Chapter Seventeen

It's been two weeks since Tsunade returned to the village and became the Fifth Hokage. Having the legendary medic sannin return and take up the leadership role has been met with near unanimous acceptance in the village. The only person that is against it is that of Danzo. To him, it is yet another worthless peace loving Hokage who will not do what is necessary for the people. Anakin has quickly learned that the man is not someone trustworthy but is also not someone to trifle with either. Unlike most other shinobi, getting a read on Danzo's mind is virtually impossible for the young Jedi. It's as if the man never lets his guard down even in passing, which only makes him more suspicious. Not only that, but Anakin can sense the familiar presence of the strange Anbu he encountered at the Uchiha district seemingly nearby the bandaged old man as well. If there is one thing the boy can find out about the man is that Danzo's ultimate goal is the Hokage's seat, that has been made clear rather easily and Hiruzen also confirmed this during training. Anakin can easily admit that he cannot wait until Sasuke finally becomes a chunin so that the Jedi doesn't have to act as a stand-in for the council since he is the highest ranked member in the clan. Apparently despite being the clan head/heir, genin can't be a member of the council. Which normally would make sense because they would be barely teenagers. However there are also cases where an eight year old is a chunin, so would they be eligible to be council members despite being a child? There are some things about the ninja life that Anakin doesn't believe he'll ever understand even after having one of his lives here. At least the council only meets once a week, not including emergency meetings.

"Oh look, Anakin is internally monologuing again." Hinata mentions as she, Hinata, Shikamaru and Anakin all walk to the Hokage's office together.

The blonde looks over to confirm it, "So he is. He hasn't done this in a while. When was the last time this happened?"

Hinata taps a finger on her chin as she thinks it over. "Last I know is back during the chunin exams, so about almost two months ago."

"Damn it's been that long already?" He comments on that.

Shikamaru glances at his Uchiha teammate. "So this is what the legendary Anakin monologuing looks like. I've only ever seen the tail end of it when he ran into the walls back in the academy."

"Well I guess we should break him out of it before he hurts himself again. That would be bad since we are going to pick up our first mission as chunin." Naruto decides before shaking the Jedi's shoulder. "Hey, Earth to Anakin!"

The person in question snaps out of his daze and comes back to the present. He looks at his new teammates and takes in their appearances. Shikamaru hasn't changed much other than him wearing his chunin vest over his regular outfit. Hinata has opened her jacket in the front and has her own chunin vest underneath it. Most likely the jacket was too tight on her chest if she zipped it up or wore her vest on top of the jacket. Anakin wears his chunin vest over his long sleeved gray Uchiha shirt. Naruto on the other hand had changed his wardrobe the most. He seemed to have taken some inspiration from his mother's on duty outfit with a short dark blue shirt under his chunin vest and a black pants with wrappings that covered the rest of his leg to his sandals. He retains his favorite color by switching the color of his headband to orange. "Oh hey Naruto, what's up?"

"We were talking about our first mission," The blonde explains to his oldest childhood friend, well that is his age anyways.

"It is pretty exciting that we will no longer have to deal with D rank missions anymore. That was seriously mind numbing and the pay was piss poor." Anakin gives his thoughts on it.

"Tell me about it," Naruto agrees. "I barely made enough for rent and had to cut back on the amount of ramen because of it. If there is one thing I envy you clan ninja, you have a place to live free of charge."

"Obviously you haven't met my mother," Shikamaru disagrees. "Such a troublesome woman."

"Owning your own home isn't much better," Anakin says. "Apparently the bank held onto hope for some unlucky fool dares claim the house. It seems despite my house being in the Uchiha District, I have to deal with the mortgages my parents had on the place. If I knew about that, I may have considered not inheriting my old home back. That doesn't even include the utility bills. Sakura moving in was truly a blessing in more ways than one. However, since I can take on higher paying missions, paying bills should be easier on both of us and allow us to save money to actually go on a second date."

Hinata is confused by that, "What do you mean? Sakura has told me that you guys have had quite a few dates, the picnic being one she seemed to enjoy the most."

"I meant a night out," He corrects himself. "We haven't gone out to a restaurant that wasn't ramen with you two or fast food."

"You mean you haven't gone out to one of the Akimichi restaurants?" The Nara heir asks.

He shrugs, "Money has been tight. It was also one of the reasons I didn't buy a new sword after Lee broke my last one."

"Didn't you know that Choji has put in a good word for all of everyone in the chunin exams to his clan so that we can go eat at one of their restaurants for either cheap or, depending on how good your friendship with him is, free?"

"I… did not know that." Anakin admits. "Honestly I haven't spent enough time with the rest of you that either wasn't on my genin team or these other two."

Shikamaru shakes his head, "Well even considering that, Choji is fairly easy going and you did treat him pretty fair at the academy so of course he will put in a good word for you even after all this time. When we come back, you and Sakura should go check out one of the restaurants. Having a meal after a mission was pretty much a tradition for my genin team, and even though it was troublesome, it was good food. Naruto, Hinata, that goes for you too."

"Thank you, we will keep that in mind," Hinata accepts the offer. "Though back to the housing situation, you should know, Naruto, that I no longer live in the Hyuga compound anymore. I have to deal with rent as well as food and utilities, so I too am looking forward to having a higher pay raise."

"Ah, I forgot about that for a moment." Her boyfriend sheepishly scratches the back of his head. "So what rank do you think our first mission will be?"

"I'm fine if it is a C rank," Shikamaru answers somewhat lazily. "It'd be easy enough to get a decent pay without making it a workout."

"If we do get a C rank, I hope it is not like our last one." Hinata comments with a shudder.

"Nah, C ranks are all supposed to be nothing but guard detail against thugs or bandit clear-outs. That would be boring!" Naruto strongly disagrees. "I want something exciting like a S rank mission!"

"No," Anakin states flatly. "We are newly promoted chunins and are not ready for S rank yet, nor do I want to go on one."

"Why? It's not like you haven't fought S rank ninjas before." The blonde questions.

