AN: After a slightly too long break, a new chapter.
"Hey there." Kakashi was clearly smiling beneath his mask, clearly found something amusing today. He held up a book, one he had clearly taken from a library somewhere in the village. Where exactly was hard to tell, mainly because he seemed to have covered up the page listing the actual owner with a tactical spill of his favorite tea over it. "I found what I was looking for a few days ago."
"Really?" Naruto stopped his workout but he didn't drop down from the branch he was currently hanging upside-down from, giving Kakashi a look of disbelief. "So why didn't you tell us before, when you found it?"
At his question, the masked Jonin merely shrugged.
"I got lost on the road of life."
"That happens to me a lot too!" Sakura cheerfully piped in from her place on top of Checkers, running a brush over her mount's feathers. "Isn't that right my precious Checkie, we just love adventure, don't we? Even when we shouldn't go and do something, we still do it, don't we? Nothing holds us back, right?"
Her answer was a cry from the Hippogriff, nuzzling her head against Sakura's gloved hand.
"Yes we do." Sakura laughed, soon belting out full on crackles as Checkers joined her in her own Hippogriff way. "And if anyone tries to stop us I have so many surprises I've been itching to use."
From his spot on the tree, Naruto could swear that there was lightning crashing behind her on a nice and sunny day. Once again, he could only be thankful that Sakura wasn't his enemy.
'Scary.'
"Moving on…" Kakashi held up a notepad. "I found this obscure little rule passed by the Second Hokage during his time in office. It just so happens that a civilian can adopt the child of an established clan as long as they're not the designated Clan Heir and can provide proof of guardianship when, or if, the claim is contested by the parents or Clan Head. Lucky for you, Sasuke isn't the Uchiha Clan Heir. And since you became his guardian before they could really protest, you get to, legally, keep him. They'll probably keep complaining but, legally, they can't separate you two. Well, they could've but you've already got the paperwork signed thanks to Umino."
The fact that the Chunin had fast-tracked said paperwork, had gotten it approved in record time, went unsaid.
The fact that Kakashi Hatake acted as a witness to it all, had fast-tracked his half as well, was completely unknown.
"Oh my precious son, did you hear that?" Sakura had already swept up Sasuke into a hug on top of Checkers. "I'm officially your new Mom!"
The Uchiha (or was it Haruno now?) tried but couldn't exactly deny the smile on his face. He found himself returning the hug. Sakura was saying something about getting a camera, pictures to commemorate this moment and all the moments to come.
And then her eyes turned to Naruto.
There was a greed in them, a desire to grow her family further.
'Am I in danger?' Naruto couldn't help but think such a thing, he promptly looked to Kakashi and Sai for guidance.
Only to retrieve a pat on the back from the masked Jonin. A Jonin who was now sitting on the branch he was hanging from.
"No need to get jealous Naruto. I'm sure she'll adopt you too soon enough."
"Why do you two keep saying that!"
Kakashi only patted him on the back.
"Pending adoptions aside, I've got something you might be interested in." Kakashi set the discussion back on topic, held up a scroll with an official looking seal on it. "Team Sai has a new mission. You're off to the Land of Rivers and to Takumi Village."
"That's the village with the famous weaponsmiths! I've been wanting to go there forever!" Sakura was very excited at the idea, clapping her gloved hands together.
"This isn't going to be much of a sightseeing tour Sakura." Kakashi handed off the scroll to Sai, the squad leader breaking the seal and reading over their assignment. "You'll be dealing with a quartet of thieves who call themselves the Four Celestial Symbols Men. They've stolen dangerous artifacts from their village, weapons that they intend to use for some nefarious purpose."
"Does it actually say 'nefarious'?" Sasuke spoke up from the back of Checkers, tried to lean to the side enough to read over Sai's shoulders to no avail. He only didn't plummet because Sakura had once more wrapped her arms around him, kept him on Checkers.
"No, I just always wanted to use that word." The masked Jonin laughed a little. "Moving on, you three are going to need to be careful when you head out. The weapons stolen were created by one of the master weaponsmiths who helped found Takumi Village, a man named Seimei. The thieves are self-professed disciples of the man who have some mad idea of bringing him back to life using those weapons and some forbidden technique." Kakashi's single visible eye zeroed in on Naruto. "Supposedly, it needs an absurd amount of Chakra to use, something you won't find in many people."
Naruto didn't say anything.
A pit had formed in his stomach, he suddenly felt like his throat was clogged.
