Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction, I own none of it.

Summary: A more rational Danzo takes on team 7. The world changes accordingly

Chapter 19 - Missions pt.1

Note: I'm gonna break from the timeline for a bunch of filler and movie missions and just have them happen whenever I want. Sorry not sorry.

It had only been two or three days since the sand trio had talked to the new Hokage, strange as that encounter was. And yet here they were standing inside Konoha's gates, looking out at the new bridge not far from the gate. A massive Torii gate marking the entrance, and bearing a massive braiser. The Torii gate seemed almost as if it had grown into shape, and was trimmed by beautiful sealing lines that, if Temari were to guess, kept the brazier alight without fuel. Even from here she could make out the kanji for "Shimura Memorial Bridge".

The fact that it was over a ravine that hadn't existed before the invasion, and had somehow already been erected frightened her. What were these people?

On one side of the gate stood Uchiha fucking Itachi, who'd apparently rejoined Konoha under the new Hokage, and on the other was Hatake Kakashi. More than a few of her fellow prisoners of war shuffled uncomfortably, but somehow the two s-rank shinobi weren't even all of it. Standing under the bridge was the new Hokage, and Jiraiya of the Sannin. Lining the streets around them were numerous Jonin and Special Jonin, in addition to the regiment of chunin that would be escorting them.

The message was clear. You took your shot and barely scratched us. Temari swallowed hard, understanding that they basically existed at Konoha's mercy now. Luckily Gaara seemed to get along with the new Hokage well, meeting them at their hotel daily, even wanting to train together.

She really hoped that this Naruto character was as invested in their alliances as she seemed.

Naruto for her part was having a quick conversation with Itachi, passing him a piece of Katsuyu to him as she did so. "Just be your usual intimidating self, you shouldn't need to do fighting. Tsunade will meet up with you at the border of WInd Country and keep you in good shape herself after that. Until then I'll keep connected to Katsuyu. Our chunin forces are still a little jittery around you, but they trust me a lot from the invasion so this will be a good chance to show them you're not the boogeyman."

"Understood Hokage-sama." He nodded before finishing. "You do realize I already knew all of that right?"

Naruto giggled a little. "Oh give it a break. Good luck okay, don't push yourself." She patted him on the shoulder before standing before the assembled Suna Shinobi.

She cleared her throat, a subtle application of wind chakra amplifying the sound. "Alright, Shinobi of Sand. As promised today you'll be going home. I hope you'll remember the hospitality you received here, and take to heart my apology for the devastation a rogue Konoha shinobi inflicted on your nation. To ensure no further harm comes to you I'll have a regiment of chunin lead by Uchiha Itachi escort you all home, and he'll be joined by Lady Tsunade as you enter Wind Country to ensure any of you that are injured are able to safely traverse the desert." She paused for a moment, just for effect. "Behind me I'm sure you've all noticed our new bridge, built in honor of my late Sensei and all those that fell during the incident. If any of you would like to take a moment to mourn your dead as you cross your wishes will be respected. This has been a tragedy for all of us, but I believe we can rise above it through compassion and cooperation." She nodded her head as she stepped to one side of the road, with Jiraiya on the other waving them past.

As the sand shinobi passed over the bridge they couldn't help but stare down into the ravine, seeing the jagged rocks and jutting cliffs. They couldn't help but wonder how many of their own were caught up in it when the ground gave out under their feet, and had the giant snake summons come crashing down on them.

When they passed the ravine and came to the otherside an even worse truth was revealed, when their forces jumped back to try and stay on even ground they did the worst thing possible when battling Konoha shinobi.

They entered the trees.

It was a truly sombre journey home for those that remained.

In Naruto's office Jiraiya had just sat down and looked around. "I like what you've done with the place, you have three of you here all the time?"

The centre Naruto addressed him back, being the one that normally spoke for her. "Three in this office. Plus I usually have a few of me wandering the village as ourself, a few in disguise. One in the library in case I need to look something up, one works the mission desk with Kakashi most days so I can get to know our forces. Right now a few extra helping Sakura renovate the old root base into something we can use."

Jiraiya gave a low whistle at that. "Not bad kid, you've got most of your bases covered then. Which one's the real you?" He asked with a smirk.

Naruto just rolled her eyes. "If I told you it wouldn't be a secret. A shinobi's greatest strength is deception right?"

"Right. Anyways, sorry I was running late. I had an interesting encounter with one of our missing genin that I had to follow up on."

Naruto raised an eye at that. "I don't hear that every day. Elaborate."

Jiraiya chuckled. "Yeah I was surprised too. Thought at first he might have run during the invasion and was going to ask me to take him back. Nope, was a spy for my old teammate all along. And get this, the jutsu your sensei used to get him to fuck off? Made him subservient to Konoha and unable to return." Jiraiya was full on laughing now.

Naruto though was a little stunned. "So. So what I have fucking Orochimaru as an agent? The man who killed my sensei? That's fucked Jiraiya."

Jiraiya just shook his head at it. "Hey you're telling me kid. But your sensei put a leash on one of the strongest Shinobi in the elemental nations. Long and short his spy told me to tell you that Orochimaru will be rejoining Akatsuki now that Itachi's out and will send us reports through Anko. So you might want to give her a heads up so she doesn't lose her shit. I mean she's gonna lose her shit when you tell her but definitely not as bad as if one of her snakes suddenly starts giving her a message from her traitor sensei."

Naruto sat back in her chair hard, rubbing her eyes as she did so. "Whatever, an asset's an asset and clearly Sensei wanted him under our thumb. Itachi already told me a little about Akatsuki and they sound like bad news. Have you ever heard of the Rinnegan?"

