A/N: Going to keep this one short. Please read and review.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Text examples:

"Hello." Biju or jinchuriki using biju's powers speaking

'Hi.' Person thinking

'Hi there.' Person speaking through mental link

'Howdy.' Biju speaking through mental link

Chapter 14: On the Road Again

A tall cliff overlooks a majestic river in the east. This cliff has been visited time and again by those seeking enlightenment. It is often hailed as a spiritual place of cleansing. So most would assume the man that sat near the edge of the cliff was meditating on the mysteries of the universe, and they would be right, but that was not the reason why the man was on the cliff. The formless shape in the trees behind the man knew this. The formless shape knew the man was waiting for him to arrive.

The man on the cliff let out a sigh. "I know you're there Yasuo. Just come out already."

Yasuo chuckled as he poured some chakra into his body suit. The suit shifted colors from an assortment of greens and browns to a dark grey color as he came out from the trees. Yasuo was short and skinny. All of his other features were concealed by the body suit that also covered his face. The only clue to who he might be under that suit was the crescent moon symbol printed on the left bicep of the suit.

"You never let me have any fun Army Slayer." Yasuo said with a slight chuckle.

"Because you insist on calling by that damn nickname Kiri gave me." Replied Army Slayer as he stood and strode towards the grey covered man. Yasuo chuckled again. He enjoyed getting a rise out of the taller man, but he turned serious rather quickly.

"I found some useful information." Army Slayer nodded for him to continue. "Turns out there's a man in the Land of Waves who has had dealings with the guy you're looking for. I couldn't get anything solid to link the two but that's never stopped you before."

"Thanks. The money is in the usual place. I'll contact you if I need anything else."

Yasuo watched as the other man walked down the cliff. He smirked before he seemed to fade out of existence.

"See you around Army Slayer." The disembodied voice was the last sign that Yasuo was even still on the cliff.

-Konoha Gates-

It was early. Almost too early for the red head as she made her way towards the village gates with Hinata at her side. The sun had barely risen when the two had left the Hyuga Compound. Kurenai had been very insistent that the team leave early so that they could cover as much ground as possible that day. It did not take them long to reach the gates. As they approached Hinata noticed that Kurenai and Shino were there already waiting for them.

"Good morning Sensei, Shino. How are you two this morning?" Hinata asked pleasantly.

Kurenai gave a slight wave as she rose from the wall she was leaning against and walked up to the girls with Shino coming to stand next to her.

"I'm good, thank you." Kurenai turned towards Shino and he gave a nod as if to say he was fine as well. "Now that you two are here we just have to wait for the client to get here too."

Naruko finally seemed to wake up enough to join in on the conversation. "What's the old man's name again?"

Before the genjutsu user could respond they heard someone clear their throat. The group turned to see a tall grey haired man with a beard and glasses. The man had a frown on his face as he walked up to them.

"My name is Tazuna and I'm hardly old, but I don't expect some dumb half-breed to understand that." Tazuna said with scorn in his voice.

Kurenai and Shino were taken aback by the bridge builder's words. They were not used to such blatant disrespect for half-demons, but both Naruko and Hinata were. The red head walked up to the tall man and poked him in the chest.

"Look, I don't care how you feel about half-demons, but keep your insults to yourself. I'd rather not have to put up with hearing them throughout this mission, alright?" Naruko stated before the two stared each other down. Tazuna let out a snort

"And why should I do what the child of some demon's whore says?" The bride builder asked.

He did not know that was the worst thing he could say. Tazuna had not realized it but he had crossed a line by insulting Naruko's parents, both biological and adoptive. The red head had been subjected to insults all her life so she was used to it and put up with it with her head held high, but when someone insulted her parents the gloves came off.

A deep growl emerged from Naruko's throat as she stared daggers at the man. "Take that back."

Tazuna just smirked. "Make me."

The instant the words left his mouth the fox girl lashed out, with her fingers curled like claws, at Tazuna's face. However the blow never connected. Kurenai saw the strike coming and moved quickly to stop it. She grabbed the red head's wrist before Naruko could do any damage. The red head looked towards her sensei with anger in her eyes.

"Why did you stop me?" She asked the older woman.

