Chapter 8: Chapter eight First C-rank mission
The next morning
Naruto stirred awake as the rays of sunshine hit his face. Groaning in protest, he got up and went to the bathroom. 'I must admit you were right, Kit,' said Kurama. 'Seeing you train and Kakashi using the time since you weren't with the Uchiha to properly train her.' 'Which I'm glad for.' Narutomentally said. 'But she seemed to have a lot of inner conflict.'
'Hmm, you noticed it too,' said Kurama. 'Yeah, I could sense it with my Jōgan, although it seemed like someone else was talking to her like we do,' thought Naruto as he continued. 'However, I didn't feel any danger. So I'll leave it for now, but I'll let Kakashi sensei know.' With that, he finished dressing up and eating before leaving as he arrived at the Hokage Tower. "Morning, Sakura-san," Naruto greeted her as he appeared, receiving a grunt in reply due to how sore she was from all the training they had done the previous day. "Sleep well?" "I was out like a light as soon as my head hit the pillow," she responded. "How often do you guys train like that?"
"We try to train every day," Said Naruto with a shrug, as Sakura looked at him. "Every day?" She questions. "Yup, Anko-chan and I sometimes spar, but she doesn't know how to hold back," he said only to hear. "Hmmph, like a woman would make a good sparring partner," sneered the Uchiha as he walked up to them, earning a glare from Naruto. "I bet the only thing that whore is good for is spreading..." Sasuke couldn't finish his sentence as killing intent flooded the training ground, erupting from the blonde who looked at Sasuke with barely restrained fury, causing the raven-haired emo to drop to his knees. Surprisingly, Sakura was unaffected as Naruto was focusing it all on Sasuke.
"I wouldn't finish that if I were you," said Naruto in a low, cold voice. One that promised unimaginable pain if not heeded. Only for Naruto to be stopped by Kakashi when he touched his shoulders. "That's enough, Naruto, I'll make sure he gets what he deserves." Said Kakashi seriously he heard what Sasuke said he may have been a pervert who openly read porn but one thing he hated and instilled in Naruto since he started training him was to respect women. He remembered his sister-like figure, Kushina, being the only one to help him when he had lost his father, followed by the death of Rin.
Hokage tower
"I'm not going to keep doing these useless jobs, I'm an Uchiha, an elite, not a damn peasant, to do this kind of work!" Sasuke shouted, already fed up with the D-rank missions. "Genin Sasuke Uchiha," said the Hokage, "You will carry out the missions assigned to you, and I will not accept any complaints about it, that's clear,r," said the Hokage with a bit of killer instinct directed towards the rebellious genin. "H-Hai, Hokage-sama," Sasuke said, trembling with fear. "But, taking this opportunity, I would like to request a higher mission, Hokage-sama." Kakashi showed he wasn't reading his usual book."Wait, Kakashi-san, they just graduated from the academy and shouldn't be able to have higher-ranking missions yet," said Iruka, who was now the Hokage's assistant.
Hiruzen raised his hand to stop the former academy instructor, then put his hands together and looked at the Silver-haired Jonin. "Kakashi, do you think your team is ready to carry out C-rank missions?" the Hokage asked, causing Iruka to be surprised, seeing his leader consider Hatake's idea. "Of course, Hokage-sama, I think my team is ready," Said Kakashi, without a doubt nodding. 'Naruto is very capable. If I was knocked out, he could take on the leadership. His clones and skills are enough to get them out of a pinch. Sakura is starting to train seriously, but she still has a long way to go to catch up to her teammates. However, her dieting, followed by the lack of training and the minimum training while in the academy, affected her more than she knew. Lastly, Sasuke, who is talented, is not as talented as Itachi, but he still has potential. If he didn't limit himself, he might have a chance. This mission can also ground him and maybe teach him humility.' Kakashi's thoughts look at his team, who seems to be in different states of emotions.
"Well, you're in luck. Just now, we received a C-rank mission," said the Hokage, looking at Iruka and signaling him. The chunin seemed hesitant about his leader's decision, but in the end, he nodded and left the room. "The mission is to escort a builder to the village of Nami no Kuni so that he can finish building a bridge. You will have to protect him from bandits or thieves that you may find along the way," said the leader of the leaf. 5 minutes later the doors of the Hokage's office opened again and a man entered he was of medium height, wore glasses, both his hair and beard were gray, he wore a black sleeveless shirt and black pants along with a pair of sandals, he also wore a towel around his body and a pointed hat.
