In the Midst of the Mist

[MJM]

Prologue
“It’s been two years after the attack on Konoha, Lord Hokage.” Said Sakura looking out the window. Birds flew past with ease. Villagers carried out their daily duties. All was looking fine in Konoha.

“Yeah. It’s actually kind of sad to reminisce about it.” Said a man in the Hokage headdress. He was in a chair facing away from the window, trying to complete paperwork.

“At the meet of the Kage, we were chosen to accompany Danzo to the Five Kage Meet.” She turned around to the Hokage, strolling to the front of his desk. “Gaara and his siblings were there.” She stopped cold there.

“So was Sasuke.” Said the Hokage. “Yeah, he tried to assassinate all the Kages, until I stepped in. I saved the Kages and chased him off to The Final Valley. We fought again… But this time it was different. That fellow, Tobi, was there.”

“Yes. He watched the fight but tried to step in toward the middle. But Danzo also followed you two. He couldn’t allow it. He pushed back Tobi with his Fire Style Jutsu. There were two fights going on at the same time.” Said Sakura.

“Tobi killed Danzo right there though. He took him from behind and stabbed him in the heart.” The Hokage recalled. “He was ruthless. He then went after Sasuke and me. His plan was to kill us. Sasuke realized he was being used. We made a deal. He would come back to the village if we killed Tobi together.”

“But you couldn’t. Even though Tobi revealed himself as Madara Uchiha and used endless Sharingan techniques. Sasuke ended up distracting him with Amataresu. There, you came in and captured him. You summoned the help of ***asaku and Shima.” Said Sakura. “They managed to conjure up a special seal to seal him away.”

“Yeah.” The Hokage chuckled. “But Sasuke didn’t come back to the Village. We never did kill Madara. He was sealed. He said ‘I’ll stay close’. That’s when he left in one direction and we left in the opposite. The Village declared me the Hokage, regardless of what the Village Council said.”

“That’s right,” said Sakura. “That was really kind of you for boosting your friends Ranks to Jonin, Naruto.”

“Yeah. You all owe me.” Chuckled the Naruto as he took off his hat. He wiped sweat off his forehead. “You can start by finishing this paperwork!”

“As if!” Said Sakura as she started for the door. “I’d never-!” She was cut off. The door opened rapidly and in came Konohamaru and his squad. From behind came a worried and startled Ebisu.
“I’m sorry Naruto, err, sir, err, Lord Hokage! I shouldn’t have let this happen! Especially after you gave me Jonin Rank!” Ebisu mumbled out.

“No worries,” Said Naruto as he put his hands on his head. “Wachya need Konohamaru? I’m busy with paperwork so make it quick!”

“I want a mission! Not some stupid ol’ weed picking! A good, A-Rank Mission!” Konohamaru blurted out.

“You wanna mission eh?” Started Naruto. He remembered when he barged into the Third’s Office with the same frustration. “Sure! Your mission is a special A-Rank Mission, understand?”

Konohamaru and his squad nodded. Ebisu on the other hand put his hand on his face and shook his head.

“Konohamaru, Moegi, Udon, and Ebisu! Your mission is…”

[ItachiAnbu]

That was cool. When are you gonna post the next part?

[MJM]

Right now, .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 1: The Mission

Part 1

“Team 32! Your mission is to escort a bridge builder to the Village Hidden in the Mist!" Said Naruto. He couldn't help but smirk.

Sakura's expression changed as soon as the words left his mouth. She looked at him sternly. He exchanged the look with humorous glare.

"Where are we going to find him Lord Hokage?" Asked Ebisu. He was trembling silently.

"RIGHT HERE ya buffoon!" A voice called as the door behind the six opened. Out came good old Tazuna. His hair was a lighter gray and wrinkles covered his face. He had a bottle of alcohol in hand as usual. He stumbled into the room and stood before Naruto. "This is my 'elite' squad to take me home?!"

Sakura and Naruto looked at each other. They smiled.

"Don't worry gramps! They'll take you home safely!" Secured Naruto. He crossed fingers under the desk and giggled on the inside.

"Whatever, let's go!" Tazuna turned and pointed the bottle to the door. He faltered out the room.

"But Hokage! The Third sa-" Ebisu got cutoff.

"LET'S GO!" Konohamaru grabbed his Jonin Master's pant leg and ran off after the drunken man.

"That was mean!" Sakura giggled out.

"I know..." Naruto blurted out. He laughed hard and didn't stop for a whole minute. "But they need the experience."

