The body collapsed in the pillar of white-hot fire, one arm raised as if in supplication to him.
He fell to his knees as grief rolled over him.
Hiruzen Sarutobi took a deep drag of his pipe and glanced at the woman beside him. "You understand your mission."
Rin Nohara nodded in her ANBU costume. "Deep cover. Don't come out until I receive a coded retrieval message that indicates you've identified and neutralized the threat."
The Third Hokage nodded and glanced to the other side.
Hiashi Hyuga hmphed, his Byakugan practically blazing. "Nothing nearby. None of those flecks of chakra within my range."
"You understand your mission, go now." Hiruzen Sarutobi stood there for a few moments as the disguised kunoichi left at high speeds but without using her chakra.
"I'm counting on you, Hiashi. You and your clan."
Hiashi hmphed again, then nodded. The Hokage had brought him into his confidence, the reports of Konohagakure being infiltrated and some sort of monitoring system keeping track of one chunin. That several attempts to kill that chunin inside the village had been arranged.
Konohagakure was under attack or someone was getting ready to attack it. That included his clan. As soon as they had an indication of who that enemy was - they would reply in a suitable ninja fashion.
She understood her mission. Deep cover. Leave encrypted reports in a place where someone else in the spy network would pick them up.
She would from now on BE Haruhi Terada. A young medic from Snow Country who was frankly tired of snow and ice and being cold. Haruhi was moving to a port city where she would watch the ships coming and going and enjoy the fresh sea air.
There were details waiting for her there. Jiraiya himself had created various documents and come up with details to flesh out her character.
For now she was just the ANBU Sparrow - and there was a real Sparrow who was hiding in that port city on an unrelated mission who would leave shortly after Haruhi Terada's scheduled arrive time.
Haruhi Terada would be a link in Jiraiya's spy network, continuing to work for the benefit of the village. But for all intents and purposes Rin Nohara was dead.
years later:
"Kakashi," said the Third. "You need a vacation."
Kakashi pulled his ANBU mask off and regarded the Hokage briefly. "A 'vacation'?"
"You are burning out," said the Third Hokage. "Take time off. Depressurize. You have two weeks."
"Two WEEKS?" asked Kakashi. "With the Uchiha clan gone..."
"The clan survives, even if it is just one child for now," said the Hokage. "Take time. Find a hobby."
Kakashi considered that for a moment. He HAD been pushing himself with his training off duty and on-duty missions.
"You've been showing an interest in one of the other Academy students - Naruto Uzumaki." The Third Hokage settled back in his chair. "Is there a reason?"
"He contains the Kyubi, and I know who his parents are." Kakashi shrugged slightly. "I'm careful not to pull any particular attention to him. Just sneak into his home, leave notes about him eating the vegetables and how he needs to improve his skills. All very anonymous. I usually have one of my dogs keep track of him and Sasuke Uchiha. Officially, it is because both of them are the last of their clans."
"Yes, you have been very discrete," admitted the Hokage. "Now take a break. Your last mission was sufficient indication that you need some recovery time."
Naruto frowned at the little bowl of fruit on his table, flanked by a note and scroll. "Damn it, Ghost-san. Couldn't you leave ramen behind?!"
Didn't mean he wouldn't eat the fruit. It was usually fresh and better quality than he could afford. And the note about proper nutrition and how it could help him grow taller had been quite clear. He needed every advantage he could get, cheat, or finagle to beat Sasuke.
Naruto reached into his pocket to pull out a couple of dog biscuits he'd picked up, just in case that stray came by, then read the note.
Ghost-san was going to be away? Ramen binge time! Sure the note said that if he DID eat nothing but ramen that Ghost would know and levy a punishment. Yeah, that could be bad.
The scroll was some technique called Shadow Clone. Apparently one of the reasons he was screwing up the Clone technique was his lousy control and too much chakra. So he should try this one. Apparently there was a more powerful version but that was a kinjutsu so it wasn't available. Weird.
But - oh. He could be in two places at the same time?
Nine year old Naruto grinned. Alibi No Jutsu!
Sasuke grimaced at the stray dog wandering by.
Not that he hated dogs. It was just that he half-expected it was one of that Inuzuka clan dogs keeping tabs on him. No doubt they expected someone to try and kidnap or kill him as the Last Uchiha. Granted - it COULD be a genuine stray dog hoping for the rare table scrap.
Whatever the case, he could not afford to lag in his training. Strength was everything.
Kakashi had asked Jiraiya about the Toad Prophesy. By that time, word about his "little voice" kekkei genkai had started making the rounds. Some said it was just indication he'd been pushing himself too hard. Some looked at the results of his talent for having just the right supplies for an emergency or knowing where a trap was or "getting a feeling" off of a stranger. This last group accepted it as just part of the usual ninja weirdness but a particularly USEFUL bit of ninja weirdness.
So Jiraiya had listened to the question, considered him briefly, and then answered honestly. About the three young ninja he'd met and the Rinnegan and about hearing how they'd died. So at this point he had no idea who the Child Of Prophesy was.
Kakashi had told the loyal remainder of the Densetsu No Sannin that he needed to train harder. Keep his skills up. That there were strong enemies ahead.
Jiraiya had considered that visibly and nodded before leaving the village on another of his extended trips.
Kakashi though had put the whole thing together. The Child Of Prophesy was the son of his sensei. He was to watch, teach, and protect that child. Somehow without being obvious about it.
He was a ninja though, and so doing things in secret was completely normal.
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(Posted Thu, 26 Feb 2015 15:47)
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