"How you doing Mito-chan? You having fun?" Naruto called as he sat on top of a low leveled roof with his elbows propped up as he stared down at his sister who was picking up trash around the Hokage monument.
"Oni-chan stop bothering me," Mito whined which only served to make Naruto laugh as he watched her team complete another D rank mission. Her team mate Shikamaru was lazily tossing some trash into the black bag in his hands while the pale boy Sai got on with the job quietly. Beside Naruto was Kushina who was reading a magazine as she watched her new team completely their mission.
"This is stupid. How much longer are we going to be doing these stupid chores?" Mito called out in a huff as Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Don't roll your eyes at me Lazy Ass."
"Then stop complaining. You have done this for every mission for the last three months," he said as he yawned and scratched the back of his head.
"But it's insulting to do this and its embarrassing."
"You know if you keep complaining it will cause you to get wrinkles…flatty," Sai said as he gave Mito a creepy smile.
"….BASTARD!" Mito shouted as she went to lunge at Sai but Shikamaru stopped her as he tried to keep her from killing their teammate. "Come here and say that again. I'll kick your ass."
"Mito-chan," Kushina called lowering her magazine to look at her daughter and making Mito stop and look up at her mother. "These D ranks all help build up your credit and it will get you closer to obtaining the right to going on a C rank mission."
"But Kaa-chan," Mito whined but a quickly stern look from Kushina quickly shut her up. Grumbling and kicking the dirt she went back to picking up litter with a scowl now plastered on her face.
Naruto watched them with an amused expression but got a flick on the ear from Kushina.
"Don't you have anything better to do then rile up your little sister?" she said raising an eyebrow at him.
The response she got was a shrug. "It's too much fun and she is so easy to tease. Besides it's the job of the older shinobi to tease the freshies. You probably did the same when you were in my position," he said to her as she got a faraway look on her face.
That was true since she could remember teasing Minato's students Kakashi, Obito and Rin when they were a team together. Even though Kakashi graduated much earlier than the other two they still had to do D ranks.
"Don't you have a mission today?" she asked as she looked down at her son again who went back to teasing his little sister who was trying to give him the scariest glare she could muster.
"Yeah but it's not for another hour. Besides I already have everything packed," he said as he pointed to the scrolls on his hip and the seals on his arms.
"Hmm okay then," Kushina said going off the topic before she went onto a completely new.
"So are there any girls that interest you?" she asked as Naruto looked up at her in surprise. That was not something he really wanted to discuss with his mother. It was a little too weird.
'Where is this going?' he thought before answering her.
"Urm no Kaa-chan, no girls right now. I'm happy to just be on my own."
"Oh come on now there must be someone to catch your attention. I hear Mikoto's son is still with that girl from the Nadeshiko village. I can't let Mikoto out do me again," she said with a fire burning in her eyes that made him shake his head.
'So that's why.'
"Sorry to disappoint Kaa-chan but there is no girl right now so you will have to wait a little longer," Naruto said making Kushina huff a little before nodding in acceptance.
While the idea of some harlot trying to sink their claws into her eldest made her frown and want to bring the pain, she knew if she wanted grandchildren one day that she should have to suck it up.
It didn't mean though that she could not help pick and push him in the direction of a girl she approved of.
As Kushina looked down at the genin in front of her Naruto felt a familiar presence sit down beside him. Turning his head he saw Anko sitting there looking at down at the new squad while twirling a kunai in her left hand.
"Breaking in the new blood?" Anko said grinning which just made him roll his eyes at his team mate.
"Thought I would see how they are doing. They have promise but Mito-chan is being impatient," he said loudly to make sure his sister could hear him. Mito glared back at him with a red face while Anko chuckled.
"Get use to it Mito cause it's not going to change for a while," Anko told her making Mito huff in annoyance just like Kushina did moments earlier.
"So I thought you had work today? Was there not enough prisoners to keep you happy and contained?" he teased making Anko slap his arm playfully.
"I'm on my break and I thought I would come see you before I see Hana-chan. I won't get to see my two favorite people for a couple of days," she told him pouting.
