"How do you know about that?" Naruto asked, but he didn't sound angry he just sounded curious.
"I've known for longer then you have." The mine boss said still holding onto his grin. "My spy network is far better then you give me credit for. I've had my anbu watching you for a while now. I heard about Riku and his theory which is utter crap by the way. Did you really believe that Minato exiled his son and then didn't know where to find him." Riku looked embarrassed at that statement. "Anyway about your mission you three will be getting information about the nine tails Jinchuuriki in other words Naruto's sister. You will find out as much as you can without being detected. Are there any questions?"
"Just two, but they don't having anything to do with the mission." Naruto said.
"Ask away." The mine boss said.
"First how long have you known that I was Minato's son?" Naruto asked.
"Well I've had my suspicions since you were dropped off at the orphanage which isn't as unsecured as the other nations might think. It wasn't until you grew up and started looking so much like him that I was sure by the way good job Riku for giving him a nickname. It was a good idea so you wouldn't accidently use his real name." The mine boos said.
"Second what would you have done if I tried to go back to Konoha?" Naruto asked and the temperate in the room dropped.
"If you would have left I would have sent anbu to kill you. Can't let the world know we are actually a ninja village. I know it sounds cruel, but that's what I would have done." The mine boss said.
The room waited to hear what Naruto was going to say, but he just smiled. "Don't worry about it any other village would have done the same, but they wouldn't have told me that planned to kill me, so it's all good."
"I'm glad you see it like that Naruto." The mine boss said. "Well now that were done you should head out for Konoha." The three genin nodded their heads and walked out the door. "Wait Riku can you stay here for a minute." Riku stopped and headed back to his desk. "I'm sure you already guessed what I'm going to tell you."
Riku smiled. "There's no way we're going to Konoha just to spy on the Jinchuuriki. I know you already have enough information on her." Riku said confidently.
The mine boss leaned back in his chair. "You always were very bright. Yes while I would like more information on her it is not necessary. What I really want is for you to do watch Naruto. He might say he's loyal to the village now, but it's easy to say that when you don't know what your real home is like. He might find out that he actually wants to stay there and if he does I want you to kill him."
"I understand sir." Riku said and gave a polite bow before he left.
*Outside Konoha*
The newly assigned genin could see the wall. They were dressed like merchants and Naruto had on a straw hat to cover his hair since the merchants normally didn't wear hoods. They had a small wagon with them. They decided to get into the village it would be easiest to pose as merchants from Takumi which wasn't too far from the truth. They had a bunch of weapons that Yukiko and her family made and had already made the arguments to enter the village.
They stopped at the front gate and handed the two guards their entry papers which they barley looked at before they let them pass though. "Well that was easy." Yukiko said.
"I know I thought they would at least flip the paper over to see who signed." Riku said. "I'm kind of disappointed it took me a long time to come up with convincing names."
While Yukiko and Riku were talking, Naruto was looking around taking ever thing in. This is the place that he could have grown up in if things had gone differently. Naruto didn't necessary like it thought for one it was too bright. With most of his day spent in the mine and all of his stealth training all this sunlight made him slightly uncomfortable. There was one other thing that annoyed the hell out Naruto, and it was the genin. They were everywhere Naruto counted four just on the street they were on. He knew that other villages were a lot more lenient on their genin exams, but this was just ridicules. Did they pass everyone who wanted to become a ninja? The worst part was they were walking like they were better than everyone else. Naruto remembered the pain he felt on his one-on-one test with the examiner and was confident that these genin never felt anything like it.
It only took them a couple of minutes to reach the store front they rented. It was pretty small, but it didn't matter since their main goal wasn't to sell their products. There was a small back room which would act as their secret base of operations. They would need to come up with a plan, but first they had to get the store ready. They unpacked all the weapons and started setting them up around the store. It took them a little over two hours to get everything set up, and then they met in the back room.
"So how are we going to do this?" Yukiko asked.
"Well first we'll always need someone to manage the store, so we should probably head out in groups of two." Riku said.
"We also can't exactly set up anything inside the Hokage's mansion because even when he's not there that place is going to be crawling with anbu." Naruto said.
"So where is a place we can spy on her and won't be heavily guarded?" Riku asked. They all thought about it for a while until Yukiko came up with an idea.
"The academy that place can't be too guarded." Yukiko said.
"You're right we could easily spy on her from there." Naruto said.
"Alright let come up with a plan." Riku said.
