A/N: Sorry this took so long but I really wasn't happy with this chapter. I rewrote it quite a few times. Anyway, I'll hopefully be updating about one chapter a week. Remember to vote for Saku/Lee or Saku/Kiba. So far I have four votes for Saku/Lee and two for Saku/Kiba, so if you like Kiba you'd better vote fast!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
The Heart of the Storm.
Chapter Five: The Inn Under Siege
It was a good day for the Copycat Ninja known as Kakashi Hatake. He'd been released from hospital a week ago and was due back on active duty in a day or two. He'd been waiting for that to happen with anticipation. He was so bored!
Then, like an angel, an Anbu appeared and said he was requested at the Hokage's office. After arriving he'd been told that he'd be observing a mission that would act as a live test. He had to determine if the two ninja were of Jonin capacity. To this end he was only to step in if one of the hostages were in immediate danger.
He hadn't been told the identity of the two nins, Tsunade said is was something about not wanting to cloud his judgement.
He'd pack and was currently on his way to the city gate. He paid a brief visit to the memorial stone but since Tsunade had warned him about the deadline (and threatened to burn his books) he didn't stay long.
Upon reaching the gates he noticed two Konoha Ninja similarly dressed in white coats with different coloured trims. The man had blue whilst the woman had lilac. "Well, I guess it's you two I'm baby sitting huh?"
The blonds mouth quirked, but Kakashi couldn't see it; the pair were wearing masks that covered their entire faces. The man wore a canine mask with jagged lines through its fur. The woman's mask was completely white and perfectly smooth, with only the barest impression of a face. Since it had no eye holes Kakashi assumed the woman was a Hyuga, and given their matching coats and swords he assumed they were a couple. Well, the fact that they were resting against each other and holding hands kind of gave it away too.
The woman shook he blond haired companions shoulder to get his attention. "Discord my dear, get up, our company is here." Her voice was soft, almost angelic.
The man growled and stood up, helping the woman to her feet. "So he is Harmony…" Discord's voice was rough, resembling an animal trying to talk. "Are you ready to leave Hatake-san?" He glanced at Kakashi.
The silver haired Jonin nodded and the trio sped away from the gates.
Twelve hours later, at inn near the border of Fire country and Grass country.
A small bird perched on a branch. It twittered and took flight as three shadows shot overhead. The bird flew for a few scant seconds but the shadows seemed to pursue it. Suddenly they stopped. The frightened creature briefly settled down on top of a large wooden beam before flitting away again.
The building the bird had landed on was obviously old. It was two stories, and made out of large rocks held together by decaying mortar. Vines covered the lower half of the walls, with evenly spaced gaps over the windows. A low wooden fence surrounded the property looking like it was in great need of repair.
The shadows didn't care about the state of the fence however; they had more pressing things to worry about. Like the group of three guards leaning up against the front wall surrounding the door.
"Harmony," The blond growled. "Where are they all?"
The indigo haired kunoichi was silent for a moment. "There are another three at the back door and two right inside the front door. When you enter there is a small hallway, doors immediately left and right, staircase two meters in. The hostages are in the room on the right with four, no, five guards. I'll take them, there are…" She counted quickly. "Another seven hostiles upstairs, two in a room at the top of the stairs, two in a room to the right across the hallway and three on the left, close side. Last four are on the ground floor on the left." She finished.
Discord turned to face Kakashi. "Hatake-san, head around the back and take out the guards there, we don't want them getting away. When you're done come inside, by that time, this will all be over." He placed his hands together and whispered "Shadow-clone Jutsu." Two clones popped into existence. They all fell backwards off the branch, flicking through handsigns. "Earth Release: Inner Decapitation no Jutsu" The three Discords hissed, before sinking into the ground.
Harmony glanced at Kakashi. At least, the copycat ninja thought she glanced at him. "Get going Kakashi-sama." She flicked through a few handsigns before she disappeared whispering "Chameleon no Jutsu." As Kakashi left he saw the three guards vanish as they were sucked under ground, the blond and his two clones taking their places.
