Summary: Naruto has one month to identify the members of the crime syndicate Akatsuki and stop the next heist they're planning. Unfortunately, missions never go as smoothly as hoped.
Pairings: Sasunaru (main). Possible Gaanaru and Nejinaru
Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't sue.
"hello" - talking
'hello' - thinking
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Chapter One: Prelude
Prelude: (noun) Something that serves as a preceding event or introduces what follows
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LOCATION: Janken HQ
TIME: 1030
"Do you understand the mission?"
The white haired man looked solemnly at the teenager in front of him. He had his elbows on the mahogany desk, fingers interlaced as he leant forward, with a steady gaze and mouth in a firm line; the epitome of seriousness.
"HAI!" The mood was shattered.
-BONK-
"Itai!! What the fuck was that for Jiraya?" The cerulean eyes narrowed as the owner glared reproachfully at Director of Janken, who was now wielding a large club.
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Name: Jiraya
Age: Unknown
Appearance: Large. Has long, white, spiky hair with red markings on face.
Occupation: Director of Janken (codename Gama)
Interesting Facts: One of the three original founders and directors of Janken. Author of the famous book series, Icha Icha Paradise.
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"For being too loud, brat," sniffed the man we now know as Jiraya, "And watch your language. Tsunade will have a fit if she hears you talk like that. And she uses a bigger club."
The short teen scrunched up his face and winced, knowing what he said was well true.
"Pay attention brat! It's because of you I have to waste my morning briefing you. There's valuable research to be done for my next masterpiece!"
The teen rolled his eyes, "Right, the next edition of the infamous Icha Icha Paradise. Ever so important business," he commented dryly.
The pervert seemed to miss the sarcasm, "Now you're talking boy! So you see how I want to get this done fast."
"Relax, it's a textbook espionage job." He struck a pose, teeth glinting and thumbs up. "Nothing the great Uzumaki Naruto can't handle!"
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Name: Uzumaki Naruto
Age: 16
Appearance: Tanned skin, messy blond hair, medium length, framing an innocent looking face with cerulean eyes and three whisker-like scars on each cheek.
Occupation: Janken Agent (codename Kyuubi). Current mission: undercover as a student at Konoha Private.
Interesting Facts: Orphan. Mother died at birth, father one of the best agents in Janken history; killed in action. Current guardians: Jiraya and Tsunade, directors of Janken.
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Jiraya didn't seem to share his confidence. "Kyuubi! Relay the mission back to me."
'Kyuubi' straightened, his face becoming serious. "I am to attend Konoha Private to identify the members of the syndicate Akatsuki and infiltrate the organisation to gather data on their newest heist which we believe is going to happen in one month.
If such a heist is to be implemented I am to stop them using all necessary forces. At no point am I do kill or mortally wound any of the members of Akatsuki, their associates, or innocent civilians in the duration of this mission.
If my true identity is discovered and I am captured, under no circumstances do I reveal the purpose of the mission or any other agents working on it. From the point at which this happens, the mission will be a failure and Code Red will be called; all Janken agents on said mission are to retread immediately."
"Not to mention we expect you to get decent grades in class, brat,"
"WHAT?!" The professionalism was lost as Naruto jumped on the table and began to stomp around, "It's only for a month! I have to actually do work? Forget it! Get someone else to take the mission!"
"You've already been enrolled!"
"See if I give a damn!"
"You SHOULD!"
"I DON'T!"
"BRAT!"
"HERMIT!"
"SHORTY!"
"PERVERT!"
The two stood, faces inches apart, glaring daggers at one another. Naruto seemed to win as Jiraya turned away and muttered something under his breath.
"What was that old man? Couldn't hear you," commented Naruto cheekily.
Jiraya gritted his teeth. "I said: I'll supply you ramen for a week."
"Make it two."
"Deal."
Naruto flashed a grin, "I knew we'd come to an agreement." Jumping off the table, he turned and began towards the door.
Still glowering, Jiraya tossed a folder at the back of his head, which was caught expertly, "The car will pick you up in an hour. Be ready."
"I'm always ready!" called Naruto as he walked out, folder in hand.
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LOCATION: Konoha Private - Main Reception
TIME: 1200
'Holy crap this place is big!' was Naruto's first thought as he stepped into the reception of Konoha Private. And it was no lie. There was a large vaulted ceiling adorned with crystal chandeliers, and he couldn't help but believe that they were real crystals. When designing the place, it was obvious that the architects did nothing by half. Personally, Naruto thought that they were trying too hard, but he had to admit it looked good.
Walking up to the front desk, he presented his enrolment documents and the secretary, Shizune, went to find his guide. 'Please don't give me some stick-up-the-ass pansy boy' he prayed as she disappeared through the adjacent double doors.
Naruto checked his appearance in the large mirror on the wall opposite. Sparkling cerulean eyes, framed with messy blond hair looked back at him.
