Mission: Burning Roots {Begin}

Adrik sat down at the edge of the Hokage's desk as the various jonin and chunin of the Leaf Village filed into the room. They had moved to a larger room to fit everyone. The last people to enter were the various clan heads of the village, consisting of Choza Akimichi, Tsume Inuzuka, Shikaku Nara, Inoichi Yamanaka, Hiashi Hyuga, Shibi Aburame, and a few other clan heads who lead lesser known clans. The Sarutobi clan's leader was Hiruzen, but his son, Asuma, filled in the position due to the Hokage's busy schedule. The Senju and Uchiha clans were inactive as the last known living Senju was out of the village and the Uchiha clan heir was too young to take the role. Hiruzen looked at the back of a random jonin's vest with sadness, reminiscing about what that red swirl symbolized. He shook his head to clear his thoughts as the three stars of the show entered. Homura Mitokado, Koharu Utatane, and Danzo Shimura entered the room behind everyone else. The clan heads and elders sat down in their specified seats, sending confused glances towards the genin sitting next to the Hokage with a clipboard. In the crowd, many of the jonin and chunin held the same confused expression. Kakashi was even more confused as he had no idea why his student would be here.

"Before this meeting begins, I believe all of you have questions about the young genin next to me."

Seeing most of the crowd nod, Hiruzen motioned for Adrik to stand.

"This is Adrik. He was taken in as a refugee some months back, perhaps only a day or two after the rookie genin graduated. He has proven his loyalty and love for the village, and I can confidently say that he is worthy of our trust. On a recent mission, he has shown his strength and skills to be worthy of a field promotion to the rank of chunin. To gain experience for future positions, he will be the one to document the various teams entering the Chunin Exams this year. I decided to give him something easy before throwing him into the world of chunin. I don't suppose this would be a problem, would it?"

Hiruzen looked around the room, seeing everyone nod even though many were still confused.

"Very well. If you would like to nominate your team for the exams, please step up and speak."

The crowd of jonin went silent. Six of them walked up to the front.

"Let's start with the rookie teams."

Hiruzen nodded to Kakashi.

"I, Kakashi Hatake, jonin sensei of Team Seven, nominate genins Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Naruto Uzumaki for the Chunin Exams."

Making his piece known, Kakashi stepped back.

"I, Kurenai Yuhi, jonin sensei of Team Eight, nominate genins Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, and Hinata Hyuga for the Chunin Exams."

Kurenai stepped back, standing to the left of Kakashi.

"I, Asuma Sarutobi, jonin sensei of Team Ten, nominate genins Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi, and Ino Yamanaka for the Chunin Exams."

Asuma stepped back to Kurenai's left.

"Very well. All rookie genin teams have been nominated to enter. Please take these papers and hand them to your team. I expect the signed forms to be collected and turned in before the exams begin. Now, let us start with the other teams."

Adrik finished writing down the names of the rookies and their senseis. He looked back up to see a jonin in green spandex stepping forward with a shining smile. If that wasn't bad enough, the man had a nearly perfect black bowl cut that looked like glossy metal. The man had eyebrows that Adrik had almost mistook for caterpillars.

"I, Might Guy, youthful sensei of Team Guy, nominate my youthful genins Rock Lee, Tenten Higarashi, and Neji Hyuga to take part in the exhilarating Chunin Exams."

Hiruzen sweat dropped as he nodded. Guy moved back to stand to Kakashi's right. Adrik hastily wrote down the names and carried on. Another nondescript jonin stepped forward and nominated his team, a group of two genin who graduated a year before the rookies and a teammate who was likely added when a spot opened up. The last jonin stepped up to announce his team. Adrik jotted the jonin's name down and listened to his genins' names.

"-nominate Kabuto Yakushi, Yoroi Akado, and Misumi Tsurugi for the Chunin Exams."

Adrik nodded as that seemed to be the last team. With the attention on the teams entering the exams, Adrik had discretely sent a few smoke particles to stick to Danzo's undershirt. Once in place, the particles stuck to his skin and clothes like glue, seeping into the cloth and his skin without the man even feeling it. Adrik hid his smirk as he completed the first half of the mission. Now, he was set to continue his documentation. He hadn't expected the Hokage to consider him for a field promotion, but he supposed that wasn't exactly too shocking. He had taken on jonin before and won, so this excuse made perfect sense.

"That concludes the Leaf genin entering the exams. Now, we will move on to the various villages sending their own teams."

