Chapter Fifteen

The sun was shining high in the sky a few days later when the trio of shinobi finally returned to Konoha after taking their time on the return trip.

As they passed through the gates they made their way over to the small stand where the two gate guards were sitting behind the desk idly chatting between themselves.

Anko smirked as she tossed the mission scroll to them, "Team eleven, returning from mission, and a rather successful one at that." She remarked as one of them, Izumo, caught the scroll and read it.

The other guard, Kotetsu, took out a clipboard from under the bench and flipped the pages of it over as his eyes flickered up to each one of their faces before stopping on Kenta's and flinching.

Kenta knew what he was doing, it was standard protocol for the gate guards to check those coming back from missions against their village IDs, needless to say he hadn't had his newest scar and eyepatch when his ID photo had been taken before.

"Doesn't look like it was all that successful to me." Kotetsu commented, getting a look from Izomu who he nodded to Kenta and who winced seeing his eyepatch, "Sorry kid, looks like you had a rough time of it."

Kenta shrugged in response, "The mission had some unexpected turns but nothing we couldn't handle." He commented not giving away the fact that he still could see perfectly fine, "I'm just happy to be back. Mind telling me if team seven is still on D-ranks in the village?"

Kotetsu nodded and flipped over a few more pages nodding again, "Yeah from what I can see at least, they haven't signed out here, could have always left by one of the other gates though so don't hold me to that."

Kenta nodded happy with that, this was the main gate for most of Konoha, it got the most traffic out of the three of them so while it was a possibility they left by one of the others Kenta doubted it was likely especially if it was a C rank mission that they left on.

"Thanks." Kenta replied as Anko took back the mission report from Izumo before turning to them.

"Alright you three come on, we gotta go report to Hokage-Sama now, no doubt he'll want a full rundown of just what happened." Anko told them getting nods from both Sayaka and Kenta who knew she was right.

Midnight gave a small cuffing sound and Kenta scratched him behind the ear, "It's alright buddy, I'll get ya to the Inuzuka clinic for your check up as soon as our report is given." He told his partner who seemed to be placated by that.

With that said, Anko stepped forward and put her hands on both Kenta and Sayaka's shoulders while Kenta kept his hand on Midnight. While they were capable of going on their own, having multiple shinobi all separately appearing into the Hokage Tower, via the Shunshin no Jutsu, at the same time would send the ANBU into a complete fit.

So with no further words spoken the trio and Ninken disappeared into a whirlwind of violet leaves.

Scene break

It was only a few moments later that the group arrived in the waiting area outside the Hokage's office and as a group approached the secretaries desk.

"Team Eleven, reporting in. We need to see Hokage-sama, for a mission debrief." Anko announced as they came to a halt a few feet from the desk.

The secretary, a young woman with dark brown hair tied up in a bun looked up to them from her paperwork and after a moment of looking through some papers nodded, "Yes here you are." she said before pushing something, likely a button on the underside of her desk, "Hokage-Sama will see you now." she added and indicated to the doors.

Anko nodded and then gestured to the others to follow her as they moved to the doors to go in.

As they entered the office Kenta immediately noted that his Sensei wasn't alone. Mikoto Uchiha, Sayaka's mother, was also present in the office and the two looked to have been having a meeting before they had arrived

"Kaa-chan?" Sayaka said in shock not having expected to see her mother here.

"Oh Sayaka-chan," the elder Uchiha said as she looked to see them, "I didn't expect for you to be back so soon."

Hiruzen smiled from behind his desk as he puffed on his pipe with his eyes closed, "I told you Mikoto-chan, there was no need to…" he said as he opened his eyes only for them to immediately widen when he saw Kenta's eye patch.

That drew Mikoto's attention to it as well as she gasped and brought her hand to her mouth as she stared at him in shock.

Hiruzen immediately hardened his features and clenched his jaw as his gaze flickered to Anko who stiffened under the glare she was given.

"Anko, explain, your last report mentioned that you had acquired an eye for your student to replace the one he had lost," Hiruzen ordered firmly.

Before Anko could answer Kenta quickly stepped forward, "Hokage-Sama, Anko Sensei was telling the truth in her report," he said as he took off his eyepatch and showed his new eye.

Mikoto saw it and her eyes widened before she looked to Sayaka with a look of realization on her face, "You gave him the Aoi Sharingan."

Sayaka nodded, "I did, you said that I would be responsible for deciding when to use it and I chose to give it to Kenta-kun, he not only needed it but deserves it more than anyone else I know, and I know he will use it well." she said defending her actions.

Mikoto was shocked for a moment before shaking her head, "I'm not questioning your decision Sayaka-chan, I meant what I said before, it was your right to choose who received it, I was just shocked." she explained, "I didn't even know you had taken it with you."

Hiruzen chose that moment to clear his throat to interrupt them, "My apologies, but am I to assume that the eye that young Kenta now possesses is an awakened Sharingan?" he inquired.

Mikoto nodded, "Hai, Hokage-sama, the eye that Kenta now possesses is one of the Uchiha clan's most prized treasures, not only does it have a unique color compared to others in the clan but it also is rumored to possess a level of visual prowess and other abilities that far surpass any other Sharingan that has appeared in the Uchiha clans history," she explained, "It was hidden away after the original owners death for fear that it would be misused and passed down my branch of the family line in secret, when I became clan head I saw to it that Sayaka became the next to watch over it and it was her decision if it was to be given to anyone."

"And now that it has?" Hiruzen inquired, curious as to what the Uchiha matriarch thought of one of her clan's greatest treasures being given to a non-Uchiha.

Mikoto looked from Hiruzen to Kenta and Sayaka before smiling, "I fully support my daughters' choice." she said before giving Kenta a polite bow, "My daughter has chosen well in you Kenta-kun, I have no problem intrusting you also with our clan's treasure."

Kenta returned the formality by bowing in return, "Thank you Mikoto-sama, I promise I will use it well and thank you for the honor and trust you have placed in me."

Hiruzen gave a small smile at the scene as he relaxed back in his chair once more before taking a draft of his pipe before exhaling, "Good, I am glad that there will be no complications that come from this matter." he said before taking another draft.

Mikoto nodded before looking at Kenta curiously, "If I may Kenta-kun, why are you wearing an eyepatch, did something go wrong with the transplant?"

Kenta shook his head, "No nothing went wrong, I was just taking advantage of my scarring." He said gesturing to the cuts above and below his eye, "The eye works perfectly. The patch is something I made with various Fuinjutsu seals that conceal the fact that I still have an eye there but still allow me to see perfectly." He explained as he walked forward and put the eyepatch on the Hokages' desk showing the shrunken sealing arrays on the other side, "It also has multiple protective arrays worked in to prevent any kind of damage to be done to it or my eye to keep it completely secret and safe."