"These brats are in charge of protecting me. I paid for a group of shinobi, not a gang of brats," said the man, looking at the group of genins while he took out a bottle and drank it. "I assure you, my team is fully capable of ensuring your safety, sir…" Kakashi said. "Tazuna and I are a super bridge builder," he said, pointing to himself while sipping his bottle. "Well, with that out of the way, Team 7, go home and get ready for a month of travel," Kakashi indicated, turning to his team. "We will meet at the village gate at noon," declared Hatake, receiving a nod from his entire team. So that everyone could leave the office and get ready.
Village gate a few hours later
After gathering his things, Naruto told Anko, Yugao, Mikoto, Ayame, Teuchi, Ino, Hinata, and Hana. That he would go on a mission for a month, he told Tsubaki that she would be staying with Anko and Yugao while he was gone something that made her nod a little sad he would be leaving, and he said goodbye to all the girls with a kiss on the mouth with Hinata, Yugao and Anko, and with a kiss on the cheek in the rest causing a blush in the rest of the girls.
As he walked up to the village, he heard, "Great, neither Naruto nor Kakashi-sensei is here yet," Sakura commented, a little irritated. "They should at least arrive early for our first C-rank mission," Haruno said as Naruto appeared behind her with his signature swirl of leafs "Yo" he said making her let out a surprised yelp, and if it were a sign, Kakashi appeared along with the client who already seemed a little drunk.
"Hello, my cute little genins," said Kakashi with an eye smile. "YOU'RE LATE!" screeched Sakura." Anyway, since we have a civilian, it will take us at least three days to get to Nami no Kuni," Kakashi said, ignoring what she said and informing Team 7. "So, keep an eye out for possible bandits along the way," the silver-haired jonin said, causing Tazuna to shudder a little, which was noticed by Kakashi and Naruto.
'Seems like there's more to this mission than he's letting on' thought both Naruto and Kakashi as they decided to play along. When their eyes met, they knew the other suspected something was wrong.
Hokage Tower at the same time.
Hiruzen, as usual, was in pain as he was signing another paper, only to see the stack of paperwork he had barely finished being replaced by another one that appeared out of nowhere. "Damn it, this has no end," said the Hokage, who began to cry anime-style as he started again with the new pile in front of him, but before he started his door was knocked again. Permitting him to enter, the Third Hokage was surprised to see Iruka hand him a letter from the bank. So he opened it and began to read it, when Sarutobi finished reading the letter he could only smile.
"Now this is good news," Hiruzen said to himself as he leaned back in his seat, as the letter told him that all of the savings in the Uzumaki and Senju clan accounts and Minato's account had been completely withdrawn.' This was much easier than I thought, maybe those idiots believed that no one could ever claim Naruto's inheritance, hehe what a bunch of idiots ' thought Hiruzen letting out a few laughs in the air ' With this I can at least compensate a little for my faults ' he said mentally to the third Hokage remembering everything Naruto suffered and what he could not do for him.
' I hope that with this I can redeem myself, at least a little,' Hiruzen thought, then looked far away. ' But I hope you're ready for everything that's to come, Naruto,' he reflected on the new problems that were going to arise with the revelation and the obligations they carried with Naruto's legacy. At that, Hiruzen sighed and stopped thinking about that to return to his work, then he saw that the two piles of paperwork had doubled and were now four. "How is this possible? I was only distracted for a moment," said the old Hokage, beginning his torture or his work, where you could see how the Kage had anime-style tears running down his face. This made the hidden Anbu feel sorry for their leader.
On the other side of the village
It hadn't even been an hour, and the snake mistress already missed her partner. Letting out a sigh, she entered the dango stand to see Yugao with Tsubaki and Kurenai waiting for her. She could only imagine her friend's feelings since she couldn't be openly affectionate with their boyfriend. She also noticed the sad look on Tsubaki, who started to hang out with them after she became Naruto's slave, in a sense growing close to him. Walking by the purple-hair Anbu and Tsubaki, and gave them a comforting rub on the back before taking a seat on the other side of Kurenai, who didn't look to be in such a good mood.