"But I feel there is another reason that you wanted to speak with me?" he asked seeing the hidden message in his friends eyes.
Anko nodded and leaned in closer towards him.
"Make sure my girl comes back safe and sound. I don't like it when you she goes on missions without me."
"You know Hana is more than capable of looking after herself Anko-chan. She is a Jonin after all."
"I know and I am not saying she is weak by any means. But she is not like you, Itachi and I. She is not quite at the level we are at and I don't want her to get to over her head. You know she can be a little prideful. Hell I know she can be prideful. In the bedroom it's always a wrestle to see who comes out on top and who gets to be submissive and who gets to be dominant."
Naruto waved his hand. "Too much information, but I see where you coming from." he muttered before putting his arm around his longtime friend to reassure her. Normally Anko would have been fine with Hana going on mission but he guessed that since they were going to Kiri where a civil war had only just finally ended, it made her a little anxious.
"I will make sure your girl come back home safe and sound. It's a promise on my way of the Shinobi,"he said putting his pinkie finger out in front of him.
Anko understood the gesture and wrapped her pinkie around his. She then leaned in and gave him a peck on the cheek, showing her softer side to one of her true friends.
"Thank you."
"Any time Anko-Chan. I don't make promises I can't keep."
The two longtime friends sat and spoke with one another for five minutes with Kushina occasionally leaning in to try and hear what they were saying. Though all the two spoke about was the training schedule for their spars worth Itachi, Hana, Hayate and Yugao.
Once Anko left to see Hana, Naruto left twenty minutes later after saying goodbye to his mother and sister and headed towards the South Gate where he would be meeting with his team.
Four Days Later
Naruto jumped off the edge of a wooden boat and landed on a small wooden harbor where other small boats were docking and leaving with their various trade goods.
He took a look around his surroundings and frowned a little since there was a lot of mist currently covering a lot of the small harbor town. Without his sensor abilities he knew they would be walking blind.
'Though I don't sense anyone harmful at the moment; we get moving while we can.' he thought before he motioned for his two partners behind him to follow after him.
Hana quickly followed after with her three ninken walking closely to her side and on constant alert while on her other side was their teammate Hayate.
Though Hayate was still sickly and probably always would be, he had really stepped up as a shinobi and proved that he could fight just like everyone else in his age group and quickly became a prominent member of their generation and someone that many other sickly children could look up to as a role model.
While not quite a powerful as his blonde haired friend, Hayate was well versed in Kenjutsu and had a talent for fire jutsu and taijutsu. It made him a strong ally and a problematic enemy.
"The village Hidden in the Mist is said to be about five hours room this dock site and we will have to cross a lake on foot to get there," Naruto said as he walked forwards. "If we get there before mid afternoon then we should be able to avoid needing to stay in the area for too long."
"Right, that's probably for the best. They may still be antsy with the civil war only just having ended." Hana spoke up.
"Remember this is simply a delivery mission. We give the given message scroll to the new Mizukage, wait for the response and then we leave. We will be in and out of the village within an hour. "
"Could this not be something the Hokage could not just send by hawk?" Hayate asked thinking it would just be easier but he quickly saw Naruto shake his head.
"Normally it would be but seeing as my father has three of his jonin delivering it personally, we can only assume that whatever message it contains is off great importance."
Both of his friends nodded before the trio checked around them, made sure they had everything before they took off into the nearby trees and traveled along the top of the branches at great speed. Naruto was perched at the front, Hana in the middle and Hayate covering them from the back.
They stayed in that formation for two hours as they traveled to the Village Hidden in the Mist. Naruto was surprised just how true that name was as they traveled towards their destination.
The mist was everywhere and it was so thick that you could barely see in front of you. You barely had at least two or three meters of clear vision until the mist would set in. Sometimes it was even lower than that.
"I can't let my guard down for even a second. An ambush or any kind could be waiting for us at any moment. I'm starting to think sending a hawk might have been the better choice."
When they estimated that they were at least two thirds of the way there to the village both Hayate and Hana stopped immediately when they saw Naruto stopped right in his tracks and had a focused look in his eyes as he scanned around them.
