??? POV:
"Shit."
The man cursed under his breath, ducking into an alley and applying a trace amount of chakra to camouflage himself.
It was supposed to be simple.
Simple infiltration of a building with barely 5 people inside, of which only 2 were shinobi. Retrieve a document literally kept in the open, and get out quietly.
So where the hell did these 2 squads that were after him right now come from?
And why did they all look the same?
He took a deep breath and held it as he heard 3 pairs of footsteps in front of him.
"What did the report say? Good at hiding?" a young man's voice questioned.
"that's one way to say it." Another male.
"You sure this is the place?" another one… with the same voice as the last two.
"we sensed the same thing, what are you hassling me for?"
Crap, they had a sensor? He had to go, NOW.
He tensed himself, hand going for a smoke bomb in his left pocket.
He threw it, and sprang up to make use of the confusion the smoke would cause to high tail it out of there.
Except…
There was no smoke?
"Wha-?"
He couldn't even finish the thought as he was pulled by some sort of metallic rope, and was held upside down over his previous hiding spot.
He could barely see them with the setting sun behind them, but he was able to see the insignia on their headband before being hit with some sort of a spinning sphere of chakra.
'Leaf…?'
SAKURA POV:
Sakura walked hurriedly through the dilapidated village.
"Keep looking Shikamaru, Naruto should be somewhere here."
"Yeah yeah, calm down you troublesome woman."
"It's natural to be excited, Shikamaru-kun" Hinata said with a knowing smile "She hasn't seen Naruto-kun in so long."
"I know" the lazy genius sighed "It's just a drag, being dragged along by a hyper woman."
Sakura glared at him and opened her mouth to say something before twisting her neck so fast the other two thought she would break her neck.
"Did you guys hear that?" she asked.
Hinata turned her Byakugan, and looked around before suddenly perking up and telling Sakura what she saw.
"A cloaked figure just took down someone with what looks like a Rasengan! That must be Naruto-kun!"
Shikamaru put a hand to his face.
"Not even actually part of the mission yet and he's beating people up? What a drag."
"Don't be like that" Sakura reprimanded "We finally found him! Hinata, where is he?"
"Behind you."
She turned around quickly at the sudden presence, throwing out a fist out at reflex.
A fist that was caught by a black palm.
"First time we meet in 2 years and you try to smash my skull in?" Naruto said with a wry smile as he pulled back his hood
Sakura blinked, before scowling.
"Don't randomly appear behind me then."
He chuckled "yeah, my bad I guess. I have a gift for you all by the way."
In a poof of smoke, two Narutos appeared, one holding the mist shinobi Hinata had seen Naruto (or it must have been a clone since he was here) beat.
Hinata looked back and forth between the clones and the original, before speaking up.
"Um, I can't see the real Naruto-kun."
Shikamaru's brows furrowed, and he poked Naruto's shoulder.
"He's real though?"
"No it's not that" Hinata clarified "It's like he's not there. I know he's there, but I can't see him unless I turn off the Byakugan."
Naruto stared at her in confusion before his eyes widened and he made a hand sign.
"My bad, I had to sneak in through Lightning country since I missed the boat from the land of waves, so I completely erased my chakra."
"Wait, 'I' ?" Shikamaru questioned "Jiraiya-sama didn't come with you?"
"Oh, him? We split up like a month ago since I had to catch a bounty in the Land of Waves, and he had some meeting with the Samurai head in the Land of Iron. Tazuna and family say Hello by the way."
Now Sakura hadn't talked to the blonde in years, but she knew when he was faking cheerfulness, so she knew something was off.
But she couldn't figure it out.
What happened between him and Jiraiya-sama?
NARUTO POV:
'God damnit, we still have to get Sasuke?'
'Why didn't all of you just come together?' Liebe questioned 'Wouldn't need to do all these retrieval missions.'
'Hell if I know. I wouldn't even know we were meeting up if it wasn't for Baa-chan sending that letter dattebayo.'