"What's got you so down?" asked the red-eyed beauty, not used to seeing her loud and boisterous friend so quiet and subdued. "It's the first time he will be away from him for so long." Yugao supplied, earning a curious look from the genjutsu mistress. "He?" she asked, remembering the snake mistress was seeing someone. But she had been so wrapped up in her relationship that she thought it was perfect. Until now, that is. "Yeah, her boyfriend, mate, fiance, whatever you want to call him," Yugao said, chucking at her friend's cluelessness. "I know that!" snapped Kurenai. "I was just asking what his name was."
"Naruto," said Anko as she gazed into nothingness. "Wait, Naruto?" Kurenai exclaimed. "As in Genin Naruto Uzumaki." "The one and only," the three giggled at her reaction. But both Anko and Yugao noticed Tsubaki become sad as she put on a smile."Isn't he a little too young for you?" she questioned. "I'm only five years older than him," Anko replied. "Besides the moment he put on the headband, he became an adult in the eyes of the village," said Anko.
Kurenai could only shake her head in response to the sudden dump of information on her. However, this caused her to frown slightly as she recalled what had happened a few days ago between Kiba and Hinata. "Something wrong?" Yugao asked, noticing the genjutsu mistress's expression. "No, I could have sworn that Hinata was dating Naruto." She answered honestly
"Why did you think that?" Anko asked. "It wasn't like Naruto and I hid that we were together. Hell, I'm surprised you didn't know." Kurenai sighed. "It's just that Kiba teased Hinata a few days ago about always being with Naruto."
"Well, they are close," said Anko, catching Yugao's giggle. She managed to cover up skillfully. "A lot of the times, she will go over to his apartment or mine, depending on where he is to hang out."
"Aren't you worried that she might steal him?" Asked Kurenai, frowning. Anko only shook her head. "Nope. There are no secrets between Naruto-kun and me." She smiled again. "Well, ladies, I have to report to the Hokage tower for my shift." The purple-haired anbu stated as she got up from her seat. "I'll catch you up later, and Tsubaki, stay with Anko until my shift finishes," she said as Tsubaki nodded.
With that, Yugao flickered to the Hokage tower, leaving them to talk. "Alright, spill it, Nai-chan," said Anko, catching Kurenai off guard. "What's bothering you?" "What do you mean?" "Kurenai, we know something is troubling you, so spill it. We are your friends," said Tsubaki with a serious and gentle look at her. Kurenai was surprised and was about to refute it when she saw Anko's serious look. "It's that bastard of Asuma." When the red-eyed Jonin said those words, Anko was slightly confused. "What happened? What did he do?" asked the snake tamer, watching as her friend tried to suppress her anger, or failing that, her sadness, while clenching her fists.
"It turns out that the damn bastard was cheating on me with another Kunoichi," said the Jonin of team 8 while a small tear formed in one of her red eyes, this made Anko growl annoyed "And when I confronted him, the bastard told me that it was my fault for not wanting to have sex with him and that I had forced him to do this," said Kurenai who began to clench her fists tighter and then relaxed them. "The only good thing is that I got to try out a new Genjutsu on the bastard," said the Genjutsu master as she let out a small laugh that contained clear sadness. For her part, the purple-haired girl was indignant and was almost about to leave the place so that she, Asuma, and a few of her snakes could get into a conversation. "Maybe if there was –", but before Kurenai could continue speaking, she was surprised when Anko hit the table with her fist, cracking it a little.
"Don't you dare finish that sentence," Anko said with fury in her words. "If that fucking cheater Asuma couldn't wait for you to be ready to take that step, then he didn't deserve you," the purple-haired girl said with pure conviction in her voice. "Something as sacred as that you have to give it to the person you love and trust if that person truly loves you they will respect you and wait for you to be ready to take that step," said the snake tamer, who was surprised Kurenai "If that person doesn't do it, then that person is not worth your time,e," said Anko firmly.
Kurenai was stunned since Anko usually told people to do whatever they wanted, and seeing her say such things was impressive and, to some extent, terrifying, knowing her sadistic practices. But when the crimson-eyed Jonin thought about his words, an idea, or rather a question, came to her head. "Anko, you say this from experience, right?" Kurenai asked hesitantly, but seeing her friend's face turn a bright red gave her the information the brunette needed. "OH my God, you two have already done it!!" Kurenai almost screamed at this information. "Yes, we both did," the purple-haired girl said while laughing lightly, as she didn't see the point in hiding that fact. "And just so you know, he suggested we wait until he graduated to do it," Anko said.
