Naruto: Tango with Death

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So, in hindsight, maybe I should have seen it coming, but Laiko whined like a bitch, and it took the combined efforts of the entire team to get him out of the Yamanaka Compound, as well as his father.

The worst was, it wasn't fear or anger that made Laiko whiny, but laziness. Honestly, I'm pretty sure in reality I rubbed off on him and he enjoyed annoying us, but that's for him to know, and me to wonder.

In any case, Team 5 was back baby!

For D Rank Missions.

"Catch that damn cat!"

I looked down as I heard Laiko's voice yell in my ears, and saw the cat my way, a smug look on its face. Without missing a beat, I suddenly punched the ground, making it tremble as I made a large hole in the ground.

The cat, who was acting smug a moment ago, lost its footing as it looked at me in fear. Moving quickly, I caught it by the nape, and bringing it to my eye level I muttered, "And here I thought I had managed to avoid this mission…"

I shook my head, and looked at the ground. I thought back of my first fight, against that Iwa Chunin. Now I could see he really wasn't that strong. Of course, compared to me back then, he was a monster, but now…

"You almost killed the poor thing!"

I snorted as I threw it over to Izumi, who awkwardly caught it, and noticed the cat was shivering in her embrace. I threw a glare at it, scaring it, making me chuckle.

"Psycho…"

I glanced at Laiko, who had made the comment, and he looked away as he saw me looking. Rolling my eyes, I directed them at our Sensei, who was smiling.

He said, "That should be enough for today."

Izumi groaned, "Yeah, three D Rank Missions in a day should be more than enough."

Amai-Sensei eyed her and asked, "What? You think this isn't enough? I can remedy to that…"

Izumi cried out, "No! I didn't say anything!"

I silently rolled my eyes as Amai-Sensei affirmed, "That's what I thought. Let's bring the target back to the client."

We all nodded, and disappeared. This time though, we weren't headed to the Hokage's Tower. It was generally customary for clients to be present when the mission is given to a team, probably to build oneself a net of relationships, but there were some exceptions.

For example, in this case, the Fire Daimyo's wife, Madam Shijimi. As the wife of the most important person, politically that is, in the nation, she could decide to stay at home and wait for us.

The relationship between countries and their hidden villages were complicated, to say the least, or we wouldn't be getting missions from other countries. But that was quite far away from me for now, and currently, I had far bigger problems.

As we reached Madam Shijimi's residence, we were welcomed by two bodyguards, dressed in a particular outfit, betraying their true identity. They wore what seemed to be casual clothes, but they both had a waist cloth that read the kanji for fire.

And this, was something worn only by a particular group of people, the Twelve Guardian of Fire. They were a force that was barely expended upon in the manga, but in reality they were quite famous here.

They were the bodyguards of the Daimyo, and by extension of his family. As indicated by their name, they are twelve, and they all are fearsome fighters. They aren't necessarily all ninjas, but they are without exception all at least as strong as a Jonin.

Jonins were kind of casualized in Naruto, with the Sannin, Kages and the Akatsuki, but as I have discovered myself, they are not something to be taken lightly. A single Jutsu from a Suna Jonin had left me incapacitated, and it was a low ranked one.

The thing about Jonins, is that they don't really have a weak point. Jonin was not just a rank, it was also a level of mastery and strength.

Then, even if a Chunin has mastered Ninjutsu enough to contend with a Jonin, if their Taijutsu and other attributes aren't at the same level, then they become a Tokubetsu Jonin. To become a Jonin, all aspects had to reach that level, and of course experience was needed.

That's why Jonins were so terrifying. And those guys, the Twelve Guardian Ninjas, they weren't your run of the mill Jonins either, hence why they were fearsome.

However, they weren't monsters either. As long as no harm is done to their lord, then they had no reason to be hostile. So they opened the doors to us with a smile as we had the cat, Tora, in our hands.

But as we passed by them, I felt their eyes stare at me, looking at me warily. Would be flattering if I didn't know why they acted like that.

The thing about my training of Stealth with the Owl Sage is that muscle memory is very important for the first stage, and so it's not really something you activate and deactivate. Instead, I had learned to always be silent, whether I was fighting, sneaking or sleeping.

And considering even Minato had trouble hearing me while I stood in front of him, it was understandable those two would be wary of me.

Being me, I winked at them, making one look away a little embarrassed, while the other did not show any reaction. Well, he was a monk.

Once inside, we saw Madam Shijimi waiting anxiously. The moment she saw us, and Tora, she ran towards us, making the fat on her body wiggle from side to side.

"Oh my Tora! I can't believe you lost yourself again!"

Madam Shijimi took the poor cat into a bear hug, clearly crushing it, but we said nothing as it wasn't our place. Besides, while finding the cat could be annoying as it had grown escaping from ninjas, it was also a good income for Genins.

Madam Shijimi paid as much as a good C Rank Mission for finding her cat.

Well, I didn't really need it, as I had been given quite some money from my only C Rank Mission. Officially, it never moved from being a C Rank Mission, to hide my achievements and not turn me into a target, but I was given money for an A Rank. That is slightly below one million Ryo.

And added to the money I had saved over my previous mission, I was officially, albeit barely, a millionaire. How exciting.

But as we handed the cat to its demonic owner, and our mission was supposed to be over, trouble arrived.

A refined young teen, around 11 or 12, came out of a room, and Madam Shijimi smiled brightly as she beamed, "Takashi! Look, my Tora is back!"

The young man, Takashi, was rather handsome for his age, and had the refined air of a noble. He did not seem very interested by whatever Madam Shijimi said, but as he glanced over, I saw his eyes stop on my face, and his mouth slightly gap open.

He stood frozen for a couple of seconds, enough for Madam Shijimi to notice his unusual behaviour. Following his gaze, she looked at me, before making a couple of back and forth as a splendid smile appeared on her face.

"My oh my, you have something to say, my son?"