"So, what have you guys been up to for two years?" he asked as he walked beside the three towards the next town.
"Nothing that special" Shikamaru said "All the rookies became chunin too if that matters"
"That's nice." Naruto nodded absentmindedly, looking at Sakura and Hinata's hushed conversation to the side "You have any idea why Sakura was so angry earlier?"
Shikamaru shook his head.
"Sasuke tends to sneak up on people too, but she's never reacted like that. But that's in the leaf, and right now we're technically in hostile territory so she's probably just on edge."
"Don't worry too much" he said with a smirk to Naruto "She was crazy excited to meet you, so I'm sure she'll be back to normal in no time."
HINATA POV:
"Ughhh" Sakura said as she grabbed her head "I totally made him think I hate him."
"Yes, I am curious as to why you acted like that" Hinata said as she walked beside her friend "You were so happy till then."
"I don't know" Sakura wailed "I don't know why I got angry. He didn't even do anything worth getting mad over!"
"He's really been a lot less…loud too" Hinata mused "Maybe the change in your usual style threw you off?"
Sakura snapped her fingers and pointed at Hinata.
"Yeah, I think I just don't know how to interact with him after…"
Sakura blushed and tried to hide her face, but Hinata wasn't dumb.
"What happened"
"I…may have kissed him on the cheek when he was leaving"
Hinata blinked, before letting out a very un-Hyuga like squeal.
"Really!?"
"Yeah" Sakura said "But it really wasn't anything special, just a peck on the cheek. With how dense he is, I doubt he even thought about it as more than just a friends thing."
"But it wasn't, right?"
"No, it wasn't" Sakura shook her head.
"So maybe the reason you're mad is because he isn't as freaked out over it as you are?" Hinata said tentatively.
Sakura blinked
"Yeah…that makes sense" she said with a bright smile "What would I do without you!"
The duo walked in silence for a few minutes after that.
"So…. Naruto-kun, huh?"
"Don't you start."
NARUTO POV:
'Kid.'
'In the bushes, right?'
'Another just climbed a tree behind you'
'What is even the point of that?'
'Ambush probably. Tell the team, you're not solo anymore remember?'
'Right, thanks.'
He laughed at another lazy comment Shikamaru made, and signalled with his thumb.
Shikamaru tensed, and arched an eyebrow.
Naruto coughed thrice, hiding his mouth with his right hand that then made a thumb pointing at the tree.
Shikamaru nodded, and shifted his gaze to the nearby pair of Hinata and Sakura with a raised brow.
'Liebe, can you…?'
'It's gonna freak them out Naruto'
'Yeah but being attacked by mist shinobi would freak them out too.'
'Fine.'
A wisp of black energy from Naruto's shoulder, and there stood Liebe.
In a chibi form.
'This is humiliating every time.'
'You can't deny the convenience though.'
'Whatever'
Chibi Liebe (much to Shikamaru's shock) flapped it's chibi wings, and darted across the few feet of distance between the groups and whispered something in Hinata's ears.
'Good call. She's much less likely to attempt murder.'
'do you hear yourself when you think these things to me?'
The Hyuga tensed, but showed no gesture otherwise as she continued her conversation while Chibi Liebe went out like a black candle flame.
'Thanks for the assist.'
'Thank me after they grill you about the literal devil on your shoulder.'
'Look sharp, here it comes.'
'Right.'
SAKURA POV:
"Just some small fries" she muttered as she finished taking down the chunin that had jumped out of the bushes to attack the group.
"Oy Naruto."
She turned to see Shikamaru walk up to Naruto, and Hinata was going towards them too.
"What the hell was that black thing?"
"That was Liebe." Naruto said with a grin "And he's a devil. I have a summoning contract with them."
A beat of silence.
"A devil?" Sakura said incredulously "what do you mean?"
Naruto sighed, and then pulled back the sleeve of his right arm to show a small black tattoo that he tapped on to reveal some kind of seal covering his whole arm.
