Sage's Resurrection

Chapter 4

I know that these missions are designed for training us to deal with situations and clients in the future, but dear gods this is boring. Naruto pouted.

Suck it up and deal with it. Was Madara's immediate reply. Naruto scowled, but gave no reply.

Naruto had just flung his shuriken into the final rat. "That's the mission done."

"That tip about sensing them by pulsing out chakra was great. Thanks for that." Sasuke's voice echoed across the sewage pipes as he wiped sweat from his brow.

"That's the fifteenth D-rank mission from this week so far. I wonder when this ends."

Kakashi clamped his book shut. "This'll end when you finish the mission report. Come on, let's head up to the Hokage tower." He flickered away, leaving the three in the basement.

"He still leaves us to go to the Hokage tower by ourselves," Sayuri grumbled.

"Well, let's just go." The three leapt onto a rooftop and towards the Hokage's office, leaping through the window, leaving a shower of glass behind them.

"Team Kakashi, here for-" Naruto was stopped as the three of them had blades pointed to their throats. "Uhh, there seems to be a . . . misunderstanding here." Naruto's gaze flitted about the room. The desk. The papers and scrolls. The blades pointed to his and Sasuke's and Sayuri's neck. The Hokage himself. The pictures of all four Hokage.

"ANBU. Stand down. They are of no threat." The ANBU did so, sheathing their blades and flickered into darkness, although one seemingly melted into the shadows.

A group of five entered the circular office. "Team Kurenai, reporting a mission." The tallest, presumably Kurenai Yuhi, wore a red mesh blouse with only the right sleeve visible. Over this, she was wrapped in broad straps with rose thorn patterns on it. Her arms were covered in bandages. Her irises were red and her hair fell to her waist.

Next to her, Hinata had black hair in a hime-styled cut. She wore a beige fur coat and blue pants. She stood tall, a slight glare marking her face.

Shino, next to them, wore black glasses, and a high collared, light green trench coat which hid his lower face. His brown hair spread in every which way, almost like a bush.

Kiba wore a grey hoodie, black pants, and a white pup on his dark-brown hair. He had two red, downward marks on his cheeks.

Sakura wore a red qipao dress with white floral patterns, her pink hair cascading down her back. Her emerald green eyes shone at the sight of Sasuke, then quickly dimmed as she smiled slowly.

"Hello, Naruto, Sasuke, Sayuri. How have the missions treated you?" Naruto did a double-take at what Sakura said. Looking next to him, Sayuri was in a similar state. Sasuke wasn't very affected, but Naruto did notice that his eyes were widened.

What in the world happened to Sakura?

"Did I do something?" She asked, pointing at herself with a finger.

The three shook their heads. "No, nothing's wrong. I was just surprised at your abrupt change in character." Naruto scratched at his hair.

Sakura giggled at that. "Kurenai-sensei put me through hell and forced me to change over these past few weeks. I've even learned some genjutsu and I'm working on some of my own!" She finished proudly.

"That's great! You've been doing a lot since the academy, and honestly, I'm a little bit jealous," Sayuri said as Sakura beamed at the praise. Sasuke did nothing more but stand in the corner.

"I guess Sasuke never changes," Sakura commented. Both Naruto and Sayuri snorted at that. For his part, Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"Okay, so if we're all done catching up with each other, are we going to go request a mission or not?" Kakashi said.