22 Late.

"You're late." Was the greeting they got from Kakashi as they walked up to meet them by the front door of the red Hokage building. As Naruto gazed at it he felt a rush of nostalgia, it reminded him of his genin days with the Old Man and later Lady Tsunade once he had passed on. It reminded him of his Kakashi - so different than the small chunnin that was before him,- so clearly he could picture him sitting in the Hokage's chair surrounded by paperwork sleeping or reading his perverse novels, that is what could have been had the war not taken him away from the village constantly. But most of all it reminded Naruto of his failure as Hokage, how he couldn't protect the Leaf even though he had sworn to do so with his life.

Naruto drew his eyes away and as he looked at his Uchiha companion, he could see Obito's temper immediately flare as he opened his mouth to deliver an angry excuse, his face going red as the tower, but Naruto beat him to it, speaking in a nonchalant - nearly bored - tone. "You see, I had never been to the Uchiha district before and I got lost, and on our way we ran into Mikoto Uchiha along with her son Itachi and the kid was just so adorable that I just had to meet him." Naruto said while thinking that Kakashi-Sensei would've been proud, but the Kakashi in front of him didn't look impressed at all.

"Tch, you're just like Obito, if you're going to be late the least you could do is own up to it without making dumb excuses." He scolded the nineteen-year old as if he was the elder of the two. Minato gave Kakashi a sharp look before turning to Naruto apologetically.

"Ah, sorry Naruto, Kakashi can be a little... blunt with his opinions." Naruto shrugged and led the way into the building and to the door which led to Sarutobi's office. Kakashi didn't have time to be offended as he was dragged by Rin into pace behind him with Minato and Obito following.

Naruto knocked and waited politely for a reply. A muffled "Come in" was heard from the other side and Naruto pushed the door opened. He saw several of the ANBU that were hidden in the rafters, stiffen. They probably remembered him from last time.

Naruto looked up at them and gave them a smirk. "Miss me?" He asked. The ANBU shifted slightly, that being their only sign of agitation, though he suspected he was on the receiving of several deadly glares. The Hokage couldn't contain a chuckle, the rest of Team Seven just looked confused which was becoming a new normal when it came to their fifth member.

"You had a mission for us?" Reminded Minato, dismission the odd behavior. The Hokage's smile faded and he turned serious, his face almost aging before their eyes as it did when discussing a topic that troubled him.

"Yes. I hate to send you out on a mission so soon after returning from your last one, not to mention you just received a new member, but wee are short on available squads at the moment so I'm afraid I had no choice. There are rumors of Cloud ninja set up in a village just on the border of the Land of Fire. I want you to go investigate and report back to me. Do not engage unless absolutely necessary." He ordered while he handed the mission file to Minato. "One more thing, the rumors say that one of the ninja is the Eight-Tails jinchuuriki."

As he said this he kept his gaze on Naruto who stood frozen on the spot. Well, now he knew the real reason they were chosen, guess it wasn't team building after all, but that didn't mean they couldn't use this to that advantage.

So he was going to see Killer B again? He wondered jhow he would react to seeing his mentor, he didn't even know. He only hoped he could keep from treating him as a friend or ally, he was supposed to be the enemy after all, but Naruto knew he wouldn't be able to face him in battle even if he may currently be threatening his nation. If he was, it was under A's orders, maybe he could somehow sway A into just leaving peacefully, break out the old 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘺 𝘕𝘰 𝘑𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘶, as Sasuke always called it.

After a moments hesitation and consideration, Naruto gave the Old Man a nod, the Hokage let out a breath that he had been holding in, his stiff form relaxing slightly. "Good. You leave tomorrow morning then. You're dismissed." And the five left to prepare for the following days ahead.

As the team was walking out they were approached by a brown-haired man with a scarred and stern face. Naruto was immediately bitter; he recognized the man to be none other than Danzo.

"Why don't you kids go ahead, I would like to speak with these two men." Danzo ordered the three youngest and they hesitantly obliged.

"Now, I don't believe I know you." He eyed Naruto in a very calculative way. "You seem to have very powerful chakra, and quite large reserves of it as well... " He said. "...almost like that of a jinchuuriki." He added in a tome that implied he knew more than he let on. Naruto narrowed his eyes fractionally, he knew the man probably suspected something but at the moment was only playing mind games. Only two men other than himself knew the truth and neither one would tell Danzo if their lives depended on it. At this time Danzo openly had more power than he would in Naruto's time but he was still under suspicion by the Hokage and possibly a few jounin that loyally served the village leader.

