Chapter 14

Substitute Sensei

The forest was silent. That was never a good thing. Forests were never supposed to be silent, especially so early in the day. The morning chorus of birds, clicking of crickets and the scuffles of movement were all lost in this place. It was as if some malicious presence permeated the very air, keeping the surrounding wildlife either far away or curled up in their nests and holes.

Three ANBU stood in the centre of the clearing in the forests, easily ten kilometres away from the main walls of Konoha. One, the leader, crouched down to study the kunai imbedded in the soil then looked up at the mess before him. The caw of a blackbird broke the silence as the avian took flight. It seemed fitting that an animal rumoured to be the messenger of death would be the only one to give its voice to this place.

A battle had been fought here, and a losing one at that. Blood spattered the ground and the bark like someone had taken a paintbrush doused in the stuff and flicked it around. Kunai and shuriken littered the area, lying on the ground, imbedded in the trees or pierced into the four unmoving bodies which lay haphazardly in the clearing.

All four victims were Chūnin, part of a patrol group sent out on a standard patrol just yesterday. They didn't report in when they were supposed to and after missing their next two a small group of ANBU had been sent to look for them. The ANBU found them like this, and as the leader surveyed the aftermath he already knew how the battle had played out, could subconsciously see it in his veteran mind.

The body lying to his right, on his back, was the first casualty. The surprise etched on his now pallid features made that abundantly clear. A volley of shuriken, three pierced through his vest, one in his shoulder and another in his right eye, congealed blood stuck to his face. The others had probably died within seconds of each other. The next one had been incinerated by either a high level explosive or condensed fire technique. His charred remains were unrecognisable, and the blackened ground only seemed to add testament to the horrible way he met his end.

The third one had been run through the stomach with a long-sword, katana maybe and left where he lay, curled up on his side, blood pooling on the ground dying the soil crimson. The fourth and final body had been killed in a similar manner, only through the heart instead of the stomach. Death was instantaneous, the lucky one of the four.

There was one problem.

According to the records the team consisted of four Chūnin and one Jōnin, an Uchiha Itsuki if he remembered correctly from the report. The Uchiha was absent. Was he able to escape or perhaps he tried to run from their attackers, or maybe he was the perpetrator himself. The ANBU heard a snap and snapped his head around in time to see another ANBU, this one with a white mask with the kanji for flame written on it crouched down and bowed his head.

"Sir, you need to have a look at this."

The leader nodded and took off with his subordinate into the trees, moving easily fifty meters into the forest before landing back on the ground. Two more ANBU stood around one of the huge Konoha trees, not allowing their gazes to leave whatever he was not able to see. Wordlessly Hawk walked around the thick trunk and stopped short.

The body had been crucified against the bark, kunai imbedded in his hands and through his bare feet to keep him immobilised. Blood, now congealed, ran down the trunk like dried paint, turning the usually brown bark crimson. Uchiha Itsuki's whole body was limp, head bowed against his chest, long hair burst free to hide his face.

He was definitely dead. Hawk surmised this as he walked up to the body and raised the head, getting a look at the face for verification. He looked at the pallid features twisted into a scream, but that was not the worst part. Where his eyes were supposed to be was nothing more than hollow darkness. Someone had ripped out Uchiha Itsuki's eyes.

He didn't take his eyes off the face as he spoke. "Send word to the Hokage."

Two weeks had passed since their official induction into the ranks of the Ninja of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, and during that time Naruto had come to a conclusion about Shinobi life. He really began to hate D-rank missions. He had heard that D-ranks were the bane of a Ninjas existence, but it was only know that he truly understood the meaning.

D-rank missions were the most useless assignments a Ninja could get. They weren't even real missions because they had no risk attached to them, so no need for them to use their combat abilities. According to Itachi-sensei the missions had their own uses, including promoting teamwork and allowing the Genin to get to know each other better.

Sometimes Naruto wondered if he even wanted to get to know his teammates better.

Shino wasn't too bad, but he was very quiet and sometimes difficult to talk too. The boy seemed more interested in talking to his hive of insects than actual human interaction with his sensei and two teammates. Probably a social trait the rest of his family possessed.

While he and Shino seemed to have a slight understanding he couldn't say the same about their female teammate. Ino and he had butted heads several times over the last few weeks. They had argued about the most trivial of things. She was cocky, annoying, argumentative and sometimes downright violent, especially when you talk to her about her weight or talk down about a certain Uchiha.

Now here they were, before the Chūnin who assigned the missions. It was a little strange that the Hokage was sitting in the centre of the group, puffing his pipe. The young blond just knew he was taking some time off from the paperwork. His workload was barely a tenth of what it once was and the old man had found that he had more time to perform other duties.

With the old man was a Chūnin he didn't recognise, and Umino Iruka, one of the nicer instructors at the academy. It was Iruka who spoke as he looked over a couple of mission requests. "Ok, team Eight. Today we have a few more D-rank assignments. We have dog walking, delivery of stock to Satsuma weapons and one of the merchants has asked for some help with gardening."