As soon as Kakashi was out of sight 'Discord' summoned four more clones and lightly tapped on the door. One of the guards in it opened it. "I swear if you need another toilet break I'll-" Naruto stabbed him, grabbed his jacket and pulled him outside. The second guard never got a chance to be stunned as a kunai entered his brain.
Two Naruto clones crouched near the door on the left as the others darted upstairs. When all the Discords were in position Harmony whistled.
CRASH! The blond intruders smashed down the doors, bursting into the rooms and taking out the bandits in under a second. During that second the real Naruto broke down the door to the dining room where the hostages were being held. Hinata leapfrogged over him and jabbed at the two guards nearest her.
They fell down dead, courtesy of a Juken strike straight to the heart. Leaping across the room she slammed her palm into the chest of one of the bandits, lashed out her foot and slammed another's head into the ground. "DON'T MOVE!"
Naruto straightened up to see the last bandit (his clones had dispelled after clearing out the others) hiding behind a well dressed woman, a broad dagger against her throat. "Back off blondie!" He yelled. "You try to kill me and this bitch is dead!"
Naruto chuckled. "I don't need to even try to kill you." He raised his head, red slitted pupils visible through the eye holes in his mask. "You're already dead!" The man almost pissed himself when the blonde's voice became demonic, but didn't have the chance. Hinata had hit him with a series of paralysing strikes as soon as he started talking, and quickly ended his life with a single tap to the head.
Letting the Chameleon Jutsu drop she smirked under her mask at the gasps of the hostages as she appeared. Hinata pulled the man's body away from the lady and began checking to see if anyone had been hurt.
One hour later, At the Inn.
The blond had sealed up the corpses in a scroll, to be disposed of back at Konoha. The woman had gone on a quick patrol to see if she there were any other bandits, but she didn't find anyone.
Kakashi stretched and put his book away. He yawned. They would be heading back to Konoha soon. The silver-haired Jonin was of mixed thoughts about this. The mission had gone of flawlessly, so when he returned he'd be sent on another mission soon. That was the bad thing; he'd heard Naruto would be back soon and he didn't want to miss his blond haired students return. Maybe since this mission acted as a sort of Jonin test for Harmony and Discord, he'd be able to persuade Tsunade to let him perform the rest of their exam, keeping him in Konoha for a while.
Twelve hours later, the Hokage's office.
"Very well Kakashi, you can preside over the rest of their Jonin qualification test. But before you go…" Kakashi paused. He'd been pleased with how the report had gone, the couple had left a few minutes ago after receiving their pay and he'd even gotten Tsunade to keep him in Konoha. But now she wanted something… What could it be?
"Yes Hokage-sama?" The Hatake asked.
"Do you know who those two are?" Seeing the confused look on Kakashi's face… uh, eye she answered her own question. "They are… Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuga!"
Kakashi was floored. He'd tried to be back for his students return, and didn't even realise he'd talked himself into looking over his Jonin exams. "So, you think you're ready to test the new and improved Naruto? Let alone both Naruto and Hinata?"
He nodded vigorously. "I'll get right on it Hokage-sama! But, why didn't you tell me who they were?"
"Think about it. You think of Naruto and Hinata a certain way. By keeping you in the dark you make no assumptions about them. It means you'd judge them fairly. I told you now so you can see how much they've changed." She thought for a minute. "For the challenge portion of the exam you may want to get some help…"
Kakashi nodded and left. What kind of exam could he give them? And, how much had they changed during their trip? Tsunade was right, if he had known who they were he probably would have been against the mission, let alone making them Jonin.
He sighed. He had a lot of thinking to do.
A/N: Grrr… I'm still not happy with this chapter. It's too short and isn't as detailed as I wanted. Oh well, I'll try to make the next chapter better. You don't have long to vote for Saku/Lee or Saku/Kiba. At the moment the votes are:
Saku/Lee: 4
Saku/Kiba: 2
Saku/No-one: 2
Just so you know, the Sakura in this story is a lot nicer than in canon. She's a better person in general (though she will still have her moments.)
As always, thanks for reading and please review!