Naruto woke up to find Hinata snuggled into him and still sleeping soundly as he felt her warm and steady breaths upon his neck. He gently stroked her hair and stared at her serene expression until she began to awaken as well. "Hi" he whispered lovingly as her eyes fluttered open to reflect a bright purple blissful glistening. She dug her face deeper into his warm body and took him into an embrace, and he reciprocated by wrapping his arms around her protectively.
He inhaled deeply taking in her scent and thought about how he could stay like this, lying in bed with Hinata in his arms forever, when his stomach began to growl. Hinata giggled and said, "I'll make us breakfast" as she moved to get up, but Naruto pulled her back in and said, "or I could just have you instead" as he caught her lips with his own. However, Hinata jokingly pushed him away and said, "That won't do… I have a party to plan now, and if we stay like this, I'll never get anything done"
Naruto cursed himself for coming up with the idea, "Yeah, I'm sure Sasuke is going to be really bummed if he misses out on all the small talk and the dancing" he said sarcastically as he tried to grab her again, but she was too quick for him this time and was now standing by their bedroom door. "Breakfast will be ready when you're done with your shower" she smiled and left to the kitchen, and Naruto laid down onto his back, stretched his limbs and had a massive stupid grin on his face linger for a few seconds before hopping off and heading to the bathroom.
Hinata boiled some rice and cracked a few eggs to fry, when she heard a knock on the door and left the stove to answer, "I'll be right there" she called out as she made her way to the front to see who would be visiting them this early. She opened the door and found Sakura looking uncommonly cheerful, "Hey Hinata! Hope I'm not intruding by coming over this early" she said in a manner that was meant to be apologetic, but her voice came off far too cheerful for that. "Oh, hey Sakura!" Naruto called out from down the hall, and Hinata let her in and said, "We were about to have breakfast, please come in and join us" as she moved aside.
Naruto stepped into the kitchen alongside them and took care of the contents on the stove, "I'll finish up here, Hinata, why don't you go on ahead and take a shower as well" he said cheerfully. "Thank you, Naruto. Um Sakura-chan, do you mind?" she asked the pink haired kunoichi, but Sakura shook her head and said, "No, please go about your day. I'm here to speak to Naruto anyway" and the blond above the stove looked up with an inquisitive look on his face, then said, "Me? What's up?" and Sakura informed him, "We're to meet with the Hokage, he wants to speak to us about something in Itachi's medical report", Naruto raised an eyebrow and scratched his chin, "If it's about his medical report, then how come it seems you don't know much about it?" he questioned her, and Sakura explained, "I didn't find anything out of the ordinary, but we should find out when we get there. Sasuke and Itachi will meet us there too". Naruto nodded and said, "Alright then, no time to waste. Let's go" and he walked past Sakura to head to the front door when she grabbed him by his neck collar and dragged him back.
"You idiot!" she barked at him, "You can't just leave everything cooking on the stove and leave! Are you trying to burn your house down?!" Naruto was ruffling the hair on the back of his head with a shameful grin plastered on his face, "Uh... he-he, right…"
[I leave you for a few hours, and you almost burn the house down?] Kurama questions, 'I wasn't going to burn the house down! What do you mean left me for a few hours? Where did you go?!' Naruto asked incredulously, and Kurama went silent and ignored his Jinchuriki. 'Hey! Bastard! I'm talking to you, you know!' he said getting riled up in the inner plane, and Kurama just turned his face away and scoffed smiling. 'Urgh, fine! Don't tell me!... jerk' he turned his back as if wounded by Kurama, and folded his arms, he glanced back at the fox who wasn't falling for his Jinchuriki's fake attempt at looking upset. 'Stubborn bastard. Fine have your secrets' he barked as he left the plane.
"Alright, Sakura, food is cooked and ready. All seems to be good and safe; can we leave now?" he said in a slightly upset tone which she picked up on, "what got you in a foul mood all of a sudden?" she asked, and he sighed and explained, "Meh, don't worry about it. Me and Kurama just had a little argument" he explained, although the arguing was entirely one-sided since all Kurama did was ignore Naruto. Sakura looked confused at first but decided she didn't want to know. They left the apartment and headed to the Administration building.