Sai and Kakashi both shared a look at the unnaturally still Naruto, the normally energetic blonde just hanging from the tree. If it wasn't for hours of practice, he likely would've fallen from the branch by now. Neither Sakura or Sasuke noticed.
"Since all three of you have above average Chakra levels, you should exercise caution across the entire mission. Normally, we wouldn't send you three but there's no denying that this group is too dangerous for normal Shinobi to deal with and their last sighting put them not far from Takumi Village, heading right for it. We believe they aim to retrieve the body but it's, fortunately, been relocated from his grave. With your specialized skillsets in mind, we've decided to let you take a shot at it while more experienced Shinobi are away on missions we can't afford to cut short. Despite your inexperience, you're all rather unpredictable in combat, have a high chance of surprising your opponents with your unique approaches to battle. Takumi Village has been very cooperative with us so we have a general grasp of their abilities and what exactly each of the weapons they took can do. Each has a unique strength but they also have weaknesses I'm sure the three of you can figure out. You'll be responsible for picking your targets and eliminating them before they can accomplish their goal."
"This all sounds pretty serious. What's exactly the rank for this?" Sasuke spoke up once more from the back of Checkers.
"A-Rank. Considering the unique structure of Squad 7 and the nature of this mission, exceptions were made for you to receive this assignment ahead of other, more experienced, Shinobi." Sai answered the question and curtailed any others about the mission with his answer. He looked to all three of the Genin making up the squad. "Are there any objections from you three?"
"Could we get a little more information on our targets?" The Uchiha (or Haruno?) asked the next question on his mind.
"We actually have plenty. Like I said, Takumi Village wants this group dealt with. The Daimyo of the Land of Rivers feels similarly."
Sai drew out a set of papers. He handed them out as he spoke.
"First there's Kujaku. A skilled Kunoichi and wielder of a pair of weapons known as the Weaknessless Soaring Shortswords. Two swords designed to boost the wielder's attack power to the absolute maximum. Our source at Takumi said it was designed with the idea of an automatic counter with its flawless control over wind and able to respond to any attack launched. We believe she has a Wind Release Chakra Nature, something that makes her use of these swords all the more concerning. She'll be capable of using high-level techniques at little to no cost in her Chakra."
"Next, Ryugan. From all accounts, he's the youngest Shinobi in the group and uses a weapon called the Garian Sword. Three segmented blades with a wire running through them, designed to react to the Chakra of the wielder akin to the Puppet Technique of the Hidden Sand. Information was limited but we believe the sword also has another ability based around Shape Transformation, we're just not aware of what exactly it is. Neither did the records of Takumi possess any additional information on this unknown ability."
"The third member, Suiko. One of the physically strongest Shinobi in Takumi Village history and he's got the most troublesome ninja tool: the Infinite Armor. Designed to drain Chakra from any attack, Taijutsu and Ninjutsu are considered worthless against him as long as he's got that armor on. Even using anything but projectile weapons is considered ill-advised with the armor's ability to drain through a medium. With their goal needing an absurd amount of Chakra and with how fast that armor works, he's going to be the biggest issue when it comes to stopping this group."
"And, last but not least, Hoki. The leader of the Four Celestial Symbols Men and owner of one of the weapons we know the most about: the Fire Sword. A large blade with a distinct black color. Its primary ability is creating an almost endless amounts of fire. The more concerning ability it possesses is summoning and fusing with any of Seimei's weapons. We don't know the range but, that ability in mind, we'll need to keep in mind to separate them not only by terrain but distance as well. From all accounts, he's the mastermind behind this plan and Takumi requested we don't bother taking him alive."
By the time Sai was done reading over the information they had, Sakura was all but salivating.
"I am taking ALL of those weapons when we're done!" She was all but jumping up and down in her excitement. "Checkers has been needing armor since forever and she's always wanted to learn how to sword fight! Oh this just perfect!" Her excited eyes turned to Sasuke, the Genin going over the folder Sai had handed over with a critical eye. "Do you want a gift son? I can give you the weird whip sword thing if you want! I'm sure you'll have fun with it!"
"Are parents supposed to give their children weapons?" Naruto found himself asking the obvious question.
"Of course we are silly. If we don't give our children weapons, how else are they supposed to know we love them?"
"…Fair enough."
"If you two are done." Sai handed off a stack of papers to each of the three. "With all that said, have your targets in mind before we head out. We'll be leaving in the next hour with the aim to intercept the four of them before they can reach the village. Pack for a short trip. We'll be moving quickly."
"Good luck." Kakashi offered a wave before he vanished in a cloud of smoke.
AN: I guess this is back now.
Review/PM if you want.
Peace.