Jiraiya went still as his features hardened. "I'm one of the few shinobi alive that's done more than hear about it, I've seen it. One of your cousins probably in Ame, Uzumaki Nagato had the Rinnegan. He's dead though. Killed by Hanzo the Salamander."

Naruto just shook his head. "I heard a different story. I heard the story of a mystery man that leads Akatsuki, but all Itachi knows is that he has the Rinnegan and is strong enough to keep all the other members in line. Itachi also seemed to think he's a puppet leader to someone claiming to be Uchiha Madara."

Both of them were all business now as Jiraiya continued. "If Nagato survived and went back to kill Hanzo I could understand how he would go dark. Why does he want the Bijuu though?"

"Itachi said their leader thinks he can make a weapon strong enough to scare the world into peace. But supposedly the Madara impersonator has other plans, enslaving the world with a genjutsu. Neither sound pleasant to me."

Suddenly though Naruto looked like she zoned out for a second, confusing Jiraiya until Naruto's eyes focused back on him. "Sorry about that. Kyuubi says if someone acquires all the Bijuu and sealed them into some statue they could resurrect the Juubi, but he won't say what that is and said his father left the statue on the moon or something."

Jiraiya tried to nod sagely but just ended up sighing and throwing up his hands. "Nope, that makes less sense not more. But hey, we're making progress. Plus with Orochimaru on the inside we should have a good shot at stopping them before they get that far. He might be a snake bastard but he's probably the best spy we could ask for." He shook his head. "Anyways. Kakashi caught me up on what I missed while I was gone. You're making some good changes kid. Anything you want me working on?"

Naruto nodded back at him. "A few actually. First of all I was hoping you could design a storage seal with enough capacity to seal our new bridge if we ever needed to. Doesn't matter how much chakra it takes, I'll borrow some from Kyuubi if I have to. Get Sakura to work on that with you. After that's done I was hoping you, me and Iruka could get to work redeveloping our academy system. I'd like to change the graduation age to 14 I think, and treat the extra two years much like civilian schools handle highschool. A couple of compulsory courses but mostly electives for specializations. Quite frankly the shinobi I was at graduation isn't a way we should be sending out genin. The way Danzo trained us isn't right either but there has to be a middle ground somewhere."

Jiraiya nodded at that. "You do have big plans. That all?"

Naruto shook her head with a smile. "Not even close. There's a few other projects I was hoping you'd tutor Sakura on. I'm all ideas but she just doesn't have enough of the pieces yet to make some of the stuff I've thought up work. And while I could just open up the Uzumaki vault to her and let her have all the sealing knowledge in the world…" Naruto shudders a little. "I just don't think that's a good idea without a teacher. There's some really dangerous stuff in that vault."

Jiraiya gives her an approving look. "You're not wrong for holding that back from her right now. She needs to build up her knowledge piece by piece so she can understand all the interactions. Too much at once and as smart as she is she could miss something and wind up sealing herself into a blank featureless sub dimension for all time with no way out."

That was…. Wow. "Yeah best to avoid that. Anyways, you've been busy and I imagine you could use some R&R. Try not to get caught peeping on the hot springs.

Jiraiya mock salutes. "Aye aye, Lady Hokage! I'll use my finest stealth jutsu." His big goofy grin splits his face as he saunters towards the window. Giving the grazing Katsuyu a pat on the head on his way out.

Sasuke entered the Hokage's office with a bit of an odd look on his face. "You got a clone to summon me here? Why not just talk where it found me, in the empty training field."

Naruto just kind of shrugged with a goofy grin. "I mean, I can send Anbu next time if you prefer? I just figured if I had official business this would be better."

Sasuke just kind of shrugged and took a seat in front of the desk. "So what's up Naruto, got a mission for me?"

Naruto just nodded back at him. "Yup, B-Rank. Officially you'll be leading Team 8 on a C-Rank escort mission in the Land of Tea. They hold an annual foot race and the local big families tend to hire shinobi to tilt the odds. But it's usually kept under the table. There's a rumor the rival family hired a Jonin this year which changes things a little."

Sasuke nodded. "If I'm understanding this right you want me to stay in the shadows and act as a safety net. Deal with the Jonin if he appears."

Naruto nodded with a smile. "You get it. Do it in front of people if you can. Show the world that they need to remember why the Uchiha were feared."

Sasuke just smirked, eyes glinting in the light with excitement. "Sakura already got her chance to square off with a Jonin, only seems fair. I'll pick them up and be on my way." Taking the mission scroll from one of the busywork Narutos and giving the speaking Naruto a fist bump in the same motion.

"Be safe Sasuke. I don't want to deal with Hiashi any more than you do if something goes wrong here."

Maybe she saw him shiver the tiniest bit on the way out. Hard to say really.

Elsewhere in Konoha, far underground Sakura (with help from several Narutos and a few off duty Root) was just finishing up stage one of her renovations and about to do a proper walk through with Naruto.

"Okay so, the compound is about 4 layers deep, and every room only connects to rooms on a different level. This including all the twist and turns makes the place a labrinth to navigate. Sensei made this place a fortress in its own right, and while you can bypass some rooms there's only a few ways to go through the corridors. And almost all of them were made to look identical. According to Fu-san the way you're supposed to navigate is by counting the steps between rooms but that seems impractical for our purposes. Any ideas?"

The Naruto she was with nodded to herself as she thought about it. "I mean, I guess signage would defeat the purpose right?" Sakura nodded condescendingly at Naruto who just giggled. "Yeah okay. How 'bout we use a seal? I've been reading over the theory for my father's Hirashin, and there's a sort of locator ping portion of the jutsu, if we could use just that part and attune it to the three of our chakras we should be able to feel where the various rooms are and have some awareness of which is which."