Naruto felt like he was about to explode, more D-rank missions. He was getting tired of D-rank missions. He wanted something more challenging, something which would make him actually have to work. He wanted action. The blond was about to make his views known when the calm voice of his instructor filled the air.

"Hokage-sama," Itachi spoke up, gaining their attention. "I believe my team is ready for a C-rank mission."

Iruka looked like he was about to protest, but was stopped by the Sandaime. "Are you certain that they are ready?"

"I am," Itachi nodded his head. "They have shown an ability to work together, and I wish to see what they are capable of with something more challenging than pruning a garden or catching the Fire Daimyo wife's feline menace."

Sarutobi gave Itachi a calculated look before turning his attention to Iruka and nodding his head. The Chūnin frowned, but opened the first drawer of his desk and pulled out another file. This one with a C prominently stamped on the front page. "This one should be right up their alley Hokage-sama, a simple investigation assignment."

The Hokage took the file from the scarred Chūnin and quickly looked it over, after a moment he nodded his head and looked back at them. "As Iruka said it's an investigation. There has been word about a string of disappearances taking place in a village to the north of the country. The person who made the request thinks it's the work of slavers or bandits. Will that be suitable?"

Itachi nodded his head. "It will do, thank you Hokage-sama."

Naruto could barely contain his glee, a mission, his first C-rank mission. His mom was going to be so proud of him. He was barely aware of Itachi as he turned his attention to his Genin team. "Team eight. Meet at the eastern gate in two hours with enough supplies to survive a couple of weeks in the field. That includes food, water, weapons, clothes and sleeping bags as well as anything else you feel is necessary, got it?"

"Yes sensei." They chorused.

"Very good." The Uchiha nodded his head, "Dismissed."

Naruto was out the door at a sprint, while Shino and Ino followed at a more sedate pace. Itachi too was about to leave until he heard a slight pop. He turned around to see an ANBU agent kneeling before the Hokage, presenting a sealed scroll to the elderly village leader. The old man took it, broke the seal and read whatever was within. His eyes widened, then narrowed and when he set the scroll against the desk a frown marred his features.

Itachi knew that whatever the scroll contained was bad, but he had his own role to play and so he bowed to the Hokage before disappearing with a quick Shunshin, leaving the old man to his business. Once he was gone the Hokage looked to his ANBU. "I want another squad of ANBU sent to help cordon off the site, and a full investigation and medical unit assembled effective immediately."

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

The ANBU was gone within the blink of an eye, and wordlessly the old man rose from his place. "Iruka, I'm leaving the rest of this to you."

The Chūnin didn't seem surprised as the Hokage walked to the exit, burning the scroll with a simple snap of his fingers. He walked down the corridors of his abode. His old but still sharp mind going over all of the information the scroll he had received contained. It was more than just coincidence now. This was the third time an Uchiha had been killed and left in such a manner in the last two months.

The same memo, anyone with the victims was quickly dispatched with a cold calculation and the main target would be found a short distance away from the site, crucified against a solid vertical surface with his eyes ripped out. He bet the cause of death would be a poisonous bite to the neck like the last two, even though the other injuries and blood lose would have eventually done the target in.

He walked into the foyer between his office and the waiting room, looking up in time to see his assistant greet him. Nemu was still his secretary, and one of the best he had had in a long time. It was the reason she was still employed. He nodded to her. "Nemu-chan, please contact the head of the Uchiha clan and tell him there has been a death of one of his clansmen and notify next of kin for him and his unit while you're at it."

She was immediately serious. "Hai, Hokage-sama."

"And find Hatake Kakashi. I don't care if you have to assemble the full Military Police to hunt and drag him here, just make sure he is here within the hour." The old man was through the door and sitting heavily on his chair behind his oak desk, looking out at the village beyond his impressive view.

Three Uchiha casualties in two months, two Chūnin and one Jōnin, all of the victims had successfully activated Sharingan eyes, all had been killed and their corpses desecrated in a similar ghastly manner. Whoever had done this was definitely someone to be cautious around, killing a few Chūnin was no great feet, but taking out an entire patrol was impressive, even if there were more than one assailant.

The perpetrator would have to be A-class at least. Maybe a couple of B-class Ninja could do it. He frowned as he considered the possibility. Whoever it was they were definitely interested in the Sharingan, why else rip out the eyes? The thought wasn't very helpful considering the number of factions who wanted the infamous bloodline were as numerous as the Ninja Villages themselves.

Ino sighed as she walked through the village gates, backpack filled with the essentials she needed on her back. Mentally the Yamanaka counted off everything within the bag. Storage scrolls holding her sleeping bag, tent, weapons, food, water, spare clothes and a small supply of money. She almost wanted to cry when her father had denied her a few other amenities, instead taking them off her and using the scroll to store a spare set of kunai and shuriken.

All she was allowed to bring was an overnight bag, which in her father's language meant toothbrush, toothpaste, brush, towel, shampoo, soap and toilet paper. No perfume, no conditioner, no makeup and no mascara. Ino groaned at the thought, sure she wasn't over dependent on the stuff but she still wanted to look her best.

Once again she looked over her assembled teammates and fought really hard not to frown disapprovingly. Naruto hadn't shown up yet and it was five minutes past the deadline set by their sensei. Shino and Itachi-sensei were already there and waiting patiently for the blond moron.