"What is it?" Hayate asked before he noticed Hana and her ninken were growling and sniffing the air.
They had smelt something and whatever it was, it was making them get ready.
"Hayate, Hana, Manji formation," he called as the trio quickly got back to back while the ninken were stationed left, right and center by Hana with their jaws snapping at the air.
"How many?"
Naruto scanned his surroundings and felt six people all around them. From what he could tell they were all stationed at various points and at different heights.
"Six at least. Be careful. They have the home field advantage here and they know how to use the mist. No action unless given cause to."
When he finished speaking something twirling through the air could be heard coming towards them.
Before Hana and Hayate could react Naruto had already drawn Shusui from his back and struck a large demon shuriken that was aimed right at him. The broken parts of the shuriken split into two and embedded themselves in a nearby tree.
"Woh," Hayate said at how quickly his friends reacted before they heard quick steps coming towards them.
"Attack!"
They looked up to see a shinobi wearing an Anbu like mask drop down right in the centre of them with a blade drawn out.
"I got him," Hayate said as he unsheathed his blade and clashed with the shinobi and managed to push him away.
From the front Naruto's attention turned in front of him and sensed three people coming towards him while tow more were headed for Hana.
"Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu!" he heard before he slammed his hands onto the ground and made performed is own jutsu
"Doton: Doryūheki," he called as a large wall formed in front of him.
"Hana two coming for you from your left," he called as Hanna nodded and quickly spotted them with her enhanced sensed of smell. Her eyes became more canine like and her nails got more feral as she went down onto all four with her ninken stationed with her.
"Fang over Fang," she whispered before lunging through the air as Naruto engaged the three hunter like shinobi that jumped over the earth made wall. The attack made Hana twirl in the air with her ninken and it looked like a horizontal tornado was ripping through the air.
She drew closer towards the two attacking shinobi and slammed into one, successfully hitting him in the chest and destroying his lungs and heart while the other managed to side step out of the way and drew a sword.
Hana landed on her feet and gripped a kunai tightly in her hands.
Above them Hayate was battling previous attacking Kiri ninja and was holding himself well and was making ground against his enemy.
"Cough-….Who are….-Cough-…you?" He asked but the shinobi chose not to answer and continued to attack. Their swords caused sparks to fly off when the metal connected.
Hayate ducked from a swift strike from the shinobi and brought up his blade to block another strike.
Hayate continued to dodge and could see from his opponent's movements that he was getting more and more frustrated at not being able to land a hit on his foe. His movements were getting more sloppy and his swings were getting slower.
"Are you with Kiri or the new Godaime Mizukage?" Hayate asked but all he got was angry strikes back at him.
"Cough…so be it."
Meanwhile Naruto glared at two of the enemy shinobi who had a sword each gripped in their hands. The third meanwhile was currently stuck in a headlock in Naruto's right arm. Both arms were broken from where he tried to rush. A strong punch to the gut quickly incapacitated his enemy before he snapped their neck with an extreme amount of force.
"Since I'm trying to get to Kiri quickly I'm going to make this quick. I really don't have the time of the patience to have to deal with you right now," he said as he drew out Shigure as well and held both blades in front of him.
He then watched as the two Anbu doubt teamed him and flew forward. His swords clashed with his opponents and watched as they tried to push him back. Their other hands came up to take a swing at Naruto but he easily dodged them with a bored expression on his face.
"Have to do better than that," he told them as his foot glowed green and he slammed his foot into the ground.
Cracks formed on the ground as a mini earthquake suddenly hit the area making everyone stumble in surprise, especially the two Anbu that he was fighting. A huge crater formed from where Naruto had slammed his foot and cracked all along the ground around six inches wide began to form.
Taking chance of the opportunity he brought Shigure up into the air. He jumped up into the air as well and slashed down on the surprised Anbu. "Hiryu: Kaen!"
The moment he slashed his opponent and watched them fall back as the attack did its supposed damage, the Anbu member burst into flames as he choked out blood from underneath his mask.
"Bastard," he heard the other Anbu call out as he pushed forward as a dragon made of water shot forward towards Naruto with its large red eyes boring into Naruto as it raced forward.