Adrik flipped to another paper on the clipboard and handed it to Hiruzen to read aloud.

"We have three teams from Hidden Grass, two teams from Hidden Rain, two teams from Hidden Mist, three teams from Hidden Sand, and one team from Hidden Sound. These teams were decided the day after the exams were announced, so we expect many more teams from various villages to enter before the month is over."

Hiruzen set the clipboard down and pointed to a jonin who had his hand raised for a question.

"Lord Hokage, I didn't know that there was a Hidden Sound Village. Do we know where the village hails from?"

Hiruzen nodded.

"The Hidden Sound is located in the Land Of Rice Fields. It is not surprising that you had no knowledge of it as it is relatively new, only being established about four or five years ago."

Everyone in the room nodded at the new information. The Hokage pointed to a chunin in the crowd with his hand raised.

"Lord Hokage, why would Mist send teams here? Aren't they still in a civil war?"

Hiruzen nodded towards the chunin.

"A fair question. Recently revealed was the fact that the Fourth Mizukage was defeated by the rebel forces, thus ending the civil war and bloodline purges. The new Mizukage is sending two teams to help establish a new relationship between our villages. We plan on finalizing it right after the exams are over."

Many of the ninjas cringed at the mention of the bloodline purges. The Hidden Mist, when ruled by the Fourth Mizukage, carried out massacres of various clans that held bloodlines. Most speculate it was out of fear that it happened. Very few, like Zabuza, knew otherwise. That is a story for Zabuza himself to tell, though.

Adrik felt a slight movement in Danzo. The man had flinched nearly imperceptibly at the mention of the end of the Chunin Exams. Adrik's eyes narrowed slightly, though he didn't once dare look as if he noticed the old war hawk. The few ninja that saw the boy's expression figured that it was a reaction to what happened in the Hidden Mist Village.

Hiruzen concluded the meeting as he saw no more questions pop up. The village elders left the room along with the Ninja Council. Kakashi had actually stayed behind, leaving Hiruzen, Adrik, and the cyclops alone. Kakashi made sure nobody else was around, figuring the Anbu were the only others with them. He noticed he was no longer able to sense his hidden comrades as well as he could. Perhaps he had gotten complacent in his time as a regular jonin. Kakashi set his little orange book back in his pocket when the Hokage put up the privacy seals. The man was confused as he felt the Anbu hadn't left yet. Perhaps they were already informed of whatever the Hokage thought was important enough to tell him.

"Lord Hokage, is something the matter? I only stayed behind to ask some more questions about my student. Is there something I should know?"

Hiruzen nodded with a serious look, telling Kakashi that this was incredibly important.

"Kakashi, you are not to speak a word of what you will hear, not even to yourself. This mission concerns the lives of all in the village, including my own."

Hiruzen gestured towards Adrik, who closed his eyes for a second.

"All clear, Lord Hokage. It's just us six."

If Kakashi was surprised at Adrik sensing the Anbu, he didn't show it. The Hokage nodded and began to speak again.

"As of today, Adrik has begun his first S-Rank mission ordered by me. His skills in sensing are the greatest I have ever witnessed. His unique power has finally granted the village a way to...remove its 'roots', as it were."

Kakashi's eye widened as he instantly understood what the Hokage meant.

"I see you have caught on. As you know, Adrik does not possess or utilize chakra. As such, he is practically undetectable. You were informed of his smoke field, correct?"

Kakashi nodded, seeing where this was going.

"Then I believe you know all you need to know for now. I believed you should be informed of Adrik's mission as the information he will gather has a chance of relating to your students."

Kakashi nodded again. He was caught off guard when Hiruzen let out a small bit of Killing Intent, making him sweat slightly. Adrik appeared unaffected, though.

"As of today, you will get your act together. I have allowed for too much to happen in this village. You have been slacking on maintaining your strength and are now at an average jonin level without that eye. While you retrain yourself, your team will be given a temporary sensei to whip your genin into shape. The Uchiha is far too prideful and impulsive with questionable loyalty. Haruno is still a fan girl, though I have seen her taking steps to improve. I will ask the temporary sensei to keep her on the right track. As for Naruto... The boy is too naive. He still acts like a child and still lacks in many aspects of being a shinobi, though, I cannot blame him for being taught about the world incorrectly. He has learned much of what he knows just based on his own findings. By the time you return as their sensei, your team will be a force to be reckoned with."