There was a consolation she supposed. Getting her crushes older brother as a Jōnin-sensei was definitely a solace from not being in the same team. Uchiha Itachi was older, more mature and more mysterious than his little brother. Ino had heard of him of course, but to see the prodigy of the Uchiha clan and one of the main figures of the Uchiha Loyalists in the flesh was something else.

Ino looked at her watch and suppressed a groan as five minutes turned into six.

Then seven

Eight

Nine

And ten

Why couldn't she have been placed on Sasuke's team instead of that pink haired forehead girl Sakura? She bet Sasuke was never late for anything, neither was Kiba or their sensei. She could have taken the Inuzuka's inherent stupidity as long as she was on the same team as Sasuke-kun.

"I swear to kami," she growled. Gaining the attention of her other teammate and sensei. She didn't care if she came off as whiny to the older brother of her crush. "If he isn't here in five minutes I will hunt him down!"

It was at this moment that the annoyance arrived. "Hey, sorry to keep you guys waiting."

"Where have you been you moron!" she screeched at him. "You're ten minutes late."

He stopped and almost snarled at her. "Well excuse me for living on the other side of the village!"

"Alright, both of you calm down." Itachi spoke up as he righted himself from his leaning position against the defensive wall. "We still have another four hours of sunlight, so let's make use of them."

"Hai, sensei." His three students drawled before following him out the village gates and beyond. All three were excited in their own way, looking forward to their first real mission as Ninja outside of the gates of their home.

The excitement didn't last. An hour into their trek, as the village walls began to disappear from sight the team of young Genin were beginning to get restless. Naruto looked like he was about to crack at any moment. Ino was scowling at the back of her fellow blonds head, not at him but at the lack of anything to do other than walk.

Shino just continued to walk, slightly relieved at the continued silence. Usually around this time Ino would begin an argument with Naruto or Naruto would begin an argument with Ino over some slight little problem or misunderstanding. The Aburame wasn't sure why the two of them were like this, but tried not to dive into it any further.

Instead Shino decided to use the moment of peace to his advantage, and without making a movement released three of his female kikaichū insects, each one given the assignment of latching onto a teammate and act as a transceiver to the rest of the hive. That way he would know where they were at all times. He had already discussed the idea with Itachi-sensei, who agreed that it would be useful if they ever got separated.

Itachi-sensei's and Ino-san's plants all landed on their targets with no trouble, although he noticed a flicker of his sensei's eyes the moment Miku-chan latched onto the back of his Jōnin vest, but he didn't try to shake her off so Shino left her there. Then the one he sent to Naruto, Rei-chan, landed and a moment of silence passed before the blond let out a grunt of surprise before reaching up to shoo the Kikaichū away.

Unconsciously Shino raised an eyebrow with a frown, did Rei-chan bite him? With the slightest of body movement he called the Kikaichū back to him and, allowing her to rest on his extended fingertip asked why she did that. She replied that she didn't know. The moment she landed on him she had an urge to suck on his chakra. Shino chastised her for not controlling herself before ordering her back to the hive. He released another female, Nami-chan, and ordered her to do the same thing.

Nami-chan flew and landed on Naruto's amber jacket with no trouble, and then the exact same thing happened to Nami-chan. She bit Naruto, and the blonde once again grunted before attempting to wave the insect away. Shino frowned as he recalled her. His insects should have more control than this. When he recalled her she told him the exact same thing Rei-chan did, and this made the Aburame look up at the blond with a more calculating gaze.

Why would Naruto's chakra be so potent that his own insects, which were trained to be able to withstand the need to spontaneously feed, started sucking on his chakra? This had never happened before and Shino's curiosity was piqued. He needed to learn more about Naruto Uzumaki.

"It must be important if you sent a hunter squad after me."

The Sandaime looked up as Kakashi came to a rest, leaning against the far wall beside the door. Truthfully he was expecting it to be some time before the Jōnin arrived, at least another hour, yet here he was only a half hour after he called for him. The Hokage then looked up at the clock over his front door and frowned. It was eleven thirty. "Weren't you supposed to be with your team?"

Now the Copynin looked sheepish, which only caused the old Hokage to frown even more. "Yeah well a black cat crossed my path, so I was taking the scenic route and-"

"Save it," Sarutobi cut in with a shake of his head. "I had hoped that being given the responsibility of a Genin team would help cure your chronic tardiness. Looks like I was wrong. I do hope you are training them and not just showing up to take them on missions."

Kakashi waved his hands, "Hai, hai, not to worry Hokage-sama. So what was so important that you had to sic an ANBU search and destroy unit on me? I know that I can be a little aggravating, but really a search and destroy team."

The old man sighed, "They were only going to search for you, not destroy."

"That's a relief."

"Don't tempt me." The Sandaime added dryly before reaching into his top drawer and depositing a file on his desk. Kakashi was barely able to read the writing from his place at the other side of the room, yet he did notice the A-rank stamped on the front page. "I have a mission that I believe only you can perform."