Elsewhere the three Genin and their sensei wandered out the front gate with Tazuna close at their side.

“So uh, old man,” Started Konohamaru. He put his hands behind his head and walked leisurely.

“Konohamaru! That’s rude!” Scolded Ebisu. “I’m sorry sir.”

“Shut up both of ya.” He blurted. “I have a huge headache…”

“Probably from that alcohol old man…” mumbled Konohamaru. He looked away from him. “Why did Naruto give us THIS mission?”

(Part 2 Coming Soon)

[MJM]

Funny, when school started, I had no time to finish this chapter.

Chapter 1: The Mission ~ Part 2

“Damn that Naruto, giving us this crappy mission.” Konohamaru said quietly as they walked out of the gates of Konoha. The two gatekeepers, Izumo and Kotetsu, waved a cheerful hello at the group of five. “I’m happy he’s Hokage instead of Danzo and all but this is ridiculous…”

“That’s quite enough!” Ebisu asserted, cutting off the young shinobi. “Lord Hokage should not be spoken about in that manner, it’s not right! After all, he did stop Danzo, Madara, Sasuke, Pain, and almost everyone else that tried to attack Konoha!”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” said Konohamaru, hands behind is head in a lax position. “He’s done everything…” His voice trailed away.

“What’s wrong Konohamaru?” asked Moegi. The young kunoichi blushed as she uttered her words. For years she had kept a secret her love for the lad.

“It’s just that…” he started. “All the previous Hokage died while in battle… I just don’t want Naruto to end up like that.”

Moegi blushed and looked at Konohamaru. She never realized that he was this deep and emotional. “Konohamaru,” she said softly, making sure no one heard.

“There, there, Konohamaru.” said the boy’s Jonin leader. “Do not think like tha-”

“Naruto won’t die!” growled the drunken man. “Don’t worry about him kid. We’re in more danger here than he is. Hell, I’m in more danger than all of you! That Naruto is a card though, assigning me to this group of trash.”

“Shut up you idiot!” screamed young Konohamaru. “We’re not trash! You piece of shi-!” All four of the shinobi’s heads rose up. They looked toward the direction of the bridge builder. Konohamaru pulled out a kunai, swiftly and prepared to throw it.

“Hey, what’s going on? No need to throw that knife thing at me? Come on now, please? I was just kidding around… Don’t throw it!” Tazuna yelped as he covered his face with his hands, bottle of sake still clutched firmly.

Konohamaru flung the kunai knife toward the old man. The man scared for his life, was in shock and couldn’t move. “**** you kid!” he grumbled as the kunai approached him. However, it passed over his shoulder and into the bushes behind him. “What’s the meaning of this? Trying to give me a heart attack!?”

“So you’ve found me.” a voice emitted out of the forestry behind the builder. A pair of eyes emerged out of the darkness of the woods. The eyes grew larger as the owner of them ran forward and jumped behind the bridge builder. His forearm around the man’s neck with his claw for a hand pointed at the male’s head.

“Make one more move and this guy will go to hell in two pieces!” said the assassin.

“You jerk! Let go of him!” yelled young Konohamaru, rapidly drawing another kunai from his pouch on his leg.

“It’s no use Konohamaru.” Said their spectacled teacher. He put his hand in front of Konohamaru, telling him to stop. “He’s an assassin. He doesn’t care if anyone of us lives. He’s paid to have us dead. Isn’t that right,” he paused. “Gouzu of the Demon Brothers?” The witty sensei gave a quick smirk.

“So our cover’s blown… Meizu, now!” roared Gouzu. A dark figure jumped out from under the squad with chain in hand. He spun around the young kunoichi and landed next to his brother, leaving Moegi tied up in a spiked chain.

Gouzu lifted his free arm high in the air, showing that the other end of the chain was connected to him. He jumped far to the opposite side of his brother, with the hostage still tightly gripped in his clutch.

“Ansatsu Sha Sutairu: Kyōyū Hon'nō Ansatsu!*” said the twin assassins in unison. The two pulled their arms in the air swiftly, increasing the tension on the chain with the little kunoichi in between it.

Moegi released a screech of despair as the chains gripped her tightly along with the dagger like spokes cutting into her skin.

“Moegi!” screamed a sad Udon as he clenched his hand into a fist. “At this rate she’s gonna lose blood and die!”

