The massive green gates of Konohagakure had never looked so inviting.
To a traveler, they were just wood and paint. To a ninja returning from a mission that had gone horribly, wonderfully wrong, they looked like the pearly gates of heaven.
"We're hoooooome!" Naruto shouted, throwing his hands in the air. He sprinted the last fifty yards, startling the eternal gatekeepers, Izumo and Kotetsu.
"Whoa, easy there, Naruto," Izumo laughed, marking a clipboard. "Back already? We heard the Land of Waves mission was just a bridge escort. Took you long enough."
Naruto skidded to a halt, clutching a small, crudely carved wooden ship against his chest like it was a nugget of gold. "It wasn't just a bridge! It was epic! There were assassins! And ice mirrors! And a pirate who went WOOSH and everyone fell down!"
Kotetsu blinked. "A pirate? In the Land of Waves?"
"It's a long story," Kakashi said, walking up behind his student. He looked worse for wear. His flak jacket was scuffed, his gait was a bit uneven, and the bags under his single visible eye were heavy.
Sasuke and Sakura followed. They walked differently now. There was a new solidity to their steps. They weren't the fresh academy graduates who had left two weeks ago. They had seen death. They had seen war. And they had seen a monster who claimed to be a friend.
"Welcome back, Kakashi," Izumo said, sensing the shift in atmosphere. "Tough run?"
"You could say that," Kakashi sighed. "I need to report to Lord Hokage immediately. Mission status... escalated."
"Escalated to what?"
Kakashi paused, looking at the dent in the metal plate of his vest.
"Escalated to S-Rank," he said quietly.
The guards stiffened. S-Rank. That meant catastrophe. That meant Akatsuki level, or Tailed Beast level threats.
"Team 7, dismissed," Kakashi ordered. "Go home. Rest. Wash the salt off. We resume training in three days. And... don't try the exercises Shanks taught you without supervision. I don't want you tearing a muscle."
"But Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto protested. "I wanna show Iruka-sensei my cool wooden ship!"
"Show him," Kakashi agreed. "But keep the details of the... red lightning... to yourself for now. It's classified until I speak to the Old Man."
Naruto pouted but nodded. "Fine. See ya, Sasuke! See ya, Sakura!"
He bolted toward the village, his orange jumpsuit a blur. Sasuke gave a silent nod and walked toward the Uchiha district. Sakura lingered for a moment, looking at Kakashi.
"Sensei," she asked softly. "Is he... is Shanks going to be okay?"
Kakashi looked at the horizon behind them. "People like Shanks don't worry about being okay, Sakura. They worry about being bored. He'll be fine."
She smiled, relieved, and headed home.
Kakashi stood alone at the gate for a moment. He touched the notebook in his pouch. He had written the report three times. None of them made sense.
"Well," he muttered. "Time to face the music."
** The Hokage's Office**
The room smelled of old paper and pipe tobacco. The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, sat behind his desk, his wizened face illuminated by the late afternoon sun filtering through the window.
He put down his calligraphy brush as Kakashi entered.
"Kakashi," Hiruzen smiled warmly. "I see you've returned. I trust the bridge builder is safe?"
"The mission was a success, Lord Hokage," Kakashi said, standing at attention. "The bridge is complete. Gato's shipping monopoly is broken. The economy of the Land of Waves is recovering."
"Excellent," Hiruzen nodded, reaching for his pipe. "A textbook C-Rank mission, then? A good experience for the Genin."
"No, sir," Kakashi said. "It was not C-Rank. We encountered Zabuza Momochi of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. Twice."
Hiruzen froze, the lighter halfway to his pipe. "Zabuza? A Demon of the Mist? That elevates this to an A-Rank immediately. Are the children unharmed?"
"They are. They performed admirably. Naruto and Sasuke unlocked significant potential."
"Good. Good." Hiruzen lit his pipe, puffing a small cloud of smoke. "If Zabuza was there, I assume you defeated him?"
"I... survived him," Kakashi corrected. "But the primary variable of the mission was not Zabuza. Nor was it his partner, the Ice Release user Haku."
Hiruzen's eyes narrowed. "Explain."
Kakashi reached into his vest and pulled out a scroll. He placed it on the desk.
"We encountered a third party. An unaffiliated combatant who arrived in the Land of Waves by chance. He calls himself 'Shanks'. 'Red-Haired Shanks'."
Hiruzen picked up the scroll but didn't open it yet. "A mercenary?"
"He calls himself a pirate," Kakashi said. "One arm. Left arm missing. Wields a saber. No headband. No village affiliation."
"And is this pirate a threat?"
Kakashi took a deep breath. "Lord Hokage... in my professional estimation, if Shanks decided to attack Konoha, we would need to mobilize the entire Anbu Black Ops, the Jonin Council, and likely you... and I still don't know if we would win."
The silence in the office was deafening. Hiruzen put his pipe down slowly.