"this is the sigil of summoning. Unlike a contract, where the summoning clan has a scroll or something similar as a record of their summoners, the Akuryo clan has a brand they put on the summoner."
Sakura's eyes widened as she remembered something.
"Wait so the wing thing you can do, that's because of this devil contract thing?"
"Yeah." Naruto nodded "it's an imperfect devil fusion. We can do the proper thing now, but not for long."
"I've had it since the Chunin exams guys, you don't need to worry about me being possessed or something" he said with a chuckle "more importantly, we have a deadline right? Let's get moving."
The group stared at each other for a few seconds, before falling in step to get to the village.
NARUTO POV:
"They let Sasuke do an infiltration mission?" Naruto mused as he stared at Kirigakure from across the water that divided it from the rest of the water country "I figured the higher ups would want to keep the Sharingan nice and safe back home."
"they did." Sakura informed him "He and an Anbu kunoichi had to do this whole '4 trials' thing set by both the Hokage's advisors before being given the green light."
Naruto scowled, but schooled his face almost immediately.
'I keep forgetting that I'm not on my own right now.'
'It's just Pinky kid. You've known her for more than half your life, it's fine to let your guard down.'
'She has a name'
'Sure she does'
"Naruto?" Sakura said in concern "Why'd you make that face just now?"
Naruto shook his head.
"Let's just say I'm not really the 3 geezer's biggest fan right now. Especially Danzo Shimura."
"Why?"
"It's…not something I should say in enemy territory. Once we're at the rebels base or something I'll tell you."
Sakura nodded, with a small smile.
'think she's impressed that you actually used your brain?'
'Hey! I use my brain!'
'Sure you do. That's why it's so roomy here.'
"Here they come" Sakura whispered to him, pointing at a group that had just left Kiri's gate "I'm going to wake Shikamaru and Hinata up. You make sure no one is following them."
The two were travelling with a group of merchants, disguised as a pair of siblings from a family torn apart because of the rebellion. He didn't know what the woman's hair used to look like, but Sasuke's was a light brown, and in a small ponytail.
As per the directive, Sasuke made a show of needing to use the bathroom, and his 'sister' lecturing him on something before both of them split from the group after crossing the bridge towards the bushes.
The leader just chuckled at the sight and turned around to continue.
SASUKE POV:
"Yo, Kakeru!"
Sasuke turned quickly, and had to bring his hands up quickly to catch the bag of bread.
He wordlessly looked up with a raised brow.
"you and Naho-san are leaving today right?"
"Oh, yeah we are."
"Man, it's gonna be quiet without ya though." Takakura-san said as he leaned over the counter of his shop "Your big sister didn't really get out much, but you were really in the thick of things huh?"
"it's not my fault these jackasses tried to mug me an hour after I got here" Sasuke said with a scowl as he leaned on the counter and talked to the only person he could say he got along with in the Mist village.
Takakura-san had been good to the 'brother-sister duo that ran from Oto'.
His cover story of being an old Oto trainee who didn't quite make the cut had never been challenged either.
"Honestly, I don't even know why we're shifting already" Sasuke complained, as per the script.
"come on now, if yer big sis got a good job at Kusa, she should take it" the man said as he pat Sasuke on the shoulder "Done packing?"
"Wasn't much to pack."
"Makes sense. Well, think of this old man when ya eat that bread on the road kid! Look me up if you ever come back to this shithole, yeah?"
Sasuke let a smile come on his face.
"I will. Thank you, Takakura-san."
"I've gotta split" Sasuke announced, and those near him turned to look at him, confused
"why?"
"Nature's calling" Sasuke said, channeling his inner Naruto "You guys go on ahead, I'll catch up."
"Kakeru" Yugao Uzuki (Code name Naho) scowled at him "I told you to go before we left."
"I wasn't feeling it then, I feel it now." Sasuke said as he took a step towards the bushes.
"Well I can't just leave you like that" 'Naho' said with a sigh "I'm so sorry for my idiot brother. Please go on everyone, we'll join you if we can."
