The newly named team, Zetsu's Lucky Thirteen, gathers at the gates of Konoha to go to the Temple of Jashin. Wind and Rain are the first to arrive, followed by Madoka Haruno and his parents. Next to arrive are Kakashi and his wife and kids. Namiko, Iruka, Naruto, Kazama and Arashi arrive with five of Kurama's Guards soon after the Hatakes. Last to arrive is Sasuke with her parents and little brother.
"It looks like everyone is here already," Lord Fugaku says to everyone. "You had best be on your way. There is no time for loitering at the gates."
"Sweet, let's go, 'tebayo!" says Naruto and simply starts walking towards the gates.
Arashi grabs Naruto by the back of his chunin vest saying, "Aren't you forgetting something?"
"Like what?" asks Naruto, screwing up is face in confusion. "I packed plenty of spare undies."
Arashi sighs. "No Naruto, it is something far more important," he says gravely. Then he hugs Naruto incredibly tightly. "We need to have good-bye hugs!"
"Exactly," agrees Kazama, hugging Naruto from the opposite side to Arashi.
Apparently agreeing with that sentiment, Madoka's mother crushes Madoka in a hug. Sasuke's mother gives her crippled daughter a much more gentle hug than Naruto and Madoka are getting.
"Make sure you eat properly," Madoka's mother says.
"You better not flaunt your grounding sentence while you are on this mission," says Lord Fugaku to Sasuke. "I told all Kurama's Guards and Wind and Rain the rules you have to follow because I know Kakashi does not care what you do because you aren't his kid."
Sasuke rolls her eyes, but Madoka nods obediently.
Wind glances over at Kakashi to see his reaction to Fugaku's warning, only to see that Kakashi is not paying any attention to the rest of the group at all. Kakashi is, in fact, off to one side kissing Tenzou. Kakashi has his mask down, however, due to the angle Wind is looking at Kakashi from, she cannot see his face. Aki is standing off to one side with Minoru in her arms pulling disgusted faces. However, Aki does not look as though she is about to stop watching her parents kiss. Wind nudges Rain and points out what Kakashi's little family is up to.
"Aww," coos Rain.
"That's so cute," whispers Wind, giggling.
Apparently finished hugging the stuffing out of Naruto, Arashi and Kazama turn their attention onto Namiko and Iruka. By giving his adoptive parents their goodbye hugs willingly, Iruka escapes being crushed like Naruto was. Namiko, however, is reluctant to give out hugs and consequently nearly gets squeezed flat.
Kakashi finishes snogging his wife and pulls his mask back up. Then he crouches down and hugs both his kids at once. "You two be good," he says. "And don't go breaking any more windows, Aki."
"Yes, Dad!" says Aki loudly.
"Good girl," smiles Kakashi. Then he releases his kids and straightens up. "Alright, Team," he says, turning to the gathered crowd. "Let's be on our way."
Zestu's Lucky Thirteen sets off with Kakashi in the lead and Wind and Rain bringing up the rear. Kurama's Guards space themselves out in a defensive formation around the rest of the team. Madoka and Naruto wave over their shoulders to the people standing in the gates seeing them off.
Yugito Nii of the Hidden Cloud is napping in a tree. Originally, she was hiding from that irritating Killer Bee, but the tree she chose to hide in turned out to be comfortable, so Yugito decided to take a nap. The sun is warm on Yugito's skin, and her tree provides just enough shade that it is not overbearing. She is not quite properly asleep yet, and she sighs sleepily, shifting her weight slightly in order to make herself more comfortable.
Just as Yugito is finally falling asleep properly, she is shaken awake by a messenger. "Lady Nii," the messenger says urgently. "Lord Raikage wants you in his office right away!"
Yugito growls slightly in annoyance and leaps down from the tree, ignoring the messenger. Yugito heads to the Raikage Tower by the scenic route, taking her sweet time. He who summons Yugito when she does not want to be summoned must wait for her to grace him with her presence. Even if it is the Raikage.
When Yugito deigns to appear in the Raikage's office half an hour later, Lord A is visibly peeved. "You called?" says Yugito in a stuffy tone of voice. She pointedly ignores the ten strange people in classy uniforms that are waiting around in Lord A's office.
"THAT WAS AN HOUR AGO!" roars A. "And these people came a long way just to find you!"
Yugito turns to look at the ten people in uniform and notices an eleventh - a plain woman dressed in red and black. The woman smiles at Yugito, and Yugito finds herself unable to help smiling back. "You should fire the messenger," Yugito say haughtily. "He took half an hour just to find me."
One of the ten uniformed people laughs smoothly, covering her mouth with a delicate hand.
"Don't encourage her!" growls Lord A, wagging a finger at the uniformed lady. Then Lord A turns back to Yugito and says, "This lot say they are some ancient order called Matatabi Guards, and the red one says she's one of Kurama's Guards. The guards are here to protect you and the Two Tails, and the red one brought them here with a letter from the Hokage confirming their legitimacy. They're all yours, now get them out of my office and find somewhere for them to live."
"Of course," says Yugito, yawning. She is glad that Matatabi is asleep right now, or who knows how excited the cat would be. Matatabi has mentioned her Guards many times, and she and Yugito often left the village to search for them. However, they never get very far before being dragged back to the Cloud for some reason or other.
All ten of the Guards still wear their original uniform. They are all wearing black trousers, shirts and shoes. Their blue calf-high spats and blue, tailed frock coats add an air of class and sophistication to their uniforms. The buttons on the left side of their outfits are all the same green as Matatabi's left eye, and the buttons on the right side of their uniforms are the same yellow as her right eye. Each Guard has a gilt broach in the shape of a sprig of catnip pinned to their left lapel. Next to the member of Kurama's Guards, Matatabi's Guards look prim and polished.
Once she has led Matatabi's Guards outside, Yugito leds them around the side of the Raikage tower to a small park and sits down, motioning for the Guards to do so as well. "I am Yugito Nii," she introduces herself. "While we wait for Matatabi to wake from her second afternoon nap, I would like to tell you that the two of us set out to search for you all many times, but had no success. I am glad that this member of Kurama's Guards found you all and brought you here."
"Kurama himself sent me," says Kurama's Guard. "One of us is also looking for Gyuukui's Guards. They will be here in a day or two, so I would advise going into hiding until they have arrived and settled down."
"Thank you for the warning," says Yugito, feeling a shiver crawl down her spine. "We shall go into hiding forthwith. There is no knowing if Matatabi will wake in two seconds or two years, and since she is always angry when woken, I will not wake her. Now, please: tell me all your names."
Matatabi wakes to the smell of fish cooking. She can smell it through Yugito's seal, a phenomenon that only occurs with fish and catnip.
Matatabi stretches and yawns. Yugito! She calls out to her jinchuuriki.
For once, Yugito answers right away. Matatabi, you are finally awake. Wait one moment. A moment or two later, Yugito's consciousness appears inside the seal. There are ten others with her.
Matatabi's Guards.
Look who turned up in the Cloud while you were sleeping! Says Yugito.
How long have they been here?! Demands Matatabi, wiping her tails back and forth. Why didn't you wake me?
You made it clear so many times never to wake you, says Yugito, taking a step backwards. We didn't dare to try and wake you.
This is the one thing I would have excused being woken for, says Matatabi, calming down slightly. She never did tell Yugito to wake her right away if her Guards appeared while Matatabi was sleeping. Now, my Guards. Tell me your names, and which of the guards who knew me that you are related to. I wish to know your pedigrees.