37)Foxy Adventure: Ch.37

“So, we're escorting what is arguably the most politically powerful man in the country, right? Did he ask for you or something?”, I asked as Kakashi and I made our way back to the Hokage Office, where the Feudal Lord was most likely speaking with the old man.

“Not at all. He asked for you, but Lord Hokage didn't want you to send you with your new…discovery and all.”

“And you decided to go behind his back and ask me? That's a sneaky one, Kakashi-sensei.”

“It's not sneaky to ask the most capable member and no need for the sensei. We're practically co-workers.”

“We were already co-workers. You were just higher-ranked than I was, but now we're both Jounin.” I said with a snort and caught his soft chuckle as he nodded.

“You're a Special Jounin and I'm an actual Jounin. I still am ranked higher than you are.”

“Yes, but I actually have the chakra to say that I can use one thousand jutsu.”

“…That's a low blow.”

“Eh, you're used to my shenanigans,” I said with a shrug, to which he smirked as we entered the main road.

“Hey, Naruto!”, I blinked as one of the civilians waved at me, waving back before another spoke up.

“Hey, Naruto! I got some good pork left for your ramen!”

“Send it to Mr. Ichiraku! I'd probably just eat there!”

“Naruto, you still got some stuff for your bathroom?!”

“I'm running low on toilet paper and toothpaste! I'll come around later!”, I shouted back, to which the grocery store guy nodded before I looked at Kakashi as he spoke.

“Look at you, Mr. Popular.”

“I wouldn't say that. I'm more of the guy that decided to save their shops while chasing out the enemies. It's good for them too because if they didn't accept me after the exams, I was about to just say 'fuck it' and let the Nine Tails run rampant,” I admitted with a shrug, making Kakashi blink as he stopped for a bit before following after me.

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

'Unlike the old Naruto, I'm not about to slave my entire life away just to make a few villagers like me,' I thought with a smirk, remembering how Naruto fought tooth and nail just to get them to like him.

Nope, if they were still wary and/ or angry at me after the exams, Kurama was going to have his own little paradise.

“And it would have been glorious~ Why didn't you just do that?”

“Because they decided to treat me different,” I answered, smirking as I heard the fox grumble before I tuned back in as we finally walked onto the grounds of the Academy.

'Ah, there it is. My beautiful swing,' Walking over to said swing under the only tree next to the gate, I sat down on it and began to slowly swing myself, snickering as I saw Kakashi's flat stare.

“What? I'm living out my childhood here.”

“You do realize that you look more ridiculous now that you're older, right?”, He said and I shrugged with a smirk as I pushed off and landed with a flip.

“Hey, let me be me. Besides, the swing is a lot more therapeutic than you would expect.”

“I think you should just go to an actual therapist and talk it out.”

“Have you gone for your baggage instead of reading your books?”, I asked, not surprised when the two of us looked at each other before he gave lazy nod.

“Fair point. I'll leave you to your swing and you leave me to my books. Agreed?”

“Agreed,” I nodded as I shook his hand, the two of us walking into the Academy building and I smiled as I looked around at the hallway while nostalgia flowed through my veins.

“Wait, it's not that early, right? Classes haven't started?”

“No, why do you ask?”

“I'll catch you up top. I have to just go say hello to someone,” I said and walked off before Kakashi could ask, my body unconsciously walking the path that I walked for years as I stopped in front of a door and knocked on it.

“Enter,” A voice called out from behind the door and I smiled as I opened it, Iruka looking surprised as I waved and walked in.

“Heyo, sensei!”

“N-Naruto? What…what are you doing here?”

“Oh, I'm about to go on a missions so I decided to come say hello. If you're busy, I can come another ti-”

“Nope! Nope, I just finished with my preparations for the day. Oh my gods, it's so good to see you,” The man spoke with a grin as he hugged me and I smiled as I patted his back.

“Good to see you too, sensei.”

“Sensei? No, you outrank me now. If anything, I should be calling you sensei,” He said with a grin as he stood back and I rolled my eyes while crossing my arms.

“Don't say that. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't even know the difference between a mission and a scroll.”

“Considering that you became a Special Jounin despite the odds against you, I'd say you didn't need my help. That and you're carrying yourself different now.”

“Hey, I had to grow up at some time, didn't I?”, I said before giving a sheepish smile as he narrowed his eyes at me.

“Couldn't you have done that when you were younger and a menace?”

“Nope, because you wouldn't have the great memories about me, then,” I countered with a grin, to which he shook his head before the two of us just stood silent as we looked at each other.

“You have really grown into a fine shinobi, Naruto. I couldn't be more proud.”

Coming from my older brother figure, I'd say that's a win for me,” I answered with a shrug and I smiled as he looked shocked at my words.