Naruto narrowed his eyes and gripped both Shigure and Shusui tightly in his hands and held them to the side as he closed his eyes.
"Yakkodori!" he muttered as he swung both his swords together at the same time as a large slash of compressed air formed from the slashed that were so dense that the slash made a crescent moon shape object that sailed towards the attack at great speed.
The moment it connected the water dragon split right down the middle and dispersed to the sides of Naruto, narrowly avoiding him and destroying the few trees that were behind him.
Naruto then pushed off from the ground and appeared in front of the Anbu as he was in the middle of performing hand signs. At least he was until the Anbu suddenly found his hands flying in the other direction courtesy of Naruto cutting them off.
Before the Anbu could even say a word Naruto brought his right foot up and kicked the Anbu high into the air, breaking his jaw ion the process. Pumping chakra into his legs Naruto jumped high into the air and was back to facing the Anbu who looking in incredible pain.
"Check mate," Naruto told the Anbu before he pumped chakra into his right leg and with a powerful super strength kick. The kick connected with the man's head and sent his head sailing through the air and into the mist filled valley while his body dropped to the ground lifelessly.
Naruto then fell to the ground doing a back flip as he did and landed on top of a tree branch before he casually walked down the tree and placed Shigure and Shusui back into their sheaths and back to being sealed into his arms.
He dusted of his jacket as he looked up into the air and watched Hayate flip through the air still battling his foe while to his left he saw Hana performing a second fang over fang on her opponent and saw that it connected. The attack sent the Anbu flailing through the air and slammed right into a tree hard.
Naruto whistled and nodded before he felt two new signs appear around them. One felt hostile like the other Anbu while another felt curious and more calm then the others.
The hostile one however he sensed appeared behind Hana. A glint of metal caught Naruto's eye from the mist and saw a barely visible human shape appear. Hana thought was none the wiser as she checked her foe;s pulse and Naruto pushed himself forward, intent on keeping his promise to Anko.
Hana knelt by the Anbu and checked his pulse and sighed when she felt he was definantly dead.
It happened so quickly she was not even sure what happened. The moment she turned around she saw the familiar shapes of shurikens and kunai get thrown towards her at a fast rate. She wanted to move but using multiple fang over fang had taken it out of her along with the triplets who were each panting a little.
Doing what she could she brought up her arms to protect herself while the triplets tried to pull her out of the way by pulling on her bottoms but were not having any luck.
Before they could hit however she watched as the back of Naruto head appeared in front of her and watched him catch the shuriken in midair before throwing them right back towards the hidden enemy at an even faster rate. The kunai he blocked with his sword Shigure and sent them so they were embedded in the trees.
"You alright Hana-chan?" he asked turning around seeing Hana's stunned look on her face and watched her nod her head as she took deep breaths.
"I'm okay. Thank you Naruto-kun," she said with Naruto nodding back at her. She was disappointed in herself that she froze up that way and let someone get the drop on her. She should have smelled him coming but she was captivated in making sure her opponent was dead that she and triplets let their guard down.
"Try and keep your senses open at all times Hana-chan. I would hate to have to tell Anko-chan that something happened to you," he told her and saw her nod looking upset with herself but that quickly changed when she noticed that Naruto had a kunai embedded in his left shoulder.
"Hold still," she said softly as she walked close towards him and pulled out the kunai from his shoulder. She saw his hand get brought up to heal the wound but he was stopped when she placed her own on their first. Her hands glowed green and Naruto felt the wound slowly begin to heal up.
"It's the least I can do. Just because I can heal animals doesn't mean I don't have some skill in healing people to. Tsunade-sama was nice enough to show me a few tricks."
Naruto nodded and turned his head when he saw Hayate sheathing his sword away with a few cuts on his body but nothing serious. Behind him though Naruto saw the man that he had felt earlier and now looking at him, Naruto had to admit he looked and felt strangely familiar.
A familiar mask covered his face with familiar navy blue hair that stood up with tags pierced onto each of his ears.
He stood looking at the man before he walked over to him and stopped just in front of him.