Hiruzen ended his speech with a smirk. Kakashi nodded with guilt and shame, though he resolved himself to improve for the sake of he and his genin team. Hiruzen signaled for one of his Anbu in the room to reveal himself. The man wore standard jonin attire. He had short, spikey brown hair and black eyes. He took off his mask designed like a tiger to reveal the cloth of his headband covering most of his head and outlining his face.

"Tiger, you are assigned to be the temporary jonin sensei of Team Seven until the Chunin Exams begin. You will go by Yamato for that time."

The man, Yamato, bowed towards the Hokage.

"...And what of my fourth student?"

Hiruzen smiled at Kakashi.

"At the end of the month, I will be promoting him to the rank of chunin. I have my reasons, but he will still be part of your team. During the exams, he will be assigned another mission concerning the rookie genin teams. While you could call it favoritism, it is more of a matter of village safety. Adrik will be keeping track of the rookie genin to make sure they don't die. It wouldn't look good for our clan heirs to die in our own exams."

Kakashi nodded, Adrik doing the same, though he was only hearing of this now.

"Soon, our roots will burn to ash to make way for new trees to prosper. You both have your orders. Dismissed."

X

Naruto was anxious on his way to the academy. He was wearing his regular shinobi attire but without the orange jacket. Instead, he was wearing a black shirt with the sleeves going just past his elbows. The shirt had a red spiral on the back as most Leaf ninja attire did. He shifted his headband to hang around his neck like Adrik and Hinata did. He was hoping that Hinata wouldn't be too upset about him showing up in what he considered casual clothing.

Naruto approached the gate to the academy, taking a few deep breaths as he thought over his plans for today. When he turned the corner, his thought process had immediately ended.

Sitting underneath the tree at the front was Hinata. She, too, hadn't changed her attire from what she regularly wore. Actually, she made the same decision as Naruto, foregoing her thick jacket and instead wearing a navy blue tee shirt that matched her pants. This was the first time Naruto had actually seen her without the jacket that could probably hide a Tailed Beast if it was a little larger. Let us just say the girl was more...grown up...than the other kunoichi their age.

'Dear Kami above, please let this go well.'

Naruto quickly hid his blush and walked towards Hinata with a wave and a smile.

"Hey, Hinata! I didn't keep you waiting, did I?"

Hinata looked at Naruto with her usual blush, though she became more red from seeing that Naruto had also been hiding himself under a big jacket.

"G-Good afternoon, N-Naruto. A-Actually, I only g-got here a m-minute ago."

Naruto sighed in relief, lowering his expression to a small grin as he looked at Hinata. He went over and sat next to her, looking towards the academy.

"So... Now that we're here, what's your sister like?"

"H-Hanabi is a l-little more like my f-father. S-She can be cold at times, b-but she means well and has a good heart. F-Father decided to let her enter th-the academy to g-get to know her potential c-comrades."

Naruto nodded along.

"Ah, she's starting out in Konohamaru's class, then. She's gonna have a lot on her hands until she graduates."

Naruto chuckled as he thought about the Hokage's grandson.

"W-Would you mind me asking h-how you know the H-Hokage's grandson?"

Naruto smiled at her and shook his head, answering her after he laid down with his arms crossed behind his head.

"Konohamaru is a lot like me. It's mostly the childish parts, but still. The kid wants to be Hokage one day. Apparently, he had the bright idea of trying to assassinate the old man with a cardboard shuriken. I was in the room after I got my picture taken for my shinobi license and the kid tripped on his scarf. So, he didn't actually get the chance to throw the little 'weapon'."

Hinata giggled softly at the image of Konohamaru tripping on his long blue scarf.

"Apparently, I was the only one in the room that could have possibly tripped him, so he blamed it on me. Long story short, I gave him a small whack over the head after saying something stupid about him being the Hokage's grandson and that I couldn't lay even a finger on him."

Hinata looked at Naruto in slight surprise. Naruto was perhaps the only person in the village who could get away with something like that, barring the kid's own family.

"He followed me for a little while since apparently I was the first to treat him like just another person. His stealth skills leave a lot to be desired, but he definitely has the drive to improve."

Hinata looked at Naruto, him pausing to see if she had anything to say since she looked confused.

"N-Naruto, wouldn't you be th-the perfect teacher for improving his st-stealth?"

At the boy's confused look, she elaborated.

"Y-You were able to evade capture f-for your pranks. M-Most who chased you were chunin and higher. I-I saw even Anbu chasing you once. All of th-that was before we g-graduated, as well. A-And you always wear b-bright orange."