Sakura and Naruto found Itachi and Sasuke had already arrived at Kakashi's office, "Now that everyone's here, I won't waste any time getting into why I asked you all here. There are two things I would like to discuss with you, the first is something in the medical report Sakura had provided which I would like to verify. Itachi, your Mangekyo Sharingan pattern had changed" Itachi maintained a straight face, and listened intently for Kakashi to elaborate, however, the original team seven displayed different facial expressions; Sasuke arched an eyebrow to form an inquisitive expression, Sakura looked surprised with her eyes widening, and Naruto was just plain confused.
"Your original Mangekyo had a spiral pattern like a three-blade shuriken, however, the pattern Sakura recorded shows the manifestation of six-bladed spiral pattern with three black shaded circles. I have a theory as to why, but we should test out your visual prowess to be certain. Sasuke and Naruto, that's where you both come in. I would like you to spar with Itachi and push him to his limit. Would you be ok with this, Itachi?" Kakashi turned a waiting gaze towards him, and Itachi responded, "You believe I have acquired the eternal Mangekyo then. Where would we be sparring? The three of us could cause much destruction by testing my eyes' abilities. Is this worth testing my abilities?"
When Sakura had asked him to activate his Mangekyo during the medical tests, he had seen a greater clarity and felt stronger than he had before, however, Itachi attributed this to being cured from his previous ailment. If the pattern in his eyes have changed, then he must have acquired the eternal Mangekyo. Was this another gift from the Sage of Six Paths or the goddess Amaterasu? He wondered.
"The threat that Kaguya mentioned… you believe Itachi would be able to help us uncover it" Sasuke stated, and Kakashi nodded then elaborated, "And when it comes down to it, to fight it as well. We don't know what it is we will be facing, however, if someone like Kaguya was afraid of it, then we will need all the help we can get. I don't know if you and Naruto would be enough to face this threat, so we'll need all the strength we can get"
"What do we know so far about this threat?" Itachi asked, and Sasuke supplied, "Just that it comes from outside of this world we live in. Kaguya had arrived at our planet from the heavens, and we believe this threat is from the same place she came from. I have spent the past two years trying to uncover her lairs, and so far, I have been successful in uncovering one of her palaces which had been located in the Ice dimension"
"We'll be ready for whatever comes" Naruto chimed, and Kakashi interrupted saying, "I don't believe jumping into this head-on and unprepared would work this time around. There's a reason that even the likes of Kaguya felt apprehensive towards it. We don't even know if they would appear in our lifetime. The best we can do is uncover as much information as we can and ensure that even future generations are prepared to face it. Having another strong Sharingan user on our side is no doubt an advantage."
Itachi could tell that there was more to Kakashi's plan, "Rokudaime-sama, there's more that you aren't telling us." And Kakashi nodded and said, "I will disclose it after we test your abilities. You are to travel to the Land of Wind in three days. The Kazekage had volunteered a suitable location in the desert that would allow you three to wage a full-scale battle without the fear of causing significant destruction. Furthermore, this is also an opportunity to test the strength of a new barrier formation that we hope could be used to trap this unknown enemy." Sakura inquired in astonishment, "A new barrier formation?"
"It requires eight shinobi of Kage calibre to perform, four who use Yang release, and four who use Yin release, so we will be accompanied by others from the other four elemental nations. In theory, this barrier will not only limit the destruction you might cause to within its confines, but it should also nullify any ninjutsu that strikes its walls. Furthermore, Naruto I would like to test your sage power against it; we need to make sure that nothing can escape this barrier." Naruto nodded in agreement.
Itachi had seen what it took to defeat Kaguya from Sasuke's memories, and the best they had managed was to seal her using abilities that were given to them by the Sage of Six Paths. "Kaguya was defeated because of the Sage's sealing technique. If I'm not mistaken, Naruto and Sasuke, you no longer possess this power of sealing" they both nodded in confirmation, and Kakashi added "And we don't have any idea about how to kill such a powerful being either, so we will require a powerful sealing technique that rivals the Sage's sealing abilities should we fail to kill the threat" Itachi responded, "I might know of a technique that could work, but it might need refining" Kakashi looked at Itachi knowingly and responded, "That's what I had in mind as well… Naruto, I need you to arrange a meeting with Elder Gamamaru-Sama" He turned to look at his student who in turn appeared more confused by the exchange, "Huh?", and Kakashi explained, "We will require help from Mount Myoboku"
"Alright, I'm off. Sakura I'll leave the planning to you and Hinata." Naruto said to his pink-haired teammate who nodded and said, "We got this, you just focus on your mission, and say hello to Lord Fukusaku and Lady Shima for me" and Naruto looked a little nauseous at the mention of those names, "Ugh… I should have probably passed by Ichiraku's before going, I hope I don't stay longer than I need to" He performed the reverse summons and disappeared.