"I thought I was off the high risk mission's roster while I was instructing." Kakashi noted as he straightened himself and walked over to the desk, taking the file and beginning to skim it over.

"This is a special case, and I need someone of your calibre to lead it." Sarutobi leaned back in his chair, clasping his hands together as he spoke. "Two months ago a Chūnin known as Uchiha Saru was performing a routine escort mission in the Fire Nation capital. He left his safehouse for food and never returned. His teammates found him the next day in a side alley, crucified to a wall with his eyes ripped out. He died on his way to the hospital."

Kakashi nodded his head, absently turning a page.

"A month later Uchiha Mamoru, also a Chūnin, went missing one night during a border patrol mission near the Land of Grass. He was missing for three days, but was found by his squad, crucified to a tree, also with his eyes ripped out. No one in his unit reported hearing or suspecting anything the night he disappeared." Sarutobi continued, noticing Kakashi's hands still in mid-turn of another page. "There had been a third incident Kakashi, an entire village patrol unit, lead by Jōnin Uchiha Itsuki, failed to report at the standard time last night. At zero nine hundred a team of ANBU was sent to their last known coordinates. They found his entire team dead, and Itsuki was found fifty meters away-"

"Crucified to a tree with his eyes ripped out?"

"Exactly," Sarutobi nodded his head. "Do you see where this is coming from? Three dead Uchiha in two months, all killed and defiled in a similar manner. This is the work of a serial killer, and a strong one at that."

"And my mission is to investigate these sites and try and find the perpetrator or perpetrators." Kakashi finished. "I'm guessing I've been assigned this because of my special case, and you don't want to send an Uchiha either because their head might not be in the game or they could end up as the next target."

"Precisely," Sarutobi nodded his head. "I've already met with Uchiha Shisui and asked him to recall all Sharingan enabled Uchiha from the active duty roster."

"How did he take it?"

"He refused at first," Sarutobi managed a small smile. "The Uchiha will not cower like children, was what he said. But I was finally able to persuade him, though only for a couple of weeks to a month. You need to find the perpetrators, or at least know the person or person's identity before that time."

Kakashi skimmed over the last few pages. "You're assembling more than me I presume."

"I have already gathered a full tracking team to assist you. Their names are on the roster at the back of the report."

Kakashi looked at the names. It would be a team of four with him selected as the leader if he accepted the mission. It was a team of note he had to admit. Inuzuka Hana, eldest daughter of the Inuzuka main family. He had completed a few B-ranks with her, and knew that when it came to tracking none were much better than her and her three canine companions. Hyuga Haru, branch family, and although the Copynin had never worked with him personally he had heard that he was a fine Shinobi and a good investigator. The last name gave him pause.

"Hokage-sama," Kakashi spoke up. "I thought you weren't going to involve the Uchiha clan in this case?"

"That was my intention, but in return for recalling all active duty Shinobi Shisui wanted to send one of his own operatives." The Sandaime noted his worried look and smiled. "She may have the name Uchiha Kakashi but she does not possess the Sharingan and so will not be a target."

"Her clan name makes her a target." Kakashi retorted lightly. "If the enemy represents another village then they won't know whether an Uchiha has the Sharingan or not. They'll just assume that she has it and strike her anyway."

"But she shouldn't be in as much danger for a simple reason."

"What?"

"You will be there."

Kakashi sighed, Uchiha Mikoto was a fine Kunoichi and although she had been retired she had returned to the fray with a new determination when called upon following the Uchiha Revolt. He did not dislike her, and he did not doubt her ability as a Ninja. There were other reasons. Kakashi had never been on the good side of the Uchiha clan, mainly because of the transplanted Sharingan eye he possessed.

"Will her presence be a problem?"

"No, Hokage-sama."

"Good."

"What about my Genin team?"

"A substitute will have to be found, temporary of course." The old man frowned as he reached for his tobacco pipe and matches. "But this mission was constructed a little hastily, and we have had no time to find a suitable replacement."

"Hmm," Kakashi seemed to think for a moment before his one visible eye curled up. "I think I have someone."

Hiruzen looked up at him critically, "Who?"

The Copynin tapped his nose with his right hand. "You'll see."

"Will this person fill in for you?"

"Absolutely... "

"... Absolutely not,"

Kakashi sighed and scratched the back of his head. Sure he didn't think she would say yes straight away but he didn't expect her negative answer to be so quick. It had been relatively simple to find her. She had just finished an A-class assassination of some bandit leader with Anko, and was known for hanging out in the Jōnin lounge after such a mission.

He found her sitting nice and comfortable on one of the olive leather armchairs, relaxed and reading a book. She was completely submerged in whatever story she was reading and Kakashi felt like this was as good a time as any to ask. He had been able to get her to say yes to quite a few things when she was in this comfortable buzz. Things she would have usually said no to in most other situations.

He smiled and pressed his hands together pleadingly, feeling like a child asking a parent if he could stay up late. "Please, it's just for a couple of weeks and you won't have to do much, just lead them on a few D-rank missions every so often."

She raised a thin blonde eyelash, "You do know there's much more to being a sensei than that, right? Like training them, teaching them. You know little things like that?"

