Sapphire09: I finally updated!! Yeah!

By the way, I know that Tobi is Madara, but in this story, just pretend it was Obito.

....Did I already type this in the previous chapter?

Anyway, please enjoy and I hope you can bear my grammar... It's not perfect, perhaps it was horrible...

But, I've tried.... right?

CHAPTER IV
Mirage

After lunch, Sasuke walks out in an alley, enjoying the silent moment. Sakura is nowhere in sight, since she said she have to help her mom. Naruto never came and Kakashi also never came back. Thankfully, Kakashi already paid their lunch beforehand.

He's walking aimlessly, just enjoying the silent moment. Accidentally, he arrived near the Hokage Tower. He then decides to enjoy the view from a high place, and on top of Hokage Mountain sounds good. So, he sat on top of the Shodaime's head.

'Wow, I never knew the view here is this pretty. The breeze here is pretty good,' Sasuke thought in amazement. He then leans on his back and close his eyes, letting the feeling or the warm breeze washes over him and unknowingly, he fell asleep.

(Sasuke's dream)

"Aniki(1), where are we going?" an eight years old Sasuke asked to the thirteen years old Itachi. Itachi said he wanted to meet with someone and he said Sasuke can come, but he didn't tell him where they will meet.

"Be patient, Otouto. We're almost there…. Ah, here we are," Itachi said. They arrived in a place near a river. It is a beautiful place, Sasuke admits. Near the stream, there was a little kid with about shoulder length hair sit under the tree, on the big tree root. However, the shadow of the tree shadowed that kid, so that kid's face and the color of that kid's hair couldn't be seen. The only thing that can be seen is that kid's outfit. That kid wears a plain black shirt and light beige shorts with sandals.

Itachi and Sasuke then walk closer to that kid. "Nami-chan. I'm here," Itachi said to that kid.

"Ita-kun! What's taking you so long? I was waiting for you for two hours!" that kid said, in voice of annoyance. That kid then saw Sasuke behind Itachi, before asking, "Who is he? Is he your brother? He looks so much like you! Like a mini Itachi!" the kid said. Sasuke could feel the kid's curious gaze.

"Nami-chan, meet my brother, Sasuke. Otouto, meet Minami. Ah, before I forget, Nami-chan is a girl. Don't ask why, but she always dressed in boyish outfit," Itachi said. Before Sasuke can say anything, Minami hug Sasuke tightly. It's so fast; Sasuke can even barely see her face. "Yay! New friend!" Minami said as she crushed Sasuke. Sasuke, since the girl is hugging him with unbelievable strength, can barely move at all. Added to that, his surprise paralyzes him, too. He barely got that kind of affection, except from his mother. Even his own mother didn't hug him that fast, and that tight. Don't ask about Itachi, though.

"Ano... Nami-chan, you're suffocating my brother," Itachi said. Sasuke's face is turned blue, because of the lack of air. "Ah! Gomen, ne!" she said and back to the tree shades. It took Sasuke minutes to back to his sense. When he snapped out, Minami is already hidden again in the tree shades.

"WHY THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR?!" Sasuke screamed. "Ah! You don't like to be hugged? ...Or... you didn't want to be my... friend?" she said. Her last sentence is a bit shaky. Sasuke startled by that. 'I didn't mean to make her cry!'

"NO! That's not what I meant! I do want to be your friend, but you hug me... so suddenly. I'm not used to that," Sasuke tried to convince her. Silently, he pleads to his brother that is standing beside him to help him.

"Yes, Nami-chan. It's just that he's not used to be suddenly hugged like that," Itachi tried to convince her too. He didn't want Sasuke lose a friend, or going-to-be friend.

"Really?" she asked. Don't know how, but Sasuke can feel that the girl is staring up to him curiously. "Of course!" Itachi and Sasuke said simultaneously, Minami giggled at the coincidence. "You really do have a nice collaboration," she commented.

"Well, thanks," Itachi said, smiling. Truthfully, Sasuke is a bit shocked to his friendly expression. Usually, Itachi only warmed up near him. 'Then, she must be someone important for Aniki,' he thought.

"What's your dream, Minami-chan?" Sasuke suddenly asked. Minami blinked at that sudden question. She then began to think about it.

"Well, all I want is for people to recognize me," she said. A little bit of sadness is clouding her words. "Really? Then, I'll help you until you reach your dream!" said Sasuke bluntly and childishly. Itachi and Minami blinked once before she smiled.