"But I don't regret waiting, he was so caring and gentle, he made sure I was ready and we went at our own pace, that's why I love him," Anko said with a huge smile that showed pure happiness ' Plus the fact that he's well endowed for his age ' the snake summoner thought to herself. While all this was happening, Tsubaki's head lowered a bit as a pain in her heart was she jealous of Anko? Did she start to have feelings for Naruto? When did they form?
Both Tsubaki and the Genjutsu mistress couldn't help but feel jealous of their friend. To have found someone that was that considerate of his partner, even if he was a little young in someone's eyes, was Something she wished she would have someday. "Careful, Anko," Kurenai smirked playfully. "Keep bragging about him, and I might have to seduce him myself." Seeing that, the purple-haired girl decided to return the joke and play a little with her friend. "You can try, but he doesn't go down fast. It might be you joining us," quipped Anko.
The red-eyed beauty only blushed in response as her more perverted imagination began to run steamy images. "Well, it's getting late, so Tsubaki, we'll have it back." She paid for the tab and the damage she caused. Leaving Kurenai with some images of the blonde and her in some positions.
With Team seven
It had been three days since they departed from the village. For the most part, the trip had been quiet and calm between them, with Sakura occasionally striking up with the bridge builder and Kakashi answering them from time to time. Of course, this was only after she had tried and failed multiple times to get Sasuke to talk to her. Kakashi was reading his favorite orange book, acting as if he was distracted, even letting out perverse giggles to make it more believable. In reality, he was observing everything and making mental notes on his team's weak points. Naruto was currently writing on a notepad, being an accomplished writer and author of the book series Demon Heart. Only a few people knew about this, and those who knew were extremely close to him.
While walking, he noticed a puddle. 'It hasn't rained in the last two weeks.' thought Naruto. He closed his eyes by a tree and used it to sense chakra nearby. Opening them, he made anbu hand signs to Kakashi, who motioned to hold in position with his own. Sakura was the only one to notice their interaction, as she quietly eyed the puddles as well.
Soon, Team 7 passed the puddle and began to move away from it, but when they were almost 3 meters from the puddle, the ambush happened. Two masked figures jumped out of the puddles and threw a bladed chain that wrapped around Kakashi before he could react. They pulled, tearing him into pieces, prompting Sakura to scream in horror at seeing her sensei get killed. Despite himself, Sasuke froze upon seeing Kakashi die before he produced a shuriken and Kunai. Throwing them both as they lodged the chain the two assassins used into a tree, which forced them to disconnect themselves.
Not wasting time exchanging words, the assassins launched their attacks. One launched himself against Naruto, who was standing with his black blade in hand. The blonde hanyou easily blocked his attack, before looking around to see how the other masked figure jumped over Sasuke, before he kicked him in the back, before Sasuke could react and sent him to the ground as the attacked used that to springboard himself and launch an attack on Sakura and the bridge builder. 'stupid Uchiha' thought Naruto with Sasuke being taken out so easily.
Parrying the strike, Naruto quickly formed a kunai from the hilt of his sword to deliver a quick wound in the arm as he sidestepped him, making him fall as he used the back of his hilt to knock out his attacker. Without hesitation, he used substitution, replacing himself with Sakura before it was too late, blocking the strike with his blade as he showed signs of struggle. "That's the second time he has done that to save you, you know.' Inner pointed out to Sakura as she stared in disbelief with a slight blush. Naruto leaned back a bit, unbalancing the attacker as he slid down, doing a low sweep.
While Sakura was watching, she heard a groan. Before she could turn around, Kakashi appeared, knocking out the attacker with a hand appearing in front of the attacker's throat. "Very good. My cute little genins, there is still some work that could be done, but you did well overall." As they took out ninja wire and started to wrap it around them. "AAHAHHA A GHOST!!" Tazuna shouted as he saw Kakashi in one piece just after he had seen him cut into several pieces a while ago.