"Please Yugito, I'm begging you." He pressed, though he seemed to be doing less begging and more asking in his usual calm tone. "The Hokage has called me away on an important mission, and there's no one to take over for me until I get back."

Yugito closed her book with an audible snap before setting him with a glare. "I thought I told you I didn't want to take on a Genin team. I'm just not cut out for it."

"Oh," Kakashi countered lightly. "You took a four year old boy, trained him on and off for eight years and turned him from an ignored child to a capable Shinobi. I know you have the ability to teach green Genin Yugito. I mean look at you. You're a Jōnin level Shinobi, strong, beautiful, capable, courageous, talented and with plenty to teach."

Her blonde eyelashes raised further, a slight smile curling up her full lips. She didn't miss the beautiful part of his little speech. "Flattery will get you nowhere Kakashi, and what does looks have to do with being a good Jōnin-sensei anyway?"

"I've got two boys on my team, and I know for a fact that at least one of them is going to drool and hang onto your every word the moment he meets you. Looks really can come in handy when you're trying to teach something to somebody who is not interested."

"Or it can become an even greater hindrance." Yugito countered before frowning, then fixing him with a glare. "How the hell did we get so off topic? The answer is still no."

Kakashi sighed, and then rose. "Alright, guess I better tell the Hokage to start looking."

Yugito nodded before opening up her book and thumbing back to her page, but before she could get into the next sentence the silver haired Jōnin spoke up again, "Though if you do agree to help me I will throw in a few incentives."

She looked up at him in agitation. The book was called Claymore, about a group of women kidnapped from their homes and genetically altered into soldiers by a shady organisation to fight against demons. She was just getting to a good part too. One of her favourite characters, whom she thought was dead, was now about to lead a revolt against their oppressive masters and she wanted to know what happened next. Still what he said had caught her attention, if just a little and she had to admit that she was intrigued in how he was going to convince her.

"What kind of incentives?" she finally asked with a sigh.

"I'll buy you a month's supply of your favourite sushi." So now he had moved on to bribery?

"Hmm," she hummed thoughtfully, actually considering it for a few moments, "Tempting but no."

"And I'll also agree to teach you a certain technique I know you've been interested in." Kakashi added, noticing how her entire posture froze. His visible eye curled up. He had her. "You know the one. That technique that requires an affinity for lighting, and either huge chakra reserves like yours or a Sharingan eye like mine to use successfully."

She closed the book again with an audible sigh, but the Copynin knew she was truly conflicted about it now. Truth be told Kakashi had planned on showing her that technique anyway. She had become his teammate and although he didn't like to admit it Yugito had become very dear to him, one of the first people he had felt close to since his last team, since Obito, Rin and Minato-sensei. She was already capable of defending herself, but if he added that technique to her arsenal then she'll be that much more deadly.

Yugito didn't need to know any of that though.

She looked at him pointedly. "Two weeks?"

"Two weeks," he agreed with a nod. Silence prevailed for the longest time before she leaned back in her armchair and sighed.

"Alright, I'll do it." She almost looked like she was about to groan, but stopped herself, "Definitely two weeks right?"

"Definitely two weeks," Kakashi was already making the hand seals for his escape. "Two weeks to a month."

Her head snapped around so fast he heard the crank of her neck muscles, but by then he was gone, vanishing via a Shunshin no Jutsu, "Kakashi, you asshole!"

He chuckled as he reappeared in the middle of the busy street outside of the Hokage Palace, and taking his book out of his vest pocket blended in with the mid-afternoon crowd and disappeared from sight. He had a team to meet and a mission to accomplish. First though he would send a message to the Hokage.

The old man would be pleased to hear that she'd agreed, considering he'd been trying to convince her to take on a team for months. It wasn't quite what he had hoped for, but it was a step in the right direction. Maybe if this went well he would be able to convince her to take on a team when the next batch of new recruits was ready.

"She's so easy to tease," he snickered. "Just like that time in River Country."

"Alright," Itachi called out. "It's getting dark. Let's make camp for the night."

It was indeed starting to get dark. The sun was just starting to dip under the trees, and the team had kept moving as Itachi used an extremely low level fire Jutsu to allow them to keep to the road before they found an adequate area of clear land. The thick forest surrounding Konoha was beginning to thin out before the sun had set, and after a few additional minutes they had found an area of flat grassland which was good enough.

Everyone nodded before setting to their tasks. Naruto went into the forest to find firewood for the camp fire while Ino and Shino began setting up the camp. Itachi found a reasonably flat slab of rock and sat down, allowing his team to learn some experience in setting up camp. He pulled out a small scroll from one of his Jōnin vest pockets, unfurled it and activated his Sharingan eyes so he could read the parchment in the dark.

It was the mission request scroll, or rather a copy of the scroll as well as additional information on the mission. He read and reread it a few more times, taking in every detail and committing it to memory.

The request had been made by a small village called Kusatsu in the north of Fire Country. It was a mining community, with plentiful silver mines as well as thick forests which added on a sizable trade of timber. The village was fairly wealthy from these exports, considering they mined the silver and timber themselves, selling them onto the larger businesses.

