The Path Of a Hunternin

The path of the hunternin

So far, the first co-op mission was a success.

The team formed by all five of the hidden villages had one single objective. Find the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki and bring him to Tetsu no Kuni (Iron Country) where the newly formed alliance could decide what to do with him, as well as provide better protection against the Akatsuki. That was the reason given to Naruto by Kakashi as the six ninjas ran towards their destination as fast as possible. It wouldn't bode well for them if one Akatsuki agent appeared out of a sudden. Being the only one who knew Naruto, as more than just the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, Hatake Kakashi stood by his ex-student the entire time alongside Naruto's dog companion, though not once did Naruto turn to question him regarding anything, nor did he express any form of dissatisfaction with the situation at hand. Ever since he became a hunter-nin, Naruto became much more reserved towards anyone. He doubted if even his girlfriend Hana knew everything about Naruto now and this worried him.

He knew that Naruto wouldn't accept the situation bestowed upon him by the alliance.

However, seeing as he had yet to hear any form of complaint from the blond, Kakashi wondered if Naruto was bottling everything up, instead. Such behavior wasn't healthy and he wished that the blond would trust him to talk about it. Soon, the group crossed Iron Country's territory as the temperature dropped considerably. The five ninjas of the mission were already used to it, but the blond didn't show any hint of surprise at the change of scenery nor the decrease in temperature. His canine companion didn't either. Eventually, the grand castle appeared in front of him as Naruto observed the army of samurai throughout the vicinity, looking at them. The group stopped in front of the castle's entrance before one samurai opened it. As soon as they entered inside the room where the kages were, the bodyguards returned to the upper levels, leaving Naruto and Mangetsu alone to face the five most powerful ninjas of their respective villages. He nodded briefly at Tsunade, but remained silent with his arms crossed as he waited for any kind of order coming from either one of the other four kages. The silence allowed him time to observe them a little bit.

He knew which village they represented, because of the flags behind them. Firstly, the Tsuchikage or rather the midget form of him as far as Naruto as concerned. He was the only one at the table, apart from Tsunade, that knew who his father was, though Naruto wondered if the man knew that the one who attempted the chunnin exams was the person wearing the hunter-nin mask. From the neutral look on his face, Naruto believed that Onoki hadn't realized his identity yet. He didn't need to observe the Kazekage, hence why his eyes landed on the Raikage for a brief second. The man's stature was impressive and quite threatening, but usually with size comes lack in speed. Lastly, the Mizukage was a woman, a very beautiful one. She was smirking at him and for some reason, he wondered about the reason behind her smiling at a stranger. Of course, he didn't know that she was checking him out from head to toe. Suddenly, the Raikage got up from his seat and addressed the hunter-nin.

"Kyuubi no Jinchuuriki, this meeting prohibits the use of masks. Please remove it so that we can proceed." The look on the Raikage's face indicated that his request was more of an order to be fulfilled. However, the blond remained with his arms crossed as he was a registered shinobi of Konohagakure and only one person could order him to remove his mask. Of course, the Raikage wouldn't see his reason, but that wasn't his problem. Plus Naruto didn't enjoy how the man addressed him. Seeing as the jinchuuriki had yet to remove his mask, the Raikage's patience was beginning to waver. "Is there a problem with what I said? Remove your mask this instant" A snort was heard from within the mask, which infuriated the Raikage. In fact, both Kumo jounins shared their master's anger at the response.

"Only one has the authority to demand such a thing and it isn't you Raikage-sama. Also, my identity is to remain a secret as expected from every hunter ninja or Anbu level shinobi." Despite the seriousness of the situation, both Gaara and Tsunade smirked at the blond. Naruto's lack of respect for authority was known by both of them. Also, in their frank opinion, Naruto was right. Only Tsunade had the authority to order her shinobi around. The Raikage was over-stepping his authority. From his angered face, though, it was clear that he had a different opinion. However, before he opened his mouth, Tsunade was right ahead of him.