"And I was knocked out and lost against each," The Jedi points out. "That isn't what I would call a steady record for a resume."

"Okay but what about an A rank then? You didn't get knocked out and lose against Zabuza."

"I had help from Master Kakashi against him."

"Well we'll have Kakashi-sensei with us again." Naruto countered.

"Only to observe us," Anakin counters back with a sigh. "I am more leaning towards a B rank mission. It would be enough to give us a challenge, but would still give us great odds of surviving." The conversation is stopped when they reach the Hokage tower. After checking in with the receptionist, they are sent to the Hokage's office where Tsunade is sitting behind the desk as Hiruzen and Shizune are on opposite sides of her, and Kakashi is standing in front already waiting for them.

Naruto rubs his eyes to make sure they are working right, "Wait, Kakashi-sensei is actually early for once?!"

Hiruzen chuckles as he leans back in his chair, "It surprised the hell out of me as well when he showed up."

"Come on, I'm not always late…" Everyone just deadpan stares at the mask wearing jounin, clearly not buying his fib.

"Ahem," Shikamaru moves the conversation away from the current topic. "We can all judge his troublesome habits some other time."

"Yes, I suppose so," Tsunade agrees. She shuffles through some files before laying one of them down for the team in front of her to see. "I have a mission we think would be best suited for your team's skill set."

"More specifically, Anakin's skill set." Hiruzen clarifies as he takes a drag from his pipe. He no longer wears the Hokage outfit and has settled for a simple gray and brown robe with a Sarutobi symbol on the back.

Said chunin arches a brow, "You mean the one of mine?"

"We believe so. There is a relatively new village that is barely five years old that has sent us a message for help." The Fifth Hokage explains as she also pulls out a map and points a red polished nail to the small piece of green near the border of the Land of Fire. "It is located on the other side of the Shuno Desert near the border of the Land of Rain. Passive Village, which is aptly named, is a village with about thirty or so people who have been taken over by a group of religious fanatics with 'strange powers'. We originally assumed everyone in the village must have never seen jutsus before, but after their village elder revealed to be a retired shinobi and stated the fanatics aren't using jutsus or chakra, we started asking questions about the 'strange powers'."

"Telekinesis, mind manipulation, draining someone's life essence, sound familiar?" The Professor finishes.

"Force abilities," Anakin answers, troubled. "Not only that, but the last one sounds like they are tapping into the Dark Side. Of course, it shouldn't have come to be a surprise that by now there must be some people that have discovered their Force sensitivity, but they have no proper training so it's also not surprising they would lean towards the Dark Side unknowingly. My lack of judgment made me not consider this happening."

"Don't be too hard on yourself, Kohai. In a world where power is commonplace, this was bound to happen. However you come from a place where powers aren't as common so it makes sense you wouldn't think about it." Tsunade tells him. "Any case, the elder has observed the fanatics and have noticed that most of them are no more skilled than a genin. The only exceptions are the 'pastor' and the 'inquisitor', to which she judges to be around chunin level."

"If you don't mind me asking, why hasn't the elder tried to fight them off then?" Shikamaru asks as he is already processing the information to be used later for the planning stage.

The Hokage sighs, "Because as I said, the village is aptly named. Everyone in the village, including the elder, are all passive and won't fight no matter the reason. However since they had a mission made out to us, it seems they don't mind other people fighting for them. This mission is B ranked, but it might be bumped to A rank since we can't accurately judge the danger of their Force abilities. While the elder claims they are genin to chunin rank, we can't be certain that they actually are. Kohai, that means it'll be up to you to determine how you would rank them once you get there."

"Of course Hokage-senpai," Anakin answers.

She smirks at his nickname for her before looking at the jounin, "Kakashi because of the amount of uncertainty surrounding this mission, I want you to be more active for this one, but still allow these four to name the shots so they can learn how to lead."

"Of course Hokage-sama."

The newest Hokage gives them a nod of approval, "Good! Head to Passive Village, access the power level of the fanatics, and root them out. Team… I don't believe we gave you a team name yet. Let's see… We'll just name it after the jounin for now. Team Kakashi, dismissed!"

"Yes Hokage-sama!" The team accepts before Kakashi turns to his charges. "You all know the drill by now. Go home, pack your stuff, and meet up at the gate in an hour." The team leaves the office and heads off to their different homes to stock for a journey. Anakin gets to the Uchiha District and runs into Sasuke on his way to his house.

"You seem to be in a hurry," The heir of the Uchiha mentions to his fellow surviving clan member.

"We received our first mission as chunins so I'm heading home to pack." Anakin answers truthfully.

The genin in front of him attempts to hide his disgust. If there is one thing he learned about Sasuke ever since they came to an understanding, it's that the heir prefers a harsh truth than a pretty lie. While most wouldn't count this information as a harsh truth, Sasuke's ego hurts whenever he hears about the four who got promoted to chunin over him. However even the heir understands that Anakin is not one to boast about himself, so instead he directs his hurt ego into setting a goal for them to overcome. After all, Sasuke won't be able to be contempt claiming the title of Clan Head if he isn't the strongest in his clan. But lately it seems as if the Leaf Village has started holding him back from teaching him after taking Kakashi away from him and throwing him to a new jounin that doesn't know him or his goals. Oh sure, the huge genin training sessions has given him a couple new fire jutsus, but since Sasuke already has the Uchiha's Great Fireball Jutsu, they are worthless in comparison. "Well while you are gone, I'll see if I can't find more about our 'project' by searching the empty houses in the District."

Anakin eyes his technical leader before deciding not to speak about what is going through his mind. "Sounds good. I'll see if I can't get Naruto to give me some pointers on sealing so we can open that safe." The other grunts in acceptance before taking his leave. The Jedi then finishes his way home and opens the door. "I'm home!"

Sakura pops her head around the corner to the doorway. "Welcome back. Did you get a mission?"

He takes his shoes off by the door and comes into the living room where Sakura is folding laundry. "Yeah, I came back to pack for it."