The next day Naruto was standing outside the academy except he wasn't Naruto. He had henged into a civilian girl who wanted to be a ninja. Her name was Sakura, and real one wouldn't be coming to school today because she was sick due to Riku's poison. It was kind of sad actually Riku only gave her a minor stomach flu and she still stayed home sick. The poison he gave Yukiko was a hundred times worse.
Naruto started walking towards the academy. He knew what class he was in as well as all the names of the people that were in his class because he stole the class rooster. His teacher Iruka would just think he missed placed it. Yukiko was right this place didn't have a single guard.
As Naruto walked into the academy he spotted the big tree that was inside the fence were he knew Yukiko was hiding. Her job was to alert Naruto if the real Sakura came to school which Naruto doubted, but you never knew what could happen. She could also spy Michiko when they came out to train. Riku was looking after the shop so he wasn't here. Naruto walked into the classroom ready for his first of school.
Michiko was sitting in class talking to Hinata when Sakura opened the door. "Hey Sakura." Michiko said.
Sakura gave a polite wave and walked over to them, but before she could Ino came rushing through the door. "Hey forehead don't think just because you got here first means you get to sit by Sasuke!" Ino screamed.
Sakura gave a polite smile and said. "That's ok Ino you can sit by Sasuke today. I was going to spend some time with Michiko."
Michiko was shocked Sakura giving up the chance to sit with Sasuke the world must be ending. Ino apparently didn't know what was going on either because she just stood there as Sakura walked over to Michiko and took a seat.
"Ok who are you and what have you done with Sakura?" Michiko said.
Sakura laughed at that. "Don't worry it's still me I thought I just let Ino have her fun." She said. But before their conversation could get underway Iruka came through the door.
"Ok class I have some great news for you." He said as the whole class went silent. "Pop quiz," as he held up a bunch of tests and the whole class groaned. Iruka passed out the test and the class went to work.
Michiko was having trouble. She didn't know anything on this test. It was all about chakra nature and their disadvantages and advantages. It was multiple choice so she ended up guessing on most of them. She looked around to see how everyone else was doing, and saw Sakura blazing through it like it was nothing. Michiko guessed she shouldn't be surprised Sakura was a book-worm after all. Sakura finished her test in less than ten minutes.
Michiko was pretty mad at how her friend seemed to find the test easy while she was struggling with ever question. Sakura even started spinning her pencil in boredom, and this only serviced to make Michiko more frustrated. Sakura however dropped her pencil and this made Michiko feel slightly better. What she didn't notice however is when Sakura went to pick up her pencil she reached into Michiko bag and stole her notes.
When the test was finally over they all went outside to get some training done. Today would be a one-on-one spare. The fights were in a small ring and in order to win you had to push you opponent out of the ring or Iruka had to declare a winner. You weren't allowed to knock out your opponent. Most of the fights weren't too impressive. It almost always ended up in the students charging head on flailing their fists around without any strategy. No one noticed but Yukiko almost burst out laughing more than once from her position in the tree.
The only people who actually showed any skill were Sasuke who in his fight against Choji easily kicked him out of the ring. The fight between Kiba and Shikamaru was probably the saddest fight all day. It started when Kiba charged straight at Shikamaru as fast as he could. Shikamaru was unconcerned however as he simply sidestepped Kiba. Kiba couldn't stop himself and ended up running right out of the ring.
"The next fight will be between Michiko and Sakura." Iruka said. Sakura and Michiko gave each other a smile before they entered the ring. Michiko got into the standard academy fighting stance. Sakura however got into a stance that no one had ever seen her use before. She had her left arm behind her back while her right arm was in front of her with her hand opened. Michiko was surprised as was the rest of the class. The class knew that Michiko was one of the best taijutsu fighters in their class. So how did Sakura plan to win if she only used one hand and didn't even make a fist?
The fight began with Michiko throwing punches at Sakura's face, and even though they were quick Sakura managed to block everyone on them by just using the palm of her hand. Michiko was getting frustrated not just because she couldn't hit Sakura, but because Sakura wasn't even trying. The entire fight she hadn't thrown a single punch. This is when the fight started going downhill. Michiko slowly got angary and angary until she just started launching a barge of ineffective punches very similar to the sloppy punches of the pervious fights. Sakura kept blocking without breaking a sweat until Michiko threw a wide hook. This left herself wide opened and Sakura kicked her in the stomach. Michiko fell to her knees and Iruka called the fight. Everyone couldn't believe that Sakura had beat Michiko so easily. Even Sasuke was a little impressed.