Anko whistled appreciatively when she heard the complete run through of what the patch provided, he had only told her the basics when she had asked about it prior on their trip back. Both Hiruzen and Mikoto had similar responses as they looked at Kenta and the patch with approval and shock.

Hiruzen chuckled as he put down his pipe, "I should have expected nothing less from you Kenta-kun, taking advantage of every slight to further benefit yourself like a proper shinobi, you never let any advantage go to waste."

Mikoto nodded in agreement, "Indeed, you are proving yourself more than worthy of our clan's treasure even now Kenta-kun, taking steps not only to keep it a secret but to ensure its continued protection." she said before looking at Sayaka with a proud smile, "My daughter chose very well."

Both Kenta and Sayaka bowed their heads in thanks for the compliments, both doing their best not to blush at the praise that they received from the people they most respected individually.

Hiruzen then picked up the eyepatch from his desk and tossed it back to Kenta with a smile, "Now then to business, I understand from Anko's last report that you have a bounty that needs to be claimed."

Kenta nodded at that as he took the scroll from his hip that had Raiga's body sealed inside it and moved to the Hokage's desk and placed it on it, "Hai, Hokage-sama, the body of Raiga Kurosuki, formerly of Kirigakure is sealed inside."

Hiruzen took up the scroll, nodding as he did so, "I see, and the location of the Kiba blades?" he inquired.

At that Kenta got a slightly mischievous smile and shrugged his shoulders, "I have no idea where they are Hokage-sama." he answered.

Hiruzen caught the smirk and arched an eyebrow at the statement, "Oh, didn't you retrieve them from the fight with Raiga?"

Kenta nodded, "My teammates did, I was unconscious at the time, but they were given to me in a scroll after I woke up, but I was so thankful for my new eye that I gifted the scroll and its contents to Sayaka-chan as a thank you gift for my wonderful new eye." he said before holding up his hands and shrugging again, "I have no idea where they are now, she could have sold them for all I know, or even thought they were a poor gift and dropped them down a well, I really can't say."

Hiruzen closed his eyes and chuckled softly as he realized what Kenta was doing, "I see, that is most unfortunate that the blades have been lost." he mused.

Anko chuckled and patted Kenta's back, "That's thinking like a shinobi Gaki, nice one." she praised.

Sayaka for her part just smirked and shook her head not saying anything as her mother looked at her with shock at the news that her daughter possessed the Kiba blades, and even more so that Kenta had given them to her.

Hiruzen moved to put the scroll in his desk to have it collected later, "In any case I will have the blades marked down as destroyed, should Kirigakure come asking after them." he mused as he closed the drawer.

Sayaka giggled a little at that, "Won't they find it strange that the Uchiha clan suddenly starts to sport two similar looking blades under a new name around the same time?"

Hirusen nodded at her remark, "They will but they aren't in a position to do anything about it, not with their civil war going on, and seeing as how they let one of their own shinobi run off with the blades in the first place they really have no claim to them anymore. All they can do is ask for their return but without proof the blades are what they claim they have no leg to stand on."

As he said that he opened his top desk drawer and placed the scroll with Raiga's body inside before closing it. "I will see to it that Raiga's remains are delivered back to Kiri and his bounty is transferred to your account Kenta." He said with a small smile. "And with that I will congratulate you both for successfully completing your first C rank mission, though with the additional dangers you faced it will be modified to an A rank and so noted in your records."

Both Kenta and Sayaka smiled at that, very happy to hear how their mission had been upgraded, such a large leap would look very good on their shinobi records.

Mikoto stepped forward and hugged Sayaka, smiling brightly, "Oh I'm so proud of you Sayaka, only a month out of the academy and already with an A rank mission under your belt, oh Fukaku would be turning in his grave if he could see this."

Kenta chuckled seeing Sayaka blush under her mothers praise, "If that's the case he'd be doing backflips if he knew about the other thing that happened, and I can't wait to see Sasuke's reaction to them."

Mikoto looked to Kenta confused at his comment but when she looked back to Sayaka for an explanation she let out a gasp when she saw Sayaka looking up at her with familiar red eyes, "You unlocked your eyes." Mikoto said in realization before she covered her mouth in realization of what that meant before she once more enveloped her daughter in a hug, this time one of comfort, "Oh Sayaka, it was your first kill wasn't it."

Sayaka returned the hug and nodded into her mother's embrace, remaining silent not wanting to talk about it.

Sarutobi looked to Kenta, and then to Anko and her look told him all that he needed to know, their first kills had not been clean. Taking a pull of his pipe he let out a smoke filled sigh, "A shinobi's first kill is never an easy thing." he said solemnly before looking to Kenta with an apologetic look, "How are you both fairing?"

Kenta gave him a small appreciative smile, "I'm fine Sarutobi-sensei, I had a small freak out at the time but I've come to terms with what I have done." he explained before smirking, "I've yet to have the nightmares that I've been told are coming though, not looking forward to those." he said trying to lighten the mood.

Sarutobi smiled and nodded, "That's good, you likely have your situation at the time to thank, going from the act of your first kill straight into another combat situation like you did. Your mind wouldn't have had time to dwell on things for long, but I would not count on being as fortunate in the future."

Sayaka shivered in her mother's embrace, "I've had them, twice now, but luckily Anko-sensei was there for me to help me calm down." she said giving Anko a smile, "I don't know what I would have done without her."

Anko smiled back and nodded, "That's what Senseis' are there for, to help their students through the tough things, we've all gone through them as well and would know what to say." She commented though her frown faded slightly as she recalled her own Sensei and only barely kept back a sneer, 'Not that that bastard would have done the same.'

Hiruzen nodded in approval of Anko's words before exhaling his latest puff from his pipe, "On that note, I believe after such a rather strenuous mission a week's long furlow is in order so you can all rest up, you have all earned it."

The trio bowed to Hiruzen, "Hai, Hokage-sama." in thanks.

As Kenta stood up however his expression was serious, "Sarutobi-Sensei, I was hoping that during our week off I could ask for a training session with you?" he requested with his hands clenched in fists at his sides, "This mission has shown me just how much I am lacking and I need to become stronger."

Hiruzen gazed at Kenta, keeping his expression neutral as he listened to his comment, having seen this exact scenario play out in the past.

Taking a drag from his pipe once more he replied, "Very well, I assume you wish to utilize your new Sharingan to quickly learn whatever jutsu's I can teach you?" He inquired.

Kenta nodded, "Hai, with the sharingan I will be able to learn them twice as fast, as I understand the sharingan will allow me greater insight into the chakra molding process for each new jutsu." he explained.