"Then, what is your dream, Sasuke?" Minami asked back, smile still plastered on her lips. "Well, my dream is to be as strong as, no, to surpass nii-san!" Sasuke cheerfully said. "Then, I'll help you reach that dream," Itachi said and grinned as he ruffled Sasuke's hair, making it messier. He knew that his brother always told him not to, but he also knew that he likes it.

"Aniki!" Sasuke said in voice of annoyance. Itachi just laughed, also with Minami. "I'm jealous of you two… You have such a close relationship," Minami give her compliment. She then walks out from the shadows, but then everything is begun to blur. The only thing Sasuke see is a pair of dazzling blue orbs.

(End of Sasuke's dream)

Sasuke's eyes snapped open. He found himself staring at the bloody orange color spreading on the sky. He then stands up and begun scanning his surroundings, before he remembered that he was falling asleep on top of the Hokage Mountain. He then sit down again and begun to think about his dream.

'It was… a dream? But, it feels so real. It feels like... I'm reminiscing a memory,' Sasuke thought. He then tried to remember more, but he only got a headache in the end.

'I'll think about this later. It's late already,' he thought as he jumped down and walks towards his house. 'But, then again, no one is waiting for me, anyway,' he thought sadly. He then decided to change his course and to find the place that's in his dream.

'If it was a piece of my memory, then that place must exist.'

"Wait, they're already moving!?" Hinata exclaimed. Minami releases her henge and stares back to Hinata.

"Yeah. But, I think they'll watch over things first before they'll do anything drastic. But, it still doesn't decrease the chance that they'll try to capture them…," said Minami. "…They are targeting the tailed beasts, after all." Hinata then frowned.

"Including you, then?" Hinata asked. "Of course! They don't know about me yet, though. Itachi also said that from what our spy had gathered, they'll start looking for me after they can get their hands on the Shichibi," Minami explained. Hinata can only sigh after that.

"So, that means you'll go back to Ame, right?" Hinata asked and Minami nodded in affirmative. "Yeah. I'll make two Blood Clones just in case. Watch out for them like usual, 'kay? I won't be back for at least a week or so," Minami said as she performs two seals and creates two blood clones.

"Since we're only genins fresh from academy, we probably won't get anything higher than D-rank missions for the time being," Minami said as she went to behind the bushes to change her outfit.

"True… Well, don't forget to send me letters, 'kay? Tell me more if you got more updates on the situation…," Hinata said to the rustling bushes where Minami hides. She can hear a muffled 'yes' from the bushes before Minami reappeared. "No need to worry about me, though. I'm Takai no Tsubasa(2), remember? Whoever stands in my way must be a lunatic… or an over-confident bounty hunter…."

Minami appeared in a garment that totally conceals her. She wore a mask that is similar to the one that Kakashi usually wore, which hide her whisker-like birthmarks. She is wearing the Akatsuki cloak that went passed her knees, so whatever garment she wore currently hidden beneath the cloak, also with her body shape. She is wearing the boot-like sandals that reach just below her knees for footwear. Her knee-length golden hair is tied in one high ponytail and her swords are securely placed at her left hips, as short swords, underneath the cloak. The only thing everyone can see from her is her sky blue eyes and her blonde hair.

"Are you ready, Miss?" someone said. A figure then appeared in a swirl of leaves. The figure wore an orange mask with swirl and a hole for his right eye.

"Ah..? Obito? I thought you already left?" Minami stated in mild surprise. "No, Itachi did. I thought that it might be better if I accompany you there. Tobi is a good boy! Besides…" They practically can feel him smiling. "…Obito wanted to know more about Kakashi."

Minami sighed in defeat before she replied. "I told you already, there's nothing I can tell on him. We haven't even started our training yet!" Minami said. Obito merely chuckled. "From your point of view will be fine," he added.

Minami sighed. "Okay, then… but my point of view is pretty subjective… Anyway, Kyuubi-chan said that she wanted to come out," Minami said. The Kyuubi then appeared in front of her on the patch of grass in a red light. There she was, the Kyuubi in her fox form, and she was looking up at Minami.

"Hello, Kyuubi-san," Tobi greeted the Kyuubi, followed by Hinata, "Hi, Kyuubi-sensei."

"Hello. It's nice to meet both of you again, especially you, Hinata-chan," Kyuubi replied. Minami then gestured to the little fox, "Hop on." Kyuubi climbed up to Minami's shoulder and made herself comfortable. It was pretty nice having a chauffeur carrying you from place to place.