Sakura took that down in her notes. "I'll have to ask Jiraiya about that, it's a good idea and I don't see why it shouldn't work. The hard part of Hirashin is the space/time elemental after all so this should be doable." She nodded. "Okay next order of business, I had a thought about your Kyuubi training room." Naruto side eyed her a little as she took them to the very lowest level. "This is where sensei used to train, so most of the seals to keep in concealed and cut off are already intact, what I worry is that if I close the door… You might be cut off from your network. I'm not really sure if Kyuubi's chakra that we use for your network works like a radio and travels through space, or if it's like Katsuyu and exists sort of in all places at once connected through some other dimension."

Naruto just shrugged. "Well let me ask, Kyuubi isn't so bad but this might take a second." She closes her eyes.

"Hey Kurama, if I'm in a sealed room will I still be able to talk to communicate with my clones through your chakra?"

"Brat I don't have the patience to explain quantum mechanics to you." Naruto had no idea what that meant. "Suffice it to say that my chakra exists at both places at once as the same entity, and the connection could only be severed by invasive interference. Like if another Bijuu or particularly powerful shinobi forced their chakra into your system."

"Thanks Kurama! I'll tell Sakura."

"Whatever brat."

Naruto breaks out in a smile. "Kyuubi says it's like quantum mechanics and they exist in both places simultaneously even though it's all the same stuff."

Sakura's eyes go wide at that as she scribbles down notes. "That's… That's useful. We might be able to do more with that. Anyways, continuing through." She brings them to another room that's set with multiple desks and file cabinets. "I figured this could be sort of a work overflow zone for you. Give your clones a little more space to work on whatever proposals or plans you come up with. Even with three in the office you don't really have enough space to work on some of your bigger ideas." Naruto nodded as they moved along. "This room I'm working on turning into my own seal design room."

Naruto looked into the room, lots of shelves, a huge desk, good lighting. Made sense to her. "So I actually had an idea for this too. I don't know if It's possible but I know the Uzumaki vault doesn't really like… Properly exist? It exists because of the seal work on the vault door, and that's why only an Uzumaki can get in. For anyone else that opens the door it's just a wall behind it. Maybe at some point we could make a replica door here that opened to the same room? Might be easier than transporting my family valuables through the village every time we need a high level reference."

Sakura nodded along with her as she took notes. "That's some serious space/time seal work with layers of security seals. I'm a long way from that but I can at east get the door built in here so we don't have to move stuff later when it's more crowded. I also plan to get some engraving and tattooing gear cause, well yeah." She nods to herself. "I think the three of us with help from Jiraiya could really bring seal work back into light, I've already got some ideas and I'm sure you do too."

As they walked back to the surface Naruto couldn't help but ask. "I feel like we're still not using a lot of this space, seems sort of inefficient?"

Sakura nodded. "I get why you say that, but honestly I was going to ask if you wanted to move Konoha's records vault down here, frankly it's way more secure, and with your clones working here there's no real chance of anyone sneaking in. Plus… Well I was going to suggest we move into Sensei's house. It's more space, and it will make it even harder to keep track which one of you is the original. The extra security could really matter, especially since we both know you're clones dispel when you're unconscious."

Naruto nodded sadly. "I guess. Not till Sasuke gets back though, I'm not overturning his home life without asking him. And if I'm gonna spend time down here, or upstairs for that matter we need like. Wayyy more plants."

Sakura giggled at that. "Of course, I'll get Ino to help with that. The only thing is I won't be telling her where it's for. The less people know we have our secret base down here the better. The three of us and Jiraiya is almost too many for your safety as is. We should still have one of your clones go into the old apartment at night too even after we move."

Naruto nodded. "I get it. I'm more powerful the more elusive I am. Deception is a shinobi's best weapon and all." Naruto had a look around. "Okay, until this place brightens up I'm out of here. Want to grab some lunch? I need to talk to Anko and think she's at the dango stand."

Sakura shrugs. "Eh, sure why not."

Anko had been having a great time, S-Rank pay to kill some geezer and blame her sensei? Golden. All the dango she could eat without even denting her pay? Pristine. That guy that tried to smack her ass and was currently writhing on the ground full of viper venom? Priceless.

Or at least it was until suddenly the air was glowing with chakra and the man's screams stopped. She turned to see what was going on only to see her new chibi-kage helping him to his feet.

"I don't know what you did, chunin-san. But I recommend you leave before this becomes an issue." Naruto's face was unreadable as she spoke, Sakura at her side.

The man in question looked between them wide eyed. "Apologies Hokage-sama, Anko-san. It won't happen again, I swear I've never done it before and I won't again and-" At this point Sakura had pretty much decided that was enough and casually uppercutted the man, launching him to land right in front of the hospital.

"Naruto-chan you're too sweet for your own good. He probably tried getting fresh with Anko-san and got what was coming to him. Mind if we join you Anko?"

The special jonin shrugged, not really caring either way. "Sure, to what do I owe the honor Hokage-sama, Sakura-san?"

The two took a seat on either side of her. Naruto taking the lead. "Well we needed to get some lunch and there was something I wanted to talk to you about so figured we'd join you. Just Naruto-sama is fine by the way."

Anko was starting to get a little nervous as her guests ordered their lunch. "So hey, not that I'm complaining or anything but to what do I owe the pleasure?"

Sakura was already digging into her food as Naruto picked at hers. "Well Anko, I've been looking over your application for Jonin." Anko stopped eating, her anxiety going through the roof at the prospect. "And I know you've shown interest in teaching. So I had a proposition for you."

Anko put down her food as she tried not to show her jitters. "I'm honored, do I get to know the details before I accept?"

