Disclaimer: Of course I don't own Naruto or any of its original characters, Kishimoto does duh!.
Blah….normal narration/ character talking
Blah….normal narration/ character thinking
Blah…. Kyubi/summon talking
Blah…. Kyubi/summon thinking and Jutsus
Chapter 11
Time skip 2 months…
Naruto was woken from his slumber by a loud knocking on the door to his apartment. He had rented the place after making enough money from his missions over the last two months that he had been in the past. Things had been moving at a decent pace, and nothing major has happened till now. He had completed several C-Rank missions and a few B-rank missions during this time period but thankfully he met no significant resistance on those. He also increased the pace of his training which was mainly focussed on improving his acquired skills rather than learning new ones, the only exception being fuinjutsu which Kushina had begun teaching him with great gusto. He soaked it in like a sponge and genuinely impressed Kushina and Minato with his skills. The significant increase in his ninjutsu arsenal came in the form Raiton : Chidori and its improved version Raikiri which were Kakashi's original techniques, though now he was trying to increase their penetration power while toning down the noise they generated. He knew that until and unless he overcame the problem of tunnel vision that was associated with this technique he couldn't use it against high level opponents thus making them limited in their use. He remembered his fight against the third and fourth Raikages and decided that he would try to recreate their Raiton no Yoroi as it was one of the strongest techniques he ever faced. He pondered on similar chakra armours with Wind and Fire elements too but kept them in his long term goals.
He shook his head trying to shrug of the drowsiness as he called out it a scratchy voice that he was coming. The blond opened the door to see a member of the Hokage's ANBU forces standing there. A woman, from her stature and build, with shoulder length auburn hair. Her mask looked like it was supposed to resemble some sort of bird, but his mind was still in sleep mode so he didn't even bother trying to identify it. He had managed to recognize quite a few ANBU in the time he had been back, but this wasn't one that he could claim to remember.
"Uzumaki- san, Hokage- sama requests your presence at your earliest convenience." The bird mask ANBU informed him in a formal tone.
Naruto covered his mouth, hiding a yawn before he nodded and gestured back into his apartment. "Alright. Tell him I'll be there as soon as I get dressed and grab something to drink."
"Hai."
The moment the word left the ANBU's mouth, she vanished in a shunshin.
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Later in Hokage office…..
"Come in." The curt voice of Hiruzen Sarutobi called him in as Naruto rapped on the door of hokage office.
"Ah Naruto good that you are here. Now we just have to wait for your partner to issue you both the mission details." The third hokage explained to the blond shinobi.
Naruto quirked an eyebrow in question but shrugged as he saw a mysterious expression on Hiruzen's face. Hardly a minute had passed when another shinobi entered the hokage office.
"You summoned me hokage-sama." Uchiha Mikoto bowed slightly to the hokage before she took in the other occupant in the room. She simply nodded in his direction in a sort of greeting to which Naruto gave a slight smile.
"Chunnin Uzumaki Naruto and Chunnin Uchiha Mikoto." Hiruzen began, "You both are assigned a mission to gather intel about some activities near the border of Amegakure. There has been some suspicious activity in that region, there have been rumour about Konoha shinobi engaging in border dispute with Ame shinobi."
"What level of engagements have been rumoured to have happened till now hokage-sama?" Naruto questioned as he formulated possible scenarios they might have to encounter.
"A few skirmishes at max nothing exceeding that." Hiruzen told them but suddenly he broke off.
"What is it hokage-sama?" Mikoto asked seeing as there was something that was bothering the village leader.
Sarutobi let of a deep sigh, "It is not the skirmishes that worries me, it is the rumours of konoha shinobi attacking the adjoining villages of Ame that is trouble me."
"If that is the case shouldn't it be a complete team which goes to investigate this since it seems like we might encounter enemy ninjas in larger numbers?" Naruto asked surprised at hokage's decision.
"I would have liked to have an Inuzuka to accompany you on this one for tracking purpose, but Tsume got injured and is still recuperating. The hyuuga are also not available since they have been sent to reinforce our border towards Kaminari-no-kuni." The hokage explained with a sombre tone.
"So things are getting that serious huh." Naruto mused out loud. "Seems like we are going to wing it then."
"Stop with your complaining Uzumaki." Mikoto reproached him slightly but she too agreed with the assessment.
"I am sorry to send you both in a dangerous territory without any backup but you are what we have at this time. I know you are strong." Sarutobi continued as he saw a scowl on Mikoto's face. "But as Naruto said there is a possibility of facing multiple enemies. That said you are a one man army yourself Naruto."