"Tazuna is our client and it would look badly for the village is one of the ninja he hired to protect him instead injured him." Kurenai said as she let go of Naruko's wrist.

Naruko thought the matter over and let out another small growl before she turned to walk back towards Hinata. Tazuna had a smirk on his face as the scene finished playing out before him.

"Well at least you have the little beast trained to follow orders."

Naruko grew angry again and turned around to give a retort but she no longer needed to. Kurenai had hit the bridge builder square on the jaw and sent him tumbling backwards several feet. As the man righted himself Kurenai turned towards him.

"You may be our client but if you continue to insult my students you will find this trip to be a very unpleasant one." Kurenai said with a glare.

Tazuna audibly gulped from the intense gaze he received from Kurenai and wisely decided to keep his mouth shut. The genjutsu user turned back towards the red head.

"Naruko. I don't want to do this, but you're going to have to transform for the duration of this mission." Kurenai said and she was pleased when the red head gave a nod in confirmation.

"That was my plan anyway. I know how harsh people can be towards half-demons." The fox girl said as she let out a sigh

She performed the transformation technique to hide her ears and tails. The action earned a nod from the black haired sensei.

"Alright, now I hope we can all put this behind us and get on with the mission." The genjutsu user stated and received nods from everyone, even a reluctant one form Tazuna. "Good. For now we will be moving in Y formation with Tazuna at the center. Naruko I would also like for you to summon a fox demon to act as a forward scout."

"I know who would be perfect for the job." The red head stated with a smile.

She bit her thumb and preformed the summoning jutsu. Upon completion there were three plumes of smoke that revealed three large fox demons wearing red scarves around their necks.

"Everyone, meet the Hiro Trio." Naruko said as she gestured towards the foxes.

The three foxes bowed their heads in greeting. The largest fox that had grey fur and scars all over his body walked up to Naruko.

"Greeting Lady Naruko, it is good to see you again." The grey fox said. The red head smiled as she brought her hand up to scratch the fox behind the ears.

"You too Hirokazu." Naruko turned to face her team. "This big guy is Hirokazu. The black one with the pierced ear is Hiromitsu. And the white one with the sunglasses is Hironobu." The foxes each bowed their head as their name was said.

Hirokazu made a small noise to get Naruko's attention again. "What is it that you wish us to do Lady Naruko?"

The red head smiled and gestured for them to follow her as the team got into formation. Tazuna was at the center with Hinata a few feet behind him. Shino was forward and to the right of Tazuna and Naruko was opposite Shino on the left. Kurenai brought up the rear behind Hinata. The red head pointed down the road leading out of the village.

"I want you three to act as scouts for us and identify anything that could become a threat." Naruko was pleased when she saw the nods from the three foxes.

They then raced ahead of the ninja team. Kurenai was pleased with Naruko's choice as she watched the Hiro Trio disappear into the forest.

"Alright, let's move out everyone." Kurenai stated and at those words the group made their way out of the village.

-Somewhere in the Land of Fire-

The group had already been on the road for a week and Kurenai was quite happy with their progress. They had traveled from sunrise to sunset every day and she expected to make it to the Land of Waves in another four days. After the initial argument with Tazuna things had not gotten out of hand again. The bridge builder mostly kept to himself and only talked to the others when necessary. The team did not think much of the change and figured it was because he was nervous about bandit attacks. That was the reason he hired them after all. Naruko was silently grateful that the man was keeping to himself since she did not feel like putting up with him. It was already after lunch when Hirokazu arrived to give his report. The grey fox walked up to Naruko and bowed his head.

At her nod he began his report. "Hironobu reports all clear on the left flank and I can say the same for the right. Hiromitsu however reports that he has found a suspicious puddle approximately a quarter of a mile ahead."

"A suspicious puddle?" The girl questioned only to receive a nod in confirmation for the fox.

"Yes Lady Naruko. It has not rained for several days yet he has found a large puddle on the left side of the road." He elaborated.

The fox girl hummed for a moment as she processed the information. She then turned towards her sensei to see if she had heard the report. The two made eye contact and Kurenai nodded as if she knew the question Naruko was going to ask.