'This uniform isn't half bad', thought Naruto, liking the way that the black shoes, navy pants, and navy jacket contrasted well with the white, buttoned shirt. Roomy, good for ventilation and allowed the wearer to move relatively freely. He eyed the blazer draped over his suitcase warily. That was one garment he was in no hurry to don.
Naruto surveyed the room, 'Damn, this place stinks of money. Hope the pervert and the old hag knew what they were doing when they chose me for this.
Alright, step one of the Janken Agent's Handbook, Chapter 4: Espionage, "When confronted with foreign surroundings, ensure that observations are made regarding the unique features of the area such that the agent is aware of characteristics that either assist with, or hinder, the mission."
The author sure liked to talk in a roundabout way,' Naruto scowled, as he took mental notes. 'Two security cameras visible, one exit to the exterior and two doors to other rooms, the school garage and a hallway according to the map, that's three possible exits, five if I count the windows. Front door would be my first choice, but it's usually the most obvious so the enemy usually booby-traps that one-'
His assessment as cut short by the sound of approaching footsteps and Naruto turned to see Shizune return with a dark haired boy.
"Good morning Mr Uzumaki, I apologise for the wait. Welcome to Konoha Private. This is Hyuuga Neji, he will be your guide around the school."
The boy stepped forward and offered his hand formally, "Nice to meet you…"
"Naruto", Naruto replied, grinning, as he took the hand and shook it firmly.
"If you would follow me," said Neji, turning, "Your bags will be taken up to your room separately." Naruto followed Neji, eager to see the school.
"This is the gymnasium," commented Neji as they entered a large room with many adjacent rooms in which the doors and walls were transparent.
'No shit' thought Naruto, looking around at the gymnastics room, aerobics room and rock climbing wall. His gaze lingered on a number of female students stretching and then wandered to appraise the shirtless males who were in the weights room. Preoccupied as he was, he didn't notice Neji glancing at him and smirking.
A loud call brought him out of his stupor, "NEJI-SAMA!"
Neji sighed as the green-clad boy with the bowl-cut hair ran towards them. Naruto's eyes widened as he came nearer, '…eyebrows…' The boy came to a stop before them, but continued to jog on the spot. "Neji-sama! Have you come to compete with me in the contest of YOUTH!?"
"No, Lee," Neji declined politely. "I'm quite busy right now, I am escorting the new student, Uzumaki Naruto, around the school."
Lee stopped jogging and turned towards Naruto slowly, who continued to stare, '…thick…eyebrows…'
"I am Rock Lee! It's nice to meet you Naruto-san on this glorious day of YOUTH!"
'…Fuzzy…thick…eyebrows…' Naruto, still in a state of shock, was nudged by Neji. "O-oh!" He flashed a grin, "it's good to meet you too Lee-san."
"Please, just Lee," beamed the boy, resuming his jogging on the spot.
"Only if you call me Naruto," grinned Naruto, taking a liking to this strange boy. 'He's alright once you get past the eyebrows.'
Lee's eyes suddenly became large and watery, and he clasped his hands together, "Isn't it wonderful that in these seasons of youth that we can-" His monologue was cut off by a small cough from Neji. "Excuse us Lee, but we really must be getting along."
"Say no more, say no more! I shall now go and run 50 laps around the oval! And if I fail that I'll do 100 push-ups! And if I can't complete that I'll do 200 sit ups!" Lee began to jog in the direction of what Naruto presumed to be the oval. "I'll see you later Naruto-kun, Neji-sama!"
"Bye Fuzzy-brows!" called Naruto.
The remainder of the tour was uneventful, and as they headed towards the dormitory, Neji stopped in front of a noticeboard. "It's a rule at this school that all students must be part of some sort of co-curricular activity or club. We have a huge range to choose from, so I'm sure it won't be difficult to select one."
"What club are you in?" asked Naruto as he skimmed over the list. 'Drama club-not likely. Music-no way. Chess-Chess! YEAH BABY! cough sure…Cooking Club-ramen's the only thing worth cooking. Sports-hum…ok. Volleyball, netball, basketball, tennis, soccer, athletics. All boring'.
Before Neji could answer, there was a loud siren, signalling the start of lunch.
"Look's like it's time to go," said Neji. "Remember where the cafeteria is?" he teased.
Naruto gasped and pretended to look insulted, "I do thankyou-very-much!" He walked away with his nose in the air. Neji chuckled, to which Naruto replied with an icy glare, although it held no malice.
"The cafeteria is that way," pointed Neji, chuckling slightly. Naruto scowled, pink dusting his cheeks as he brushed passed Neji and began walking in the right direction. Still chuckling, Neji followed.