Naruto gave a small smile at this. "I know my strengths and weaknesses very well hokage-sama. I don't have a complaint but this mission somehow reeks of conspiracy and deceit. It just gives me a bad feeling and my hunches are usually right."
"Don't tell me you are losing your nerves Uzumaki." Mikoto taunted. "I will be there to save your blonde ass ya know."
"Yeah-yeah whatever Uchiha-hime, I am sure it will be you who will be needing rescuing if situation gets bad." Naruto retorted as Mikoto's eyebrows twitched at the 'hime' remark.
"Well it seems everything is settled then. Both of you get prepared, you will leave for the mission tomorrow. Dismissed." Hiruzen took in a deep breath. 'I really hope you show me your true powers Naruto. I know you are hiding something, I don't know exactly what but if my suspicions are correct you have every reason for secrecy.' He pulled out a recently clicked photograph which had four people in it, two blondes who looked remarkably similar smiling at the camera along with a redhead and brunette kunoichi.
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Naruto had just finished packing for his mission and was about to head over to Ichiraku's for a bite when he was interrupted by a knock on the door. He opened it to find a gennin, wearing an Uchiha crest standing there.
"Uzumaki Naruto san?" the gennin looked at him with question in his eyes.
"Yes and who might you be friend?" Naruto asked politely.
"I am Sentaro, senpai. I was asked by Uchiha Kagami sama to deliver this to you." He handed over a scroll sealed by the Uchiha crest to Naruto.
Naruto took the scroll from him and pocketed it to read it later but the gennin spoke, "Senpai, Kagami sama is expecting a response so please read it and tell me your reply."
"Okay." Naruto said as he opened the scroll. He was surprised to find an invitation for tea. 'Hmmm must have wanted to talk to me about the mission we are going to undertake.' "Very well please inform Kagami sama I will be at the compound at 6:00pm." The gennin gave a polite nod and left as Naruto slowly made his way towards Ichiraku's.
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As Naruto walked towards his destination he ran through possible scenarios the meeting with the Uchiha clan head would like go. From what he had gathered from the general opinion the man was a powerful shinobi, though now retired due to an injury and was well respected. He served under the Nidaime hokage and was said to be a man with morals. Naruto could only assume that he wanted the meeting to know him better. Naruto for a lack of better term was an enigma and some people still suspected him to be a spy, thus tended to be a bit cautious of him. The man might have had similar thoughts and since his daughter would be accompanying him on a relatively dangerous mission, it was only logical to get to know a bit more about her partner. Naruto stopped his thoughts as he came up on the outskirts of the Uchiha compound. The area was rather large, even larger than he remembered from when he was younger. Admittedly it may have been the same size – he didn't really pay much attention because Sasuke lived there alone after his entire clan was killed. He never ventured into that area and after the destruction of the village by Nagato that area was turned into something entirely different seeing as there was no longer a loyal Uchiha left in the village. The Uchiha compound of this time probably encompassed about one tenth of the total size of the village. Even as other clans arrived and merged with the general populace that mostly consisted of descendants of the Senju, the Uchiha remained separate. As to why, Naruto could only guess. He remembered hearing from Sasuke and even Tsunade that the clan always wanted more say in the village, yet they chose to keep themselves apart from everyone else. It was only when he learnt about the truth of Uchiha massacre later on he found most of his answers.
"Halt." The voice of the guards at the compound gate brought Naruto out from his reverie. "State your name and purpose", the guard asked again.
"Uzumaki Naruto here to meet Uchiha Kagami sama." Naruto plainly stated.
The guards looked at each other before they let him in. The blond noted that several heads glanced in his direction as he moved towards his destination. Arriving at Mikoto's house, Naruto promptly knocked on the front door of the large house. The house certainly looked a lot... fresher... compared to how he used to remember it but that did make sense, since he was just about a quarter of a century in the past. The door was answered faster than he had been expecting. A young servant girl, judging by her appearance. Her face showed curiosity she saw him standing there.
"I am here to see Kagami-sama for the meeting as per prior arrangement." Naruto spoke in a polite yet firm voice.
The girl bowed her head acknowledging his words but as she opened her mouth to speak, another loud voice – distinctly male – spoke for her. "I will take it from here, Orihime. You may resume your duties." Without a word the young girl quickly turned in the direction that the voice came from and offered a swift bow, then wandered away out of sight. Naruto waited patiently as he waited for the person with the other voice to appear, which they did after another moment. The man had a face with sharp features, though signs of age were beginning to show. His hair had a faint silver outline, and he walked with a slight limp and a cane. As he noticed Naruto standing there in the doorway, he offered a faint smile. "You must be Uzumaki Naruto san. I have heard a lot about you but of course this will be the first time we are meeting face to face."
