AN: HOLY SHIT GUYS, WE PASSED 1K COMMENTS! Thank you all so much for your love and support, it means so much to me! I hope you enjoy the chapter.
Kakashi was not ready to face the Hokage the next morning, but he had to anyways. He had been called back to discuss the scroll he'd been given a few days prior; the one that had tipped him off about his students. The one Hiruzen suspected of holding hidden information. Since Kakashi hadn't made a report on his findings yet, he had to do so now. And God was he dreading it.
"Kakashi," Hiruzen started, eyeing him with tired eyes. Arresting your student would do that to you, he figured. Though Kakashi had no sympathy to give, considering everything he'd just learned last night.
"What did you find?"
It was moments like these Kakashi was grateful for his mask. "Nothing, Lord Hokage," he lied. "I didn't detect any hidden codes or ciphers with my sharingan."
"So everything in the scroll is authentic?" The third asked in clarification.
Technically… "Yes." Succinct and to the point. And technically not a lie. And even so, the best farce was the one based on truth.
"Good," the Hokage sighed before him. "I'm glad. I wouldn't put it past Orochimaru to have done something like that."
Kakashi remained silent, figuring it best not to add his own musings on the subject. In fact, he had other topics on his mind…
"What of Suna's jinchuuriki?" He asked. Gaara, Naruto has called him. The fifth Kazekage and a good friend. Although he wasn't quite that person yet.
"Arrested earlier this morning," Hiruzen replied levely. "As the second exam ended today and all our information was confirmed, we saw fit to finally put all the Suna and Oto ninja in custody."
Kakashi hummed thoughtfully.
"And his seal?" He asked, referring to the relatively unstable nature of it.
"Taken care of," the Hokage said. "For now."
So a patch job. Or perhaps just more potent chakra dampeners. Either way they would need a more permanent solution. Unfortunately that solution was abroad and writing porn.
"I see," Kakashi said. "Now, if I am no longer needed…"
"Go ahead," Hiruzen dismissed, waving him off. "Your genin probably need you. They've been through quite the ordeal."
Kakashi snorted under his breath as he bowed farewell. "That they have."
"We should tell Karin," was the first thing out of Naruto's mouth when his team came to pick him up the next day.
They were all standing in the doorway, waiting on him to get his things so they could head out when he had suggested it. Technically he was also still on bedrest and shouldn't be going anywhere,but with his natural Uzumaki energy and Kurama, he knew it wouldn't take as long as it would for normal people. So he had no qualms about agreeing to a team meeting today. What he was having an issue with though was his house guest. Or more specifically, how he was going to keep such a massive secret from her in the long run.
Ultimately he decided he wouldn't be able to. Which led him to now.
Sakura stared at him, dumbfounded. "No!" She cried. "She barely knows us."
Growling, Naruto stepped outside and shut the door behind him with his good arm, effectively blocking Karin from possibly overhearing their conversation.
"Look, she's family. Family doesn't keep secrets from each other."
"That's rich," Sakura deadpanned, obviously referring to her parents and how they thought she was still twelve. Naruto just rolled his eyes in response.
"Yeah but like, they're your parents," he argued. "She's my cousin. I don't wanna start things out by lying!"
"We don't know how she would respond," Kakashi-sensei cut in. "It's too much of a risk."
Desperately, Naruto looked to Sasuke. He had spent the most amount of time with her. He probably knew her best. Sakura, catching on to his thinking, followed suit.
Finally the Uchiha seemed to notice all eyes were on him. Sighing heavily, he shifted his weight and shrugged. "She's loyal, I'll give her that. Even after I stabbed her she still stood by my side."
("You stabbed her?"
"Not now, sensei.")
"Regardless," Sasuke pushed. "I can vouch for her."
Naruto nodded exuberantly. "Yeah sensei, see!"
"I didn't say it was a good idea though."
Naruto just rolled his eyes in response. "That's what you said about my sexy jutsu and look how that turned out."
The furious blush on Sakura's face and absolute deadpan on Sasuke's made Kakashi-sensei decide that particular conversation was better left unheard.
"Alright fine," the jōnin finally sighed. "I've heard your case. But we should get going. Naruto, get your shoes and say bye to Karin."
Naruto nodded before heading back instead to hid his cousin farewell for the day. Five minutes later they were all ready to head to their training ground.
"Okay, first off," their sensei said as they arrived at training ground 7. "Let's start this meeting off by you three transforming into your older selves."
The statement was met with three confused stares. Sighing, the jonin went on to elaborate. "It's still hard to take you seriously when you look like children," he admitted. "I want to see what I'm actually working with, here."
The three nodded in understanding, all moving to form the ram hand sign.
When the cloud of smoke dissipated, their sensei was left facing three teenagers, all almost a foot taller than before.
They were all wearing the clothing they had in the war, instead this time it was intact. Sakura was missing her byakugō and Sasuke his rinnegan, but Naruto supposed that was because they hadn't seen it for themselves yet.
But their sensei had to focus on one detail.
"Sasuke, where's your headband?" Kakashi-sensei asked. Team 7 froze.
Right. They hadn't told him Sasuke had become a rogue ninja. Nor had they explained his relationship with Orochimaru. Panicking, Naruto and Sakura looked over to the Uchiha to see what he'd say, at a loss for words themselves.
"I was kidnapped by Orochimaru for three years," he answered simply. "I didn't mention it because it wasn't relevant." AKA, he hadn't thought of an excuse until just last night.
"Not relevant?" Their sensei echoed.
"It was an uneventful three years."
And that was the end of that.
If Sakura and Naruto had been sweating bullets the entire time, neither Sasuke or Kakashi-sensei needed to know.