Hiruzen nodded, "I expected such," he said before giving Kenta a searching look, "but surely you don't think that just learning them like that will be enough. You may understand each jutsu better but they wouldn't be as powerful if you don't properly master them."

Kenta nodded, "I know that, which is why I am only planning to use my sharingan to let me learn them to the point that I can use them, after that I intend to devote a number of Kage Bunshin each day to training each and every jutsu I know in order to master them completely, however long it takes, with their memory transference and the number of them that I can make it will significantly increase my progress, on top of the increase in numbers that I intend to utilize for each jutsu." He explained before closing his eyes as he continued. "I understand the dangers posed by overusing this method, but I believe that I can circumvent them by dispelling my Kage Bunshin one at a time and taking time between each of them to allow my mind to take in the memories at a steady pace."

Anko whistled when she heard Kenta's plan, "Damn, You've been thinking about this all the way back here haven't ya?" she guessed as she looked at the red-head, "If this method of yours works, you'd be able to learn more jutsu and be combat proficient in them in record time."

Kenta remained silent at her remark as he opened his eyes again and looked at Hiruzen awaiting his assessment of his plan.

Taking a final puff from his pipe Hiruzen put it down and nodded, "Your plan is sound, though I will be sure to observe your methods to make sure you don't go too far too soon." he said before smiling at his young student. "Meet me at our regular training ground tomorrow evening, say around three, and we will begin then, you should at the very least take the rest of the day off before you start training again."

Kenta smiled back and bowed once more, "Hai, arigato, Sarutobi-sensei."

Scene break

Once their meeting was over, Kenta broke away from his team with Midnight to follow village protocol as they made their way to the Inuzuka clinic to have Midnight checked out.

"Hello. Anyone home?" Kenta called as he and Midnight walked in through the front doors of the clinic, walking into the reception area.

"Coming." Hana called as she came out from the back area behind the counter idly looking over some paperwork on a clipboard in her hands before she smiled looking up having recognised his voice, "it's good to see you ba…" she began to say before her eyes landed on Kenta, or more precisely his eyepatch and the scar underneath it, "Kenta!" she said her tone full of worry and dread as she looked at him, "Oh my kami."

It was at that moment that two others came out from the back with worry on their faces having heard Hana's worried voice.

Kiba was the first who came to his sister's side to see what was wrong, only for his eyes to land on Kenta and then flicker to his eyepatch and his jaw dropped open speechless at what he was seeing, a split second before his hands clenched into fists in righteous anger seeing his friend scared like that.

The second out was Tsume, who had just come by the clinic to check on her kids and to see if there was anything the clinic needed as it was one of the priorities of their clan. When she laid eyes on Kenta, she couldn't keep from growling at seeing his scar, instantly ready to go and hunt down whatever bastard had dared to do such a thing to the eldest kid of her former teammate.

Seeing their reactions to him, Kenta couldn't help but blink for a second only to realize why the very next.

"What happened?" Tsume growled out, wanting to know how this had happened, barely giving Kenta a chance to respond before she continued, "I'll tear the bastard to shreds!"

"Wait wait." Kenta said holding up his hands, "It's fine really, it's okay." he said trying to placate the angry Inuzuka matriarch.

"The hell it is!" Kiba snapped angrily, "You lost an eye dude, what the hell!"

"Just let me explain alright." Kenta said louder knowing from experience how hot headed Inuzuka could get, and knew he needed to speak bluntly to get them to see reason.

"Explain then." Tsume growled, wanting answers, wanting to know why Kenta wasn't pissed at what was clearly a borderline career ending injury. Sure she knew he could get a transplant to replace the eye, but the fact that he was here and not in the hospital told her that it was one of two things, one that the injury had been so severe that a transplant wouldn't have worked, or two that there were no viable transplants available for him.

Kenta sighed and nodded, "Alright," he said before looking to Hana, "Hana-chan, do you mind giving Midnight his check up while I explain, this could take a while."

Hana nodded numbly, not even noticing the prefix he had used with her name as the five of them walked around and into the examination room, and while Hana began going over Midnight, Kenta began his retelling of his teams mission from the very beginning, not leaving anything out as he did.

When he finally got to the part about having a new eye, he took off his eye patch to show them his new eye. Getting sighs of relief from all three Inuzuka, but he made sure to leave out the fact that it was in fact a Sharingan, wanting to keep it a secret for now, and explained about the patch saying that he had wanted to take advantage of his scar to fool opponents into thinking he had a blindspot.

"Well, that's one heck of a story." Tsume mused, now more relaxed as she leaned against one of the walls in the room, "It'll sure cause some waves when it's revealed a genin killed one of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū, even if he was a nuke-nin, I wouldn't be surprised if you eventually got your very own page in the Bingo book for this when it gets out." she said with a grin.

Kenta couldn't help but grin at that, it might have been a little early for him to get one but he didn't have any problems with it if he did.

Kiba shook his head and gave him a pat on the back, "Lucky bastard, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you were a blooded member of our clan, coming to your partner's rescue like that and only coming away with a kick ass scar." he joked.

Kenta chuckled before shaking his head, "Yeah, but it was a wake up call for me more than anything." he said effectively killing the joyful mood, "By rights I should have died out there, even with all the training I've gone through, it showed me just how much I still have left to grow before I can really call myself a shinobi, a single mistake like that can end more than just my career if it were to happen again."

Tsume snorted, "Don't go getting so gloomy on us gaki, you survived, and the first thing you did was to come up with a way to use your scar to an advantage, you are still breathing so that means you can get stronger, so don't think, do." she said before grinning, "Besides the women will be all over you now, women just love men with scars~." she teased, giving a hidden glance to Hana who blushed with her back turned to them.

Kenta chuckled and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Yeah Sayaka-chan actually said the exact same thing before we…" he said before stopping himself and fighting back a blush realizing what he had just said, but all three Inuzuka had caught it.

"Oh what was that Kenta~?" Tsume asked grinning like the cat that caught the canary or rather the dog that caught the cat in this case, "Before you what~?"

Kenta couldn't keep the blush off his cheeks and Kiba seeing it gave a bark of laughter before playfully elbowing Kenta's side, "You dog, putting the moves on Sayaka, about time."

Kenta chuckled, "It's not like that." he said half heartedly shaking his head, "I'm not even sure what it's like."

Tsume shook her head as she glanced over to Hana seeing her posture slumping a little, she looked back to Kenta, "let's hear about it then, and we'll be the judge of what it's "Like"." she mused.

Kenta took a deep breath nodding as he began to recount the events of his and Sayaka's date, from start to finish, unable to keep from blushing when he reached the end and mentioned the kiss, before shaking his head at the end.

