Naruto's Mission

10

Naruto couldn't think straight as he headed towards training ground 7. Yesterday's lunch was replaying in his mind the whole time, so by the time he actually arrived at the training ground, his face was red. He'd been thinking about the near kiss incident. Sasuke and Sakura immediately noticed his red face and questioned him about it.
"What's up with you?" Sasuke asked, the Uchiha smirk ever visible on his face.
"Yeah, Baka! What's up with you?" Sakura echoed. Naruto snapped out of his thoughts with a noticeable blush.
"Nothing." He said but he knew the two didn't buy it. They stared at him for a little while before Sasuke finally gave the infamous Uchiha 'hn' and turned away. Sakura didn't divert her attention though, only taking a discrete look at his features once more before comparing them to Sasuke. She mentally squealed and jumped. Sasuke and Naruto were still hot and perfect in their own ways, and that was when her own perverted thoughts came into play. What if... I combined them together... she drooled and almost lost it, but kept her composure. It wouldn't do to lose her cool in front of the two hottest Genin in the village. There was a sudden poof of smoke and Kakashi appeared in front of the Genin. He wasn't late for once.
"Good morning!" Kakashi said. They all turned to face him.
"It's the afternoon... you told us to meet you here in the afternoon..." Sakura retorted although she didn't feel like screeching. Kakashi smiled.
"I'm sorry, I was so busy I forgot." Kakashi replied. He suddenly noticed the twitching eyes of Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura as they stared back at him.
"I've got some news for you!" Kakashi said.
"I've decided to nominate you three for the Chunin exams! Granted they aren't coming up yet, for some time, but after that Zabuza mission, I'd say you guys are more than ready! I'm going to focus heavily on training now, and we'll be doing 1 ~ 2 D rank missions a day, just so you guys can have some money to take home!" He said with a grin as he took in the shocked faces of his Genin. As Kakashi started to talk about training, Naruto zoned out. He could skip the Chunin exams if he wanted to. After all, he was already an ANBU under the old man... but they didn't even know any way.
"Naruto." Kakashi's shout echoed across the training field and Naruto jumped.
"Uh... hehe, what?" Naruto said as he turned his attention back onto Kakashi. Kakashi sighed. It was going to be a long day.

-----

Kakashi wiped his forehead. He had spent the entire afternoon working on their team work, making sure that they had all not neglected or forgotten the importance. After all, regardless of the Zabuza mission, Sasuke was still super arrogant, and Sakura was still a banshee. Naruto was the only one who had an inherent grasp of teamwork. Although he was fairly sure that Naruto had some secret that he was hiding. He shrugged. He would be told when Naruto felt like he could reveal the secret. But there was always time for some reading. He grabbed the orange book from his pouch and flipped it open. As he read, he couldn't help but admire the skill of the writer. He had captured the red head's stunning beauty and the 'large' blond's love making scene almost flawlessly, as if he witnessed it in real life. Suddenly Kakashi froze and trembled slightly. His mind was racing. Lord Jiraiya is the author... and the names of the two characters and their appearances are very similar to sensei and his wife... Kakashi fought a sudden onslaught of blood from his nose as he realised the implications. Jiraiya had spied on his sensei's most intimate moments!! He giggled perversely out loud before he saw that his Genin were staring at him. Snapping the book shut, he cleared his throat before pretending nothing had happened. And thank god for his rival to show up in a timely manner to distract his Genin from asking him about it, too.
"MY ETERNAL RIVAL!" A loud voice shouted across the training grounds as a man with large, bushy eyebrows, a bowl cut and wearing the ugliest green one-size-fits-all body suit landed in front of Kakashi and the Genin. Sasuke felt like vomiting, Naruto felt nauseous and Sakura simply fainted at the fashion atrocity.
"I heard that you're gonna nominate your Genin for the Chunin exams!" Guy shouted a little less loudly, although Naruto and Sasuke could have sworn it didn't deviate much from his original volume. Kakashi simply stared at him.
"Huh? Oh that little test. My Genin will pass it just fine!" Kakashi said with a smirk as Guy simply stared at his team. Guy was crying on the inside as he assessed the team members Kakashi had. Sasuke Uchiha, the last Uchiha and rookie of the year. Naruto Uzumaki, according to Kakashi, managed to face off against Zabuza evenly... and Sakura Haruno, the top kunoichi of the year... his fists were shaking uncontrollably.
"You have a strong team, rival!" Guy shouted.
"But my team has twice the amount of youth yours possesses!" Kakashi sighed.
"But my team is younger, therefore they are more, as you put it, 'full of youth' than your team..." Kakashi rebuked. Guy froze on the spot.
"Then we will train every day for twenty hours! We will reclaim our youth and bask in the evening sunlight of victory!" Guy shouted as he struck a pose.
"Ok just get out of here." Kakashi said as he shoved Guy away from his team. He didn't want any 'Guy' enthusiasts in his squad.