"That's good. What do you know about it?" The two then start conversing about his mission as she continues folding and he packs his belongings into a storage seal. Luckily they are easy to use and can be bought markedly at a good price for a bundle. It makes packing and carrying so much easier. Even the technologically superior galaxy he is from doesn't have any even close to this. They still have to carry everything either by hand or on a hover-cart. Anakin hopes that whoever came up with the idea for storage seals got every cent he or she deserved. "Do you have everything you need?" Sakura asks when he finishes up filling his last storage seal he is bringing.

"I think so." He answers before checking the clock on the wall. "Though I still have time so I may head to a couple of shops to grab a map and perhaps some things for crossing a desert."

"That's probably a good idea," Sakura agrees after she puts away the final blouse and finishes her chore. "Kurenai-sensei is wanting to keep up team training for one more week so that Kiba is able to adapt to fighting alongside Shino and I before she even considers allowing us a C rank mission."

"I can see that. Kiba's fighting style is very much different from my own. However, me leaving the team shouldn't have left too much of a gap since you are assuming the role of Force and kenjutsu user. All you are missing is the Sharingan, but I have faith that Kiba and Akamaru can bring something new to fill it." Anakin assures his girlfriend.

She gives a light chuckle, "He's bringing something alright. Kiba has already declared he is the alpha of the 'pack', but Shino's non-existent response is not giving him the reaction he was looking for. Kind of like a person ranting about their favorite food always being out of stock only for someone to point out it was right in front of them. But I don't share your confidence about me filling the Force user role."

He cups her cheek and kisses her lips. "You'll be fine Sweetness. Just keep up the meditations and get used to feeling the Force empower you during your morning runs. Remember, don't overdo it or else you'll be exhausted for the day before it's even noon. When I get back in a week or two, we can start the rock stacking exercise. I love you."

"I love you too, and be safe Ani." Sakura wishes to him with a slightly blushed face.


Team Kakashi has decided to camp out early right before the desert so that they won't have to sleep in a possible sandstorm with no cover when night falls. The sun is close to setting and dinner has already been eaten. Shikamaru has brought over a shogi board and is currently in the lead against Hinata. Naruto has several scrolls and paper around his feet with a brush in hand. Lastly Anakin and Kakashi have been lightly sparing their kenjutsu to brush up for the mission. "Ahh!" The jounin yells out as his arm is brushed by the red lightsaber. "Damn, that thing really stings."

Anakin wears a smirk as he deactivates the lightsaber and clips it to his belt. "Be glad it has a low power mode for training or else you would have lost that arm."

Kakashi sheaths his tanto and he applies a basic healing jutsu to get rid of the burn. "Oh I was there when Sidious decimated half our forces and have seen what a lightsaber can do when fully powered. I'll gladly accept a burn over a lost limb any day. That doesn't mean it still didn't hurt."

Hinata looks over to the duo coming her way as she accepts her loss over shogi, "Kakashi-sensei, I didn't know you knew medical jutsus."

"Only the basics for when I need to do some field healing." He tells her as he and Anakin sit with the rest of them. "It came in handy when I lost my team medic." The masked jounin says with a hint of sadness and regret in his voice.

"Your team medic? Do you mean your genin team?" She asks, but starts to immediately regret asking when she notices the emptiness in his lone eye. "I-I-I mean… Y-you don't have to answer that if i-it is too-to-too much to ask."

A sigh escapes his lips with a single empty laugh as he pats the stutterer's head. "Don't ever change my cute little stuttering student." This gets the reaction Kakashi was hoping for as her face starts to glow bright red. He contemplated for a moment before deciding that he trusted his two former genin, Anakin, and Shikamaru enough to answer (the latter he knows will have the decency to pretend he didn't hear a thing and not speak about it to him or anyone else). "But to answer your question, yes she was a part of my genin team. Her name was Rin Nohara. Like you she was studying to become a iryo-nin and became our team medic. There are a lot of similarities with my old genin team and ours. Sasuke is a lot like I was when I was younger, and Naruto, you remind me so much like my previously mentioned member Obito Uchiha. To be honest, I took on his late nature and some of his excuses for it much later after they both died."

Naruto sets down his brush as some dots have been connected in his head. "Wait! If your sensei was the Fourth Hokage, then that means…"

"My entire team is dead, that is correct," He confirms as he leans back a little and stares at the first few stars shining in during the setting sun. "There's not a day that goes by where I don't blame myself for their deaths and the promises I have broken."

"Is it too late to restart the promises you made?" The blond asks.

Kakashi brings his head back down and stares at him. "I have already been making due with one of them and I don't ever plan on breaking it." He catches a glint in the Nara's eye, but doesn't bother addressing it knowing better than to tell someone of that clan not to figure out something that catches their attention. It is a fruitless endeavor as it only fuels their normally lazy drive. "But there is another that I have failed and can never undo."

Again, Hinata's curious nature gets the better of her, "If you don't mind me asking, what promise was that?"

A deep breath goes through his mask, "You have really come out of your shell since you first became a genin. I promised Obito when he died from being crushed from a boulder that I would take care of Rin. I did my best to uphold it until Kirigakure captured her and forced her to become a living bomb with the Three Tailed Beast sealed inside of her and set to be unleashed once she entered Konoha. I didn't want to kill her and had planned to figure out some hopeless plan to fix the issue when we joined back up with Minato-sensei. Instead, she deemed herself too much of a risk and stepped in front of my Chidori that was aimed for a Kiri-nin." Kakashi's voice hangs as the atmosphere grows tense around the camp.

"Sensei I…" Hinata is unable to bring herself to finish as words haven't been her strongest point, having been a shy and timid person for most of her life. While Shikamaru is neither of those things, he too hasn't a word to say.