"Kakashi," the old man said gravely. "You are not prone to exaggeration. You are comparing a lone drifter to a Tailed Beast attack."
"I am," Kakashi confirmed. He tapped his chest. "Look at my vest."
Hiruzen leaned forward. He saw the deep, concave dent in the reinforced steel plate over Kakashi's heart.
"A hammer blow?" Hiruzen asked. "Or an Earth Release projectile?"
"A flick," Kakashi said.
Hiruzen blinked. "I beg your pardon?"
"We sparred. He flicked me with his middle finger. I was sent flying thirty meters and cracked a tree trunk upon impact. He was not using chakra."
Hiruzen sat back, his chair creaking. "No chakra?"
"None," Kakashi insisted. "My Sharingan saw nothing. His chakra network is completely dormant. It's as if he is a civilian. Yet his physical speed rivals the Fourth Hokage's Body Flicker, and his strength is comparable to Lady Tsunade."
"That is... biologically impossible," Hiruzen muttered.
"He calls it 'Haki'," Kakashi continued. "He claims it is the manifestation of willpower. He demonstrated three forms. One allows him to sense presence miles away. One allows him to harden his skin or weapon to turn it black and cut through stone like butter."
"And the third?"
Kakashi hesitated. He remembered the feeling on the bridge. The sky turning purple. The air tasting like ozone. The absolute, crushing weight of a King.
"The third... he calls 'Conqueror's Haki'. He unleashed it on Gato's army."
"Army?"
"Three hundred mercenaries," Kakashi detailed. "Shanks didn't touch them. He didn't weave a sign. He simply... projected his will. All three hundred men lost consciousness instantly. Foaming at the mouth. Even Zabuza was forced to his knees. I... I barely remained standing, and I was behind him."
Hiruzen closed his eyes. He was visualizing the report. A man who could knock out an army with a look. A man who could flick a Jounin through a tree. A man with no chakra to sense or seal.
"Where is he now?" Hiruzen asked sharply.
"He left," Kakashi said. "He took a boat east. He said he was going to the Land of Iron to find sake."
"You didn't detain him?"
"I couldn't," Kakashi admitted bluntly. "And... he didn't show hostility. He protected my team. He mentored Naruto. He saved the village. He seems... chaotic, but benevolent."
"And Zabuza?"
"Zabuza Momochi has defected from the mercenary life," Kakashi said, a hint of disbelief in his own voice. "He joined Shanks. He is now the first mate of the 'Red Hair Pirates'."
Hiruzen rubbed his temples. "So, we have a Kage-level entity with a Seven Swordsman as his subordinate, sailing around the uncontrolled waters?"
"Yes, sir."
Hiruzen picked up the scroll and opened it. He scanned Kakashi's detailed notes. The physical training. The 'Six Powers'. The lack of Ninjutsu knowledge.
"Naruto... has attached himself to this man?" Hiruzen asked softly.
"Naruto idolizes him," Kakashi said. "Shanks gave him a parting gift. A carving. He promised they would meet again."
Hiruzen swiveled his chair to look out the window at the village. The Stone Faces looked down on them.
"A man with no chakra... a man outside the system." Hiruzen mused. "If Danzo hears about this, he will want to capture him for study. He will want to know how a body can achieve such power."
"That would be a mistake," Kakashi warned. "Shanks is not someone you can cage. If Root tries to take him... I fear there won't be a Root left."
"I agree," Hiruzen sighed. He grabbed a red stamp and pressed it onto the scroll.
SS-RANK SECRET.
"This stays between us for now, Kakashi. I will inform the barrier teams to watch for his description, but purely for observation. We do not engage Red-Haired Shanks unless he attacks first."
Hiruzen looked at the drawing Kakashi had made of Shanks—the red hair, the scars.
"A pirate..." Hiruzen chuckled dryly. "Just when I thought I'd seen everything in this ninja world."
"He invited Naruto to join his crew," Kakashi added. "Eventually."
Hiruzen's eyes snapped open. "And?"
"Naruto declined. He said he has to become Hokage first."
Hiruzen smiled, a genuine, relieved smile. "Good. The Will of Fire is strong."
"But," Kakashi paused at the door. "Shanks told him that walls keep people in. He told him that the world is wide. I think... I think Naruto learned something from him that we couldn't teach. Something about freedom."
Kakashi bowed and exited the room.
Hiruzen sat alone in the fading light. He picked up his pipe again.
Freedom, he thought. A dangerous concept for a Jinchuriki. But perhaps... perhaps exactly what the boy needed.
He looked at the file one last time.
Name: Shanks.
Affiliation: None.
Threat Level: Unknown (Catastrophic Potential).
Note: Do not provoke.
Hiruzen opened a drawer and dropped the file inside, burying it under stack of treaties and budget reports.
"I have a feeling," the Third Hokage whispered to the empty room, "that we haven't heard the last of this Emperor."