"Alright then," their sensei sighed. "What are your ranks?"
"Chunin," Sakura immediately answered. "Possibly being considered for jōnin due to my efforts in the war as both chief medic and front line fighter."
Kakashi-sensei rose an eyebrow at the proclamation. "If you're a medic, you wouldn't be a frontline fighter," he stated simply. Sakura just smirked in response.
"Not unless you've mastered the byakugō," she smiled, referencing the seal both she and Lady Tsunade had mastered.
"...Ah," was all their sensei said. Sakura's smile widened. It was nice to see her sensei finally fearing her strength once again. "And uh, Naruto?" He continued.
Naruto straightened up and pointed a thumb at his headband. "Next in line for Hokage, y'know!" He exclaimed. Kakashi-sensei didn't seem impressed, though.
"I understand that," he said. "But what's your rank?"
Naruto visibly deflated. He looked down at his sandals before answering. "... Genin," he finally mumbled.
"Genin?" Their sensei echoed, clearly trying to hide his shock.
Naruto shrugged. "I just like, never got around to it, y'know?"
"Never got around to it?" He echoed again.
Naruto puffed up angrily. "We were a little busy, ok!"
His sensei finally let out an exasperated sigh before turning to their last teammate. "And Sasuke?" He asked. "Surely you're at least a chunin."
What a vote of confidence, Naruto thought with a role of his eyes.
"No," Sasuke replied coolly. "Genin."
The sweatdrop from their sensei was truly one to behold.
It was almost an hour later when they'd finished up explaining their skill set and ranks to their sensei. He was now all caught up on their techniques: Sasuke's Mangekyō and rinnegan, Naruto's Kyuubi and sage mode, and Sakura's byakugō and strength. They'd also explained all the other jutsu they'd picked up along the way. Sasuke talked about how he was a skilled swordsman now, as well as having mastery of the chidori like Kakashi-sensei had never seen. Naruto went into how he'd finally perfected his dads rasengan, using sage mode to enhance its power and range. Sakura didn't have much to add, but she noted how her medical prowess had earned her the rank of chief field medic in the war.
Suffice to say, Kakashi-sensei had been impressed by all of it.
But they still had things to cover.
"While I'm glad you all turned out to be exceptional shinobi," he said. "We still have to deal with today's problems. First things first," he crossed his arms seriously. "Gaara."
The teenagers in front of him, still in their henged forms, nodded seriously, their easy expressions gone in a flash.
Kakashi-sensei continued on. "He's the most immediate threat," he said in reference to Suna's jinchuuriki. "Currently being detained as we speak now that the second exam is over." The three teens in front of him nodded along, taking in the information with cool professionalism. "Currently I doubt the Third knows what to do with him, as he's both the Kazekages son and the jinchuuriki of Suna."
"It'd cause an international incident," Sakura announced. "If we were to execute him as protocol demands if it were under normal circumstances."
Kakashi-sensei nodded. "Sakura's right."
"So then what do we do?" Naruto asked.
"That's where this gets tricky," the jōnin admitted. "What did you all do last time?"
"Well," Naruto started, thinking back to the original chunin exams. "He kinda went crazy and leveled a forest."
"And he almost killed Sakura," Sasuke added.
"Hm, let's not repeat that."
Sakura scoffed. "Please."
"Besides," Naruto continued. "He and his siblings got away anyway. They escaped while Orochimaru was battling Old Man Third."
"To which Lord Hiruzen lost," Kakashi-sensei surmised, remembering their account of it. The three teenagers nodded. "Taking into account everything that you've said about him in the future, he's a good person," he continued. "Would you say so?"
Naruto nodded enthusiastically. "He's awesome, y'know!"
"But right now he's a murderous psychopath," Sasuke noted
"Right now," Naruto amended. "But not later."
"Which is why I'm wondering how we get to that point," Kakashi-sensei wrapped up. "You said he changed his ways because you beat him. Well, there's no way we can reenact that scenario seeing as he's behind bars."
Naruto frowned, thinking. Next to him Sakura was doing the same, chewing on her lip as she did so. It was a habit she'd unfortunatly picked up while studying medical ninjutsu. Meanwhile Sasuke didn't look the east bit contemplative.
"Wait," Naruto suddenly spoke up. The rest of the team could practically see the lightbulb over his head signaling an epiphany. "Shukaku is the reason he's so crazy," he said. "If I just tell Shukaku to quit it, he should be fine, right?"
Looks of disbelief greeted him from all sides.
"Naruto, how the hell would you do that?" Sakura asked. Her puzzled expression was mirrored on both their sensei and Sasuke.
"Through our mindscape, duh," he replied. "I learned the trick from Octopops."
"Octopops?" Kakashi-sensei echoed.
Next to him, Sakura sighed. "He means Killer Bee, the hachibi jinchuuriki."
"Anyways," Naruto said. "Kurama and I can talk to him," he insisted. "I just need to get into the prison to see him."
"Which is impossible," Sasuke countered. "He's guarded by loads of ANBU or jōnin. There's no way you could get in."
"Ah, but that's where you're wrong," their sensei quipped cheerfully. All three of them turned to face him with matching frowns.
"What's that supposed to mean, y'know?" Naruto asked skeptical.
The mischievous glimmer in his eye sparkled with untapped mirth. "Who said you had to sneak in?"
AN: Hey guys, did you know this fic is being translated into Spanish! If you want to check it out you can find it here on Youtube! It's being done in audio format, so it'll be like a podfic.
Also, I may have to go on a temporary hiatus. School is kicking my ass. I'm so busy I can't even afford to have a job. I hope you can all be patient with me as I sort through that :D
Thank you for reading!
