ᗰOᑎᔕTEᖇ [🧡 ᑎᗩᖇᑌᕼIᑎᗩ 💜] [Ɱҽէąʍօɾքհօʂìʂ] Bσσƙ Oɳҽ

Akechi Village

Chapter Forty-One

Akechi Village

May 4, 2010

He swung by the house, tossed the bags on the couch, hid his camera somewhere he knew she couldn't reach or think to look, then threw his mission gear on, carefully zipping his pants as he waited for the state his fiancée had left him in to dim. In an effort to cool his ardor and slow his racing pulse, he busied himself with his normal routine prior to his missions. Checking his ninja tool bag, he counted then moved to the wooden, wardrobe looking container left of his closet. He grabbed some kunai and other weapon paraphernalia, then secured the contents around his waist with the clasp. He took his necklace off, slid his engagement ring from his finger and added it to the half heart shaped pendant before replacing the necklace. He zipped both precious gifts beneath his overcoat.

Then he was off again, grabbing his headband from the hook by the door as he passed.

He made it to the tower in under a minute and was ushered inside the Hokage's office the moment he strode through the entrance.

Sakura, an Anbu, a Hyuuga he recognized but couldn't place the name of and a person he had no Godly clue why would be anywhere near the village, let alone in the Hokage's office, stood waiting.

"Now that we're all here," the Hokage began, "let's begin."

Without questioning aloud, but his mind racing, Naruto closed the door and moved to stand next to the older man with his fiancée's kekkei genkai. With their relationship blooming, he'd met quite a few Hyuuga, so many it would take him years to remember each name, and even longer to match name with faces.

"This mission I've assigned to you three is of the utmost importance and is to be treated as such."

Three.

Wasn't hard for the occupants to read between the lines.

While there were five of them, on paper, two of them didn't exist.

The female Anbu and the man next to her.

"If such a thing were possible, I would classify this mission as a step above S rank. All findings are strictly confidential, not to be discussed outside those that have been previously cleared," the Hokage told them, before turning his gaze to the man that had thrown the blonde for a loop, "during its course, you are not to leave the sight of the Anbu. Should you move independent of that mandate, you are to be eliminated immediately."

"We're aware that with your intelligence and level of skill, even with the seals inhibiting your ability to wield chakra, you may have already tampered with the fail safe you accepted at the conclusion of the war. Should the seal etched into your skin prove unsuccessful, then other means will be used to achieve that end," Shikamaru said before turning his dark eyes to the lone Uzumaki in the room, "Naruto, that duty will fall to you. If the Anbu has cause to activate the seal and for any reason, whether it has been tampered with or not, it does not prove fatal, then you have leave to end Kabuto's life through any means necessary."

He couldn't say he was shocked or surprised...nor rattled. With his dream to be Hokage looming, both Kakashi and Shikamaru had slowly begun to expose him to the dark and light such a position entailed and from what he'd gleaned, there was more darkness than his young mind had ever realized, even after the bloody war they'd fought. Decisions like this, choices that could stain his hands in ways they had never been before, were creeping into his life more and more over time.

He didn't know in which manner he'd avoid carrying out such an order as the one he was being given now, but he had, at the very least, learned to gird himself for the reality of being commanded to do so. As a jonin, as the future leader of this village, he'd learned restraint in certain circumstances and situation like the one currently taking place.