"Ok, after Sakura wakes up, we are going to do some training to prepare you for the Chunin exams!" Kakashi said while he opened his orange book.
"I'll be teaching you, Sasuke, on your sharingan. Naruto... I've asked the Hokage about your training and he said he'd be able to provide a teacher for you. As for Sakura, I'll have her undergo some more taijutsu training for she's certainly not the strongest hand to hand fighter here..." Kakashi smiled before he proofed away. Sasuke frowned.
"Didn't he say he'd be training us?" He asked but he quickly realised that Naruto wasn't there. He was stuck with the banshee until she woke up.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

-----

"Hokage Sama." Four ANBU were kneeling down in front of the Hokage and Danzo.
"The Chunin exams are upcoming very soon. I'll need you four to head out to Suna and give their Kazekage this invitation. Also, I'll have you stay on post at Suna until they send a reply. One of the ANBU, wearing a cat mask, stepped forward and took the scroll from the Hokage. Then the rest of the ANBU stood up and shunshin'd away. Hiruzen looked over to Danzo.
"There is a matter of interest that needs our attention." The Hokage said. Danzo turned to face him. He raised his hands to form a hand seal. Immediately, a barrier was created around the Hokage's office, and the four corner seals on the walls began to glow.
"Naruto." The Hokage said as the blond boy dropped down from the ceiling.
"Kurama told me this. When I was in hospital after the Zabuza mission, a masked ninja snuck into my room and placed me into a genjutsu world." Naruto said. Danzo and Hiruzen both stiffened.
"Kurama said it was the same one who was responsible for making him attack Konoha when I was born." Danzo nodded thoughtfully.
"And this world... what of it?" Danzo asked. Naruto cleared his throat.
"It felt exactly like this world. Except for a few key differences - in being the personalities of some of the people. I only noticed one irregularity, but that was probably because I was only in it for a few hours before Kurama broke me out of the genjutsu world."

"Could it be, that this was a prototype?" Danzo asked. "The only reason I see for creating a genjutsu world would be to trap them indefinitely without them realising, because normal genjutsu have boundaries. So if there are irregularities, then there must be something wrong?" Hiruzen nodded thoughtfully as he digested what Danzo told him.
"Danzo, for now, let it rest, but make sure your ROOT members are keeping a closer eye on people who aren't a part of the Leaf Village. We can't afford incidents such as this one to continue to happen." Danzo nodded.
"Naruto. After the Chunin exams, you'll be able to fully assume your former role as an ANBU and there will be no repercussions should you choose to tell those close to you about your position. Just remember, make sure Sasuke doesn't fall into his dark ambition and desire for vengeance." Hiruzen said and Naruto nodded.
"Got it."
"One final thing. You can come out now." Hiruzen said as he looked at the roof. Danzo and Naruto both looked up, slightly shocked that they hadn't noticed a black crow in the corner. Naruto's eyes widened. The fact that he hadn't noticed was a big surprise. Only someone equally as skilled, or more skilled, would be able to hide from him. His eyes narrowed as the crow flew down from the ceiling and it transformed into Itachi, with his black hair, crossed out Leaf headband, and the Akatsuki cloak. His two red sharingan were perhaps the most noticeable features. Sharingan... Naruto thought. He must have cast a genjutsu on me to make me either forget I saw him, or make himself seem like he wasn't there.
"Itachi. What's the matter?" Hiruzen asked. Danzo took a seat on the couch, and Naruto simply stared at the Uchiha prodigy.
"I'm just here to check on Sasuke. Also, the Akatsuki are not making a move on the tailed beasts as of yet. The leader, a man who possesses the Rinnegan, wants to gather more funds first." Itachi reported. Naruto was shocked. He couldn't say a thing.
"Naruto. You should understand that this is an S ranked secret of the village. No one, apart from Me, Danzo, and now you, know of Itachi. Please keep it that way." Naruto nodded, his throat dry. Danzo saw Naruto's look.
"We'll tell you when the time is right." Danzo said and Naruto nodded again. Itachi turned to face him.
"Please look after my little brother." Itachi said as he gave Naruto his infamous forehead poke.
"I regret a lot of things, including putting my brother on this dark path. Please, if you do sway him off of vengeance, give him this." Itachi poked his forehead again. Then he burst into a flock of crows, circling all of them once before they flew out the window as Danzo deactivated the barrier seals.
"It's a gesture of affection." They both told the puzzled Naruto.