“You…you think I'm your older brother?”

“You did put up with my stupidity and you helped me whenever you could when no else wanted to. That's a big brother for me.”

“…Well, I guess having a little brother doesn't seem so bad, even if it is you.”

“Hey, I'm still the higher-ranking shinobi between us two.”

“Uh-huh, and I'm your older brother so I win,” He declared with a grin and I huffed before turning as the door opened, not surprised to see the flood of kids that quickly stopped when they noticed me.

“Holy crap, it's Naruto Uzumaki,” One of the kids at the front whispered and it was not long before three familiar faces popped up, Konohamaru looking excited while I rolled my eyes as he, Moegi and Udon walked up to me.

“If it isn't my rival for the Hokage seat! What's up, Big Bro?”

“Nothing much, Konohamar-What's with the green jackets?”, I asked as I looked at their jackets, which were simple hoodies with the added design of looking like jounin flak jackets and having an orange swirl on their shoulders.

“You like? It's the official uniform for the Uzumaki Club.”

“…And who else is in this club?”

“Oh, there's a butt-ton of people.”

“Konohamaru, language.”

“Right, there's a crap-ton of people,” That was not any better as Iruka sighed, but I simply smiled before ruffling their hair and looking back at him.

“Hey, sensei. I'll leave you to the menaces.”

“Of course you will. Just make sure you don't go overboard on your missions.”

“Hey, the name's Naruto Uzumaki. I'm supposed to be the maelstrom that I am,” I said with a grin while walking through the kids still in awe, stopping for a brief moment to catch the familiar Hyuga girl that was staring at me.

She was quite confident for her age as she held my gaze, but it was not long before she looked away with a huff and I smiled as I shook my head and continued onwards to the office.

'Yep, the complete opposite of Hinata,' I thought with a smile as I began making my way to the entrance, filing that bit of information for late as I turned and walked up the stairs to the office.

I can't keep the most powerful men in the country waiting, after all.

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“Enter,” The old man's voice came from behind the door and I opened it, slipping in and closing the door behind me while looking up to see a lot more people than I was expecting.

There was Team 7 that turned their heads as I entered, Karin smirking while Sakura just sighed at me being late. Seated behind his desk was the old man and Tsunade stood at his left, a frown on her face as I fell in line with Team 7 while staring at the remaining man seated beside Hiruzen.

“Hmm~ Is this the last of the group?”, The middle-aged man asked, his small circular eyes focused on me and I bowed with a smile as the Fire Daimyo smiled back.

“I am indeed, my lord. I am Naruto Uzumaki, Special Jounin of the Hidden Leaf,” I introduced myself, catching the sight of his eyes flickering towards Hiruzen before he nodded back.

“Uzumaki, hmm? I see. You are quite young to be a Jounin.”

“Special Jounin, my lord. I am a Jounin in ninjutsu, but unfortunately, I am not Jounin level in anything else.”

“Ah, I see. Very well, he is here. You can explain the mission to them, Hiruzen.”

“The mission is simple. Lord Hiroshi here needs to be escorted back to the capital city and protected for the duration of his meeting with the Feudal Lord of the Land of Lightning in regards to events that happened long ago.

While he does have his personal one hundred samurai escorting him back along with his advisors, Lord Hiroshi fears that someone may try to take him out to further their own political ambitions. With that in mind, I've decided to ask the best shinobi available to do this mission.

Normally, we'd simply send a group of experienced Jounin for this, but most of our Jounin are still at the borders and Lord Hiroshi himself requested a younger group to evaluate the next generation of shinobi. Your performances may influence his stance on future shinobi policies.”

'So, it's basically just political games with a side of assassination attempts. Great,' I hated these types of missions/ jobs/ quests in games and I hated them here because the person you're guarding just goes off and do their own thing while you're stuck fending off hundreds of enemies to make sure they don't die.

Looking at you, RE4 Ashley especially the one from the older game.

“I see. And I suppose we are to fight only the threats in the shadows?”, Kakashi asked and I frowned as Hiruzen nodded while Lord Hiroshi snapped his fan shut.

“Indeed you are. I do not wish to worry my advisors or my wife with the thought of an assassin or a shinobi coming for my life so if possible, I wish that you keep the fights as far away as possible.

“I'm guessing that is Team 7's role, yes?”, I asked, watching as the old man chuckled while Lord Hiroshi smiled.

“Indeed it is. They are to be in the shadows, but you are to be in the spotlight. You are the hero that fended off an entire army of Chunin and Jounin by yourself so you are a good deterrent for any that wish to try and attack me in broad daylight.”