"I heard the report. We should proceed at the same pace but with caution, just in case that it is a trap of some kind. Hirokazu, can you have Hiromitsu keep watch on the puddle?" Kurenai asked.

"I will do that." Hirokazu said before he turned and raced off into the forest.

The group continued at the same pace and came within sight of the puddle in roughly five minutes. Hiromitsu was sitting on his hind legs a short distance away from the puddle and when he saw the group approach he got up with a mischievous grin on his face. He walked over to the puddle and raised his hind leg releasing a golden stream into the puddle. Two figures burst then out of the water as the fox urine made contact with the surface. Hiromitsu laughed as he jumped away from the new arrivals. He was clearly pleased with himself. Team Kurenai and Tazuna were a bit surprised at what they had just witnessed. None of them woke up that morning expecting to see a fox piss in a puddle and for people to pop out of that puddle. The surprise faded quickly though as the team took in the appearance of the two puddle dwellers. They both had dark hair and eyes and wore camouflaged clothing. The thing that caught the group's attention though was the Kiri headbands that they were wearing. They were Ninja! The Kiri ninja had not even hit the ground after they jumped out the puddle when Kurenai took action. She sprinted ahead to engage as she turned her head to shout orders.

"Naruko you're with me! Shino! Hinata! Defensive Field formation!" Their sensei shouted.

The teens did not waste time as they jumped into action. As Naruko advanced she canceled her summoning and Hiromitsu disappeared in a puff of smoke. Hinata turned around and activated her Byakugan while Shino moved in front of Tazuna. Once in position the brown haired teen released his insects into the air creating a thin layer around the three of them completing the Defensive Field.

Kurenai was the first to reach the enemy and had to jump over a chain that was linked between the two. She turned midair in preparation for another attack but saw that they were headed straight for Shino, Tazuna, and Hinata. Naruko noticed this as well and quickly preformed some hand signs. After a deep breath she let it all out at once in a fairly large sized Great Breakthrough that collided with the Kiri and sent them tumbling over each other. They recovered quickly and the one with two horns on his head band looked over at Naruko.

"Why the fuck does a Konoha ninja know wind ninjutsu?" The two horned ninja asked.

The one horned ninja put his hand on his companion's shoulder to get up. "Easy brother, something like that does not matter. What matters is our target."

The two horned ninja nodded and turned his gaze towards Tazuna. The bridge builder returned the gaze with a look of grim determination. He did not seem to be phased by the fact that these ninja seemed to be after his life. His reaction did not go unnoticed by Kurenai who had suddenly appeared behind the brothers. She tapped them both on the shoulder and they reflexively turned to look at her. What they saw caused them to scream at the top of their lungs before passing out from fear. All three of her students turned to look at her with wide eyes and mouths slightly open. Hinata came around first and blinked a few times.

"Sensei? What did you do?" The Hyuga asked as Kurenai straightened her posture and smiled at her students.

"Well I am a genjutsu specialist." Kurenai responded.

The statement made Naruko let out a nervous chuckle. "Remind me to never get on your bad side."

The black haired woman shifted her gaze from Naruko to Tazuna and gave him a look that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. After a moment he looked away. Kurenai surveyed the area with a glance before she turned to her team.

"Hinata I want you to use your Gentle Fist and disable their arms and legs. Naruko, when she is finished I want you to tie them up. Shino, scatter your insects and have them do a search of the area and make sure that there isn't anyone else around. And Tazuna, I would like a word with you." The glare she sent at Tazuna made the man pale.

The teens set about following their orders as the big man gulped before he slowly began to make his way towards Kurenai.

He stopped a few feet away from her and would not meet her eyes. "What is it?"

Kurenai's gaze intensified as if she was about to interrogate someone. "Who were those two and why didn't you look surprised when it seemed like they were singling you out?"

Tazuna cleared his throat and looked up but still did not meet Kurenai's eyes. "I don't know."

"Don't lie to me. It won't help." She fixed her gaze on him once again. After a long moment the bridge builder let out a sigh and looked eyes with the black haired woman.

"I wasn't surprised because I knew that there might be ninja coming after me." The man said quietly. The genin stopped with their assignments to listen in on the conversation.