Naruto sort of half nodded. "Sort of. I'm planning on renovating the academy, including some specialist courses I was hoping you'd teach in your new capacity as jonin. That's only part of the reason though. I've acquired an agent that wants you specifically to be their point person for passing intel to me. I can't tell you who they are yet unless you accept. But if you do I'll promote you to jonin here and now." Naruto slid her the paperwork, missing only Naruto's and Anko's signature. "Few years working with me to improve the academy and handling our new agent, then I'll make sure you get cleared for a genin team of your own. Sound like a good deal?"

Anko was looking down at the table. Less missions, less T&I… But a chance to start teaching, and really improving her image in the village? It was too good to be true. But… Well… Fuck it this was her chance. She pulled the papers over and signed them.

Naruto smiled up at her, signing her name as well as sliding it to Sakura to be witnessed. "Congratulations, Jonin Mitarashi Anko." Naruto throws down enough money to cover all three of their tabs, an impressive amount of ryo. "We'll take the rest of our food to go, the rest of this conversation happens in my office."

Anko's nerves start to go through the roof as they shunshin to the Hokage office, the door closing behind the room seals. Sakura takes a seat casually even if she doesn't know what this is about.

"You'll want to sit Anko-san." That didn't help but she did. "I'm sorry for building all this anxiety but I really can't talk about this new agent in public. Until this conversation only Jiraiya and myself knew. But I'm going to ask you to trust me Anko-san."

Anko swallowed heavily before she put on her brave face. "Come on, hit me with it. What's all the secrecy about?"

Naruto nodded to herself almost sadly it seems. "The whole village knows my sensei fought off Orochimaru during the invasion. What none of us knew until today was that in his final moments he was able to cast the ultimate genjutsu on Orochimaru." Anko's eyes began to go wide in understanding. "Orochimaru will for the rest of his days be forced to serve Konoha, and never enter her borders. He's chosen to do this by rejoining Akatsuki as our man on the inside of an organization of S-Rank criminals. He'll be reporting to me through your mutual snake contract."

Anko's hands gripped the seat hard as her knuckles turned white and she began to shake. "You. You can't ask me to do this. He experimented on me! He tortured me! And left me for dead. You can't!"

A tear hit Naruto's desk. "I know Anko. I do. He killed my sensei too. But I can't ignore this, he's our best chance of staying ahead of Akatsuki. If I could ask anyone else I would, but it has to be you." Naruto wipes her eyes. "I wouldn't ask you if I had other options, but I don't. I understand if it takes some time to come to terms with, and you can have as long as you need. My only request is that if you're genuinely unwell you seek out help okay? The village is here for you."

Shocked at Naruto's display of emotion and compassion, Anko takes a deep breath. "Alright. Alright fine. Whatever. Give me some time and sure." She gets up and heads for the door. "Oh but hey, who am I going to be working with on the academy stuff?"

Naruto smiles up at her, happy she was coming around. "Jiraiya, Umino Iruka, and myself."

Her smile turns predatory. "Iruka eh? He's cute, alright Naruto-sama. I'm gonna go get drunk now so catch you later." The door closes heavily as she leaves, Naruto's head hitting her desk as soon as it's closed.

Sakura reached across to tussle Naruto's hair. "You did the right thing, you always knew being Hokage would be hard sometimes."

Naruto sighs before answering. "Yeah. This once hit close to home though." Naruto rubs her face but before she can say anything else an Anbu phases into the room.

"Hokage-sama! It seems while we were transferring the Suna shinobi for transit the traitor Mizuki escaped prison with the Legendary Stupid Brothers. They've got a lead on us, should we send out tracking teams?"

Naruto's eyes narrowed and just for a second the Anbu felt her killing intent. "I don't know how this happened but ensure it doesn't again. Sakura take Team 9, I don't want to waste Anbu's manpower, especially seeing as it's obviously been spread too thin." The masked shinobi flinched at the Hokage's ire, but Sakura just stood and stretched.

"I get a mission and a crack at Mizuki? Oh this'll be good." Her grin was predatory as she cracked her neck, her chakra presence starting to intensify as she started opening her seal. "Thanks Hokage-chan! I'll be right back with some traitors!' She chirped before all but blasting out the window, knowing Team 9 would be at their training ground.

Naruto glared sharply at the Anbu. "You're dismissed, summon Kakashi for me on your way out."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." And with a deep bow and a poof of smoke Naruto was suddenly alone.

Couldn't just be a simple day eh?

Sakura came to a sliding stop as she arrived at Team 9's training ground, catching Lee's reactive kick as she did so. "Hey now, you throw kicks like that at everyone that comes to say hi?" She said around a smirk, her eyes starting to yellow as she continued slowly ramping up her seal.

"Ah! Sakura-chan, my apologies, your youthful entrance took me by surprise." He flipped out of her grasp as Neji and Tenten shook their heads at him. "Have you come to join our most youthful training session!?" The light glinted off his perfect teeth as he struck his signature nice guy pose.

"Even better Lee-kun! There's been a prison break and we get to track down and subdue some traitors!" And to everyone's shock and horror, Sakura seemingly mirrored Lee's pose. Only her smile was less "Nice guy" and more "Out for Blood". Tenten and Neji shivered as Lee al but exploded.

"Your flames of youth burn brightly Sakura-chan! Surely this will be a most glorious mission." Lee started stretching in anticipation.

Neji was a little more practical. "Who are we hunting?"

Sakura rolled her shoulders and cracked her knuckles. "That's where it gets good, Mizuki and the Legendary Stupid Brothers. I figure Lee and I take the brothers while you and Tenten deal with Mizuki?" Neji nods at her as Lee takes out his little notebook and looks for a page on the Stupid Brothers before all but swooning over the chance to fight such strong opponents.

"Do we know where they've wound up?" Tenten asks as she packs all her scrolls and everything.