"Well thank you, but I think you may be over stating it a bit." Minato found this new formality of Naruto's slightly alarming and he eyed Danzo with a hidden mistrust and less hidden spite. He knew only enough of the man to know he couldn't be trusted. Danzo scowled a little. "Anyways, I would like to speak with you about the mission you have been assigned." He spoke down on Naruto, probably expecting him to oblige to any request from the intimidating man as most Leaf shinobi did. He felt as if he knew where this was going but cautiously nodded for Danzo to continue.

"On this mission there is a possibility that you may come in contact with the Eight-Tail's jinchuuriki." Danzo informed unnecessarily. "Should that happen I want you to annihilate him."

Minato met his cold, dead eyes head on. "Actually we were told not to engage unless absolutely necessary." He spoke confidently, not fazed by the elders severity.

"This is a direct order." Danzo said with as much authority in his voice as possible. Minato looked annoyed if not angry with that, but it was Naruto who spoke back before he could get a word out.

"I'm sorry, but I don't take orders from you. If you want to kill the Eight-Tails you have an entire branch of ANBU under your command. Though I don't recommend that course of action, if you do issue an order such as the one you just gave us, to one of your members, I won't hesitate to wipe them out. It would be going against the Hokage's wishes after all and last time I checked that is considered treason." Naruto threatened with authority even stronger in his voice that was highlighted by menace. Both of the other men's eyes widened in surprise.

"How do you know about that?" Danzo asked sharply.

Naruto shrugged. "Does it really matter how? The point is, I know."

"And do you really think you could take them out? They are trained better than any other shinobi in this village." Danzo said smugly but Naruto could hear the underlying doubt as his eyes darted nervously to the Yellow Flash who was clearly on par with the other blonde.

"Oh, I'm aware. You train them to be without emotion or ties to anyone. You really think that makes someone stronger? It is when we fight for something we deem precious that we truly become strong. And to answer you question - I 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 I would have no trouble taking out any number of your 'ANBU' and I think you do too." Saying only that Naruto walked away leaving a contemplative Minato and a scowling Danzo in his wake.

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The next day most of Team Seven was waiting at the west gates in the early morning hours, one of their members whom had yet to show up and surprisingly enough, it wasn't Obito. Fifteen minutes until they were due to leave for the very important mission they had been assigned and there was no sign of Naruto Uzumaki.

Kakashi was tapping his foot in a steady rhythm as if he felt the entire would should know of his impatience.

"Would you stop that!? He isn't even technically late!" Yelled Obito. Naruto defended his tardiness once so he felt it was his duty to do the same. Kakashi only glared at the Uchiha coldly before looking away.

"Come on guys, don't be like that. The mission hasn't even started." Rin pleaded. She was too kind to show it but their bickering could really get on her nerves. She was pleasantly surprised as she realized that they had not argued at all the last two days since Naruto had been around, the man always seemed to know how to defuse the hot-headed Uchiha and to distract the opinionated Hatake before he could make any of his smart-ass remarks.

Minato was not really paying any attention. He kept thinking back to the previous day when Danzo had confronted them. He wondered what it was they were talking about when they mentioned his own ANBU force, he knew Danzo had an above-normal power of authority over the Leaf's shinobi, but he was never told of an ANBU force. And how could Naruto know about that. Not only that, when Danzo had tried to use his authority over him, Naruto didn't even hesitate to reject it. Most Leaf shinobi would heed to the man's every request, Danzo held great power within the council and could greatly affect ones reputation and make their life as a shinobi utter hell - Naruto however seemed not to care. He obviously knew who Danzo was and from the way he reacted to him he certainly knew what he was capable of, but he didn't seem to be affected at all by the fact. His blue eyes held no fear or respect that one would normally hold for a village elder, but instead his held complete indifference.

Minato's thoughts were interrupted by said blonde's arrival. He was quick to smooth his brow and throw on a smile as he greeted him. "Hello, Naruto."

Naruto smiled back, flashing his perfectly white teeth. "Hello Minato. Rin, Obito, always a pleasure." He greeted with a theatrical bow. "And lest I forget my favorite Hatake." He ruffled Kakashi's silver hair. Surprisingly, the boy only turned his head away but otherwise didn't move or make any attempt to stop the 'assault' as he surely saw it.

Rin chuckled.

"Sorry, I would have gotten here sooner but I missed my alarm. But hey, at least I'm not late!" He said enthusiastically while sheepishly scratching the back of his neck. It was a very convincing front that would have been believable if not for the bags that hung under his bloodshot eyes that betrayed his sleepless night, and the bandages around his knuckles that were already soaked through with blood, a tell that he had in fact been training all night.

"Let us be on our way then." Minato said as he walked out the gates and their mission began.