The leader of the merchant's guard (a chunin forced to retire when his left hand was blown off) narrowed his eyes in suspicion, and Sasuke was tempted to Genjutsu him with his Sharingan.
He resisted the urge, mainly because there was no way the rest of the entourage wouldn't notice his eyes suddenly changing, and it wasn't possible to subdue all these people so close to the bridge to Kiri without raising the alarm.
"Sure. Whatever."
The man dismissed them with a chuckle, and turned back around to continue the trip.
NARUTO POV:
"It's not that funny."
"It kind of is."
Sasuke had tried to wash off the hair dye in a nearby river almost immediately, much to Naruto's amusement.
Fun fact about ninja dye: it does not wash off from water.
It needs a mix of oil with a specific powder mixed in it, and then you can rinse out the leftover dye with water.
So all the water did is make it look like he had…an accident.
"So, how long were you even undercover?" Naruto asked as the Konoha ninja tree hopped towards the rebel base.
"about 2 months." The anbu lady said "I'm Yugao Uzuki by the way."
"Nice to meet ya" Naruto said with a grin "How'd you get saddled with emo here anyway?"
"I had been asking for assignments of this category for quite some time, so when Hokage-sama asked for an Anbu I volunteered."
That definitely brought down the mood.
Naruto might be dense at times, but he knew that infiltration missions, especially ones into territories as hostile as the current mist village, were suicide missions.
He was smart enough to not pry someone's personal details 7 seconds after meeting them though.
"So…how long till we reach the rebel base?" he asked after a while, trying to shift the mood.
"At least a day."
Short answers did not help, Shikamaru.
"Uh…Hinata, how come Neji didn't come?"
The Hyuga girl thankfully did not shut his attempt down, and answered him.
"He's wrapped up in clan politics. Ever since I announced my backing out of the running for clan head and pushed him forward, there's been friction in the Hyuga clan."
"Whoa, you really did that?"
"It wasn't just me." Hinata said with a smile "Even if we put the branch family aside, a lot of the main family members are supporting it, including my father and sister."
"Wait, but if your sister also endorses him, then who is he in the running with?"
"technically no one." Hinata confirmed "But the elders are pushing back, trying to force it on Hanabi because they don't want a branch member in a leading position."
'goddamn old people.'
'You're older than all of us combined multiplied with like 50.'
'Yeah, but I'm not an old person. Just an older one.'
'…huh?'
'Just drop it Naruto.'
SAKURA POV:
"Should we camp here tonight?" Sakura asked Yugao, who just shrugged.
"I do not make decisions here. I'm simply here to observe you all, and fight when needed." The anbu said.
"Yamato-san said that too." Hinata said as she set her pack down "Is this for that Hashira thing Tsunade-sama brought up 2 years ago?"
"Yeah, how's that progressing by the way?" Naruto questioned as he erected one of the tents "it never came up in any of the letters."
"I'd put it in if I knew anything" Sakura said "Also, when did you even start putting up the tent?"
"I got good at it I guess" Naruto said with a grin as he moved over to help her with hers.
"Oh, there is one thing" Sakura said as she quickly dove into another bag and brought out a set of armour "Tsunade-sama had these commissioned from Koshi-san the blacksmith for all the Hashira. Here's yours."
It was clearly a variation of the chakra armour the off-brand snow ninja had worn from their mission with Koyuki.
Naruto whistled as he turned it around in his hands before looking at the cloak's back.
"Why is the behind part so…bland?" he questioned.
"It's supposed to be inscribed with your signature style." Sakura told him "So far, the only one of us to have earned it is Haku, the 'Ice Hashira'. She earned it during one of her missions as a Konoha Hunter-nin."
Naruto nodded.
"Yep, makes sense. Where'd you even get my measurements though?"
"Jiraiya-sama gave those to Koshi a few months ago; he came by the village before I left to test me on spying skills." Sasuke said as he finished erecting the final tent. "All right, I'm going to sleep first. You guys figure out who to keep for first watch."