Sakura turned to Sasuke and Itachi and asked, "So what will you both be doing now?" and Itachi said, "I have to meet with the Jonin and officially take on my new post, Sakura, shouldn't you be attending this meeting as well?" Sakura now looked alarmed, she forgot that she was supposed to assemble in the grand hall along with the other Jonin, but Itachi turned to face Sasuke now and said, "You should come as well, Sasuke. I have discussed the matter of your promotion, and Naruto's as well. I have no doubt that you'll both make Jonin soon, so I see no reason for you to miss this meeting." Sasuke nodded and said, "What did you decide on?" and Itachi explained, "There will be a test followed by a mission, but we will discuss the details when Naruto returns" Sasuke smirked and said, "The idiot is terrible with tests. I'm sure Kakashi mentioned this already" and Itachi responded with, "He did mention something like that, but I'll be helping you both prepare" They headed down the hall from the Hokage's office and towards the grand hall where all Jonin shinobi had assembled before the Hokage.
"Welcome, everyone. I would like to announce that a new Jonin Commander has been appointed and I've gathered you all here to introduce you to the man who will be taking up this post" Kakashi signalled Itachi to step forward, and he was now facing the Jonin who will be under his command, he was met with smirks and smiles from the crowd he was with yesterday at the pub.
"Commander-sama, Itachi Uchiha" Kakashi stepped back and Itachi began his short speech when the applause quieted down. "Thank you, I promise to give my best to you all, and together we can ensure that the peace we enjoy today remains secured. I have gone over your profiles, and I would be meeting with some of you to go over your current positions. Furthermore, I plan to improve the village security detail as well as evacuation plans and for that I will need some of you to be involved. You will be receiving training schedules within the coming week as well. If you have any concerns, I'll be happy to meet with you to discuss them." After a moment of silence, Kakashi stepped forward to dismiss the Jonin, but some formed a crowd around Itachi to offer their congratulations. Itachi spotted Ino, Sakura and Sasuke stepping out and Ino met his gaze to offer him a sympathetic smile.
When Itachi finally emerged from the hall, he found Ino waiting for him. "Commander-sama" she greeted him, and Itachi nodded his hello with a smile, "Congratulations" she said, and Itachi responded with, "Thank you, Ino" and she walked alongside him which prompted him to ask, "Is there something you wish to discuss?" and she shook her head and said, "I'm on a mission, and you're it" Itachi raised an eyebrow at her, "We're going shopping. I doubt you have anything partylike to wear for your congratulatory celebration tomorrow" she explained, and Itachi shook his head no in response.
"That settles it. Come with me, I'm infamous for my impeccable style so you're in good hands" she proclaimed. "Is that so?" he responded rhetorically, "Totally, when I'm done with you, you're going to have every lady in Konoha swooning over you." Itachi looked somewhat apprehensive now, "Somehow, I'm not sure that is as good as you make it out to sound, but I do need to pick up new shinobi gear as well, so I'll agree to be part of this mission of yours" Ino giggled and said, "between you and Sasuke, I'm not sure who is more aloof" and Itachi responded, "Oh, it's Sasuke for sure, I wish I had his ability to chase away crowds. I seem to only draw them in"
"Everyone respects you. You'll get used to the crowd eventually, but if you need to get away at any point, I could always help you out again" she promised, and Itachi gave her a thankful smile. She stopped in front of a store and said, "Alright, this is our first stop. They have the best male outfits here" First stop? He mused and wondered how many more stops they'll be making as he followed an overly excited Ino into the store.
Next Chapter:
Naruto goes to Mount Myoboku, Ino takes Itachi shopping, and Sasuke grabs a meal at a familiar place...