"So that's why you have a mangekyo sharingan," The answer needn't be said as the question was more of a quiet statement from Anakin. A faint and dark aura emits itself enough for the Force to pick up on it and he sees his blond friend with clenched fist and a furious expression. Even if the bond Anakin has with him isn't a fully communicational one like he has with Sakura, it's enough he can pick out the emotions and roughly figure out what is going through his mind. The idea of a village treating another jinchuriki as merely a ticking bomb which ticks the Kyubi jailer off the wrong way, and the Kyubi itself is most definitely feeding the feeling as well. He places a hand on Naruto's shoulder and squeezes it. "Remember to breathe and concentrate on what I taught you about not letting anger control you. You are no good to us if you can't get the furball in check."

"I know," The jinchuriki lightly growls out. "It's just they treat us as nothing but tools no matter who it is!" Despite the anger, Naruto does start breathing and trying to let his anger dissipate. "I'm okay though."

"Um as grateful as I am that you are expressing anger and showing that you care for my former teammate, I need to remind you both of the S-rank secret you are letting out." Kakashi chides them with a nudge towards Shikamaru.

Said chunin just shrugs his shoulders, "Hey don't worry about me. I have been putting the pieces together about why the civilians and some lower ranked chunins seem to have it out for Naruto for a while. I had it narrowed to either him doing something extremely horrible that no one dares speak of, or that the Fourth Hokage didn't actually kill the Nine-tails and instead placed it into him. I was leaning more towards the latter as I heard many people call him a demon and this is just confirmation. And before you freak out Naruto, I know the difference between a seal and the kunai within it. You are still Naruto no matter what you have sealed inside you and you can rest assured I won't be telling a soul. I would never betray a friend like that."

"Thanks Shikamaru," The blond says gracefully with that being the last straw of his anger finally being dealt with.

"So, the mood has gotten very soppy, so let's switch to a different topic." Kakashi decides to redirect the conversation. "How's the three of you training going?" He asks everyone but Shikamaru, not because he doesn't care about the Nara, but more for the other three becoming official apprentices to the three most powerful and respected shinobi in the Leaf.

Naruto picks the brush back up and gestures to his work area. "When I asked Pervy Sage to teach me sealing so I can one day be as good as Mom and the Fourth Hokage, he told me that I first need to work on my calligraphy before he will let me attempt on making actual seals." He then bangs his head on his makeshift table. "It's so boring! I never knew that sealing training is the exact opposite of ninjutsu training! At least the chakra control exercises and wind manipulations have some kind of excitement in it!"

If Kakashi smirked, no one would be able to tell. "Well at least you should know why there aren't a lot of seal masters and the fair few there is are practically guaranteed jounin rank because of how valuable they are. And think of it this way, as Hokage most of your time will be filled with paperwork, so this is pretty much practice."

The blonde lifts his head with a couple smudges of ink on his face as he considers what he is told. "Well when you put it like that, then I can get behind doing all this boring stuff. Alright, first I will improve my calligraphy and then I will be one step closer to becoming Hokage!"

The jounin just shakes his head at Naruto and turns to the girl in the group. "How about you Hinata?"

With the attention fully on her, hints of her shyness come back as she points her indexes together. "Tsunade-sensei is a tough but fair teacher from what I can see. But since she is Hokage, I will sometimes train with Shizune instead who acts like an older sister. Right now they have me practicing on bringing a fish back to life and studying medical books. She seems to be very interested in seeing that I succeed in becoming an iryo-nin as she rants about how helpful my eyes will be in saving future patients. It's both pleasing and terrifying that she has such high hopes for me."

"Terrifying?" Kakashi asks her concerned.

She looks down as the bashfulness fades and sorrow grows. "Father had high hopes for me and when I didn't fulfill it, he and the rest of the clan started to look down on me and considered me worthless. It's one of the reasons Hanabi-chan was, and now is, considered for being the next heir. Neji-nii-san has told me that the clan council has already been talking about marrying him to her when she is the age of fifteen, or has become a chunin, whichever comes first."

"Oh that's right, the Hyugas still abide by inter-clan only marriages." Shikamaru comments as a lightbulb seemed to click in his mind. "What I'm about to say doesn't apply to you, but no wonder that clan seem to always have something up their asses. They all are inbred pricks."

"Aren't we all to an extent? During the Warring States Period, clans were scattered and fighting one another tended to only marry their own to keep their respective kekkei genkai to themselves and have more of a chance for it to appear, or 'pure' as some will call it." Anakin points out.

"There's a difference between survival and being too stuck up to cling on to past and outdated traditions." The Nara argues.

The Uchiha shakes his head shoulder to shoulder before conceding the point, "Alright touché."

"Hinata-chan," Naruto starts to say, "I wouldn't worry about Granny becoming disappointed in you like your father had been. Deep down she has a soft heart and won't start to talk down to you if you don't get it your first try. Okay, she might have a comment here or there, but she'll be quick to compliment you the moment you succeed. At least, that's how it was when I was learning the Rasengan."

She slides her fingers into his free hand and entangles them. "Thanks Naruto-kun."

"I swear, between you two plus Anakin and Sakura, I think I'm going to become sick with how sweet you all are with each other." Kakashi teases as the two start to blush.

Anakin however bites back with a reply, "Hey don't hate on us just because you can't settle."

"Oi, that's mean to say to the only two single guys in the group." The jounin tells the chunin.

"Oh I don't know about that. Shikamaru seemed to have lit a spark with that Temari girl back during the chunin exams."

The red sunset is hitting just right to hide the faint blush on the pineapple haired chunin's face. "Hey there was nothing between us!"

"Sure, that's why she couldn't stop thinking about the two of you cloud gazing during the finals." The Jedi teases as he brings up a hand to cover his laughter.

The sun wasn't enough to cover the blush this time around. "Hey you stay out of people's heads! You're as troublesome as Ino with that shit, except with you we never know when you do it."

A nonchalant shrug is what Shikamaru gets. "As they say, 'all is fair in love and war'."

"Other than the fact that you use it for evil," He grumbles.

"Evil is just a point of view," Anakin defends his reasoning.

"Well if you are in such a talkative mood, perhaps you would be willing to tell us how your training is?" Kakashi tries to steer the conversation back to his original topic.