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LOCATION: Konoha Private - Cafeteria
TIME: 1300
The cafeteria at Konoha Private is better described as nothing short of a food court. With foods of every shape, smell and colour all under one roof, it was guaranteed that you would find whatever your taste buds desired.
As they entered the cafeteria, Naruto was in the process of convincing Neji to treat him to ramen.
"Neeee-jiiiiiiiii!" groaning Naruto, a sound to which Neji blushed profusely and tried to ignore the images in his head with Naruto writhing underneath him, moaning his na-
A sharp tug on his sleeve disconnected that train of thought, and Neji felt grateful for it. Neji looked down at the messy blond hair attached to his arm and saw large, blue puppy dog eyes stare back at him. He groaned inwardly, damn those puppy dog eyes. "Fine, fine. I'll treat you to ramen. Don't blame me if you get fat," muttered Neji.
"Humph! My body is fine just the way it is," retorted Naruto, releasing his arm and running towards the nearest ramen counter. Neji couldn't help but agree, and followed, with a small smile tugging at his lips.
Students who had witnessed this little interaction were frozen in their seats, still recovering from the shock of seeing Neji, Hyuuga Neji acting nice or even, dare they say it?, friendly towards another human being. It was no secret that Hyuuga Neji, President of the Student Council, rarely interacted with others unless he was required to. Even then, he was never nice, only tolerant. Some felt that this was a sign of impending doom.
Just as they had gotten a bowl of miso ramen each, Neji began to beep. "Excuse me," he said, as he pulled out a pager and glanced at the message. "I apologise Naruto, I have urgent business I must attend to now. Will you be all right from here?" For a brief moment, concern flashed across his face and surrounding observers fell comatose due to shock.
Naruto waved him off with a grin, "I'll be fine Neji. You go off and do your business thing."
"Here, you can have this," Neji placed his bowl of ramen onto Naruto's tray. "I look forward to seeing you again Naruto."
"You too Neji," Naruto waved as he headed through the doors. 'Now…where to sit. I'll need to be careful with this, the group has to have some connection with the Akatsuki without being too obvious that they're who I'm interested in.' He scanned the cafeteria, and noticed people were already giving him strange and enquiring looks.
"Naruto-kun! Over here!"
Naruto turned to the familiar voice and saw Lee waving enthusiastically at him. Still calculating, he surveyed the people on the table and smiled inwardly when he saw a familiar face.
"Hey Fuzzy-brows!" He greeted, seating himself opposite Lee.
"Everybody, this is Naruto-kun. Naruto-kun, this is everybody!" introduced Lee, bouncing up and down on his seat. "Is it not YOUTHFUL that we meet again during the wond-"
He was cut off, this time by a dark haired girl with her hair in two buns on either side of her head. "Now's not the time Lee," turning to Naruto, she said "Hi! I'm Tenten!" The rest then started introducing themselves.
"H-h-hi N-naruto-kun. I'm H-Hyuuga H-Hinata," said a girl timidly.
"Hyuuga? So you're related to Neji?"
Hinata nodded, but then went red in the face and was unable to reply.
The boy next to her had dark, spiky hair, sunglasses and a coat with the collar pulled up to cover the lower half of his face. He nodded and said "…"
Naruto was nonplussed.
"He said: My name is Aburame Shino. Nice to meet you," supplied the next boy along. He had sharp canine teeth, red face paint on his cheeks 'Like Jiraya-sama', a grey hoodie and, curiously, a small white dog's head poking out of the top of his jacket. "I'm Inuzuka Kiba, and this is Akamaru," he introduced.
"Cool dog," said Naruto, raising his hand so it was under Akamaru's nose.
-CHOMP-
"Itai!" yelled Naruto, as the dog latched onto his hand. "Getitoffgetitoffgetitoff!" He shook his hand wildly, hoping to dislodge the animal.
"Heh. He must really like you," mused Kiba, once Akamaru had let go of Naruto's appendage.
Naruto leapt up from his seat, held back by Lee, Tenten and Hinata, and attempted to pummel the boy.
"Akimichi Chouji," nodded a large, well-rounded boy who had a swirl on each cheek. He was currently opening a bag of potato chips.
"Wow, you're really f-" began Naruto, but he never finished his sentence as Kiba nudged him painfully in the ribs and Akamaru growled warningly.
Chouji lowered the bag of chips. "Did you say something?"
Naruto gulped slightly, "No! Not at all!"
After a tense moment Chouji returned to eating chips and the atmosphere relaxed.
Naruto turned to the last member of the table, laughing inwardly, 'trust Janken to put this guy on the mission.' Dark eyes turned towards him with a bored expression.
'It's good to see you again,' said Naruto's gaze, who had long perfected the art of silent communication.
'You too, idiot.'
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Okay! First chapter done! Please review and tell me what you think! Flames, comments, one word reviews, it's all good :D
Can anyone guess who the last person is?? Not actually that hard -sweatdrop-
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