"I don't even know what to do now. I mean, what does that make the two of us? I know we're still teammates, but after that, I just don't know what it means for the two of us." Kenta said frowning slightly, neither he nor Sayaka had said anything about their date or the kiss on the trip back, neither of them exactly sure on how to proceed and neither of them wanting to be the first to take the next step, whatever that was.

Tsume, who had one eye on Kenta and the other on Hana, had watched her daughter's reaction during the whole explanation, seeing her emotions playing across her face, despite her best attempts not to let it show. She could see how it was affecting her, she was clearly struggling with things at the start and now just looked defeated, her shoulders slumping slightly as if in acceptance of how things were.

Tsume let out a breath and shook her head, resolving to talk to Hana later, she knew her eldest was still in with a shot, she may not have been his first but there was still a chance for them, especially when Kenta was put on the CRA, and that would happen.

"So what, why does it have to mean anything?" Tsume said plainly with a shrug, wanting to make light of the situation, "So you kissed, big deal, it's not as if the two of you fucked or anything, girl's not gonna get pregnant just cause your lips touched." she said bluntly.

Hana suddenly spluttered from the examination table, Kiba's Jaw dropped to the ground at his mothers words and Kenta at that moment had his face match his hair in color as the thoughts of him and Sayaka doing that went through his mind and he did his best to try and put those thoughts from his mind.

Tsume for her part smirked seeing their reactions and burst out laughing at their embarrassed reactions, 'Ah to be young, enjoy it while you can.' she mused.

Hana was the first to get her emotions under control and schooled her reaction as she turned to the room again, "Kaa-chan, please don't say such crass things." she said in a deadpan tone before clearing her throat as she took up another clipboard again and began to write some things down on it before checking over things and nodded.

"Alright Kenta-kun, everything matches up with Sayaka-chan's examination, and there doesn't seem to be any lingering effects or damages from the mission, though I would still ask you let Midnight take it easy for a couple more days before he can start training again or go on active missions with any chance of combat." she explained.

Kenta, having gotten his blush under control nodded, "Alright, I'll be sure to do that, we've got a week long furlow anyway so plenty of time to rest up." He said before gesturing to the door to Midnight, "Come on buddy, let's get going." he said, preferring to get out of there before he could be embarrassed any more, "See you guys later." he called as they left.

"Yeah, I'm gonna go. Later." Kiba said as he headed out the back, leaving his mother chuckling and Hana with a defeated expression.

"Must you embarrass them and me like that Kaa-chan?" Hana asked as she walked over to the filing cabinets in the room to file the new report on Midnight.

"I was just having a bit of fun." Tsume grinned as she shook her head, "Not my fault the three of you are so easy." she mused before her expression fell slightly and she looked at Hana, "So what's on your mind?"

Hana paused in her filing for a split second hearing her mothers question before she resumed, "I don't know what youre talking about." she said in a guarded tone.

Tsume sighed and shook her head, "Don't give me that, I'm your mother, you can't hide stuff like that from me, I could see you hurting when Kenta talked about what happened between him and Sayaka."

"What's there to talk about?" Hana said, shaking her head as she closed the filing cabinet and turning to her mother, "They went on a date and they kissed, it's over. Sayaka has staked her claim, that's it." she said in a defeated tone.

"The hell it is!" Tsume snapped, "All that it means is that she's ahead of you by a bit, does that mean you're just going to give up."

Hana sighed, "Even if I could, not only is she "ahead of me" as you put it, but they are on the same team, she spends more time with him than I do, it's not like it was before."

Tsume shook her head, "You're talking like you've already lost. They've only gone on one date and had one kiss for Kami's sake, it's not like they are married already and have a couple kids. You just have to work harder to get him then, or are you saying you don't think he's worth it?"

Hana's hands clenched at her sides, "I didn't say that." she said defensively.

"But you were implying it." Tsume said before grinning, "You want him don't you"

Hana remained silent at the question, her mind going over everything, thinking about Kenta and how she had seen him as a good student, how she had felt jealous of Sayaka, how she felt towards Kenta, her reaction at seeing him like that, thinking he had been hurt, 'Kami, I really do want him.' she thought before she looked at her mother and nodded, "I do."

Tsume grinned, "Good, then you fight for him, he's your stud, your alpha, if you want him then you gotta work for it and make him want you too, and show any other bitch that comes after him that you won't lay down and let her take what is yours." she said and her grin only grew as she saw the spark in Hana's eyes.

Her job done she nodded and walked out of the room before grinning deciding to leave one last remark, "And in the end if you still don't get him and she does, you can always see if she's open to the option of a threesome, you gotta get me grandpups one way or another." she teased, and glanced back seeing Hana immediately going crimson at the idea, so she decided to push her over the edge, "I could always put in a good word with Mikoto if you want."

And Hana went into meltdown, "Kaa-chan!!!!!!"

Scene break

It wasn't long before Kenta and Midnight arrived back at the brothers' apartments, Kenta opened the door with a call of, "I'm back!"

A split second later Kenta could hear foot falls in the other apartment before the door between them was opened up as a grinning Naruto came rushing in, "Welcome ba.." he began to say only like other stopped mid stride and sentence when he caught sight of his brothers eyepatch and scar beneath it.

Seeing what was coming Kenta sighed before closing the door behind him, midnight having already came in behind him, "Relax otōto, I'm fine," he said as he took off his eyepatch to reveal his eye beneath it, though the scar remained, as he walked over to his desk and began to take out the various scrolls he carried on his person, and began to to his after mission inventory.

"What happened?" Naruto asked after a second to collect himself after seeing that Kenta was more or less fine, only feeling concern for his older brother having put together that he had lost an eye that had been replaced.

Kenta snorted and gestured to the bed, "Take a seat and I'll tell you, it's a bit of a tale." he mused as he worked through his inventory.

Naruto nodded and as soon as his butt touched the bed, Kenta began recounting just what had happened on his and Sayaka's first C ranked, now A ranked mission.

It was ten minutes later that Naruto was sprawled back on Kenta's bed looking up at the ceiling, his mind racing after hearing everything.

"So just to recount." Naruto said after a second more to process things, "You and Sakyaka-chan went on a mission to exterminate a slaver camp, getting your first kill in the process, Sayaka-chan awakened her Sharingan, you then went to another location to back up one of the other teams only to discover they had been killed, you were then separated from Anko and Sayaka and had to fight against a Kiri-nuke-nin, who was not only a former member of Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū, but also a former Kiri ANBU, who possessed a pair of legendary swords that could fire off high powered Raiton jutsu almost instantly, you lost your eye in the battle defending Midnight, and the only reason you won was because you pulled off some bullshit Futon jutsu that was a combination of two of the jutsu you knew in last ditch attempt to overpower the bastards final jutsu and killed him." Naruto said in a dead pan tone before continuing after taking a breath, "Anko and Sayaka then found you and after some on the spot treatment and collecting the bastards corpse, your sword pieces and his weapons transported you to a nearby village were Sayaka implanted one of her clan's sharingan eyes into you, something that was a treasure of her clan, which you are now taking advantage of with an eyepatch to make you look blind in one eye when in fact you can see out of it just fine…" he finished his tone still monotone.