"Don't worry, Tazuna-san, I'm not a ghost," said Hatake, trying to calm his client. After spending a good amount of time convincing the builder that Kakashi was still alive, the Jonin gathered the group together. "Now, let's see what we have here," said the silver-haired Jonin, pulling out a different book from the one he usually read. "Gozu and Meizu, missing-nin from Kirigakure. Known as the demon brothers."
"Have you had any run-ins with them before, Kakashi-sensei?" Asked Naruto. "Nope, this is the first time I've met them," said the Jonin lazily. "Well, Tazuna-san, it seems like you owe us an explanation." Said the Silver-haired Jonin with a serious tone. "Since at no point did you mention anything about a potential shinobi threat over your head," said Kakashi, seeing how the man resigned himself. The silver-haired jonin looked towards his blonde student. "Naruto interrogates our unexpected guest to see if he can chant the name of the person who sent him after Tazuna.
"You can use any method Anko has taught you," said Kakashi, receiving a nod from the blonde. "Sakura, you, Sasuke, and I will interrogate Tazuna since it seems that he has not given us all the information about this mission," said Kakashi, receiving a nod from his remaining students. Sasuke was about to argue, but he spoke up again. "Understood," said the Hatake in a deep voice that ended up talking to the dark-haired boy.
At first, the builder refused to answer any questions, but as soon as Naruto joined the conversation where they saw how the man still refused to say anything, but the moment Kakashi told him that they would have to leave him in that place for having deceived them, Tazuna quickly retracted and let everything out. He began to explain the situation Nami was in since the country that once prospered in fishing and maritime transport had changed overnight when a guy named Gato.
According to Tazuna, Gato had taken over all of the fishing businesses in town, causing several local businesses to go bankrupt or be bought out by him, but it didn't end there, according to Tazuna, Gato began hiring criminals as collectors of the new taxes that the businessman began to demand from the town. What slowly destroyed and ended the place was the worst thing: when people who could not pay these taxes were murdered, their families were kidnapped and used as slaves. All men, regardless of age, were used as forced labor or were simply killed at the whims of Gato and his men.
Many of the children suffered a fate similar to the women, who were held and used by the criminal boss's men or by the boss himself for his amusement and then sold as simple slaves to the highest bidder. Some resisted and tried to fight Gato and his men, but unfortunately, they failed and were killed in the middle of the village as a warning to the citizens. Much of Team 7 was outraged at what they were hearing, and Naruto only clenched his fist trying to suppress his anger."Just getting out of the village consumed quite a bit of the money I was able to get," the builder said as he knelt before the entire Konoha group.
"Please, I beg you, help me complete this bridge. It is the only salvation for my people. I only lied because I could not pay for a higher-ranking mission. I beg you, help me save my people and my family," begged the construct. "I see," Kakashi sighed, looking at his team and then at the man. "Normally, since they lied about the mission objective, the normal thing would be to abandon the mission and give a report of all this," said the Hatake, making the builder feel great pressure throughout his body. "No, we push forward," Sasuke interrupted. "I am an Uchiha! I will not run away like a weak coward because of some stupid, scared old man. Once I unlock my Sharingan, I will be unstoppable and one step closer to fulfilling my ambition!"
"While I don't tend to agree with duck butt over here," Naruto said earning a glare from Sasuke. "This mission is more of a double-edged sword than anything. If we abandon our client, it will set a bad precedent for the village. But if we complete this mission, it will increase the village's reputation among other potential clients." "And you, Sakura?" The silver-haired sensei turned his attention to the pink-haired girl. "I-I agree with Naruto." She stated, earning a raised eyebrow from the masked Jonin. Normally, she would agree with Sasuke, not Naruto. The man couldn't deny that Naruto had made a much better case than the Uchiha did. "I'd rather do a B-rank mission than do another one of those annoying D-rank missions. It's a perfect opportunity to test my skills," Sasuke said.
After a moment of thought, Kakashi retook the stage. "Alright, you heard Tazuna-san, my team and I will continue with the mission," said the white-haired man, making the builder raise his head only to put it back on the ground and thank the group. "But..." said the Hatake, interrupting the man's words of happiness. "I hope you keep in mind that you will have to pay the mission fee once it is completed and your village has recovered," Kakashi said, to which the old man nodded, almost crying with joy. After this, Kakashi set to work ensuring the two Kiri shinobi were firmly confined before summoning one of his dog summons to return them to Konoha for interrogation and to collect the bounty on the two.