"Master Hiruzen is a tough teacher. At the moment he is training me in increasing my chakra reserves as much as I can so that I can more efficiently use the jutsus he has to teach me. His pain is to make me a ninjutsu monster as my kenjutsu skills and lightsaber already have my close combat covered fairly well. Master says that I already have really impressive reserves already, matching low jounin as I am now along with it being ever so increasing without me having not even been training for it increasing. He did note that it was not a trait seen outside of jinchuriki, and after some consulting with Ko-san and Enma, we discovered what seems to be some sort of outside source was placed within me right where I was stabbed in the heart during the Uchiha Massacre. Because my Uchiha half did technically die, we concluded that it must have been a side effect of the Sage of Six Paths reviving this body. So yay, I have yet another weird and very confusing thing about me." Anakin explains to the rest of the team. The author really needs to find a less complicated way of explaining things about me.

"So are you saying that you could have the potential to rival a jinchuriki in chakra reserves?" Kakashi asks rather intrigued.

"More like an Uzumaki, or possibly a Senju if I train enough," He corrects. "If I had started training on increasing my chakra reserves when I first was reincarnated then perhaps I would have been able to match a weaker jinchuriki, but there was no way in any version of hell that I would have got to Naruto's level. No offense Naruto, I wouldn't want to anyways with how much trouble you have with chakra control. Either way, now knowing about the capacity of my chakra does explain how I managed to do multiple large summons in a short amount of time and keep up with the Second Hokage and his constant water jutsus."

"Well with how much the Third has propped you up to the public, I suspect that you may be able to be close to how he was in his prime at the very least." Kakashi states with hints of approval. "I'm all for it as all of our most powerful shinobi are also the oldest, and neither the Sannin or the Professor are getting any younger. When they are gone, we lose most if not all of our deterrents from diving into another war."

"I wouldn't say that. Both you and Guy are our most powerful jounin and will no doubt be able to fill in the gap when father time catches up to Master Hiruzen and the Sannin." Anakin assures him. "If you don't believe me, think back to the battle with Sidious. All of the clan leaders were there with most of our most experienced jounin, but only you and Guy were the only ones able to contend with Sidious. Don't be quick to write yourself off like that, Master Kakashi. I know I speak for everyone here that we do look up to you and follow your example." A solid nod from Naruto and Hinata plus a very subtle nod from Shikamaru reaffirms his point.

While they can't see the smile on his lips, they can see the one in his eye. "Thank you, that actually means a lot to me. Here I am trying to steer clear of sappy moments, but we just keep arriving here no matter what path we take." The last of the sun is starting to fade from the sky as the moon and the stars claim full ownership over it quickly afterwards. "I think it is time for us to get some rest now. I'm still worn out after our spar."

"I'll take the first watch," Shikamaru tells the team as he lays in the grass. "Watching the stars appearing in the night sky is one of the better moments of star gazing."

"Are you sure you don't want a certain blonde from the sand laying next to you?" Anakin jest, stifling a laugh.

"Troublesome Uchiha."


"I hate sand. It's coarse, and rough, and irritating," Anakin shakes the sand out of his boots once the team finishes crossing the desert and reaches grassland, "And it gets everywhere."

"So what you are saying is that you would like a permanent transfer to the Land of Wind?" The chunin shoots a glare at the lone jounin in the group. "What's with that look? I'm only trying to help you face your fears."

"Two things," Anakin sticks his first two fingers up. "One, I don't fear sand. I just don't care for it. And two," He brings down his index finger which leaves his middle finger the only finger sticking up, "If you so much as breathe a hint of that suggestion to the Hokage, it'll be difficult for you to get any enjoyment from your porn books if you're celibate!"

Any hint of amusement leaves Kakashi's lone eye as he takes a step back. While Kakashi doubts that Anakin is strong enough to overpower him, the various summons the chunin has can even the odds. There is strength in numbers after all. "Um… Hey, I think I can see a rooftop in the distance!" The masked shinobi switches the attention from him to the mission at hand. A look to where he is pointing is indeed a making of a rooftop. Anakin puts his boots back on and they head that way. The rest of the short trip to Passive Village is in silence. It is barely big enough to be called a village. It has around eleven small one story houses, with a few two story buildings that most likely serve as shops. "So, since I'm supposed to be watching over you three, I'll have you all take leadership from here."

"Alright," Naruto takes the position first. "Let's head in and find ourselves an inn first. After we unpack, we can start our investigation." No one argues that as they have been up since before dawn and using chakra to speed up their travel through the desert so that they don't get stuck having to sleep in it. They easily gather the attention of the residents once inside the small village that spans a single road. Hinata tries waving at a kid watching them, but the mother of the child grabs his hand and pulls him in the house. This is the treatment that a lot of the other villagers give as well. "So much for a welcoming party. How can we help them if they run away from us?"

"Their town has been taken over by fanatics. All they care about is their own safety at the moment and we are nothing but strangers to them, an unknown variable. I've seen it many times on many planets during my life as a Jedi. In this situation, actions speak louder than words. We have to prove ourselves before they start trusting us," Anakin explains.

"And that is the truth," An older voice agrees behind them. They turn around to see an older woman with a walking cane behind them. She has white hair, with a strain of pale blonde popping up every so often. The woman is also wearing a white and pink floral kimono. "We have had our fill of strangers telling us how to live and don't need another one."

"I assure you that that is not the reason we are here," Kakashi says diplomatically.

"Of course not," The elderly woman says. "You are here for the mission I placed to the Leaf, are you not?" She doesn't give them time to answer as she turns around and starts walking. "Come, we haven't an inn in this village, I'll show you where you can rest your heads." The team looks at each other, but shrugs and follows the woman back down the road they came from. She leads them to the second building at the start of town that looks like a typical old Japanese style home. There is a sign that reads, 'Fiyo's B&B'. They enter the house and a small girl runs to the doorway and hugs the woman.

"Gram!" The girl shouts as she is lifted up by the elderly woman. She has black pig tailed hair, and wears a child size pink kimono.