For all accounts it did seem like a regular search mission. The circumstances hinted at a group of individuals kidnapping people from their homes, a couple of mining workers here, and a family on the outskirts of their village there. All of the accounts suggested that it was the work of slavers of bandits, probably a travelling gang who came across the area by accident. A week to travel there, a few days to find them, a few minutes to disable them and then another week to get back home again.

An open and shut C-rank mission, perfect for new Genin teams, almost too perfect

Naruto arrived a few minutes later with an armful of dry pieces of timber and closing his scroll Itachi rose and walked over to the blond as he set out the campfire, placing rocks in a perimeter before setting the timber in the middle. He was about to pull out a few pieces of flint from his backpack, but stopped when Itachi made a few hand signs, delivering a small stream of liquid flame which ignited the dry branches.

"Cool," Naruto breathed as he watched the flames flicker. A grin soon spread across his face. "You've got to teach me how to do that sensei."

"Perhaps, in time and if you have the affinity you need." Itachi replied before gazing over at Ino and Shino who had just about finished with their work. "Get something to eat and then go to sleep. We have a long day of travelling tomorrow."

The three Genin absently called out an affirmative before rummaging through their backpacks for their rations. Itachi looked on as he took a protein bar from one of his vest pockets and began to eat. Shino had packed the same as him, quietly eating a protein bar and communicating with his hive of insects. The Uchiha was well aware of the Kikaichū attached to his shoulder, but paid it no mind. Ino was nibbling away at a riceball, while Naruto released what looked like a pack of instant ramen from a storage scroll.

The Uchiha raised an eyebrow at this. So he already had a basic understanding of storage scrolls, impressive in a recently promoted Genin. Then again Naruto's performance during the Genin exam had been as unpredictable as it had been impressive. He added a basic knowledge of Fūinjutsu to the boys known growing repertoire of abilities.

The whole night had been strangely silent, almost to the point where he wondered if foreign Shinobi had replaced at least two members of his team with plants, but he guessed it was nerves from their first C-rank mission and let it slide. If they didn't start arguing after a few days then he would check to see if someone had kidnapped his charges.

Itachi volunteered to take the first watch and sat on the flat slab from before, watching the road and keeping his senses on alert. But at the same time he was thinking of what he would teach them. So far he had simply assessed their abilities, but during this mission he saw the perfect chance to start teaching them some more advanced Shinobi practises.

Ino and Shino would definitely need to begin chakra control exercises, namely the tree climbing exercise to boost their chakra control. Both definitely needed it, of that he was sure. Naruto was a bit of a problem though. He had already mastered both tree climbing and water walking, which meant he didn't need any help in controlling his chakra reserves.

Itachi was thoughtful for a moment before a thought hit him, and he chuckled slightly for being so conservative. Midori would definitely berate him for not thinking of it sooner. If Naruto knew all of the basics then he would just begin teaching him more advanced forms, Jutsu techniques and fighting styles among others. He already knew exactly what he would start with, more out of satisfying his own curiosity than anything else.

It would help the kid though.

Inuzuka Kiba was not having a very bad morning, in fact he hadn't been having a good morning since he had been officially accepted as a Genin. First there was the team he had been assigned with. The academy's number one Sasuke Uchiha and one of his number one fan girls Sakura Haruno. The Uchiha was a tube, and the Haruno girl was a freak, both strength and temper wise.

That wasn't the worst part though. Sure he didn't like either of his teammates, but he was beginning to learn to get along with them. As time went by Sasuke had at least begun to be a little easier to approach, and the Inuzuka had started to enjoy teasing the hell out of him. Sasuke was not an easy person to tease, but Kiba and Akamaru loved a challenge, and it passed the time.

Sakura may look a little cute, but she was a spitfire in every meaning of the word. She had a very short fuse, especially when it came with anything negative about her Sasuke-kun. Kiba had already been hit an innumerable number of times by the pink haired menace because he said something brash without thinking. He had even dared to ask her out two days after they passed their sensei's exam, and he was still feeling the bump on the head she gave him for it.

The only saving grace which stopped him from being pummelled black and blue was Akamaru. As every time Sakura saw him she would squeal about how cute he was and almost drowned him with affection. The puppy didn't seem to mind, if anything he loved every second of it. So as long as he had Akamaru to act as a shield then he could deal with Sakura.

The thing that really pissed him off was their sensei, apparently one of the strongest Ninja in Konoha according to Sasuke, something his brother had told him. When he talked about Kakashi in front of his family his older sister Hana would sigh dreamily, as did every other female of his family between the age group of twelve and above.

It really freaked him out.

He didn't see what was so great about their sensei. He was always late by at least two hours, and worse of all he would tell them to arrive at nine in the morning even though he didn't arrive until twelve. They would do missions then he would put them through a basic training regime and tell them that he would see them tomorrow. The man was lazy, too laidback for it to be natural, always late and worse of all he read soft core pornin public.

It was the only thing that he read!

Just thinking about it made the Inuzuka fall back against the grass and growl, wishing to go to the training post and rip the wooden stump into a dozen pieces. His life was over, there was no way he would survive this completely unscathed. If Sasuke's stoic nihilism and Sakura's fangirlism didn't get him then his sensei's perverted nature and lack of a sense of time would.