Kenta chuckled and nodded from where he had went to the kitchen to make himself something to drink and midnight something to eat, "That about sums everything up." he said, keeping quiet about his and Sayaka's date after things had calmed down, he didn't really see any reason to bring it up.

Naruto remained silent as he took a deep breath on the bed before sitting up and looking at Kenta with a blank look, "Nii-chan, your first C-rank mission was completely insane." he said, his tone one of complete exasperation.

Kenta chuckled in response, "Yeah I know, my team is just badass like that." he said having come to terms with how absolutely insane his last mission had been and how he had been fortunate he was to have come away alive from it, "So how have things been here while I was gone?" he asked, wanting to shift the topic of conversation, "I hope you've been keeping up with your training while I was gone?"

"Of course I have." Naruto responded with a grin, "I train every day after my team finishes our mission together." he said before sighing, "It's sad to say it's what I look forward to doing every day now with how things are going."

Kenta frowned hearing that as he leaned on the counter of the kitchen, "Oh? Trouble with team seven, I take it?" he asked, given from how he was talking.

"When has there not been." Naruto sighed, "But it's gotten even worse since you guys went off on your first C-rank mission. Sasuke's at least five times worse than before, constantly complaining about how the D-rank missions are beneath him, and Sakura is agreeing with him on everything," he said as he ran his hand through his blond hair, "I got sick of it after the second day and I've been substituting myself with a Kage Bunshin to listen to it in my place, petty sure Kakashi Sensei has been doing the same since Sasuke went off on the third day about how he was holding him back from achieving his real potential, with Sakura nodding along like some demented puppy."

Midnight gave a growl at Naruto for the puppy comment making him chuckle, "Sorry, demented kitten I meant to say." he said by apology making the ninken snort in agreement before he went back to eating.

Kenta winced as he thought about how things were, "Yeah, that sounds like hell, and it's only going to get a lot worse now, once he finds out how Sayaka has awakened her Sharingan before him." he said before snorting, "It's probably for the best that I've kept my eye covered, Mikito-Sama might have given me her blessing and agreed with Sayaka-chan giving me this eye, but I wouldn't put it past that idiot to try something once he finds out that I have an eye that belonged to their clan."

Naruto gave a pained groan as he fell back onto the bed with his hands over his eyes, "Fuck." he groaned, "Hey, Nii-chan, do you think Hokage-Jiji will let me transfer to your team, I don't know how much more of this I can take."

Kenta chuckled and shook his head, "I don't think so otōto, plus I think Kakashi would end up blocking your transfer just so that he doesn't have to suffer alone." he joked as he finished his drink before putting his cup into the sink.

"Course he would." Naruto groaned, knowing that was exactly the kind of thing Kakashi would do if he tried to jump teams. If he couldn't escape the idiot duo permanently, no one could.

Kenta smirked as he walked around the kitchen counter, "Well no point in wallowing in your misfortune, come on let's go get your mind on something else." he mused as he walked to the door, "Let's go celebrate my first C-rank, turned A-rank, mission and safe return at Ichiraku's, my treat."

"Yatta!" Naruto cheered instantly jumpring up from the bed as soon as he heard the mention of his favorite restaurant rushing to grab his coat, leaving Kenta to chuckle at how easy his otōto was to cheer up.

Time skip

It was noon the next day as Kenta sat at his desk once more notepad in front of him and brush in hand as he worked on his latest Fuinjutsu project, something that had came to him the night prior when he had been thinking over the internals of storage seals and how they could store large quantities of items in what was essentially expanded space between the paper and ink used to make the seal.

The idea which had stuck in his head was a question on if it would be possible to apply the same concept but to a different larger space to expand it, while at the same time containing it and keeping the weight of the space inside the same to make it easy to transport and carry with him.

But the concept was proving to be hard for him to find a way of making it work, oh sure he could theoretically do it, he had come up with three ways to do so, but the problem was that each of his workings so far all had the same problem, they needed to be anchored to one location and couldn't be moved after everything had been put in place, which was just infuriating.

But despite the difficulties the concept presented, Kenta continued to press on, determined to find a solution, completely ignorant of the fact that the three ideas that he already had and judged to be inadequate, would make most non-Uzumaki seal masters cry blood over how easy he came up with them.

Continuing to work away, Kenta was oblivious to the world around him until the door of his apartment burst open and an excited Naruto came running in, "It's a miracle!" he cheered, making Kenta jump in his seat and mess up a formula line on one of his reviewed seals he had been working on.

Sighing, Kenta scraped the page, balling it up before he tossed it into the metal trash bin after channeling some Katon chakra into the paper and setting it alight to burn to ash in the bin.

"What's a miracle Ototo?" Kenta asked as he turned in his chair to look at his hyperactive and excited little brother, "Did Kakashi finally get fed up with the dumb duo and put the smack down on them?"

Naruto snorted, "I wish." he said before holding up a scroll in his hand that made Kenta blink as he looked at it.

He had made sure to memories what various colors on scrolls meant, as a part of his training in Fuinjutsu, it was part of the practice to easily identify what sealing scrolls contained, the scroll naruto held had a silver band signifying it as a mission scroll, but the green band that came after it signified that it was a C rank mission, instead of the brown band that signified D rank missions.

Realizing what it meant Kenta blinked, "Satutobi-sensei actually okayed your team for a C-rank mission?" he asked, completely bewildered after having heard just the day before about how team seven was barely holding itself together.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders, "I think it was mostly just to get Sasuke and Sakura to shut up after we went to turn in or last D-rank mission," he said as he slipped the scroll into his back pocket, "It's nothing special, a simple escort mission to Nami no Kuni, then we're to stick around as bodyguards while the client finishes up some bridge project, we'll be gone a week, two at most."

Kenta nodded, "I see." he said before crossing his arms, "Sarutobi-sensei must be getting as sick of listening to them complaining as much as you and Kakashi are."

"Oh I bet he is, he looked to be about one second away from roasting Sasuke-teme with his pipe with how much he was pulling from it." Naruto mused, "Especially after he started to complain once he saw who we were escorting, calling him an old drunk would be an insult to old drunkards everywhere."

Kenta shook his head, "You'd think he'd be more respectful, maybe if Sarutobi-sensei actually did something other than glare at him he'd get the memo that you don't become Hokage by sitting on your ass collecting bottle caps."