The school day ended soon after that and Michiko stormed off. "Since when did Sakura become such a good ninja?" She muttered to herself. It wasn't like she hated Sakura. Michiko just didn't like to be beaten and Sakura did it twice. On top of that she couldn't find her notebook anywhere, and if it turned out she did lose it then she would get a lecture from her mom and probably be grounded. Michiko was having a horrible day, and it sure didn't help that when she got home and found Jiraiya sitting on the couch.
Sakura was walking away from the academy checking back every once in a while to see if she was being followed. When she determined that she wasn't being followed she ducked into an alley. Naruto came out of the alley dressed in his hat and merchant clothes.
"Don't you think you did a little too well in the spar." Yukiko said as she walked up beside Naruto.
Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "Probably but the poison Riku gave Sakura is designed to last for two days, so when she comes back to school and apologizes for being sick Iruka will just think she's talking one day not two. Hopefully by that time they'll have forgetting about Sakura stellar spar."
"So what's your sister like?" Yukiko asked in a playful tone.
Naruto chuckled at her. "Well we definitely look-alike, but that about all similarity we share. She has a very short attention span and would probably have difficulty following any complex plan let alone creating one. She has decent taijutsu skills at least when compared to the rest of the class. The big problem is she gets angry to easily as I'm sure you saw when we spared. I didn't see any of her ninjutsu or genjutsu skill, but judging on how much trouble she had on the test I don't think she has much in those areas. Plus her notebook is more like a diary than anything else." Naruto said as he held up Michiko notebook.
"Was the test really that easy?" Yukiko asked.
"It sure was." Naruto said throwing his head back and laughing at it. "First off it was multiply choice so much easier they the short answers we had to give. Second if these questions were on are genin exam they all would have been bingo questions just because the knowledge was so basic. Riku was right if I would have come back here I would have been so weak, but brought up to believe that I was strong. That's a quick way to die don't you think?"
"Yeah I mean what's up with this village it's like every ninja believes they could take on S-class missing Nin." Yukiko said.
They made it back to their shop. Riku was standing behind the counter with a bored look on his face. "So how'd it go?" He asked.
"My sisters nothing special epically considering she's the same age as us and doesn't seem to know basic ninjutsu principles." Naruto said.
"I guess we can't expect much from her." Riku said sounding rather disappointed." "But we still have to stay on track find out as much about her as possible; though things just got a lot harder."
"What do you mean?" Yukiko asked.
"Jiraiya is in the village and that's a huge problem." Riku said. "He's in control of the one of the largest spy networks in the elemental nations, and that means he knows how spying works and is going to be on the lookout. Us on the other hand are only on are first mission, so we need to be careful around him."
Riku stopped talking and then Naruto stomach started to growl. Naruto was really embarrassed and started to rub the back of his head. "Naruto did you have anything to eat today?" Yukiko asked like a concerned mother.
Naruto kept rubbing the back of his head. "Well I didn't realize that I had to bring a lunch to the academy, so I kind of didn't have one." Naruto said awkwardly.
Riku almost fell because he was laughing so hard. Yukiko gave him a dirty look before turning back to Naruto. "Then how about we go get something to eat?" She asked him.
"Sure," Naruto said, and they started walking out the door, but Riku got himself under control and stopped them.
"Hey I'm hungry too, and I've been at the shop all day so how about one of you watches it." Riku said.
"Sorry Riku, but you see me and Naruto are both really tired from are mission so we need to relax. I'm sure you can watch the store for a little while longer." Yukiko said sweetly, but when she was almost out the door she turned her head and stuck her tongue out at him.
As they were walking away from the shop they could here Riku yell. "Yeah that was real mature."
Yukiko and Naruto walked around town trying to find somewhere to eat. They finally decided on a ramen stand called Ramen Ichiraku. It was small, but the smell was so good Yukiko and Naruto couldn't resist. They were severed by and old man and his daughter. When they got their food they each took a bite and their eyes lit up. It was really good, and Naruto made sure to tell the owner that more than once.
They were enjoying their meal when someone ran up behind them. "Hey Teuchi, Ayame!" The voice that sounded female said.
"Hey it's good to see you Mrs. Namikaze." Teuchi said. Yukiko and Naruto almost had a heart attack. It was one thing to spy on an academy student, but begin this close to the Hokage's wife was just a little too uncomforting. Not to mention what would happen if she found out they were spying on her daughter. You didn't need to be a spy to know that Kushina was very protective of her daughter.
Naruto was scared but for other reasons. It would be very bad if they found out who he was. He heard that mothers know when their children are nearby Naruto was now hoping that was a lie.
"Will it be the usual?" Teuchi asked.