"Ha-ha, I see you like the size that we agreed on," Minami said when Kyuubi hop on to her shoulder "Well, kit, in my largest form I do not think I would get the benefit of being carried around by you." she replied. "May we go now, Minami-san?" Tobi asked. Minami nodded. "See you in a few days, Hinata. Watch my kage bunshin, will you?"

"No problems there, Minami-chan," she replied as she watch them gone, Tobi by swirls of leaves, and Minami a flash of light. She then walks to see the Naruto's kage bunshin that Minami left, before teleporting them all to Naruto's apartment.

"Haa... Here we go again. Oh well, I'll just do it like usual," she muttered and did a summoning technique. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Zhaobi," she said, silently. Then, a white tiger with golden eyes and around the size of a baby horse came into view.

"You called, Hinata-san?" he asked, in his own language, which only his kind, Hinata, and of course Minami can understand.

"Yes I did. Zhaobi, I want you to keep an eye on these kage bunshin," Hinata said. "Is Minami-san away, again?" he asked in boringly. "Ahaha... Uhm... yes?" Hinata replied.

"Can you ask the others, for once?" he asked. He is bored of minor tasks like this.

"Uhm... but you're the one that already familiar with this kind of task. Please, you're the only one I can trust for this," Hinata asked with pleading voice. He growled, but accepts it anyway. Hinata knew that Zhaobi is a very responsible one, so a little pleading and the right word, he'll do the tasks given responsibly.

"Thanks, Zhaobi. Inform me like usual, okay?" Hinata said. His sound of purring is the only reply she got, and she left to her own house.

"Hey, Obito nii-san?" Minami asked the masked man beside her. The masked man turned slightly to her. "Yeah?"

"How was Kakashi when he's still in the same team as you?" she asked as they jumped from one tree branch to the other tree branch side by side. The masked man didn't answer immediately. There was about a minute of silence before he answered.

"I thought… he's a bastard. He's too anti-social and really sticks to the rules. I can't stand him at first, but as time went on, I realized that he's not a bad person after all. I think he was… lonely and… depressed. He was deemed as a genius in such a young age, and his peers seemed to expect more from him," he then chuckled a bit, "If I'm in his position, I'll probably snap."

Minami looked thoughtful then. "Well… If you think of him that way, I don't think you want to hear how I think of him," she said. Obito raised an eyebrow beneath his mask. "How do you think of him then?"

Minami didn't answer it immediately. "No, I don't want to tell you my subjective point of view. I'll tell you on how I think of him later after our first training…," she said at last. Obito only sighed briefly before he let it drop.

The Kyuubi that is only listening to their conversation from Minami's shoulder slowly closed her eyes as they start jumping out from the woods.

Before long, they arrived in Ame, the village that is always raining and also the location of Akatsuki's main HQ. At the center of the village, there stands a building that is taller than any building inside the village. They walk toward the building before a guy with orange-ish hair greeted them in front of the building.

"Minami," he greeted as he bowed slightly. Minami returns the bow as Kyuubi growled, feeling forgotten. "And also Kyuubi-san," he added. "Yahiko-san. It's very nice of you to greet us like this," Minami said, smiling, while Kyuubi yipped. Yahiko chuckled before he gestures them to follow him.

"Well, it has been a while since your last visit. It's too bad that Nagato and Konan are not present for another two days. They have to carry out a mission," Yahiko explained. "Tobi, can you gather the other members in the Meeting Room?" he said. Tobi then bowed before he excused himself with the sentence, "Don't worry, Pein! Tobi is a good boy!" and then he disappear like the wind.

"…When will he ever cure that 'Multiple Personality Disorder'?" Minami muttered after Tobi/Obito left. Yahiko shrugged. "I'm pretty cool with it. But he sure is annoying as 'Tobi'," he said.

"I agree with you," Kyuubi said from Minami's shoulder. "And what was that about the name 'Pein'? I thought you guys already stopped using that name."

"Well, yeah. But, I and Nagato are constantly switching roles between leading Ame and doing missions as Akatsuki. Just to prevent confusion, we use the name 'Pein' for whoever that currently the one that leads Ame," he explained as they went through the corridors heading to the Meeting Room.

"Constantly switching?" Minami asked accusingly. "Why I never heard about that?"

Yahiko stammered, "Well…uh… errm… Yeah, that's…a very good question…" Minami eyes narrowed, before she shrugged and sighed.

"Fine, then. I'll take it that you forgot to inform me. It's not important, anyway," she said. Yahiko can only laughing sheepishly. "Gomen, Nami-chan, Kyuubi-san."