Naruto grinned, "Oh I think he got it, if how he looked when Jiji leveled him with a glare with some killing intent behind it was any indication, both he and Sakura looked ready to wet themselves."

Kenta snapped his fingers, "Damn, I would have paid good money to see that." he said before looking at the time, "Right I need to be getting ready for my training session with Sensei." he said before glancing back at his notes before shaking his head and getting up, he'd continue working on his project another time.

Naruto nodded back, "Right, well I'm sure you'll be having fun with that, right now I have my travel scroll to pack for my mission." he said before walking towards his apartment, "I'll see you in two weeks Nii-chan."

"See ya then ototo" Kenta called as he walked out, waving to Midnight to stay where he was laying on his bed, there would be no point in him coming to this training session, given how it would just be him learning new jutsu to master.

As he left his apartment Kenta frowned to himself and looked up at the sky, he didn't know what was bothering him, something just felt off, a tight feeling in his gut. But he just shook his head and sighed as he pushed the feeling down, it was probably just his brotherly instincts, worrying about Naruto going off on his first mission out of the village. He just had to ignore it, Naruto would be fine, he was more than capable of handling himself, and Kakashi would be there to back him up, they would be more than enough to handle a simple C rank mission he knew. But some traitorous part of his mind whispered in his ear, his first C-rank mission was supposed to be simple as well, and look how it turned out.

Doing his best to ignore the traitorous thoughts in the back of his mind, Kenta shook his head and continued on towards his regular training ground, he just needed to do some training to take his mind off his worries, everything would be fine.

Scene break

It was half an hour later that Hiruzen arrived at the training grounds to find Kenta already there working through various stretches and limbering himself up, making the old man chuckle fondly seeing him do so, "Eager to start as always I see." Hiruzen chuckled, "My apologies for keeping you waiting my boy, but even with kage Bunshin, the duties of a Kage are never ending it seems."

Stopping his stretches Kenta turned to him and gave a short bow, "It's fine Sarutobi-sensei, I was just getting some warm up stretches in while I waited." he said with a small smile, "I needed to do something to take my mind off my ototo."

Hiruzen smiled and nodded, "Ah I see, let me guess, you're worried about him going off on his first C-rank mission, and it turning out to be more like yours did?"

Kenta sighed, "I know it's unlikely, but I can't help but worry for him, especially with how his team is." he revealed, the tightness in his gut still not having faded any.

Hiruzen nodded, "It's an older brother's place to worry about their siblings, but you have little to worry about, I assigned team seven that particular C-rank because it was one with the least dangers noted in it's reports." he revealed, "At most they will encounter some bandits on the road or something similar trying to extort the client for money, nothing that Naruto-kun isn't fully capable of handling, and with Kakashi-kun there the team is perfectly safe."

Kenta smiled and nodded, "I know sensei, but I don't think I'll stop worrying until Naruto has returned and I see him safe and sound." he mused before chuckling, "I just hope I'm not going to be like this on every mission he takes outside of the village."

Hiruzen chuckled, "Well then we'd better see about taking your mind off it." he mused before becoming serious, "Now, as to your training, do you have any preference on what elements of Jutsu you'd like to learn, I plan on only teaching you three for the time being to give you time to learn and master them properly."

Kenta nodded, "I have Sensei, I've thought about it long and hard since my last fight," he said as his fists clenched by his sides, "I need to expand my jutsu pool, and learn more powerful Jutsu to better defend myself, to that end, I need a jutsu that will provide me with a solid defense from frontal attacks as well as a jutsu that would give me more ranged options, preferably something of the destructive variety."

Hiruzen nodded, "I see, but I trust you are aware that even if you learn these jutsu, when it comes to fighting, experience trumps everything else, no matter how strong one becomes, true strength comes from experience in battle, all one can do is to prepare themselves so that when a fight comes they have the skills to survive and to become stronger. Having powerful jutsu is all well and good, but it takes experience to know when to use them for the utmost effect to defeat your foes."

Kenta took a breath as he listened, taking those words to heart, he knew that while in the past he had been pushing himself constantly it had proved to be lacking when it really mattered, his resolve hardened again, he had pushed himself but while his training had been extreme in most aspects clearly that wasn't going to be enough, that was going to change.

Seeing the resolve in Kenta's eyes Sarutobi nodded, pleased to see that his near defeat hadn't dimmed his desire to grow stronger, "Alright Kenta-kun, activate your Sharingan and watch closely, I believe I know just the Jutsu's to teach you to help fulfill your desired outcome, two of them are Doton in nature while the third will be Katon." he explained.

Kenta nodded and a second later the vision in his right eye changed and he had to slightly adjust his balance subtly, while the eye worked perfectly, Kenta had found when the Sharingan was active he could see the world in much more clarity that it was slightly disorientating, he knew that he would need to practice sparring with his Sharingan active in order to get used to the improved vision so that it didn't affect him while in combat, but that was for later, before he nodded to Hiruzen that he was good to go.

Hiruzen nodded back before turning out into the training grounds, still partly facing Kenta so that he could see his hands, before he began to go through the necessary hand signs for the jutsu.

Kenta for his part was focused solely on Hiruzen, intently watching every hand sign as his Sharingan slowed down everything for him and memorized the sequence, but that wasn't all he was watching as his Sharingan spun under his eyepatch. He was also observing Hiruzen's chakra, how they reacted to each hand sign, how his chakra molded to his command and began to gather and change as it made its way to his sensei's mouth, before Hiruzen called out.

"Doton: Doryūheki" (Earth release: Earth-Style Wall) before his head lurched forward and he spat out a line of mud ten meters long across the ground, three meters in front of him, before moving down and slamming his open hands on the ground.

Kenta watched closely as Hiruzen's chakra molded yet again as he touched his hands to the ground and connected with the chakra made mud, before he began to feel the ground shake and he had to widen his stance to keep from falling as the mud sank into the earth before the very next second a meter thick wall of earth plowed it's way up through the loose ground and formed a three meter tall wall the same length as the line of mud that Hiruzen had spat out second prior.

Still watching even after the shaking ended, Kenta also noticed that while his Sensei stood up taking his hands from the ground, a small amount of his chakra remained in the wall, it took him only a second to realize just what it's purpose was, it was making the wall even stronger than if it was just made out of earth and at the same time holding it together.

Looking from the wall to Kenta, Hiruzen nodded, "Now let's see if your Sharingan is working as we were told it would." he said before holding his hand out in a gesture for him to go ahead and attempt the Jutsu himself.