"Yeah," Kushina said and took a seat right by Yukiko. Yukiko and Naruto sat in silence to afraid to speak. They both knew that this was a dead giveaway that they were nervous and they should keep on talking like they had before, but saying it was a lot easier than doing it. It also didn't help that Kushina was looking at them.
"I like your hair." Kushina said to Yukiko.
"Thanks." Yukiko said trying to avoided eye contacted.
Kushina however wasn't having it and grabbed Yukiko shoulder spinning her around so they were facing each other. "Listen I know you must be nervous talking to the Hokage's wife, but believe it or not I'm pretty laid back." Kushina said with a smile.
Yukiko seemed to become more relaxed. "I'm sorry it just we are merchants, so we haven't been in this town to long and when the Hokage's wife comes along and seat right next to you like it nothing it can be a little unnerving."
Kushina looked happy that she was able to get Yukiko to talk. "That's ok I completely understand what it is like coming to a new place and having no idea how things work, but you seem a little young to be a merchant?"
"Well my day is the one who actually owns the store we're just here helping him out." Yukiko said.
"I see." Kushina said. "You know I have a daughter your age I think you two would get along very well."
"Well it's too bad that we aren't going to be in town for too long." Yukiko said starting to feel really bad for lying to Kushina.
"You know your friend doesn't talk much does he?" Kushina asked.
"Yeah he gets really nervous around people he doesn't know, so don't expect much from him." Yukiko said. After Yukiko got over her nervousness she had Kushina actually had a nice time just talking to each other even though Yukiko never gave Kushina her name. Naruto however stayed silent the whole time.
Just like that four days went by. Nothing of importance happened for the mission. It seemed like the first day was really the only day that they got any information. The days would normally have Yukiko and Naruto going somewhere while Riku ran the store much to his displeasure.
Riku was always bored out of his mind and kept wondering how he always got stuck managing the store. However today was going to become a lot more interesting when a certain girl with blond hair and her two friends walked in the door.
Riku couldn't believe Michiko walked into their store. He was finally going to be able to do something other than watch this damn store. He hadn't even seen Michiko up until now and the only reason he knew it was her was because of the description Naruto gave him.
She was with two of her friends. Sakura which Riku only knew because he poisoned her and Hinata which he knew because she was one of the important people that they had to know about before coming here.
They weren't doing much just looking around the store at all the different weapons they had. Michiko look especially interested in a tanto not to different from Naruto's own tanto. Riku knew he had to get information and he was going to do in with his specialty: seduction. "Hello and welcome. I'm so happy you three ladies would come to this establishment. I hope you can find what you are looking for Miss. Michiko." Riku said giving a polite bow.
The three girls were taken off guard. First off he was their age and second that he knew Michiko's name. "How do you know my name?" Michiko asked.
Riku faked embarrassment. "Crap I wasn't supposed to say that. I'm going to get in so much trouble." Riku started freaking-out.
Michiko ran up to him and tried to calm him down. "Hey want the big deal all I wanted to know was how you knew my name."
Riku calmed down after a couple seconds. "Well you see before we came here my boss had me make sure I knew of all the richest people in town so could get them to spend more money. You were one of the people I had to know and you were just so pretty that I just forgot that I wasn't supposed to use your name."
Michiko had a slight blush for Riku statement. "It's fine I don't really mind that you knew my name most of the people in the village know it anyway, so I guess I shouldn't be that surprised."
Riku became very happy about this. "Really you don't mind are you sure?" Riku said sounding like a school boy who just avoided punishment.
Michiko was surprised on how big a deal he made of the situation. It wasn't like knowing here name was a big deal. "It's fine really."
Riku brightened up and gave Michiko a big hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you." Michiko couldn't stop the blush forming on her face.
"N-no problem." Michiko stuttered out.
Riku jumped to his feet as if nothing happened. "All right then let me show you around." He grabbed Michiko by the hand and walked her around the store with Sakura and Hinata following her not sure what to make of this situation.
After Riku lead them around for a little bit Michiko decided to buy a set of kunais and a kunai bag since she didn't have one, and the truth was she thought her heart might explode from nervousness if she didn't leave soon. "Excellent choice let me just ring this up for you and I'll even put the kunais in." Riku said and went in the back room.
When Riku went in the back he dropped the happy store clerk smile and got to work. He took out one of the kunais Michiko had gotten and quickly drew a simple seal on it and applied some of his lighting chakra to it. The seal was small but if you took a good look at the kunai you could easily see it. That was just a risk he was going to have to take. He quickly packed the kunai bag and when out to give it to Michiko. They left soon afterwards.
