pink haired teammate he shook his head, "Don't worry, I won't slack off. Just make sure Dobe does as he's supposed to." Sasuke said as he deposited the Shuriken in his holster and stood up.
Sakura mentally slapped herself, She better go and let Naruto know what the deal was. If he didn't see anything in it for him, he might slack off as usual, "Good point, Sasuke-kun."
"Do what you guys have to do. I'm off the see the Hokage." Kakashi said as he disappeared in a poof of smoke.
Sakura coughed slightly and turned to say something to Sasuke but he too had disappeared. She frowned and headed to Ichiraku to talk to Naruto.
"Can I have another Miso and pork ramen please?" Naruto asked the older man behind the counter at Ichiraku.
The old man sighed, "Last one, alright?"
"Hai, Jiji-san!" Naruto said with a wide grin. He was lucky that Iruka-sensei had given him over a dozen coupons for a free meal at Ichiraku for helping round up a few stray kids from last week's forest hike. Poor Iruka-sensei had lost three of his students. Luckily Naruto had been training in the forest and heard the kids calling for the rest of the class. He rounded them up and brought them back to the trail they had wondered off from.
The old man plucked up one of the vouchers off the stack Naruto had placed on the counter and dropped a fist sized wad of ramen into a fresh bowl and handed it to Naruto, "Enjoy." He said boredly as he turned to start scrubbing the other half a dozen bowls Naruto had already emptied.
Naruto picked up his chopsticks and was about to start eating when a brightly colored piece of paper was thrust before his face.
"Nani?" Naruto was so surprised that he almost tumbled backwards off his stool.
"You're going with us Naruto." He heard Sakura say from behind him.
"Eh? Sakura-chan? Going where?" He said as he turned to come face to face with his favorite pink haired genin.
"This." She said as she jabbed the paper with her finger, "So train hard tomorrow, okay?"
Naruto narrowed his eyes and snatched the paper from her hands, "So, what is it?" he demanded as he scanned over the flyer.
"A Jutsu Exhibit. If we train hard tomorrow, we might get to go. Kakashi-sensei needs to clear it with Hokage-Sama first though." She said as she snatched the flyer back.
"Fine, wasn't like I was going to slack off tomorrow anyways." Naruto grumbled and turned back to his food.
"You better not!"
Sarutobi stood on a balcony in the Hokage building, over looking the village below him. He felt a presence behind him but didn't even bother to turn around, "Ah, Kakashi-san. What brings you here?" He said as he threw a glance over his shoulder to see Kakashi step up beside him.
"Hokage-sama. Sakura-chan brought this to my attention, and I thought it best if I brought it to yours." Kakashi said as he handed Sarutobi a copy of the flyer.
"Oh?" He was curious. It was rare that Kakashi brought anything to his attention, it was usually the other way around. He took the flyer and looked it over with mild curiosity.
Kakashi felt he should explain, "I'm only bringing it to you because of-"
"The recent disappearances in the area, correct?" Sarutobi finished Kakashi's sentence.
Kakashi nodded, "Hai. Think there's a connection?"
"Possibly, the demonstration in this photo looks remarkably like one of the missing Kunoichi of the sand." He tapped the picture, "Do you know anything of this Hayashi person that claims responsibility?"
Kakashi shook his head, "No, there's no Hayashi in the bingo book. I checked before I came here."
Sarutobi nodded before looking back out over the village, "Go ahead and take your team. Prepare them as if it were a B-Rank mission. If this show is some sort of cover for something bigger, I expect you and your team to get to the bottom of this, understood?"
Kakashi paused for a moment before nodding, "Hai. Hokage-sama."