Soon, they arrived to the Meeting Room. It's quite spacious and there's a big round table at the middle. At the back of the room, they can see that Itachi already present. "Hello, Ita-kun," Minami greeted cheerfully as she skipped to him. Itachi returns it with a light bow and silence. Minami frowned, before she grinned.

"By the way, Itachi… Hinata said something about you…," she trailed off. He may not look like it, but he is clearly curious. After a minute of silence, Itachi grew impatient. "What did she said?"

Minami's grin grew by then. "Well, she said that she thinks that you…."

"I'm what?"

"That you—," Minami's words were cut when the door slammed open, revealing Tobi/Obito and the other members.

"Oh, they're here…," she said as she saw the other members scrambling in. She then turned to Itachi again.

"You know what? I'll tell you later. We have a meeting to attend," Minami said at last before she turns around. Itachi slightly frowned, before he realized that Minami has been teasing him.

"You were teasing me, weren't you?" Itachi asked suspiciously to her back. Minami glanced back and cheerfully smiling.

"Eh? How'd you know?" she said before she turns back to the round table as she rolled her tongue out. Itachi's veins popped on his forehead and he is slightly blushing. Minami chuckled after she heard him growling in embarrassment (and perhaps, anger) before she turns her attention back to the group in front of her.

"First of all, I want to say that I'm glad to see you all well and fine. It has been a long time since we've been together like this," she said, smiling. The others only replied by nodding.

"Now, let's get to business. I have a task for you to complete. I want all of you to look for the other eight Bijuu," she said simply, but that alone is enough for everyone to turn their complete attention to her.

"I want you all to find them and try to make sure they won't fall to the others hands, such as… I don't think I need to mention it," she said seriously. "Also, make sure to keep your eyes open to their moves. Make sure they won't have any of the Bijuu, nor to find out their location. That is why I want all of you to locate the positions of the other eight Bijuu before they did. Understood?"

"Hai!" all of them replied. Minami then nodded. "Good. All of you will act in pairs. You all know whose your partner is, so I don't think I need to say more. I'll be present here for three days."

All of them nodded again. Just when they're about to leave, Kyuubi spoke, "Before you leave, I'll remind you first…"

They then turned back to Kyuubi, who's still on Minami's shoulder. "The existence of this organization is a secret, so I hope that you won't do anything rashly. Like what Nami-chan has said, we only need you to locate them and try to coax them to join us. It'll be useless to try to make them join us by force. Also, be careful when you met an unstable vessel. Inform us first before you try to do anything, because they will be the most dangerous one, no matter how many tails they have. Please keep that in mind."

Minami nodded in agreement. "That's right. Please remember that. Now, you are dismissed!" she ordered. They then disappear from sight, but two people who wore masks.

Minami sighed after all of them left. "So… what now?" she glanced to the fox on her shoulder.

"You know, kit? In your free time like this, you should go to the library and start reading those books," Kyuubi said easily. "It'll be a good training to increase your ability to create strategies or making new techniques. Half of the library will be enough."

"Okay, Kyuubi-sensei. Whatever you say, whatever you say," Minami said simply as she went to Akatsuki Library. She then makes another 30 Kage Bunshin while making sure to not let the Kage Bunshins she left at Konoha accidentally disappeared. She told her Kage Bunshins to start reading as many books and scrolls as they can. Kyuubi did say to finish at least half of the collection of books and scrolls in the library of Akatsuki while she's here.

The Akatsuki Library is very comfortable and has the most complete collections of books and scrolls. Most of the collections are for advanced ninjas and above. The bad thing is the Akatsuki's library is gigantic. The size of the library is as large as the whole floor of the tower that is right in the middle of Forest of Death, and inside there's only books. Even the walls are covered with books! Even if Kyuubi said just half of it, it is still too many for normal people.

"Sometimes, I'm glad that I'm not normal…," she muttered under her breath.

(Meanwhile…)

After he got the dream, Sasuke has been curious, so he tried to find the place in between of the D-ranked missions. But whenever he tried to find the place in his dream, he always got lost in a dead end. After a week, he gave up.

Kakashi also has been trying to look for more clues on the Luminosity Dust. There's only one person he know of that has the ability to bend light, and that was his former sensei. Despite Naruto's similar appearance with his sensei, he only knew that his sensei is having a daughter, not a son. He doesn't know Kushina's last name, that's why he never suspected Naruto.