Naruto nodded with a smirk at remembering his past pranks. Everyone would tell stories of an orange blur that playfully tormented his victims. None would be able to catch him, for he always found a way to disappear from sight. The pranking even reached some of the ninjas. Once, the orange blur had even embarrassed the Anbu by dying most of the ninjas' clothes bright colors. They stopped holding back on their pursuits, yet they still never caught the blur. And thus, the story of Iruka, the pathfinder, began. Legends are still told to this day of the only man who caught the orange blur more than once.

"I guess you're right. I could send a clone or two to help him after the academy every day, if he wants that. It would definitely help him out with that closet pervert, Ebisu."

Hinata smiled before looking to the academy. The bell had just rang, signaling the lunch break had started. While some kids already had their lunches with them, some would go to their homes or small shops to grab a snack before heading back to the academy. In the crowd of a dozen or so new students, a small girl with long brown hair and pale eyes ran out to hug Hinata.

"Big sister!"

Hinata giggled as she returned the hug. Naruto walked next to Hinata and smiled at the little girl.

"So you're Hanabi, right? It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I graduated from the same class as Hinata."

Naruto held out his hand to the little girl. Hanabi didn't take it, though. Instead, she settled on looking over Naruto as if he was a problem to solve. She looked back at Hinata with an innocent expression.

"Is he your boyfriend?"

The two genin blushed at the question, both looking away with red cheeks. Hanabi noted that neither of them denied that fact, though. The two sisters and Naruto looked over as another kid with a long blue scarf ran over to them.

"Hey, Boss! What're you doing here?"

Naruto smiled at Konohamaru.

"Oh, I was just here with Hinata. I thought it wouldn't hurt to come visit. So how is the academy so far?"

Konohamaru slouched in mock sadness.

"Iruka sensei is boring... He keeps making us go on and on about these stupid leaf sticking exercises."

Naruto chuckled as he ruffled the boy's hair.

"Yeah I get you. If being a ninja has taught me anything, it's that you should always take your sensei's lessons to heart. It can be boring, but by the end of the day, you know more than you did yesterday."

Konohamaru looked up at Naruto with sparkling eyes.

"You're right, Boss! I never thought about it like that. I'm definitely gonna be the best student I can be until I graduate!"

Konohamaru gave Naruto a thumbs up and a smile which was returned. The two Hyuga sisters just watched, Hinata grinning while Hanabi narrowed her eyes.

"And just how are you going to be the best student when the only jutsu you know is that stupid 'Sexy Jutsu'?"

Konohamaru looked over with a look of hurt at the disrespect towards the technique.

"I'll have you know, the Boss beat tons of ninjas with that jutsu even when he was in the academy! Boss taught me that jutsu himself!"

Hanabi scoffed and turned her head away.

"Such a perverted jutsu won't get you anywhere in the world of shinobi. Be glad the academy is teaching us better things."

Naruto was also slightly taken aback at the disrespect of his own original jutsu. He decided to share some insight on his own technique, which, due to help from his clones putting in the effort to read, he had found out many more uses for it than originally intended.

"Yeah, I made it when I was in the academy. It was made to beat perverts without having to fight. It's a modified transformation, but it actually changes your body. It's not just an illusion. If I'm remembering this right, the true transformation does the exact same thing. I just happened to use it for other reasons."

Konohamaru took some moments to process as well as Hanabi. Hanabi easily caught onto the logic of it all.

"I turned myself into a kunai once, weirdest experience of my life so far."

The two children chuckled slightly as Naruto shivered. Naruto noticed that he hadn't actually shivered at the memory of the transformation. He sensed some Killing Intent being directed at him, but didn't know from where. He looked over at Hinata who was handing a packed bento to Hanabi. Konohamaru and Hanabi saw her expression and went back inside the academy. Konohamaru forgot his own lunch sitting at his desk inside.

"Naruto...you wouldn't use that jutsu for other reasons, would you?"

Naruto was scared by Hinata's totally not menacing and actually very gentle smile. He quickly shook his head in fright with a placating grin. He waved his hands around slightly as he backed away.

"N-N-No, of course not! I just use it to get perverts off my tail! I wouldn't use it for anything else!"

Hinata's aura of fury dissipated, returning her to her gentle smiling state. She nodded at his answer and walked out of the gates, Naruto following after her as he still planned on taking her out for lunch. This time, he was much more cautious than before. Never again shall he underestimate the power of the opposite sex.