"Are you friend or foe?" Naruto asked, tensing his body is this man was a rogue like the other shinobi they had just faced. Behind him Hana and Hayate stood closely behind Naruto and kept a close eye on the man in front of them.
"Are you the leaf shinobi that the Hokage sent to meet with the new Godaime Mizukage?" He asked and saw Naruto nod his head.
"Yes we are? So you're a friend then?"
Now the Anbu nodded and removed his mask revealing a man in his late thirties with an eye patch covering his right eyes. "My name is Ao, Anbu captain of Kiri and right hand man of the new Mizukage," he told them. "I was told by Mizukage-sama to meet you before you got to the village but I see you encountered problems."
Naruto examined the man and he felt what was behind the eye patch. A Byakugan. With that discovery he remembered where he saw this man last. The day he fought Raiga Kurosuki; he was the Anbu that Naruto gave the twin swords too as long as her got to keep the body of Raiga.
"Yes you could say something like that." Naruto said looking around at the bodies before telling Hana and Hayate to pile them up and burn the bodies. "Who are they?"
"They are Remnants of the Yondaime Mizukage Yagura's forces. Despite Yagura being dead he still has troops loyal to him and believing in his cause to wipe out those with bloodlines. There is team out looking for these people as we speak but I will have to send a messenger hawk ordering them back."
Naruto nodded and they watched as Hayate performed a fire jutsu and set the bodies ablaze.
"Come I will guide you the rest of the way to Kiri. These paths can be treacherous as I'm sure you youngsters have already noticed," he said before he took off through the trees. "Try to keep up otherwise you might take a nasty fall."
The three raised their eyebrow at the older shinobi before they took off after him along the trees.
The journey with Ao leading them took about half the time with the veteran shinobi leading the way and took them the safest way towards Kiri. Once they got to the end of the island they were on, they water ran the rest of the way towards Kiri and eventually they came across the village hidden in the Mist.
This was the first time any of them had gone to the Mist village and they quickly deduced it was definantly one of the more naturally protected by the elements around it and deserved the title hidden in the mist.
The name was well earned and despite its size they could still barely see it. As they got closer the visibility got clearer but with the mist and the cold temperature it felt like they were walking into a completely different world.
Walking through the gates the mist seemed to clear and the people and the building became clearer. Men, women and children were walking about the village going on with their day while shinobi patrolled the roofs.
"Taking the leaf shinobi to see the Mizukage," Ao stated towards the two gates guard who lazily nodded to the man. Naruto had to guess this village had their own versions of Izumo and Kotetsu.
"Damn upstarts." Ao complained as they ventured their way through the village.
Looking at the village the trio were surprised at how familiar to the leaf village it was. The buildings designs were very familiar and the civilians wore similar clothing though thicker due to the cold weather.
They saw some of the shinobi looking at them from the rooftops, obviously keeping an eye on them. Naruto couldn't blame them since the Leaf village would probably do the same thing when they visitors from others villages in their homes.
Along the buildings Naruto saw a lot of the buildings had been damaged and were currently under reconstruction along with new construction site in various places. Many were being made out of stone and large rock like materials. From what he could gather it looked like apartment buildings were being built for their shinobi.
They were still rebuilding and gathering their strength after the civil war had ended six months ago. With the new Mizukage whoever they were Kiri had managed to set up a new council and government as well as bring in the civilians and shinobi that fled from the village at the start of the civil war.
Eventually after a fifteen minute walk they came to a large building similar to the Hokage building and they knew they had arrived to the residence of the Mizukage.
Entering inside Ao nodded to the guards before he took them up a flight of stairs and stopped at the third floor.
"Chojuro is Mizukage-sama in?" Ao asked as they entered a receptions office and they saw a blue haired teen with a large sword covered in bandages just exiting the Mizukage's office. They guessed he was either their age or at least a year younger. He looked a little nervous and timid when Ao began speaking with him and it looked like he had a blush on his face when he walked out the office.
"H-Hai Ao-senpai. Are these the leaf shinobi?" He asked nervously looking over at the trio who gave him a small wave, trying to be polite and friendly.