Kenta nodded and wasted not a second of time as he turned, his hands already rising, and without having to think for a second recalled each of the hand signs required for the Jutsu and instantly began to run through them, while internally began to guide his chakra along the same path that he had seen his sensei preform not a few moments before, it was only a few seconds before he felt the chakra begin to gather in his mouth at his command and begin to change. He hesitated only then, the sudden muddy taste in his mouth making him gag before he refocused and lurched forward spitting the muddy taste out, the mud spraying out in a line, just a little under half the length that Hiruzen had made.

Not letting the smaller scale deter him Kenta followed through once the chakra was out and knelt down slamming his palms into the ground and connected with the earth and his chakra watching as his own mud sank just like Hiruzen and the next second his own earth wall rose up from the ground, two thirds as thick as Hiruzen's, stopping at just about two meters in height.

As soon as his wall stopped growing Kenta rose to his feet coughing and spluttering at the residual taste of mud in his mouth, making Hiruzen chuckle at his misfortune.

"Ah my apologies Kenta-kun, I should have warned you not to let the chakra take physical form until it was leaving your mouth so as to avoid the after taste." Hiruzen chuckled.

"Maybe lead with that next time, Sarutobi-sensei." Kenta complained as he fished out one of his scrolls from his back pouch to get out a canteen of water to rinse the taste from his mouth.

While Kenta was busy with his foul after taste, Hiruzen turned his attention back to the results of his students Jutsu with an amazing eye and after a moment nodded in approval, "This is a good first attempt." he said as he placed his hand on the wall and nodded again as if in understanding, "For better results I would suggest that you condense your chakra down more as you are letting it out, the more stronger your Doton chakra the better your defense will be." he explained, before leading him away from their walls.

Kenta nodded as he spat out a mouthful of water, getting rid of the last of the taste before following behind him, wondering just what the next Jutsu his sensei had in mind to teach him.

He didn't have to wait long before they reached the ten meter mark away from the walls before Hiruzen turned to him once again, "alright Kenta-kun, watch closely once again, the next two jutsu I am going to show you, while powerful on their own can become even more deadly when combined." he told him before he moved to start weaving hand signs.

Kenta nodded and once more watched as Hiruzen blurred through hand signs, Sharingan eye picking them up effortlessly and memorizing them at the same time, as he watched before Hiruzen ended on his final hand sign and called out his jutsu.

"Doton: Doryūdan" (Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet) as the ground next to him split open and a draconic head rose up, its mouth open before various earth projectiles shot from its open maw.

But clearly Hiruzen wasn't done as the next moment his hands were already blurring through the signs for another jutsu as he took in a deep breath as he spoke out, "Katon: Karyūdan" (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullet) before leaning forward and spewing flames from his mouth that began to engulf the earth bullets that the dragon head was still firing setting them aflame as they shot towards Hiruzen's earth wall.

The result was spectacular, the flaming projectiles impacted the earth wall and exploded on impact. Within seconds the thick stone wall that had been raised was blown away piece by piece.

As the last explosion settled down, Kenta didn't even wait as his hands began to move, forming the signs for the first jutsu, having memorized the process as he followed the exact same steps that he had witnessed with his own wall as a target.

The results were less than what he had expected as he watched his own flaming earth projectiles hit his wall. The explosions on impact were barely a third of what his Senseis had been, and his jutsu only lasted half as long leaving a couple of feet of his earth wall still standing at the end.

Hiruzen watched as the jutsu came to an end and nodded, "Very good, for a first attempt at your first solo combination jutsu to perform better than expected." he said with a smile, "Do you see the difference?" he asked knowingly.

Kenta nodded as he looked at the remains of their walls, his Sensei's wall had been longer, thicker and taller than his, and yet even with the difference his combination jutsu hadn't even been able to destroy all of his own, "The difference between knowing a jutsu and mastering it." he replied.

Hiruzen nodded happily at his student's response, "Precisely." he said with a smile, "You have learned the jutsu, but you have not completely mastered them, but you will, given time, and you have that in abundance." he assured him.

Kenta nodded, but before he could speak in reply, his head snapped to the side just as an ANBU shinobi in a Boar mask appeared kneeling off to the side of them.

"My apologies for interrupting your off time Hokage-sama." the Boar ANBU spoke, only for Hiruzen to wave his hand in acceptance.

"It's alright Boar, what is it?" Hiruzen asked, knowing that his ANBU wouldn't have come to him if it wasn't something that he needed to see to himself.

"An urgest messenger has just arrived at the tower Hokage-sama, carrying a message addressed to you, he is refusing to turn it over to anyone except for yourself." the Boar ANBU explained.

"Oh?" Hiruzen said with curiosity clear in his tone, it wasn't unheard of for a messenger to be stubborn but normally his ANBU would be more than persuasive enough to handle matters.

As if sensing the unasked question the ANBU clarified, "It's one of Inu-taicho's personal summons Hokage-sama."

Hearing that cleared things right up for Hiruzen as his expression became stern, understanding exactly the situation from that statement alone.

"Kenta-kun, it would seem I'm going to have to cut our training short for now." Hiruzen said plainly, "I have something I must see to personally."

Kenta nodded in understanding and knowing not to ask anything about what he had heard, it was above his rank if ANBU's were involved, "Hai, Sarutobi-sensei, arigato for the lesson and jutsus."

Hiruzen nodded once in reply before he and the Boar ANBU vanished in a Shunshin moving faster than the eye could see.

Kenta turned his head in the direction that they had went and stood there for a second more, his stomach tightening slightly as another traitorous thought threatened to creep into the front of his mind, but he stamped it out before it could form as he turned back to the training field as he brought his hands into a hand sign as he called out, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" before the space in front of him was engulfed in smoke as seventy Bunshin appeared from it.

"Alright, you all know the drill." Kenta commanded as he lowered his hands, "Twenty of you to practice the earth wall, and forty of you pair up and take turns at destroying them with the combination Jutsu, I want to get as much practice in with these new Jutsu as possible before days end." he ordered, before looking to the last ten, "You lot, on me, I need to get used to using this new eye of mine to its utmost in combat, Taijutsu only." he said before slipping into his taijutsu stance as the other ten followed as the sixty others went off into the training ground to begin their practice.

Kenta couldn't help but grin as his Sharingan spun behind his eye patch, this was going to be a long day.

Time skip

Four hours later Kenta was toweling himself off as he stood in just his boxers, his training having finished just ten minutes prior, and to clean himself off he had taken a short dip in the river that ran across the side of the training ground.