After five days, he decided to try his luck on Naruto, but his answer was as vague as the Hokage's. He can only suspect that his sensei has an unknown relative, or the Namikaze heir herself is still alive. But, he doubted the last one, since from what he heard, his sensei's daughter died right after her birth.

He never questioned the loopholes of that fact, though.

Minami dispersed the one of the clones that is in Konoha. The knowledge it has gained in the last four days came to her. From it, she knows that Sasuke has been trying to find the place where they first met.

'The jutsu… Can it be that it's starting to weaken?' she thought. She then heard a flapping noise and a knock on her window. She turned to the source, to see a pure white pigeon standing outside her window.

She opens the window and letting the bird in. She lifts her hand and letting the bird to perch on her finger. She then reached for its leg and unties the letter tied to its left leg. She then let the bird flies to her shoulder as it dries itself from the wetness caused by the nonstop rain in Ame. She unfolds the slightly wet letter and read it.

Minami, I know you probably realized about Sasuke. He has been taking trips to that alley where you put genjutsu on. It seems he's trying to find that place. He went there quite frequently, too.

I sent this just because I thought I ought to tell you. Huh, probably you already know, anyway.

By the way, how's Itachi and the others—

I seriously mean it. I want to know their condition! It's not like that only care for Itachi, so don't tease me about it!!

Hinata.

Minami chuckled at the last part. She can imagine that Hinata realized what she just wrote and hurriedly scribbled another sentence to prove her point. She then took a parchment and a pen before begin to write her reply.

Thanks. Yeah, I already knew. I'll tell you more later.

Don't worry. They're fine. Nothing to worry about. I sent them to locate the Bijuu before they do. You know, the usual…

Don't worry, I won't tease you. I'll tease Itachi instead!

Minami.

Minami chuckled a little after rereading her letter before she tied it to the pigeon. "Give this to Hinata, 'kay?" she said. The bird then flaps its wings before it flies outside, back to Konoha through the rain.

After the pigeon disappeared from view, looks down from her window to see two figures in Akatsuki cloak are about to enter the tower.

"KONAN!! NAGATO!!" she yelled before she jumped down. Both of them that heard their name called looks up to see her jumping down. They quickly get out from her way before Minami swiftly landed between them safely.

"Minami-chan?" both of them said in surprise. Minami then hugged both of them. "I missed you both!" she said again.

"When did you arrive?" Konan asked after she released both of them.

"Two days ago. I'll go back to Konoha at the day after tomorrow, though. I can't be here too long," Minami explained. "I already told the other members to locate the Bijuu. I believe you were told already," Minami asked in confirmation. When both of them nodded, she smiled again.

"Great! Of course, I know since Yahiko will be gone, you are the one that have to stay here in Ame. I'll give you the mission to be on the lookout. You know what to do, right?" she asked. Nagato grinned before he nodded.

"Then, what about me?" Konan asked in curiosity. Minami then turned to her.

"You have control over Nijigakure. You can be on the lookout too. If Nagato is among ninjas, then you'll be among civilians. You never knew what mere civilians can gain," she said. Konan nodded.

"Well, then it settled! Let's go for lunch! My tummy is growling…," she said as she rubbed her stomach. Sure enough, a growling sound can be heard. Nagato and Konan blinked before they chuckled at their leader's childish behavior.

"Okay… There's a good food stand around the corner. Let's go there," Nagato said. Minami nodded vigorously before they walked through the rain to the stand Nagato has said.

Soon, another day ended and Minami must go back to Konoha. Even after her last day there, none of the members informed any of the locations. It's not like she expected one this soon, anyway….

It took her another two days to arrive to Konoha. She silently crept into the village and tried to find her clone. She realized that it's better to find the clone first before dispelling it, because of right now her clone is probably in a mission or something…

She then activates her doujutsu to make the search easier. Again, she asked the help of the wind spirit to find his team. Sure enough, she finds them in no time. They're in the woods inside the village. It looks like they were watching... stalking something. She was still curious as to what they're doing, though. So, she asked the wind spirit again to carry the voices to her.

"Sasuke. I'm in point B."

"Sakura. I'm in point C."

Then, there's silence for awhile before another voice spoke through.

"Naruto. I'm in point A, believe it!"

"You're slow, Naruto," another one scolded. "Okay. Squad Seven… Hmm?"

Just then, a shadow moved through the bushes and ran through other bushes. 'Isn't that…,' Minami, who is still watching them from above, thought in realization. She then giggled before she decides to watch them some more.

"The target is moved! Follow it!"

The shadow hides behind the bushes. Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto peeked from behind the trees, watching the place where the shadow hides.