"I've got a rough idea-" There was no green left in her eyes at all now. "Once I get us close I figure Neji should be able to figure the rest out. This is a B-Rank so bring your a-game. Lee lose the weights." He nods at her as he does so.

As soon as Team 9 all nod at her that she's ready she takes off in the direction she can feel her old Sensei's chakra. She might not be a sage yet but she was enough of one to feel someone that was just on the outskirts.

Luckily for her Team 9 was Gai's Team, so they were able to keep up with her as she raced towards the chakra signature. Once they started getting close she called out. "Neji, Byagugan on, we're nearby!"

He nods at her as the veins around his eyes bulge out, and he starts adjusting their course. Only to suddenly call for them to drop.

Just in time to as a pair of boulders sail overhead, the Stupid Brothers lauging in the distance. But seeing as they were basically on an open plain Sakura rightly figured that her and Lee could cover the distance before another volley.

"Lee, with me. You guys push for Mizuki, these guys are all brawn we shouldn't take long."

She didn't wait to see if they heard her, trusting them to get the job done as she kicked off with Lee a fraction of a second behind her, a cloud of dust giving Neji and Tenten some cover. They waited just an instant before seeing Sakura deliver a devastating haymaker to one of the brothers, the usual shockwave that accompanied her blows strangely absent but he went flying towards his brother just the same. Only to find his brother flying his way courtesy of Lee's "Dynamic Entry".

Seeing their opportunity to leave unnoticed they slipped off towards the cave the ogre like men were guarding, Neji spotting a chakra network within.

Had they stuck around they would have had the opportunity to watch Sakura unseal a massive length of chain, tossing one end to Lee with a shout. Just as the brothers collided with a loud "Oof" the two taijutsu specialist blitzed passed them, dashing along in opposing circles as the chain danced in the air, rapidly pulling tight and binding the two brothers together tightly.

Leaving a good ten feet of chain on either side, Sakura and Lee slid to a stop opposite each other, chain grasped tightly in hand. Lee was smiling wide as he called over. "Sakura-chan! That was a most marvelous plan." He adjusted his grip as the brothers wriggled around, voice becoming a little strained. "Truly, hard work trumps all."

But Sakura's eyes narrowed dangerously as she watched the brothers wriggle, feeling the tension in the chain steadily increase as she heard the two speak to each other. "Big brother, I'm stuck." The smaller of the two proclaimed simply.

"Not stuck little brother. Not stuck for long." THe bigger of the two began as he seemingly started taking big gulps of air, puffing up is already massive form. Sakura's eyes began to widen as she felt and heard the metal groan in protest.

"Oh, I see." The smaller one started mimicking his brother and the chain quickly shattered.

Sakura and Lee jumped back to avoid the shrapnel, sharing a glance as they landed. It just couldn't be that simple could it? Sakura's skin began to darken as she pulled on her seal further. "Yeah, let's have a workout." Her grin turned predatory as she began mixing more and more of the potent nature chakra into her muscles. Knowing she didn't have a jutsu with enough punch to finish off juggernauts like these.

Lee nodded and struck a stance. "Gate of Opening: Open!" His chakra level soaring much as Sakura's was. Hopefully Neji and Tenten were having an easier time of things.

Inside the cave the answer was not so much as Tenten let soar Mizuki's oversized shuriken back at him. This was a far cry from the man that they'd known in the academy, dude was jacked and had obviously found a way to train while he was in prison. Neji was taking every opportunity to attack in a fierce taijutsu duel, but the grown man's reach was difficult to overcome, and he wasn't gaining much ground. Tenten danced around the two with a three sectioned staff in an attempt to flank, only to find herself being caught off balance as she was pulled and thrown towards the back of the cave, hearing Neji land beside her.

"Enough!" Mizuki shouted as he tossed the two genin. "This is what the village thinks of me? They send a pair of fucking genin?" He shook his head. "Whatever, I have power straight from Lord Orochimaru. I don't need to waste time playing with you two." And as the two regain their feet they watch Mizuki pull a vial out of his pouch, downing it in one swig before doubling over.

The two shared a look at the seemingly in pain man, but before they had a chance to close the distance and restrain him he lurched back upright with a roar, seeming to shift into something resembling a tiger. But even as he swiped at them, leaving deep rents in the cave floor Neji began to smirk while they jumped back.

"This! This the power I was promised! I Feel so strong I'm unstop-" Mizuki began to monologue but was interrupted by Neji.

"You're within the range of my divination." And suddenly he was right in front of him, he'd swiped at him but Neji got inside the swipe and began his assault, Mizuki's new larger form too slow to catch the Hyuga prodigy and his longer reach making it awkward to deal with him in close.

Not that he'd get the chance. "Two-palms, Four-palms, Eight-palms-" Mizuki's eyes were going wide as he felt his strength ebb as his chakra was sealed away. "Sixteen-palms, thirtytwo-palms-" Mizuki started to feel himself falling even before Neji finished his assault. "Eight Trigrams: Sixtyfour Palms!"

Mizuki dropped to his knees, his chakra fully sealed. His transformation likely the only reason he was still conscious-THUMP- Nevermind that, Tenten's staff knocked him out, leaving him face first in the cave.

"Well that was a little dramatic." She looked around the room. "I'll get this all sealed up, think you can get him chained up while I do?" Neji nodded at her as he began trussing up the fallen… man? TIger? Whatever. He wondered how Sakura and Lee were getting along as he did so.

Back in what used to be a field, four shinobi were squared off in various states of exhaustion. Sakura was starting to worry, Lee had already opened a second gate and they didn't seem to be making much progress. These guys were monsters, when she'd tried to cut one down with Kubikiribocho the blade just sunk in and bounced back the same way as her fists. She was too nervous to try for a headshot, not wanting to break the legendary blade and have to feed it blood to restore it.

