Descent of the Dragon ~ A Naruto Fanfic (On Hold)

Chapter 1

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, sat in his office, smoke rising from his pipe as he shuffled through the stack of papers on his desk. The commotion with Mizuki the other day had put him slightly behind schedule, but he'd still managed to finish all the paperwork for the new Genin on time.

Well, almost all of them. There was still one matter that needed to be taken care of.

As if on cue, someone knocked on the door to his office. Hiruzen set down the papers he was holding. "Enter!"

The door opened and Genma, a tall ninja wearing his headband like a bandanna, walked in, followed by a boy with spiky black hair. The boy's arms were bandaged, he wore a pair of blue fingerless gloves with metal plates on them, and his jacket had a blue dragon emblazoned on it. There was also a white cat curled around his neck, its wary gaze focused on the Hokage.

"You called old man?" The boy spoke so casually you'd never think he was addressing the village leader, but Hiruzen just smiled in response. He'd realized long ago that the boy's way of speaking was simply part of his naturally laid-back personality. It had actually taken months before the boy trusted the Hokage enough to show this side of himself, so it meant more than if the boy had used stiff formal language.

"I did. There's an important matter we need to discuss." Hiruzen dismissed Genma from the room and faced the boy, all business now. "I'll get straight to the point. Kai, what are your plans now that you've graduated from the academy?"

The jovial light faded from Kai's silver eyes as he crossed his arms. The Hokage and Genma were the only ones in the village (besides the cat) who knew about the complicated situation Kai was wrapped up in. "I'm not sure. I know I need to meet up with the others soon, but I don't know where anyone is. We were too busy escaping to decide on a rendezvous point, and there's no way to contact them now."

"I see. In that case, I have a proposal for you." The Hokage held up two ninja ID's from his desk, one of which had Kai's picture on it. "Normally, Genin are placed in groups of three and supervised by a Jonin to take on missions going forward. But thanks to your late enrollment the numbers don't fit this year, and your personal circumstances wouldn't permit it anyway.

"So instead, you and Shiro," here he glanced at the cat, "will form your own cell with just the two of you. You'll both report to a Jonin and conduct some missions with another cell for training, but most of the time you two will work as a separate unit. This way you can look for your companions and continue honing your skills at the same time, killing two birds with one stone."

Kai thought for a moment. It was an attractive offer, and there didn't seem to be a catch hidden anywhere. "It sounds good, but I'm still technically a Rogue Ninja remember? What happens if that guy finds out we're living here and attacks the village?" Konohagakure had been good to Kai and Shiro. It was peaceful, and the villagers didn't ask too many questions. He didn't want to put everyone in danger just to save his own skin.

Hiruzen shook his head, having already considered this point. "I doubt he'd thoughtlessly attack Konoha just to capture you, and even if he did we wouldn't fall so easily. Besides, the Leaf could suffer an attack anytime from any number of enemies, so having one more threat won't make much difference."

Kai gave a wry grin. "Fair enough."

"As for your Rogue Ninja status, since you haven't been entered in the Bingo Book it shouldn't be a problem to register you as a leaf shinobi."

That one caught Kai by surprise. "I'm not in the Bingo Book? Why?"

Hiruzen, who knew the details of Kai's past, gave a wry smile. "I guess your homeland didn't want people asking questions about such a young Rogue Ninja. But we've gone off topic. Do you agree with my idea?"