He could already see his tombstone laid out before him.

It was Monday, nine in the morning. He had arrived a few minutes before to see that Sasuke was already there, sitting against a tree and trying to ignore Sakura as she continued to try and talk to him. Kiba growled again, noticing Akamaru give him a concerned bark. You'd think that after a couple of weeks she would get the message that he wasn't interested, yet she stilled fawned over him.

And he had to deal with this for another three hours.

He really wanted to break something.

His watch ticked nine o'clock and he got the biggest shock of his life when a figure appeared in the middle of the training field via a Shunshin no Jutsu. Kiba looked up, stunned, while Akamaru let out a couple of warning barks. Sasuke and Sakura looked up as well as the wind settled.

The first emotion which Kiba felt was disbelief. Kakashi-sensei was actually on time. The idea was almost laughable if not downright ludicrous. In the two weeks since he had become their sensei he had never been on time, just thinking about him being on time made the Inuzuka's head spin. It wasn't until Akamaru let out a few low key barks that he realised that it couldn't be Kakashi-sensei. His pup looked nervous, either only brought on by an enemy or a stranger.

He looked at the figure and gawked.

A woman was approaching them, and she was... hot, smoking hot.

She wore a similar uniform to Kakashi-sensei which consisted of a leaf green jacket, pants, black Shinobi sandals and a Jōnin vest. Her Hatai-ite was tied to her forehead, half hidden by blonde bangs. A katana was diagonally strapped to her back and a kunai pouch was attached to her right thigh.

Kiba forced his mouth shut with an audible click. By the Kami above she was mind numbingly gorgeous. Her legs were long and despite the clothing seemed to stretch forever. She had an hourglass figure, amazingly shapely thighs and boobs which were either a high C or a low D-cup. Her face was perfection, pale unblemished skin, slightly slanted eyes with piercing chocolate orbs, sharp features, cute nose, light blonde hair tied into a braid with a white cloth which stretched down to the small of her back.

She was the sexiest thing he had ever seen on two legs.

Kiba was completely unaware that he was drooling.

She looked at them and spoke in a honeyed voice which completely sealed the idea that she was a figment of his imagination. He must have dosed off, he had too have dosed off there was just no other way to explain this.

"Is this team seven consisting of Inuzuka Kiba, Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke under the apprenticeship of Jōnin Hatake Kakashi?" she asked, looking the three of them over with a calculating gaze.

Kiba's voice was caught in his throat. Sasuke's wasn't, "Yes."

"Good," she replied. "My name is Yugito Nii, and I have been assigned as a substitute instructor until Kakashi-san returns."

Kiba knew this was a dream, without a doubt. He was definitely asleep. He would wake up any moment and the being of perfection before him would be gone and they would still be waiting for Kakashi-sensei to show up.

He barely heard Sakura's voice as she asked a question. "Um, Yugito-sensei, where is Kakashi-sensei?"

"He's on a classified mission." The goddess replied, now standing right in front of him. She looked down at him with a frown, crouched and softly flicked him on the forehead. "You with us little man?"

Kiba rubbed his forehead, groaning in pain before it hit him. She had hit him, if this was a dream he wouldn't have felt it. This was reality. "Yes ma'am, I'm with you!"

She smiled before rising to her feet. "Have any of you had breakfast yet?"

All three shook their heads.

"Then let's go get some."

Kiba jumped to his feet, following the woman alongside his Genin team, noticing the beautifully curved shape of her derrière as she walked. By Kami he didn't hate Kakashi-sensei, but he hoped the masked Jōnin's mission would take a while, a good long while.

She had led them to a little traditional cafe right in the centre of the village, taken them inside and found them a table. Sasuke watched the woman closely as they gave their orders to a smiling waitress before settling into a slightly uncomfortable silence. Well it was uncomfortable for them. Their new sensei didn't look perturbed in the least.

Nii Yugito definitely carried herself like a Shinobi, and by her attire she was definitely an elite Jōnin but besides that he couldn't tell much about her. All he knew so far was that she had arrived on time, which was already a serious plus in his book, and she wasn't reading anything that should be borderline illegal to read in public.

"So, um, sensei," it was Sakura who spoke up, sometimes her curiosity could be a good thing. "What type of mission is Kakashi-sensei doing?"

Yugito looked up at her for a moment before offering a slight smile. "All I can tell you is that it's A-ranked and serious. Other than that the information is on a need to know, meaning that I wasn't made privy to the details either."

"Oh," Sakura replied, deflating a little.

"All that I do know is that the mission has a time span between two weeks to a month, and until then he has recruited me to take over for him." The food arrived just as she finished her sentence, and the four person group dug in.

When they had all finished Yugito pulled out a scroll from her vest and unfurled it, showing the three of them their academy stats. "Okay, first off I want to know everything Kakashi-san has taught you so far, everything."

The three of them were silent for a long moment, making their new Jōnin-sensei raise her delicate blonde eyelashes questioningly. Finally Sakura spoke up, slightly timid. "Um, he hasn't taught us much yet."