"Big brother, I'm hungry." The younger one, they knew he was Rajin now, complained to his older brother.

"Me too. Have to fight first though." Fujin returned around his laboured breath.

But strangely this gave Sakura an idea. She was always packed for a mission after all. "Hey Lee! You know I'm actually getting pretty hungry too."

Lee gave her a strange look as he caught his breath. "Sakura-chan, I don't think this is really the time-" He was cut off by a loud cough from Sakura, accompanied by a pointed glare. "I mean, yes of course Sakura-chan! Famished!" He couldn't sound any more forced, but luckily with these opponents it didn't matter much.

Rajin perked up hearing that. "What! You guys are hungry too!? Doesn't the village feed you guys?"

Fujin though looked like he'd had an idea. "Wait. If you guys are hungry, and we're hungry…" It looked like he was struggling to finish the thought but Sakura knew he'd taken her bait. "Yeah I got it! Why don't we all team up and get some food!"

"But Fujin, Mizuki said Orochimaru would have a feast for us!" But just as he said that he could see Mizuki all trussed up being dragged back to the village. "Oh… Well nevermind that. Lets just go into the village and get some food!"

Sakura picked that moment to use a small genjutsu to make her stomach rumble. "I mean, if you guys just want to eat I've got tons of food, you just need to promise to stop fighting."

Lee looked on flabbergasted as the two brothers clapped their hands together and bowed deeply. "We promise!"

A shit eating grin and a flick of her oversized storage scroll later she unsealed almost a full week's worth of Sasuke's delicious cooking, breakfasts lunches and dinners. "Well dig in boys! I'm Sakura by the way." She turned to Lee and mouthed "Go get Naruto, bring more food." Before turning back to the Stupid Brothers to sit with them. "And worry not boys I've just sent Lee to grab my teammate to bring more food." The brothers cheered as she sat. "And get this, my teammate? She's the new Hokage!"

The Brothers shared a look. "Really? The last one's the one that locked us up!" Fujin got out between bites.

Sakura waved a hand casually though as her features slowly returned to normal. "I wouldn't worry about it. Naruto's big on second chances and finding the right role for people."

And conveniently at just that time a yellow bird landed next to them, before transforming back into a Naruto clone. "I do in fact believe in second chances, and I read your files when I'd heard you escaped." The clone took a massive scroll off it's back. "I have here a scroll out of my family vault. It's the only one like it. And it's very special because whatever you put in it, it can copy as many times as you have chakra." Sakura looked at Naruto astonished as the brothers shared a look. "It's not really your fault you're so hungry, it's the source of your strength and your body won't last long without the calories. So I'd give you this scroll, which makes you infinite free food if you guys promised to work for me."

The Brothers shared a look, before falling to their knees and bowed their heads to the ground repeatedly. "We are not worthy Hokage-sama, blessed are we to be in your presence!"

Naruto just giggled at the antics. They weren't bad, they just didn't know better. "Alright, just remember it's my family scroll. If I ever want it back I can summon it back to my family temple. So remember who's boss around here or I'll take it back and send Sakura-chan to beat you up again." She teased as she gestured for them to get back up and keep eating. Falling to sit next to Sakura. "Good work Sakura-chan, I'll get a guardhouse built next to the bridge for them and put Izumo and Kotestu in charge of them, give our gates a little muscle."

Sakura almost fell back laughing at that. "Oh they're gonna love that. Can't argue with putting two A-Rank threats in between our gates and the bridge though. What should we put in the scroll for them?"

Naruto shrugged. "Maybe like a whole roast pig or something, the more calories they take in the stronger and smarter they are. They'll never be full but the closer they get to empty the more feral they get."

Sakura nodded at her as Naruto turned back to the brothers, knowing another clone in the network would get Yamato to throw up a guardhouse real quick. A genin team was charged with furnishing it and filling it with other food as yet another Naruto was acquiring a whole roast pig.

"So boys, I've got a place for you to stay just outside the village by a new bridge and I've got a whole roast pig coming for your food scroll. I was thinking you guys could help out our gate guards Izumo and Kotetsu. All you'd have to do is hang out and help them out if anyone gives them trouble, and not let anyone through the gate at night."

The Brothers looked between each other once more before nodding.

"Yeah."

"Sounds good."

Naruto nodded back and smiled. "Good stuff, I'll let you folks enjoy your meals. Sakura you get them all settled in feel free to report to the mission desk for your pay, a successful A-Rank mission." They smiled at each other as the Naruto clone turned back into a bird and flitted away, the brothers waving goodbye as she did so.

From there Sakura genuinely enjoyed the meal, Fujin and Raijin really weren't so bad when they were fed and happy.

The next day Sasuke arrived in the land of Tea with team 8 in tow, deciding to take a break at a Tea shop for lunch before they met their client. A cute little shop with a kind old lady running things. As Sasuke sipped at his tea team 8 chatted amongst themselves, Kiba eager for a fight while Hinata and Shino were trying to ensure he didn't start anything.

That is until the only other customer started to saunter by, a young man with medium length brown hair pulled back but still breaking free to spike out on one side of his face. "Must be nice being a ninja, being able to sit around drinking tea whenever you want. Seems like a real cushy job." Shino was keeping Kiba held back as Sasuke continued calmly sipping his tea, Hinata shrinking into her sweater somewhat before the man continued. "Oh, sorry sweet thing, didn't see you there-" He leaned forward putting an elbow on the table as he continued. "Of course you and me could just ditch these wannabes, I'm sure I could show you a life better than the leaf."

