(Discontinued until further notice) Naruto: The Truth Beneath the Surface

Chapter 4: All Fun and Games

Kakashi read his book as the three walked. His eye twitched when he heard 'Naruto' sigh for the fifteenth time in the last ten minutes. He snapped his book shut and faced his partner. "Alright, you have my attention. What's wrong?"

"Finally." He heard the man mumble quietly. "Are you going to tell me what our mission is exactly? I don't understand why the old man gave you the information."

"Maa, maybe it's because I'm the least reckless one at the moment." Kakashi glanced up and suppressed a laugh at the annoyed faces of both of his temporary teammates.

"YOSH! YOU MUST TELL US THE INFORMATION! IT IS MOST UNYOUTHFUL TO WITHHOLD THINGS FROM YOUR TEAMMATES!" Gai yelled, earning a sharp gab in the gut from the raven/blonde haired man. He smiled sheepishly and repeated what he said, this time in a quieter tone.

Kakashi was tempted to hold back the information a while longer just to disappoint Gai but the death glare he was receiving from the youngest member made him realize that was probably not the best decision. "Here." He handed the mission scroll to the devil-er-'Naruto', who snapped it up and was already reading it.

Gai, being taller by a couple inches, looked over the man's shoulder. "This is such a youthful mission. I would be honored to provide extra protection for the kazekage." He barely remembered to keep his voice low while next to 'Naruto'.

"Tch, how annoying." The raven/blonde haired ninja lit his hand with a small katon jutsu, destroying the mission stroll. "Let's get this over with. The old man wants to discuss a possible treaty. Personally, I don't think it'll work but, hey, he didn't ask my opinion."

"Which surprises me." Kakashi added in. He continued at their glances. "Sandaime-sama usually goes to you or Shikaku-taichou before going along with something."

'Naruto' snorted, "Yeah, and it's obvious he went to neither." He sighed, lacing his fingers behind his head. "Let's see.. We have four days before we reach Sunagakure."

"Four?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Wouldn't it take three at most?"

Gai shook his head. "Ah, my eternal rival, you seemed to have forgotten how unyouthful Kēki is. It is obvious he wishes to go drinking and gambling."

"I told you not to call me that, Kureijī!" 'Naruto' growled, jabbing the taijutsu user's stomach.

"What an unyouthful thing to call someone." Gai frowned though his eyes held amusement.

Kakashi giggled and looked up when he noticed the two staring. "What? It's a good part." He waved his book in the air, emphasizing his point.

"Hentai." The two deadpanned. They walked on while Kakashi sputtered in his spot.

"Hey, wait for me!"

Xxxxxxxxxxx

The kazekage stared at the three Konoha jounin with hidden amusement. The elder ones, a silver haired man and a green spandex..thing, were staring at the other with annoyance. The raven/blonde haired jounin simply stood, rubbing his cheek on a pouch full of money.

"My ninja tell me they spotted you in the town over gambling." The kage started casually, watching their reactions.

Kakashi and Gai bowed, Gai's deeper than his rival's. "Apologies, Kazekage-sama. It will not happen again."

"Like hell it will!" 'Naruto' growled making the kage's guards gasp lightly. "If I get a chance to drink then, by Kami, I'm going to drink! I don't care if Rasa needed us in three days!"

Kakashi gave him a lazy look.

"Oh, shut it, hentai! If it was so urgent, Rasa would have said so."

"Yosh! You should be more formal when talking to the Kazekage, Kēki!" Gai scolded, wagging a finger.

The ninja in the room looked up when they heard a snort.

The Kazekage hid his face behind the sleeve of his robe, trying not to let the ninja see his face. "Apologies. It's just, I might get a heart attack if the Baka was respectful."

Everyone's eyes bulged out at his words while said 'baka' narrowed his eyes.

"Nani? You want to repeat that, Rōjin?"

"Of course." The Kazekage gave him a fake smile. "You are a baka."

"Teme!"

"Oroka!"

The kage and Konoha jounin growled at each other, electricity flying between them. Flames seemed to rise behind them, red for the kage and blue for the jounin. Their hands were together, each trying to push the other back while throwing insults back and forth.

"Wow.." A boy's voice was heard by the door. Kankuro wore a black, baggy, full body suit with a red and yellow circle on the front. He also wore a black hood which covered his head completely and had cat-like ears on his forehead. His outfit was derived from traditional puppeteer costumes; bunraku puppeteers usually wore black outfits and hoods so as not to distract from their puppets. Kankuro sported a triangular face-paint design. He also wore gloves and carried a large black package on his back which the ninja could only assume was a puppet due to his clothes. "I've never seen Otou-sama like this for a long time. Wait 'til Temari hears about this. She'll flip!"

"Ah, Kankuro." Rasa, the kazekage, turned to his son. He cleared his throat, trying to appear as if he wasn't just arguing with a Konoha jounin like a child. "Wha-"

"KAZEKAGE-SAMA!" Baki barged into the kage's office, slamming the door open.

"What is it, Baki-san?" Rasa asked, immediately on high alert. The jounin never interrupted him unless it was important.

"It's Temari! She was captured by some Iwa ninjas!"

"What?!" Kankuro turned his teacher. "What do you mean my sister was captured?! We have to go save her!" He ran out after the ninja.

"Aaand there he gooeess.." 'Naruto' said almost lazily. "Baki, you should teach your student not to be so reckless. It'll get him killed one day. I thought I told you that Kan-chan was going to be charging at every enemy when his siblings were in trouble."

"I didn't think you were serious!" The teacher shouted. "Doesn't matter. We have to go after him before he ends up getting hurt!"

'Naruto' cleaned his ears out and yawned, Kakashi had his nose in his porn, and Gai was talking to a poor ninja about the power of youth. "Best not to go, Bak-chan." The Uzumaki's head was tilted towards the window and his eyes were closed. "These ninja are powerful and you are just one person." He trained his cerulean eyes on the teacher. "Let us handle it."

"Are you sure?" Rasa asked.

"Yeah," 'Naruto' waved a hand. "Consider it as my way of saying sorry for missing Gaara's birth."

"YOSH! OF COURSE WE'LL SAVE YOUR DAUGHTER, KAZEKAGE-SAMA!" Gai gave a a big smile and a peace sign.

Kakashi closed his orange book, slipping it into his hip pouch. He gave his partner a look. "Are you going to bother asking our opinions?"

'Naruto' waved him off. "Oh, come on, Kakashi. It'll be fun."