"I wasn't gone for a minute Fiyo, and you are already acting like it was months." The woman jest before bringing her attention to the team. "Sorry, where are my manners? My name is Hikari Tsukiko, this is my granddaughter."

She sets the girl down who does her best to act proper and half bows. "Hellwo! I am Fiyo Tsukiko, wecome to my Bed in Breakfast!"

"Bed and Breakfast," Hikari corrects as she chuckles to herself. "Forgive her, she is only four and still learning."

Hinata, having been taught etiquette better than the males in her team, takes the role of introducing everyone. "Hello, I am Hinata Hyuga, chunin. This is my team: Shikamaru Nara, chunin. Naruto Uzumaki, chunin. Anakin Uchiha, chunin. And lastly Kakashi Hatake, jounin."

There is a small sparkle in the elder's eye as the ranks are called out. "A team of chunin and a jounin? That is a relief, I almost thought the Leaf sent a genin team and ignored the ranking I placed on the mission."

Fiyo's face turns into wonder as the kid in her takes over. "You ware ninjas just like Gram?! I never had ninjas come to my shop!"

"Your shop?" Naruto asks, confused.

Hikari answers, "Yes, opening a Bed and Breakfast was her idea. Since it is the two of us and I'm not strong enough to work in the fields, we needed a source of income. The odd traveler comes through the village, but with nowhere to sleep unless they cross the desert or travel to Amegakure, they are forced to camp or keep moving. We have a bigger house than most with two rooms that are never used, so we opened a B&B. I have it in her name for when the time comes for me to leave this plane, she will still have a source of income."

Fiyo looks proud at this fact with her arms to her hips and chest out. "That wright! Now, follow me. I show you to your wooms."

The elder gestures for the group to comply. "I was in the middle of making supper. We can talk about details once you all settle and food is ready."

"Thanks, but how much will it be for a room?" Anakin asks as he shifts for his wallet.

"No such charge this time. I'm the one who called you all here, so it is only right I supply a place for you to rest." She waves him off and heads into the kitchen.


Post dinner, everyone sits around the table waiting for Hikari to explain the mission in greater detail. Fiyo finishes placing the last plate in the sink and sets aside the leftovers for another time. Hikari smiles at her granddaughter before directing her attention to the team. "Now, let's get down to business. The religious fanatics appeared three months ago. At first, they seemed peaceful enough and the Pastor preached to those who would listen. A few of the younger folks in the village just ate up everything they said and moved to join them, which I can't really blame them. They displayed a power that anyone else here has seen before. It can be hard not wanting to join them for such a power. However, we quickly learned that even though the fanatics preached their beliefs and wanted to be heard, they are very selective of who is able to join. It appears they only allow their lord's 'chosen' to join their ranks, more specifically whoever possessed the ability to use their powers.

"Once they weeded everyone out that were able to join, it wasn't much longer after that they went from peaceful to tyrannical. When the Inquisitor showed up, they started making a show of force and took six people at random to state that any signs of resistance would be futile. What happened to those people is unknown." She glances over at Fiyo's attempts to wash the dishes while humming. "Her parents just so happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's another reason I opened the B&B, it takes her mind off losing them."

Anakin mutters to Naruto, "Well you wanted another Wave mission. Are you happy now?" Said blonde doesn't look at him, but his brows furrow and fists clench.

Hikari notices the interaction and vaguely smiles at Naruto's reaction. "It's warming to know that even though you don't know us or her parents, you still get angry on our behalf. I know my son and daughter-in-law would appreciate it as well. If I didn't take an oath of non-violence, I would be taking the fight to the fanatics already."

"It actually has me thinking," Kakashi speaks up. "Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I've never seen nor heard of the name of Hikari Tsukiko on the list of former Leaf shinobi."

Her smile fades, but her head nods in confirmation. "You are correct, for I was never a Konohagakure shinobi. I am a retired Amegakure shinobi."

His eye narrows, "Does the Hokage know about this?"

Another nod, "The Third knows, in fact everyone in this village is from Ame. We are refugees from the civil war that happened there."

"Civil war?"

This she cocks her head to the side. "Yes, there was a civil war that had been happening shortly after the Third Great Shinobi War. While your reaction isn't new, it is surprising that the Capital of the Land of Fire isn't aware of this. I would have thought that information would be prevalent there."

"We were aware of a civil war happening there, but it is strange to me that there are refugees years after the war ended." Kakashi answers.

"Years after it ended?" Hikari questions before shaking her head. "Whoever told you it ended so soon was misinformed. No, it didn't end until three years ago."

"Three years?" He questions back. "But one of our elders, who has his own source of information, was only told that the leaders of the rebel group were killed."

The elder stares at the masked jounin briefly before speaking once again. "That elder wouldn't happen to be Danzo would it?"

Now he stares at her, "How would you know that?"

"Because I used to serve under Hanzo and it was Danzo that supplied us with the information about the rebels. Hanzo saw them as a threat and went to kill them with the backup of Danzo's shinobi. I wasn't there to witness what happened, but only Hanzo returned. He told the public that the rebel leaders died, but confessed to a select group of us to keep an eye on them." She answers.

Anakin furrows his brow, "I never did like the elder, but knowing he was involved with another nation's politics is shady to say the least."

"Will you bring it up to the council?" Kakashi asks the newly promoted chunin.

The Jedi shakes his head. "Not without proof. I already caught the attention of someone and don't need the extra heat." When Kakashi waits for him to elaborate, he once again shakes his head. "Not the place to mention more of it. We should focus on the mission first."

"Which does bring up a point," Naruto mentions. "What does this history lesson have to do with the mission?"

Hikari once again waves off the concern. "In due time. There is a connection to the fanatics and the rebels I speak of."

"Well I would be pleased to hear more," Hinata comments, trying to settle the mood.