"Hai, it is a pleasure to meet you Uchiha sama." Naruto extended the courtesy.
Kagami smiled slightly as he waved his hand, "Please no need for the formalities Uzumaki san. We are just here for a pleasant conversation."
"Please call me Naruto then, Uzumaki san makes me feel old." Naruto said with a slight smile.
Kagami chuckled quietly, "Well let's go to a more a comfortable setting then." He led them to the seating area where he ordered some tea and refreshments to be brought for the guest.
"So Naruto you must be quite confused as to why I have called you here." Kagami began amicably.
Naruto quirked an eyebrow, "Umm to be honest sir no, not really."
Kagami once again chuckled. "I guess the reasons for this meeting are quite few aren't they?" Naruto simply bowed his head as he acknowledged the man. "You are correct if you guessed that I wanted to talk to you regarding the mission you and Mikoto are going on."
"I understand your thinking very well sir. If I were in your position I too would have liked to know about the man who would be accompanying my daughter on a mission." Naruto quoted sagely.
"It's not that I haven't heard about you Naruto, I have come to know quite a lot of things from various sources and I would like to state that I am not at all doubting your abilities." Kagami spoke.
"I know that very well Kagami san. You may have sufficient knowledge about my abilities but it's my character that you want to see from this short meeting." This earned an appreciative glance from Kagami.
"Quite astute you are Naruto san. I see you are quite intelligent too. It's no wonder that you are able to beat Minato in each of your spars." Now this bit of information surprised Nartuo. He didn't think that his activities were still being monitored to this level.
'Hmm, I might have to be careful. With not only Danzo watching me it seems even after the probation jiji is suspicious of me. Well can't really blame him.' "Wow I never expected that piece of information becoming public knowledge." Naruto expressed his surprise.
"Oh it's not public knowledge per say, but you see I have spent quite a few number of days listening to Mikoto talk about you. If I didn't know any better I would say my daughter was quite infatuated with you." Kagami said in a light tone to which Naruto scoffed in an undertone.
"I don't think that's the case at all Kagami-sama." Naruto casually replied.
'It very well may be if few of the previous rants were to be taken into consideration' Kagami mused. Composing himself to a more serious disposition he spoke, "I know my daughter can come across as haughty and indignant to new acquaintances but she is quite caring to her friends. Please don't let her exterior be the dominant factor in judging her character."
"You don't need to worry about that, I understand her actions very well." Naruto simply waved it away.
"Then it's all good. With that I would like to make a request to you Naruto san." Kagami spoke.
However Naruto smiled and said, "Request acknowledged and accepted."
"But.." Kagami was stumped. "You haven't even heard what I was asking."
"You wanted me to make sure no harm comes to your daughter and I give you my word that I will do my best to ensure your daughter's safety." Naruto calmly replied.
"However.." Kagami began to speak again but Naruto stopped him with a gesture.
"'Those who break the rules are trash but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum', these were the words taught to me by my sensei as my first lesson and I always abide by them. I consider you daughter a friend and I won't abandon her." Naruto spoke, his voice brimming with confidence and reassurance.
Kagami heaved a deep breath and spoke, "Then I will be in your debt Naruto san. I see your conviction and I can also see that you are a man of your word. Please let me know if I can repay you for this favour."
"No need for that, it's not a favour, rather than it's my duty as a konoha shinobi." Naruto replied.
"Thank you for accepting the request of a father Naruto san. Talking to you seems to have relieved me of a burden." Kagami bowed his head lightly.
"You are most welcome. If that's all Kagami sama I would like to take my leave." Naruto slowly stood up and bowed lightly.
"Very well Naruto san, let me escort you to the compound gates." Kagami also got up and lead Naruto outside.
Soon after Naruto took his leave and returned to his house. 'Well I guess this mission will be interesting to say the least. And I seriously hope nothing worse comes to happen' Naruto thought as he drifted to sleep.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Well here we are people, how was the chapter guys?. I tried to introduce the next level to Naruto-Mikoto by introducing Kagami here. So any suggestions or questions for me just send a pm or put in the review.
I would also like to extend my regards to all the dedicated readers who show their support. Thank you so much guys it really means a lot.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please don't forget to send your reviews and suggestions.
Justsu List
Chidori : a 1000 birds
Raikiri : lightening cutter
Raiton : Raiton no Yoroi : Lightening style : Lightening armour