But at that the air turned cold, and even as a blush snuck up Hinata's face the man couldn't help but turn to look back at Sasuke, sharingan eyes punctuating his potent killing intent. "My apologies sir." He put down his tea casually. "But I believe that's my betrothed, the beloved heiress of the Hyuga Clan you were talking to." As the man took a shaking step back from the table he suddenly heard Sasuke's voice in his ear even as the one before him slowly faded from vision, merely and after image. "I know who you are, Morino Idate. I know the face of every shinobi to abandon our ranks. So unless you have the Raijin no Ken I would suggest you run back to whatever hole you crawled out of." Sasuke's voice was a whisper, but as the colour faded from Idate's face he took a few shaky steps towards the door, before turning to bolt out of the shop.

The room was stunned, but it was Kiba that muttered under his breath. "...Betrothed?" As he looked between Sasuke and Hinata. Hinata turned even more red if possible but Sasuke's eyes landed on Kiba as he quirked a brow.

"Is that a problem?" Prompting both Kiba and Shino to wave to their hands in front of them.

"What!? No problems here." They spoke almost in stereo as Sasuke nodded.

"Good, I'll get the bill, from here I'll be shadowing you guys. But trust I'll always be nearby. Go meet Boss Jirocho and find out who we're escorting. Hinata you're in charge, you need to learn how to present yourself confidently." He threw the money on the table, along with a generous tip before putting a hand on her shoulder. "I believe in you, in all of you. Just remember that I'll be nearby if anything happens, and to bring honor to the leaf." He gives Hinata's shoulder a final pat before walking out the door, leaving both the owner of the shop and Team 8 stunned.

Sasuke watched from afar with a smile on his face as Team 8 strode into the bosses house, Hinata standing more confident than ever. He was as surprised as anyone to learn Idate would be running the race for Boss Jirocho, and while Kiba butted heads with him it seemed calmer heads prevailed as Shino and Hinata talked him down.

Maybe pride was the great sin of the Uchiha but even still he was all but beaming when he watched Shino save an innocent civilian from some thug with elegance and poise. If only it would all be this easy.

But while Sasuke had already managed to identify an Ame Genin team, he's yet to find the jonin Naruto had mentioned. Guess he'd just have to wait for him to show himself.

The next day as the race was getting ready to start, Sasuke finally found the jonin. Piloting the rival teams boat, which while not a bad call for them he knew meant trouble. His Sharingan eyes telling him the story of a stormy afternoon, a fact he knew Kiba would pass on to Idate no matter how much they didn't like each other. Based on his smirk though Idate had figured that out for himself, and as the sun crested the horizon he sprinted north, to a port that would have better waters, Team 8 in tow. Unfortunately the Ame genin as well. That's okay, he knew Hinata would have told Idate he was on a different mission in the area when asked, and he'd play the part.

He waited for the crowds to disperse before he dashed across the water to the landing for the first shrine, trusting Team 8 to deal with the genin.

Him? He'd seen the jonin's face, and he knew the face of every traitor to his home.

While Idate set a hard pace, team 8 was a team well suited to speed. Normally specializing in tracking keeping up with their mark was part of their training. They hadn't gone too far when the three of them detected the genjutsu the Ame genin attempted, Hinata's eyes keeping them safe they wasted no time. No sense in trying to flush them out here, they'd confront them eventually.

Soon enough they arrived at a beach port where Idate had apparently arranged a boat beforehand, having anticipated the weather in advance. It was actually somewhat impressive, or it would be for a civilian at least.

Once they were on the boat they knew they were more vulnerable though, Kiba and Akamaru sitting on the bow so they could sniff out their opponents while Hinata sat atop the mast, Byakugan eyes scanning the horizon.

With all the precautions they'd taken they saw the boat loaded with Ame shinobi a long ways off. And while they certainly were coming for them it seemed they'd never dealt with an Aburame before, paying no mind to the bugs. Probably assuming they were just flying away from the storm.

While Shino might not like having his bugs swatted at, he continued with a smirk. When their boats got close enough that they came under fire from arrows Hinata swatted them away with ease. But while that frustrated the Ame genin, it wasn't until they started trying to use their jutsu that they began to panic.

After all, it was hard to use jutsu when your chakra had been consumed by countless kikachu beatles. Idate looked on with awe at what this team was capable of as Kiba launched himself off the bow, his nails elongating into claws as he turned into a human twister. The shout of "Passing Fang!" just barely audible over the destruction of the enemies boat.

Idate continued to stare as Kiba landed back on the boat, feeling Hinata's hand land on his shoulder he looked back to see her shy smile. "I-I don't understand. You're only genin! How can you be this strong!?" He was almost shaking as he asked, having no idea the irony of stuttering when talking to Hinata.

"We're not really that strong Idate-san. But the thing that makes a Konoha-nin strong is our team."

Shino picked up from there. "Why? You ask. Because when we work together to cover each other's weakness we can not be defeated."

Kiba finished shaking himself off before giving Idate a thumbs up. "And when we play to each other's strengths, we become unstoppable!" Akamaru barked in agreement as the team shared a smile at their success.

But as Kiba and Shino shared a fist bump and Hinata moved to give Akamaru a treat, Idate couldn't help but shed a tear, as he began to understand the tenth question at his chunin exam.

Sasuke smirked as he saw Team 8 and Idate's boat approach the first shrine, well in advance of the rival families. He knew they could do it. He'd explained to the ruling families, magistrate and Daimyo that he was here on unrelated Konoha business, and had already obtained their permission to deal with a rogue Konoha shinobi if he should pass through.

After all, every noble worth their socks knew he was the new head of the Uchiha clan, and that to make an enemy of him would be to make an enemy of Konoha. Being teammates with the Hokage and all.

When the first boat landed the team approached him, Hinata addressing him as she'd been named team leader. "Sasuke-kun! What are you doing here, I thought you had another mission in the area?"