"Thank you dear," The retired shinobi says. "Now where was I? Oh yes, the civil war not ending. See, only one of the three original rebel leaders died that day. They went underground to try and build up a proper rebellion and find power. I retired six years ago, when the fighting started to become more frequent and took a band of people away from Ame to escape the fighting. My niece and her family stayed and kept me up to date with Ame since then. The rebels leaders, we found out are calling themselves the Akatsuki, have increased their 'main' members since the first one died and had an unstoppable power. They overthrew Hanzo and the head leader personally killed anyone associated with Hanzo, no matter what the relation was. The people started to revere this person as 'God', with his second in command as his 'Angel'. The God Has never shown himself to the people, but the Angel is seen issuing statements from him. God has assumed leadership over Ame, and seems to want to keep quiet that Hanzo is dead to anyone outside of the nation. Judging by your earlier reaction, his plan has worked so far."

"Well that is certainly great to know and something that I will report immediately when we return to the Leaf," Shikamaru tells her. "But that still doesn't explain the connection to the fanatics."

"Well where there is a god, there must be a devil." Hikari states. "In this case, there are two of them. They aren't seen often, but my niece has mentioned how a man and a woman are occasionally seen leaving the same building where 'God' and the 'Angel' live. Her description says that they are a dark duo and they can feel evil energies coming from them. And that is where the connection to the fanatics comes in. See, they are worshiping the 'Devils' and we've felt evil energies radiating from the Inquisitor."

Anakin places a hand on his chin and rubs it thoughtfully. "Hmm, I think I may know about those Devils your niece speaks of. Well, I know of them at least and what they truly are. What their names are however is a mystery to me."

She raises a brow, "You do? From what it sounds like, you are familiar with them." Without saying a word, Anakin speaks by using the Force to take a sugarcube from a jar and placing it in his tea. He then stirs the tea without a spoon to mix the sugar in before grabbing the cup with his hand and taking a sip. Hikari is wide-eyed throughout the process then narrows her eyes. "So, you too are one of their so-called 'chosen'?" She accuses him.

"No," He flatly denies. "What I have is called the Force, and having it doesn't determine who one is. The Force doesn't belong to any one type of people, whether they be nation, clan, village, race, or species. In fact, one of my former Masters of the Force was a rabbit." That gets even the Leaf shinobi with him to stare at him in shock. "The Force is very unlike chakra. Where chakra is an internal energy, the Force is an external one. And unlike chakra that is a part of you, the Force is a living thing that coexists with those who are sensitive to it. However because of the living nature of the Force, if one is not careful then they may end up tapping into the Dark Side of the Force and are then bound to serve it. From what you described both in person and in your letter, the fanatics have fallen into that pit because they didn't have proper training. I however was properly trained in it, thus was assigned to this mission to deal with them."

"In all my years, I have never heard of such a thing." The retired shinobi admits. "However I am not so old that I will not bend my current understanding of the world. I'll hold you to your word."

"Thank you," He gives a small bow.

"Alright we know their backstory and what they have done to assert dominance over the village. What can you tell us about the fanatics themselves? How many are there? How armed are they? Where are their base located? How often do they appear in the village?" Shikamaru probes for information.

Hikari calmly answers each question in order. "There are about twenty of the… what do they call themselves… acolytes, I guess. Then of course there is the Pastor and the Inquisitor. The soldiers are armed like your average bandit, which is pretty much whatever they can find. Some kunai, spears, swords, and what have you. The Pastor isn't seen wearing weapons, but he wears a thick robe so he could easily conceal one. The Inquisitor on the other hand looks as if he stole and modified some samurai armor. Encased in a black metal armor with no apparent openings and what looks like a metal baton with a pointed tip. Their base is located about a mile outside of the village down the road you all were following, and they appear in the village every two to three days to steal our food."

"What do you know about the Pastor?" Anakin asks.

"The Pastor-" Hikari then hears Fiyo turn the sink off and make her way to them. "Ah, Fiyo, Grandma's back is hurting again. Can you run over to Tasuki and ask him for more of that cream?"

"Okey-dokey!" The girl exclaims as is seen rushing to complete her task out the door.

"Sorry, I didn't want her around to hear what I'm about to say. Tasuki is the village doctor by the way." The grandmother explains herself before continuing. "The Pastor seems to enjoy seeing others in pain or suffering once his masked nice demeanor faded away when they got what they wanted. He will come once a week and enforce their 'rule' by making an example of someone at random before leaving them."

"He beats people at random?" Naruto asks angrily.

Her face is filled with anguish. "Yes and no. It greatly depends on the matter of his coming. If a lot of people are in the streets, then he will grab someone at random, strip their clothing and have them humiliate themselves by walking the streets in front of everyone and no one outside is allowed to return to their houses as they do this. If there are only a few people in the streets, then yes he will grab one of them and have the acolytes beat them loud enough for everyone in their homes to hear the screams."

I don't think I will like the answer, but I have to ask. What happens if there is no one in the streets?" Shikamaru is almost hesitant to ask, but knows that there is no information that should be held back.

Hikari looks down and rests a hand on her forehead as she shakes it. "We thought that if we hid ourselves then he wouldn't have a target to be an example. What instead happened was him barging into Miku's home and dragging her and her two children out into the streets. He then had the acolytes strip her of her clothes and take turns having their way with her in the middle of the streets as the Pastor held her children's head to watch it happen. It was an awful experience and there was nowhere in this house I could hide Fiyo and cover her ears to hear those screams. That only happened once two months ago and the whole village has agreed that there should always be at least one person in the streets at all times to never have to experience it again. To make things worse, Tasuki confirmed a few weeks ago that poor Miku is now bearing a child."

"Dear Kami," Hinata gasps with a hand to her mouth. Naruto only gets angrier and grits his teeth to not explode.

Anakin decides to change the topic before the blond's furry friend using the anger to its advantage. "What can you tell us about the Inquisitor?"

"He is something of a mystery," Hikari admits. "He has only shown himself a number of times, but mostly walks around and doesn't say a word."

"So he basically acts like a strong man?" Shikamaru asks.