“So, I'm the bait to draw in the attackers while Kakashi and Team 7 take them out? I'm okay with that,” I nodded and Lord Hiroshi smiled as he stood up and nodded.

“Very well, then. Then, do you wish to prepare yourself?”

“No need, my lord. We are ready whenever,” Kakashi spoke and the lord smiled as both Team 7 and I nodded in agreement.

“Then, let us depart.”

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“Naruto, this is my head of guard, Yamamoto Ryumon,” Lord Hiroshi said with a smile while gesturing to the man in samurai armour beside him, a smile on my face as I stared at the intricate golden designs on the red armour as well as the katana and wakizashi sheathed in the red scabbards at his side.

“Naruto Uzumaki?”

“That is I, yes,” I said before I was surprised as the man along with the samurai bowed deeply before standing up.

“We would like to thank you for protecting our Lord and saving some of our comrades during the invasion of the Leaf. We were struggling to get to him with the shinobi in the way, but you and your clones got him to us and for that, you have our thanks.”

“Oh, there's no need for that. I was just making sure that every non-combatant were taken as far away from the battle as possible. Besides, us shinobi have you all to thank for being able to protect Lord Hiroshi here when we can't,” I spoke with a smile and I caught the slight smirk on the older man's face as he nodded before going back to a serious look as he turned back to Lord Hiroshi.

“We are ready to depart at your order, my lord.”

“Wonderful! Should we…?”, He trailed off as he looked at me and I was bit confused before realization hit me and I shook my head.

“There's no need,” I answered, wanting to keep the people who knew of Team 7's involvement as small of a group as possible. It appears Lord Hiroshi seemed to agree as he nodded, gesturing for Yamamoto to begin getting everyone in formation before the Feudal Lord opened his fan to hide his mouth.

“You know, you look just like your father and your mannerisms are just like your mother's,” He spoke softly and I didn't show any form of emotion as I scratched my mouth with my left hand.

“I do not understand.”

“There's no need to worry, dear Naruto. Your parents were the people who saved me from assassins on the day of my coronation to becoming Feudal Lord. I simply find it amusing that their son is now to do the same and protect me from assassins on what could potentially be the most important day in the Land of Fire's history. If this is a success, we may be able to open a new trade route to the Land of Lightning and potentially, the Hidden Cloud and Hidden Leaf could become allies in the future.”

“With how the Hyuga still look with disdain at the Cloud and with the incident involving my mother, I think that's going to be in the far future.”

“As long as it is in the future, that is more than okay with me. Now!”, He spoke excitedly as he snapped his fan shut and I blinked at the personality shift as the man smiled and gestured to his grand carriage that was being pulled by two large horses.

“Would you care to join me in my accommodations?”

“I think it would be better for me to walk beside your carriage. That way, I'm still close, but I can make sure that no one tries to attack you.”

“…That is true. Let us depart!”

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“So, the Uzumaki kid is escorting the Feudal Lord, huh?”, A soft voice spoke as they hid in the forest, the woman narrowing her eyes as she sat in the forest trees while watching as Naruto Uzumaki walked beside the carriage that contained her target.

It would have been a bit easier to take out some of the samurai and her target, but with the Uzumaki kid now in the equation, it's going to be a lot harder to take out her target.

“And Lord Hiruko said that I only had a day before he sends in another one. What's the plan?”

“You do not get him,” A voice whispered behind her and she turned just in time to look at a scarlet red eye with three tomoe around the pupil, the woman collapsing on the branch while Kakashi caught her with a frown.

'An assassin before we were even a few kilos from the village. Okay, there is definitely someone trying to take out Lord Hiroshi,' Kakashi thought as he tied the woman up, opening her mouth and taking out the false teeth that contained poison pills before putting the teeth back in as his team landed around him.

“Oh, so she was an assassin, huh?”, Karin murmured as Sakura took the poison pills from Kakashi, placing them in her pouch while Sasuke narrowed his eyes as Kakashi lowed his headband over the Sharingan while nodding.

“Yeah, but she's not the only one. It appears that this won't be an easy mission, after all.”

'After all, if one assassin is here, then there are many others hidden in the shadows,' Kakashi thought as he waited until the last samurai were a hundred meters away before speaking.

“We follow in the shadow and we stay close. From this point forward, we kill anyone who we see as a threat, understood?”

“Yes, sensei,” The team nodded in unison, to which Kakashi nodded before he turned and leapt to the next point, the team following on his heels.

'This is going to become a mess real soon, real fast.'

A/N: And the new mission is off~!! Naruto is now guarding the Feudal Lord in the light while Team 7 protects him from the shadows and Lord Hiroshi reveals some information that wasn't known before.

Next chapter: An Attack~!!

As always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one…

Ba-Bye~!!