"Found it!" 'Naruto' said. "Over there!" 'he' whispered. The three then moved closer to their target.

"What's your distance from the target?" Kakashi asked through the transmitter.

"Five meters! I'm ready, so just give the signal!" 'Naruto' said to the transmitter.

"I'm ready too," Sasuke said.

"So am I!" Sakura said.

"Okay…NOW!"

Sasuke, Sakura, and 'Naruto' then moved to capture the target. 'Naruto' managed to get a hold of the creature.

"I got him, I got him!" 'Naruto' exclaimed as he holds the brown-furred cat in his hands. Sakura smiled beside him while watching him struggling with the cat.

"Can you verify a ribbon at the right ear?" Kakashi asked through the transmitter. "Affirmative. We got a positive id," Sasuke reported. 'Naruto' is still being kicked by the cat. The clone that posed at 'Naruto' is poorly beaten by the cat.

'Poor me… Well, Naruto is supposed to be dumb and easily annoyed…'

At a place nearby, Kakashi stands, waiting. "Right. Lost Pet Tora, captured. Mission accomplished," he said.

"CAN'T WE GET A BETTER MISSION THAN THIS!? I HATE CATS!!" the 'Naruto' clone yelled through the transmitter, and that almost making Kakashi deaf. Minami chuckled at that. She wanted to switch quickly with her clone, but the opportunity never came.

Before long, they brought the cat back to the Hokage Tower. There, its owner is already waiting.

"Aauuh, my poor little Tora, mommy was so worried about you, naughty little fuzzy kizzy, yes?" Madame Shijimi, the Fire's Daimyo's wife said in a sweet voice to the cat, Tora, while being hugged to death. They can even see the cat crying.

"Hhahaha, stupid cat! That kitty deserves to be squashed!" the Naruto clone exclaimed, though not in a very loud voice.

"No wonder he ran away," Sakura said while watching the cat being squashed by the Fire's Daimyo's wife.

'I pity the cat. Poor, poor Tora,' the clone thought inside. He then sighed. 'I better ask for higher ranked mission. Boss won't be pleased if she came home and turns out she has to do a D-ranked mission. She is supposed to come back today,' the clone thought. Just then, he saw a flash of black outside the window behind the Hokage. He realized that it was Minami, the real one.

Although it is brief, the one that noticed are Sandaime and the clone itself. Sandaime then stares at the clone in question. The clone smiled sheepishly before he starts his act as Naruto when Sandaime starts telling them about the other D-ranked missions available, while staring the clone all the while.

"No! I wanna go on a real mission! Something challenging and exiting, not this little kid stuff! C'mon, old man!" 'Naruto' protested. Silently, even Sasuke and Sakura agreed.

Iruka was about to lecture him, but then he remembered the event with Mizuki. He realized that Minami can do missions up to B-rank. Plus, he realized later that the real Minami is hiding just outside the room, still unnoticed. Minami made a gesture for him not to say anything, but from the Hokage's eyes, he knew that the Hokage also knew.

"Very well, then," the Sarutobi said. Kakashi's eyes are widened in surprise, since the Sandaime agrees without any lectures or anything. Moreover, he is also surprised by Iruka's indifference. Not only him, but the other two also surprised at how easy it was. They thought the Hokage would give them a long lecture or something….

"There is one C-ranked mission available right now. This mission requires two teams of genin or a group of four chuunin. You'll be bodyguards for a journey. If you agree, there'll be another team of genin waiting at the gate," the Sandaime explained.

"Really!? Okay! I accept!" Naruto said enthusiastically. "So, who're we guarding? Are we guarding a princess? Who, who?"

The Sandaime Hokage smiled before replying, "Don't be so impatient. I'll bring him in now. Send in our visitor!"

A short, squat man with gray hair and the red face of a drinker stumbled into the Hokage's room, his clothes rumpled and dirty. Grey, bloodshot eyes looked at the three genin incredulously.

"You're sending brats to protect me?" he asked thickly. His eyes then darted to Naruto, and his eyes were widened for an instant. That comes unnoticed but by Minami who smiled knowingly at her hiding place.

Glossary:

(1) Aniki: Older brother.

(2) Takai no Tsubasa : Literally means Wings of Death. Please tell me if I'm wrong.

Sapphire09: I'm sorry that it took so long for me to update...

But, please leave some reviews, kay? I need to know where I did wrong. But, for the grammar, I know that they're not so good. Especially that in this chapter, I practically copied some the the paragraph from the older version...