The eyelashes ascended almost to her blonde bangs, before narrowing in a frown, "Anything at all?"

Kiba growled, "Exercising and the odd sparring, that's about it."

"Has he taught you any basic survival techniques?"

They shook their heads.

"Chakra control exercises?"

They shook their heads again.

"Teamwork exercises?"

Again with the shaking of the heads, the pup on the feral kids head started to look dizzy.

"Anything?"

The pup almost fell of his owner's head.

Yugito let out an irritating sigh as she sat back in her chair and massaged her temple. "I knew it. When he gets back I'm going to throttle him."

"S-sensei."

She slammed her hands against the wooden table, startling the three Genin thrown under her command. "Alright, guess I'll have to start training you from scratch then. First things first, after we leave here we're going back to the training grounds where I'm going to show you the first step in chakra control exercises, after that I will be spending the next few days finding out your strengths and weaknesses and how to counteract them, so no missions during the next few days."

The three of them were openly gawking at her now, and Yugito wanted to hit that mask wearing buffoon right on the nose. She might be hauled into the torture and interrogation department for an hour of questioning afterward but with her mood being what it was she would consider it worthwhile.

"Finish your breakfast. We start the second we get back." She crossed her arms and huffed. Yugito took a deep, calming breath as she considered how she was going to punish her carefree teammate when he got back. She grinned as her mind began going through the possibilities, many of them with Naruto and Prank in their dossiers.

Several kilometres away a certain silver haired Shinobi felt a monumental chill creep up his spine.

Of Parents and Teachers

Part I

Yugito was standing at the kitchen counter, deftly cutting up a couple of carrots with a carving knife as Naruto opened the door to their little apartment, muttering that he was home. The elder blonde turned her head with a smile, ready to reply to him but stopped when she saw him come into view.

He looked awful. His head was lowered and his aura was radiating a mass of emotions, mainly confusion, disappointment and embarrassment. Yugito frowned, what had happened to him at academy today that he would be this depressed. He dragged his feet as he moved around the sofa and unceremoniously fell into it, uttering a groan as his face collided with the pillow.

She set down the knife and carrots before making her way over to him, sitting beside him on the sofa and giving him a worried glance. "Naruto, sweetie, sit up and look at me."

Naruto obliged, albeit slowly and awkwardly. Outwardly the nine year old was trying to school his expressions, but as always his eyes gave him away. It was almost impossible for him to lie with those eyes which were so full of emotion. Something had definitely happened at school, something that was bad enough to sour her baby's mood.

"What's wrong?" she asked softly, and watched as the younger blond sighed, pulled off his backpack and started to rummage through it. Eventually he pulled out a small file of paper, a test paper if she wasn't mistaken and after a few moments of hesitation presented it to her. She took it from him and looked it through, immediately noticing the F stamped prominently on the front page.

She remembered this test. This was one of the final exams at the end of his previous semester. Yugito remembered it prominently because she had helped him study for it at least a week and a half before the examination date. Her confusion shone on her face as she remembered that he knew each possible question that could be asked off by heart. "Oh sweetheart, what happened?"

Naruto looked up at her, looking lost, confused and wanted nothing more than to fall on her lap and cry. "I-I don't know. I remember going through the test, knowing every question and answering it. I came out of it feeling good and that I passed but..."

Yugito frowned as she flipped open the first page, then her frown deepened as she continued to read. She noticed a few problems with what she saw. For one the questions were answered pitifully, like whoever was given the paper hadn't even bothered to study for it or try on the date. There were even doodles of faces and obscene gestures on the side of the pages. Then she noticed that the handwriting wasn't Naruto's, as an elite Jōnin she knew her sons handwriting style to the point where she could forge his signature, but unlike her sons this one was messy and looked like it came from someone who had just learned how to write.

Her final assessment of this paper was that it was not her sons.

"Are you sure this was your paper?"

Naruto looked up at her questioningly. "Yeah, Mizuki-sensei was handing out our marks and he gave me this one. It even had my name on the front page."

This was the front page of his exam paper, but it wasn't her baby's exam paper. Yugito sighed, closed the paper and ruffled his blond hair. "Sweetheart, did you even check the paper itself and not just read the mark?"

Naruto shook his head before accepting the paper and flicking it open. His eyes widened as he went from page to page. "This isn't mine," he shook his head frantically, almost to the point of tears. "This isn't my paper mom, you have to believe me!"

She smiled as she ruffled his hair again, happy that the motion seemed to calm him down. "I believe you sweetheart, just leave it to me."

Someone had sabotaged her son's exam paper, and whoever it was he was going to wish that they had never been born. It was time to put her Ninja skills to the test. First she would call someone to sit with Naruto for a little while.

Yugao was on a mission.

Anko was free, if she wasn't getting drunk in some bar.

Maybe Kurenai was the better option, definitely the better option.

Author's Note 1: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto, I make no profit from posting this story.

Author's Note 2: Now we have officially gotten the ball rolling on the new act of this story. The next chapter is only about a third of the way done, but after a while I just decided to upload a finished product for those of you who were patiently waiting.