He smiled at how well she spun the half truth. "Nothing to worry about Hinata. Continue with your race, I'm just here to deal with a rogue ninja and get back some stolen property. The Daimyo's already approved, along with the magistrate." He smirked slightly at that, it was all true to an extent. Too bad the corrupt magistrate hadn't realized who he was here for.

Team 8 all nodded, sprinting along with Idate to collect the needed jewel before continuing on the next leg of their journey. Much of the crowd cheered as they did so.

He smiled as the storm worsened, and the rival boat came in sight. Naruto said to do this in front of as many people as possible and it didn't get more public then this. As the boat began to dock and he confirmed who he was here for he turned to the crowd.

"I won't interfere with your runner, but as anticipated his escort is a wanted criminal in possession of village secrets, I would suggest you all step back while I deal with this." His Sharingan eyes spun lazily as he watched the two men get off the boat, addressing the green haired man that had apparently been piloting.

"Rokusho Aoi. For the charges of treason, theft of village property, abuse of power and torturing a fellow Konoha-nin, you will go no further." Thunder boomed as he finished, the rival runner looking between Sasuke and Aoi in confusion.

"What's he on about? I thought you were from Ame? He can't interfere with the race can he?" He seemed a little panicked but the voice of the Daimyo cut above the weather.

"You can continue to race for the Wagarashi family, but I've given this man my permission to pursue his mission already."

The runner shot Aoi a dirty look before running up to the shrine. For his part Aio just shed his disguise with a smirk. "So they sent you for that? Some little Uchiha that's probably on what, your first mission as a chunin? Bad call kid, you've got no chance against a jonin like me." He withdrew the Raijin no Ken as Sasuke smirked.

"Good, I don't have to go looking for that then. Holding the sword doesn't make you a jonin traitor."

"Oh yeah? While how 'bout when I kill you with it!?" Aoi shouted as he dashed forward, seemingly cutting Sasuke in half with the legendary blade, only for him to slowly fade away, nothing but an afterimage.

Aoi's eyes went wide, turning to see Sasuke standing where Aoi had started as if he'd never moved. He awkwardly made the ram seal with the blade in hand and shouted release, thinking he was under some genjutsu, but nothing changed.

"You're joking if you think you can kill me like that. You know nothing about that blade, or the power of real lighting chakra." Sasuke's hair began to stand on end as he built lightning chakra within himself, before performing a shunshin enhanced iaijutsu strike, the lightning chakra he'd built within himself coursing through his blade. It seemed as the thunder clapped as Sasuke sheathed his blade at the bottom of the stairs.

Aoi moved to stand. "Pft, and what was that supposed to-" Suddenly blood was pouring out of his mouth and he was falling. As he looked down he couldn't understand seeing his legs still standing as his world went dark. Hip to shoulder he'd been cut in half, the lightning chakra Sasuke had utilized making the cut so fine, and shocking his nerves just so that Aoi hadn't even realized he was dead.

Sasuke took his head and the Raijin no Ken before incinerating the rest of the body, allowing the wind to carry the ashes out to sea. One look towards the gathered nobility showed them to be shaking, in both awe and fear.

An opportunity to make a further impression he couldn't resist. "Konoha thanks you for allowing us our justice. I hope henceforth you turn to us for more reliable mission service." The assembled members of government nodded quickly, and with that Sasuke seemingly vanished. Not so much as a scorch mark on the dock to show he'd ever been there.

As Team 8 and Sasuke returned to the village they were immediately struck by the new addition next to the gate. Two giants sat pulling apart whole pigs and throwing the bones into the ravine, summoning a new one from a scroll as they needed. Izumo and Kotetsu didn't seem to have a problem with them though so Sasuke made the right assumption that they were supposed to be there as he approached the gate.

"Chunin Uchiha Sasuke, returning home with genin squadron 8."

The guards took a moment to set the paperwork up. "Land of Tea mission eh? How was that for you guys?"

Sasuke shrugged but Kiba gave a thumbs up. "No issues. What's with the new guys?"

Kotetsu shrugged. "Hokage-sama put us in charge of them, said it would be good to have some muscle at the gate. Plus they're actually pretty funny as long as they're fed and happy."

Izumo chuckled. "Not to mention strong enough to throw that one smugglers whole cart in the ravine when he tried giving us trouble."

Shino and Kiba shared a look, but their paperwork was all sorted so they headed inside. Sasuke holding a hand out to them expectantly but groaned when he was met with blank stares. "Reports? I'm not your jounin-sensei. I don't do them for you."

All three of them blushed at that but Sasuke just shook his head. "Get them into the mission office by tonight. Other than that you all did well and I'll put in a good word with Naruto that you're ready for more dangerous missions. Get some rest, I happen to know missions are backlogged and you won't be here long."

They all nodded at him before he seemingly faded out of existence again, his Shunshin carrying him all the way to the Hokage office.

An Anbu jumped at his sudden appearance but his glare and a Naruto's casual wave got them to back off. "Hey Sasuke, how was the Tea Country?"

"Hn. The Tea was excellent." He put two scrolls and the Raijin no Ken on her desk. "The jonin they hired was one of our rogues. Rokusho Aoi. That's his head, the Raijin no Ken and my mission report."

Naruto beamed up at him. "Wonderful! Were you able to do it with an audience?"

Sasuke just smirked. "Only the Daimyo, the Magistrate, and the Heads of both crime families. Plus Morino Idate will be singing Team 8's praises to all that will listen probably until he dies."

"Great work Sasuke, I'll make sure to get Aoi's bounty tacked onto your mission pay, probably bump it up to A-Rank too. Why don't you go get some rest? There'll be more work to do soon."

Sasuke nodded back at her before leaving the same way he arrived.