She shakes her head, "No, that's not quite right. While he has been seen with the random patrol, he also ventures here by himself. It's like he is observing and studying us for some reason. However, as weird as it sounds, we all are more relieved to see the Inquisitor show up than the others, despite how much dark energy he emits. That is because he hasn't made a move to harm any of us, not yet anyways. We will still attempt to avoid him either way."

"Gram! I have it!" Fiyo runs with her arms stretched out holding a jar.

Hikari gives the ball of joy a thankful smile. "Thank you dear. Shinobi-sans, if you don't mind my back really is hurting so the two of us will go get some privacy in my room to apply the cream. You are free to conduct the mission as you see fit as long as the fanatics are gone and we villagers are safe." She gives a weak bow before standing up and grabbing the girl's hand and leading her away.

Kakashi looks over to his team and motions them to their room to discuss in their own privacy about the mission details. He leans against the door as Hinata and Naruto sit on the foot of the bed. Shikamaru pulls out the chair under a desk as Anakin decides to use the desk as a chair. "So, what do you all think so far?"

"I think we need to go kick their asses now!" Naruto raises a fist.

Hinata places her hands on his fist and brings it down slowly. "One thing at a time, Naru-kun. Let's go over what we know about them before we do something rash."

The soft look in her eyes managed to bring down his anger to a reasonable level. "You're right Hina-chan."

"From what it sounds like," Shikamaru starts the conversation. "The Pastor seems to be the leader of the group. He plays nice at first to recruit people, then once he has them, he shows his true colors and starts abusing people. As to why he does this is something we don't fully know. Why stay in the village you already plundered?"

Anakin then answers, "Three ideas come to mind. 1: There is something else they are looking for. But from a Force user perspective, there isn't anything near here that would indicate something like that. 2: They stay in the town to have leverage for their new recruits. The fastest way to force someone down the dark path is using their loved ones. However if that is the case, then it means that they haven't just accidentally discovered the Force and someone gave them some guidance of it."

The Nara nods, "From what you have told me of it, the second option seems more likely of the two. But what is the third idea?"

"The third is one that I greatly hope isn't true." The Jedi freely admits with a grim look. "3: They are actually a testing force for the Devils of the Akatsuki and send any potential people to them. I have little doubts that the Devils are the now two Sith I have been sent here to destroy. This too means that they would be trained and it also makes them that much more dangerous if so because this would be just the start of an army of Dark Siders."

Shikamaru frowns and bites his nail, "Now that is something I hope isn't true either. If they are connected to the Devils of the Akatsuki, who are the current leader of Ame, there is a possibility this may end up in another ninja war if we are not careful."

Kakashi then voices his opinion, "I don't believe it would come to that. While it wasn't voiced to the public, Itachi did show up with his Akatsuki partner and attacked Anakin and I along with three other jounin then turned right back around and attempted to kidnap Naruto under Jiraiya's care. If they are attempting to steal a jinchuriki, then my guess is that they don't have the power needed to fight a war. Plus we would have easy grounds to declare war on Ame just on that. Nations have gone to war for lesser reasons."

"Let's table the war talk for now," Anakin declares, not wanting to dread the idea of starting one. "From what Hikari told us, it's the Inquisitor that I think will give us the most problems."

"Even after hearing everything the Pastor has done?!" Naruto fumes.

"Yes," The Jedi says without hesitation. "Everything that happened involving the Pastor, he was never once mentioned partaking in any of his 'examples'. If anything, that just shows he doesn't like to get his hands dirty. The fight against him should be relatively easier than the one against the Inquisitor, which is who I will focus on. A warrior he may be, but unless he is wearing full beskar or Vong armor, my lightsaber will chew through it like a hot knife to butter. Though that being said, we shouldn't underestimate either of them. The Dark Side is crafty and they will no doubt pull any and all tricks or cheap shots they can."

"I can't have you fighting against a skilled enemy by yourself, advisor or not." Kakashi tells him.

"Fine, then I'll take Shikamaru with me." Anakin relents without a fight. "Between his shadow possession jutsus and his tactical mind, if the Inquisitor tries to pull any tricks then I will have him to back me up."

"Oh sure, sign me up without even asking me." The chunin in question grumbles before sighing in accepting his role. "Before we go pick a fight with anyone, we need to both scout their base and rest up for the day. We spent most of today running through a desert after all."

"Anakin and I can go ahead and scout," Hinata volunteers the two of them.

"Hey why can't I scout with you?" Naruto pouts.

"Because out of everyone here, only he has the means of obtaining an aerial view via his summoning. That and he might be able to gauge the skill level of the fanatics while we are near," She explains to her boyfriend.

"Meanwhile Naruto, Kakashi, and I can go around the village and find out if there is anything more we need to know about the fanatics." The pineapple haired chunin decides. "If all goes well, we can drive them out before the Pastor does his next patrol."

The sole Uzumaki furrows his brows, "If he dares show his face here then he won't be leaving here alive!"

"Preferably I would want him alive for questioning, but I won't stop you should he die. But one last thing before we adjourn." Anakin eyes the couple on the bed with mischief. "'Naru-kun', 'Hina-chan'?" This gets a bright red blush from the both of them as the others laugh.


Author's note: Hey, sorry for the long wait. My postings seemed to be getting further apart and I apologize for that. So yeah, I didn't end up keeping my promise for keeping a single arch in a single chapter too well. As you all can mostly guess, yes this is all my original arch. Everything from the Passive village to the characters living in it and their backstories are all made up by me, along with the fanatics. A reviewer, dragon44pride, once asked me about if any of the other Elemental Nations would have members that had Force traditions, so it inspired me into making this arch. It worked out great as I wanted an arch that had Naruto in it as a fresh chunin before he goes off with Jiraiya for a couple years. As I said in previous chapters, I'm fully willing to listen to your ideas if I can fit it in. Not much else to say then that.

DS2010: Happy to see I did right with Leia and her interactions with Ben, her father and her son.

JadeDragon927: Hey thanks for checking out my fanfic! I hope I continue to interest you as the story goes!

Anyhow, that is all for me. Thanks for reading and I'll talk at y'all next time!