The young kunoichi’s blood rushed out quickly. Her moan faded away as her eyes came to a close…

End of Chapter 1

*Assassin Style: Shared Instinct Assassination

Next Chapter ~ Chapter 2: The Battle Begins

[tobi_man]

nice, so is this like after shippuden or is this like kono's team going through what naruto did?

[MJM]

Originally Posted by tobi_man

nice, so is this like after shippuden or is this like kono's team going through what naruto did?

This is after Shippuden. Naruto is now Hokage etc.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 2: The Battle Begins

“Keep pulling Meizu!” called Gouzu as he tightened his grip. The poor kunoichi was on the verge of death.

“Alright,” Meizu called back. “Die brat!” The tension increased on the chains. The kunoichi’s waist was stained with blood.

“That’s enough! You won’t hurt my pupil anymore!” shouted a furious Ebisu. “Take this! Futon: Uindo Kattā*!” The now enraged teacher performed the rat, ox, and bird handseals. After the required actions, he inhaled and exhaled, letting out a swift crescent shaped burst of wind.

The fierce wind cut through the chains of the assassination Jutsu, relieving the pain striking through Moegi’s body. “Alright, Konohamaru, Udon, it’s up to you two!”

“Got it sensei!” said Udon as he performed the tiger handseal and inhaled, in the blink of an eye, the exhale of the young Genin released a burst of fire toward the brother, Meizu. “Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu**!”

“Take this, Rasengan!” exclaimed Konohamaru as he and a clone ran with the spiraling sphere toward Gouzu. “You should never be off guard in a fight!” the orb of chakra pounded into the Chunin’s chest, releasing a screech of pain from his covered mouth.

As the commotion was going on, Ebisu leaped to the aid of Moegi, breaking off the chains that grappled her. He took the female Genin and placed her under the shade of a tree. Then leaped to the aid of Tazuna.

“Looks like you’re knocked out,” said Konohamaru with a cocky smiled. He kicked the wounded assassin, and then dispersed his clone. The happy Genin looked toward the way of Udon and Meizu’s battle. Meizu was on the ground, burnt to a crisp. Udon looked at Konohamaru and they both nodded at each other with a smile. They quickly realized that their teammate was not in the middle of the chains that laid on the ground. The two boys looked around until their eyes met their wounded friend.

“Ebisu sensei! Will she live?” asked the curious young Genin boys. Their eyes on the verge of tears.

“It’s hard to say. She’s lost a huge amount of blood. We can’t really do anything right here for she was the only one who knew Medical Ninjutsu.” said Ebisu, worriedly. “Though I do find what happened here weird.”

“Why?” asked the curious Udon.

“First of all, their way of ambush. One hid in the woods while the other underground,” explained the tactical teacher. “That kind of positioning is very hard to be active with their chain. That’s how we all heard the jingling of their chains. If they were underground, we wouldn’t be able to detect them.”

“Yeah, if my memory is as good as it was, back when I was with Naruto’s team, they both attacked from underground.” added Tazuna.

“Indeed, they lacked stealth this time. Secondly, they somehow knew that Moegi was our Medical Ninja and attacked her. This means that someone told them this for obviously they wouldn’t walk into the Leaf Village and find our Medical Ninjas.” said Ebisu.

“Wait… so that means someone’s giving them information,” started Konohamaru. “And no one else other than us and Sakura-chan knows that she received medical training. That means it’s someone from inside the village that’s been looking over us.”

“Exactly, in simpler terms… a spy.” confirmed their teacher. “And lastly, they took Tazuna hostage but didn’t do a thing to him, they were just after Moegi. This supports our theory.”

“If we were being watched before, we might be being watched right now too.” claimed Udon.

“That’s true so I’m going to say this in a whisper now, alright?” asked Ebisu in a hushed voice. “Konohamaru, you take Moegi back to Konoha and get her to the hospital. Then report everything discussed here to the Hokage. Afterwards, get a Medical Ninja and come back to us. If you can’t track us ask for a Ninja Dog as well. Now get going.”

The youth nodded and took Moegi. He ran back to the village at top speed, tears pouring out of his eyes.

“Sir,” said Ebisu speaking to Tazuna, “We’re not far from your village but I feel we are going to be ambushed again. It would be best if we would undergo this plan.” The wise man whispered into the old man’s ear a plan.

“Alright, I’ll do it.” agreed Tazuna. “It’s not gonna hurt is it?”

Ebisu chuckled, “Heh, of course not sir.”

End of Chapter 2

* Wind Style: Air Cutter
** Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu

Next Chapter: Chapter 3: Trouble in Konoha