"They are Chojuro," he said before turning serious to the younger shinobi. "Chojuro I need you to go the messenger hawk pay and send out a message to squad five. Tell them the group they are tracking have already been found and dealt with and they are to return home."
They saw Chojuro look over at towards them and saw him focus in on Naruto before he yelped back in surprise.
"The Yondaime Hokages son," he said panicked to their surprise before Ao got his attention back to him with a glare.
"Hai Senpai. I'll get right on it," he said and hurried out of the room, nervously avoiding Naruto as he went by.
"What was that all about?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow before hearing Ao snort.
"Why do you think? Did you not see the giant sword on his back?" Ao asked further confusing them before Ao knocked on the door in front of them while nodding to the receptionist behind the desk.
Naruto, Hana and Hayate all heard a soft voice telling them to come in as Ao pushed the door open and ushered them to come in. Stepping both Naruto and Hayate understood what had Chojuro so red and flushed in appearance.
The Mizukage who was sat behind a desk doing paper work was easily one of the most beautiful women that either of them had seen. She had a slender build with green eyes, and ankle-length, auburn hair styled into a herringbone pattern at the back, a top-knot tied with a dark blue band, and with four bangs at the front. Two bangs are short, with one covering her right eye, and two are long, crossing each other on her bust, just below her chin. She wore a long sleeves blue shirt that left her shoulders and the very top of her breasts exposed. Underneath, she wears a mesh armour and leggings with a dark colored pair of shorts covering everything above the thighs.
Naruto did everything he could to hide a blush but it was not working out to well. Hayate did not even bother trying to hide it and looked ready to faint at any moment. Even Hana looked a little hot and bothered by her.
However despite his blush when Naruto look at her he felt like he knew her from somewhere. She resembled a certain someone in his life and it was intriguing him.
"Thank you Ao." she said in a silky voice as Ao nodded and took his spot behind her and leaned against the wall.
She then turned to face them with a polite smile on her face. Despite appearances this woman was the Mizukage for a reason and knew that they should be on their guard just in case. "My name is Mei Terumi the Godaime Mizukage of Kirigakure. I hope you all had a safe journey to our village. I would hate if the leaf found out any of you were hurt in anyway. I formally welcome you to our lovely village said politely as the trio gave her a bow.
"Especially you Naruto-san. I am surprised the Hokage sent his eldest to come and see me."
"So you know who I am then?" He asked as she motioned for him to take a seat while Hana and Hayate stood up behind him. Behind her desk the Mizukage chuckled.
"Naruto-san you will find that in Kiri you have become something of a legend here," she told him. "In the last five years you have fought and killed two of Kiri's Seven Swordsman. One of which was a low A class and the other a high A class shinobi. You have many of our shinobi tense and nervous when you entered through the gates I'm sure."
He nodded before realizing what Ao meant with Chojuro. He guessed the kid he met was a seven swordsman in training. Though he was unsure which sword it was he was carrying.
"Is that why Kiri still has a dead or alive bounty on my head?" he asked and just saw Mei continue to smile at him.
"I may have forgotten to get rid of that," she said sweetly. "That was mainly Yagura being paranoid. He didn't like the idea of youngsters like you becoming so powerful at such a young age."
He nodded though was unsure if he believed her. He guessed her shinobi side was being covered up by this sweet and sultry mask she had created.
"As true as that may sound we won't have a problem here will we? I don't feel like losing my head any time soon," Naruto stated with Mei just continuing to smile at him as his hand rested on the seal that Shusui was sealed in.
Behind her Mei knew Ao was tensing and preparing himself but she waved him off, signalling that it was okay with Naruto doing the same for Hana and Hayate who were on guard and preparing themselves.
"I'm glad that we understand one another Mei-sama. I hope you don't mind me calling you Mei-sama?" He said with Mei shaking her head.
"Not at all Naruto-san. I have never been one for honorific's." she stated as he nodded though Ao rolled his eyes, thinking his Mizukage should not be acting so nonchalant with the foreigners.
"That's good to hear. Well in any case we should just get this over with," he said as he put his left over his right wrist and channeled chakra into a small storage scroll. A small pop sound was heard and a bit of smoke before Naruto revealed a scroll in his hands.