Kurenai pinched the bridge of her nose. "And why didn't you include that in the information when you submitted your request to the village?"

"Because if I had it would have cost more and I couldn't afford to pay for anything higher than a C ranked mission." The man stated with conviction, in the hopes that he could intimidate her. It did not work. Kurenai just grit her teeth in frustration. She took a deep breath and then let it out slowly.

"Tazuna, you are a fool." The man blinked a few times in surprise. "This is clearly at least a B ranked mission if there are ninja involved. My team is not ready yet for that level of mission and it is within my right to turn back now because you left out vital information. So you better have a good reason for withholding information." Kurenai stated firmly. The large man let out a sigh as his shoulders slumped.

"I wanted to pay for a B ranked mission but like I said I couldn't afford it. I needed protection badly. In the Land of Waves there is a half-breed named Gato. He has complete control over everything that goes in and out of my country and all he cares about is fattening his own wallet. He imports opium and other drugs instead of food and goods. He then sells the drugs to the masses to keep them complacent. My country has fallen into poverty and no one does anything about it. So I decided to. If I finish my bridge Gato will begin to lose power since people will no longer have to rely on his boats. Gato knows what I'm trying to do and has threatened to kill me in the past. Now it seems he's finally living up to his threats. As for the ninja there were rumors that he had hired some to work as his assassins." There was a long pause after he finished speaking. Kurenai took in all of the information before she nodded.

"Alright. Those are good reasons, but it still does not justify what you did. My team could have been seriously hurt." The bridge builder let out a sigh and looked at the ground. He figured that Kurenai was going to withdraw from the mission and head back to Konoha. "But it is enough reason to continue with the mission." Tazuna looked up in shock with hope in his eyes. "However we will be sending a letter back to Konoha requesting backup and we will be changing this to a B ranked mission. You will have to pay the money you owe us, but that can be done after you work out a payment plan." Kurenai stated matter of factly.

Tazuna blinked a few times. He had no idea the Konoha even had payment plans. Kurenai turned towards their captives. Hinata seemed to have finished because she was helping Naruko tie them up.

"Naruko." The red head stopped and looked over to her sensei. "How long would it take for a fox demon to deliver a message to Konoha?" Kurenai inquired.

The red head stopped what she was doing as she rubbed her chin in thought. After a moment she snapped her fingers as the answer came to her.

"If I summon Isamu is should only take him three days to make it there if he goes full speed." The red head stated with a smile. Kurenai nodded. It was a faster and safer option than sending one of them back.

"Good. I want you to summon him when you finish up with those two." The black haired woman said.

The fox girl nodded before she went back to helping Hinata tie up the Kiri ninja. Kurenai moved away from the group as she pulled out a scroll and a kunai. She opened the scroll and pricked her thumb with the kunai so she could release two of the seals on the scroll. There were two puffs of smoke as some paper and a pen appeared. She quickly wrote a message to the Hokage explaining their situation and requesting the aid of either a jonin or two chunin. Once she was finished she quickly sealed the pen again and rolled up the message. As she turned back to the group she saw Naruko already standing beside Isamu. He bowed his head as she approached.

"It is good to see you again Kurenai. I trust that you are well." The fox said pleasantly.

"I am fine thank you. Has Naruko told you of our situation?" The fox nodded. "Good. Here is the message for the Hokage. Take it to him as quickly as you can." Kurenai said.

He took the message with another nod and then raced back towards Konoha. With that out of the way Kurenai took stock of her surroundings. Naruko and Hinata were standing near their captives talking, Shino seemed to be conversing with his insects, and Tazuna was standing under a tree in the shade. She was slightly disappointed at the lack of discipline Hinata and Naruko were showing. When they finished tying up the Kiri ninja they should have went to stand guard by Tazuna. She sighed as she realized that it was her own fault. During training she had impressed the idea of following orders quickly and efficiently. Not what to do when those orders were finished and no more came. She tucked the thought away for later and walked up to the chatting pair. As she approached they stopped talking and turned towards her.

"Hello sensei." Hinata greeted. Kurenai acknowledged them with a nod and debated whether to scold them or not. She nodded her head slightly as she reached a decision.