He hurt all over, but it was a good kind of hurt, it let him know he was improving. After two hours of sparring with his Kage Bunshins to get a grasp of learning to use his new eye in a fight, he had ordered them to release their restriction seals wanting to move on to test his Sharingan in a more fast pace fight while leaving his own on. And he wasn't disappointed. Even though he knew that his clones were moving so much faster, he could barely see a difference with how his Sharingan picked out their movements, tracking them and allowing him to counter their attacks. Sure he had taken a bit of a beating in the beginning until he adjusted again but once he had it was a whole new game and he beat them over and over again, having to replace them every ten minutes after that when he accidentally popped one, only to notice further improvement each time he did as he gained back their memories, and with each new set of clones they got better as well making him work harder to pop them even intentionally. It was safe to say that this one training session had been a drastic success, and that wasn't even counting the marked improvement on his three new Jutsus.

Feeling happy with his results, he was just in the middle of unsealing some fresh clothes for him to change into before he went home for the evening when the same ANBU in a Boar mask appeared before Kenta Jump with how fast he had arrived.

"Uzumaki-san, your team has been immediately summoned to appear before Hokage-sama for an urgent mission." he said quickly. Hearing that Kenta knew something was wrong, he vanished the next second in his own shunshin, pulling on his clothes as he rushed off.

The ANBU looked in the direction he left in before turning to do the same, only to freeze when something caught his attention from the corner of his eye, turning his head he could only be thankful that there was no one around and that he was still wearing his mask as his mouth opened, slack jawed at the utter destruction of the training field completely covered in craters and other various forms of destruction. Trees toppled and splintered, trenches cut into the earth and the loose remains of what he could tell were reinforced Doton jutsus scattered everywhere.

'Kami, I don't think even the ANBU training grounds get this roughed up.' he thought to himself before shaking his head, and thinking of how much the training ground maintenance teams are going to throw a fit when they see this, before disappearing in his own Shunshin, his job complete.

Scene break

Kenta appeared outside the Hokage tower, not completely dressed as he quickly walked to the doors in, joined seconds later by Midnight who he had sent a Kage Bunshin to fetch while on route.

The second he stepped into the building he was met by both Anko and Sayake who nodded to him and fell in step with him as they began their ascent to the Hokage's office.

"Any idea on just what could be going on Anko-sensei?" Kenta asked as they walked.

Anko shook her head, "Not a clue Gaki, nothing real interesting has been happening at T&I all day to my knowledge, aside from two ANBU coming in with two nuke-nin from Kiri, but Ibiki's the one in charge of any ANBU rank interrogations so I wasn't clued in on that." she said, unaware of just what this was all about, "You know anything?"

Kenta shook his head, "About as much as you I'd guess, an ANBU came to Sarutobi-sensei during our training session, something about a messenger from another ANBU I think, but I don't see how that could have anything to do with us." he said frowning, the sensation in his gut still not going away the closer they got to the hokage's office.

When they rounded the corner on the upper most level, to where the Hokage's secretary was positioned, Anko didn't even get a chance to speak before they heard the buzz of the doors as the woman gestured for them to go in, "Hokage-sama is expecting you." was all she said before they all nodded and walked into the Hokage's office.

When they entered, Hiruzen was sitting behind his desk with a scroll open in front of him, while to the left of his desk Ibiki stood, both with grave expressions on their face, Ibiki having looked to have just finished his report on whatever was going on.

Looking at them as they came in Hiruzen let out a sigh, "Anko, Kenta, Sayaka, I apologize for calling you all here on such short notice, but it looks like team Anko's week long furlow will have to wait." he spoke, his tone grave, "Four hours ago we received a message and after an intense interrogation of two enemy combatants, needing to gather as much information as we can on the matter before we take action."

"Is this about our last mission, Hokage-sama?" Anko asked, "Those two were nuke-nins from Kiri weren't they, is there some kind of backlash from them?" she speculated.

Hiruzen shook his head, "No, this incident has no correlation to your team's last mission, it does however pertain to the current mission where both your siblings are currently on." he said as he turned his gaze to Kenta and Sayaka.

And like that Kenta's stomach dropped, "Explain." he requested his tone sharp but still respectful, if this concerned his brother, concerned Naruto, he needed to know.

Sayaka nodded in agreement, remaining silent, but her expression was much the same as Kenta's.

Hiruzen sat back in his chair, his hands crossed on his desk, "Four hours ago I received a message from Kakashi, one of his most trusted summons, carrying word that while on the road to Nami no Kuni, they were attacked by two chunin level Nuke-nins from Kiri. A recon team was dispatched immediately to retrieve them. But the message also contained information that Kakashi was able to pry from our client, he admitted to leaving out crucial information about the mission, such as the fact that Nami no Kuni is currently under the thumb of a crime lord and that the bridge he wishes to build is an attempt to get out from under his control. From what information we have extracted from the two nuke-nins, identified as the Oni Kyōdai (Demon brothers), they were under the employ of this crime lord, and that they were not hired alone." Hiruzen explained, "Unaware of the extreme circumstances of the situation Kakashi decided to continue with the mission, believing it to be at least a low B rank at the very least in classification. However with the new information we have, we believe that mid A rank would be the optimum new classification." he said as he pushed the folder over as Anko stepped up to read it, her eyes widening after reading just the first few lines.

"Zabuza Momochi." Anko said, and it was all that was needed to make Kenta's blood run cold.

On their return trip from their last mission after having crossed with one of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū, Kenta made it a point to memorize the names of all current members of the other six along with their classifications and bounties, Zabuza Momochi was one of them, listed as an A rank threat, with an eighteen million ryō bounty.

Hiruzen nodded, "We also managed to get information on another of his associates, a chunin with the Hyōton (ice release) kekkei genkai who we believe to be Zabuza's apprentice." he explained.

Things just seemed to be piling up, at the rate everything was going Kenta was now certain that his otōto's first mission was turning out exactly like his first mission had. He couldn't let that happen.

"Hokage-sama." Kenta began to say, only to fall silent as Hiruzen raised his hand.

"As a result of this new information obtained, I have come to the decision that team seven is not equipped to handle the situation, as such I am assigning team Anko an emergency A rank mission." Hiruzen stated as he took a scroll with a silver and dark orange band from his desk drawer, "You are to leave as soon as possible and provide team seven back up for the duration of the original mission, upon arrival you are to inform the client of or displeasure and that we expect to hear from him within the following month of the missions completion, on how he expects to compensate Konohagakure for the expense of not one but two A ranked missions." he ordered, his tone as hard and as cold as iron as he handed the mission scroll to Anko who took it immediately, "Do you understand your mission and orders?"

"""Hai, Hokage-sama.""" the three of them responded immediately.

Hiruzen nodded, "Dismissed." he spoke and the very next second all three shinobi and Ninken vanished in Shunshin moving as fast as they could.

As they did so, Kenta's fists were clenched tight at his sides, 'Don't worry Naruto, we're on our way.'