"Well that sure was interesting." Sakura said.
"Yeah I mean I can't believe he hit on us." Michiko said.
"Well he really only hit on you." Hinata pointed out.
"That a good thing. What if he hit on me." Sakura said. "Sasuke would get so jealous that he would probably go and beat him up." Sakura said, but had a dreamy look in her eye imaging it.
"At least I got some nice stuff." Michiko said patting her new kunai bag.
"Hey Michiko aren't you supposed to be home right now." Hinata said.
Michiko stopped dead in her tracks and looked at the time. "Crap! I need to get home see you guys later." She said running as fast as her legs could carry her.
When she got home she was greeted with her mom giving her an angry look. "Hey Kaa-san sorry I'm late." She said trying her best to force herself to shirk and get away from her.
Her mom didn't look any happier. "We'll talk about this later, but right now we're having a family discussion." Michiko saw that her dad and even Jiraiya were seating in the couch behind her mom. Michiko went to sit in the couch opposite of them, but when she tried to sit her kunai bag got in the way and made it very uncomfortable so she took it off and set it on the couch.
Kushina took a seat next to Minato. Michiko expected to be told something really important but no. They just gave her the same lecture about how she was almost a ninja and she needed to start training and who she thought she would work well with on a team and so on. It was getting pretty boring and Michiko was getting frustrated mostly because it seemed that they thought she couldn't make her own choices.
But it all went to hell after her mom said one thing. "You also need to be more responsible like getting home on time or keeping track of your notes."
That made Michiko mad. "Why do I even have a curfew in the first place!" she yelled jumping from her chair. "I'm almost a ninja and you still treat me like a toddler!"
Kushina jumped out of her chair too. "Well maybe if you if you had any sort of self-control then you wouldn't need a curfew, and it doesn't matter how much you hate it you are my daughter so will follow the rules and come home by your curfew!" Kushina finished.
Michiko was so pissed that she was shacking. "Naruto is your son and he hasn't been home in ten years." She said just loud enough for everyone to hear. Then she ran upstairs to her room.
Kushina had tears in her eyes. She couldn't believe that Michiko would say something like that, but just thinking about Naruto hurt her so bad I she pretty much collapsed back into her chair. Minato put his arm around her trying his best to comfort her. "It will be alright Kushina she was just angry."
They however weren't the only ones who heard what Michiko said. The kunai bag was still on the couch. The seal Riku made had his lighting chakra in it and it acted as a kind of cord that connected to a similar seal Riku had back at the shop. This let him hear everything, and he wasn't the only one Naruto and Yukiko were also with him. The seal itself would also last about a week before it ran out of chakra, but the seal would disappear once it did. Riku could also destroy the seal remotely before it ran out of chakra if he had too.
Kushina was still crying, but between sobs she managed to get out a few words. "Minato I know she doesn't like the curfew, but I'm so scared. What if something happened to her?"
"It's not like she's leaving the village nothing is going to happen to her." Minato said calmingly.
"Naruto was in the village and something happened to him." Kushina said breaking down in tears.
Riku kept a close eye on Naruto because if he was going to defect and go home to his family it would be now. Unfortunately Naruto expression was unreadable.
"Listen Kushina it was different back then the village was in chaos you can't blame yourself." Jiraiya said.
"Your right it was different. Back then Minato and I could use Chakra, but now if something were to happen to Michiko we couldn't do anything." Kushina said.
"WHATTTTTT!" Riku, Yukiko and Naruto shouted so loud the entire village must have heard them.
"Kushina don't say that. It a secret what if someone were to hear you. Jiraiya said and even though Riku couldn't see them he could feel Jiraiya looking around to try and see if it was possible someone could have heard them.
"Lay off Jiraiya no one going to hear me in my own house." Kushina said, but Riku knew that Jiraiya was still looking around and then as almost as he was in the room he felt Jiraiya's eyes land on the kunai bag.
This was only confirmed when Jiraiya started talking. "Hey Minato who's kunai bag is that?'
"I think it Michiko she probably just got it." Minato replied then Riku heard Jiraiya's footsteps moving closer and that was it. Riku overloaded the seal causing it to disappear. Now Riku wasn't a master sealer, so he didn't know if Jiraiya could tell if a seal had been there or if something like that was even possible, but Riku wasn't taking chances.
"Ok guys were leaving." Riku said looking at Naruto to see him he would reject, but he didn't. They packed up the store and were out of the village in less than two hours. Riku couldn't believe it they were here for a glorified trust exercise and ended up stumbling on the biggest secret the leaf had to offer.