"This is from our Yondaime Hokage for your eyes and your eyes only," he said seriously as he handed the scroll over to the Mizukage.
Mei readily took it and everyone watched her take on a more serious look as she opened the scroll and slowly began to read it.
The team of leaf shinobi sat quietly in the office as they waited for a response from the beautiful Mizukage. Behind Mei, Ao was trying to look over her shoulder and Naruto even suspected he was tempted to use his Byakugan to read what it said.
But one look from Mei made him go pale and look away.
Five minutes later Naruto, Hana and Hayate watched as Mei finished writing a response back to the Hokage in a similar looking message scroll before sealing it up and handing it over to Naruto.
"This is my response to the Hokage. In short you can tell him I accept the proposal but give him the scroll for a more detailed answer."
Naruto nodded and watched as Mei leaned back in her chair and stare at him. Staring right back at her as he sealed it away into his wrist, he narrowed his eyes as his earlier thoughts about her came back.
'Why does she look so familiar?' he thought as he looked her over. The hair and the jade green eyes were entirely new on him but it was the skin tone and the shape of her face that bothered him. It was on the edge of his tongue but it kept evading him.
"Namikaze-san I ask that you stop staring at the Mizukage." Ao spoke up roughly as Naruto was brought out of his thoughts while Mei had a small grin on her face, mentally cheering that at thirty six she could still make young men fall for her looks and charms.
"Her generosity of being partners with the Leaf will only go so far so don't get any idea's." he spoke not noticing Mei's hair suddenly fall in front of her eyes, shadowing them over.
'Partners? As in a wife and husband?' She thought glumly before turning back to look at Ao.
"Shut up Ao…..or I'll kill you," she told him in a bittersweet voice that made Ao look like he had just been kicked in the crotch and have an aura of fear wrap around him like a blanket.
'Scary,' everyone thought while unbeknownst to everyone else Naruto eyes widened in size as realization hit him and began realization who this woman reminded him off.
'The hair and eyes might be different but some of the mannerisms and the way she speaks are the same with her. If I have her grow her hair out like Mei-san's then they would almost match.' he thought before he decided to put it to the back of his mind for now.
"If that will be all that perhaps it time we left," Naruto spoke as he stood up, trying to stick with the plan of not staying in the village for more than an hour.
"Of course Naruto-san," Mei responded as she too stood up. Just as she did though they all heard a tap on the window and turning around they all saw a Konoha messenger hawk by the window.
Confused and surprised she opened the window and took out the little message the bird carried before offering it too Naruto.
"Its address to you," she said surprised as did Naruto and the other leaf shinobi.
Taking the message he opened it up and scanned the contents laid out by his father.
Everyone watched as they saw a confused look turn from an angry look until it settled on a grinning look as he nodded his head.
"Do you have a piece of paper and a pen I could use Mei-sama?" He asked with Mei nodding and handing over some paper and ink from her draw.
Quickly writing a response he replied back the message and sending the hawk back off to Konoha he turned around towards Hana and Hayate.
"It seems Kakashi and his genin team ran into some trouble in Wave Country. With been instructed to go help them." he said with Hana and Hayate quickly nodding. They were both about to leave but saw Naruto staying put and turn to look at Mei.
"My father wrote in the message that this could be a good chance to test out the possible alliance between Kiri and Konoha." he stated as he handed the note over to a surprised looking Mei Terumi who began to examine the message.
A moment later a look of realization came to her face as well as surprise before she turned to look at Naruto with a big smile on her face.
"Yes Naruto-san. I think this will work out perfectly," she stated as the grinned at one another leaving the others in the room to wonder just what they were talking about.
A Few Minutes Later
Naruto stood in an alley just outside of Mizukage Tower. He bite his thumb and goes through some familiar hand signs before saying. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
A small white tiger cub with bright green eyes appeared in a puff of smoke, who purred the minute it saw Naruto. "Naruto, sending another message to-"
"Shh, Gaia; I still haven't told anyone about that yet, but yes I am." He replied putting a scroll in the cubs mouth before she disappeared again, leaving a smiling Naruto behind.