"Hinata I want you to stand guard by Tazuna while Naruko watches over the Kiri ninja." Kurenai said.

The blue haired teen nodded and made her way over towards Tazuna. Naruko seemed to be disappointed that their conversation had been cut short, but she got over it and started to pace around the Kiri ninja. Kurenai was pleased with her decision. She did not punish them directly, instead she figured that separating them would be punishment enough and she seemed to be right. With that sorted out she got Shino's report which was all clear. She did not want to move while she had the Kiri ninja with them so she decided that they should stop for the day and make camp. Everyone went about their duties. Naruko set up the tents with the help of her shadow clones, Hinata gathered firewood, Shino went to fetch water, and Kurenai watched Tazuna. Once they were finished they had a quiet meal and turned in early. After all Kurenai had big plans for the morning.

-Hokage's Office-

Obito was relaxing a bit from the long day he had had. Not only did he have to deal with all the paperwork that usually came with his position, but he also had to deal with many complaints from villagers. The loudest ones were coming from the Hyuga elders and that old war-hawk Danzo. The Hyuga wanted him to step in and talk to Hiroshi about his daughter's friend. When they arrived at his office and told him that Hinata was friends with Naruko he shocked them when he told them that he knew about their friendship and approved of it. He did not have the heart to tell them that the girls were actually in a relationship. He would not be surprised if they all died of heart attacks with in front of him, though now that he thought about it that might have been a better option than letting them gain support and try to drive the two girls apart. But that was unlikely considering the head of the clan was already supporting the relationship. He was glad that Hiroshi was on the girls' side, they needed all the support they could get. Danzo's complaints were related to the ones placed forth by the Hyuga elders, but his focused solely on Naruko. Ever since the girl had moved back to the village he had been trying to get the Hokage to place the girl under his authority. He said that she needed to be trained properly so that she would not turn against the village. Obito knew that that would never happen, but he still considered letting Danzo help with her training. He knew that the man was associated with many half-demons that keep themselves hidden from the public eye. Naruko could benefit greatly from training with other half-demons. The one-eyed Uchiha was brought out of his thoughts when he heard something tapping on the window. He stood up and opened the window letting in an orange and black fox with two tails. The fox bow his head.

"Greetings Lord Hokage. I carry a message for Kurenai Yuhi." The fox said as he raised his paw to show the message tied to it. The Hokage nodded and took the message.

"Thank you." Obito replied. With a bow the fox disappeared in a puff of smoke.

As Obito read the message he heard a knock on the door and he told them to enter. He knew it was the Special Jonin that he had requested to see. He glanced over at the door and after he saw that he was correct he went back to reading. The Special Jonin walked up and took a seat while Obito returned to his desk.

"Hey Obito. What's that you got there?" Asked the Special Jonin. Obito hummed as he reread the letter in his hand.

"It's a request for aid from Kurenai. Seems that her client withheld information for her team's mission to the Land of Waves and now it looks like they will be facing enemy Kiri ninja." After the words left his mouth he heard the chair in front of him clamor to the floor and the door slammed open. He looked up and blinked a few times in confusion before what had just happened settled in his mind and he let out a chuckle. "Should've seen that one coming."

With a shack of his head and a smile on his face he pulled out the necessary forms that would confirm that the Special Jonin, Anko Mitarashi, had been sent to aid Team Kurenai with their mission. After a few minutes Obito put his feet up on his desk and sighed in relief knowing that he was finally finished with all of the paperwork today. He was pleased with himself for a job well done. That was until he noticed a piece of paper under his desk. He reached forward and picked it up. As he read the paper he remembered why he had called for Anko in the first place. He grew frustrated and kicked his desk.

"Damn that woman and her obsession with Kurenai!" He said with a small growl before he let himself get over his slight anger. He really could not be mad at the woman because he was the one who had completely forgotten about the matter. He shook his head before he told his assistant to get Ebisu for him. After all, someone had to interrogate the ninja that had defected from Suna.

A/N: So I'm debating including an original mission after the Land of Waves arc and before the Chunin exams. Thoughts?

Next time: Genjutsu can be scary.