An A-Rank Mission!

Elsewhere, the sun shone with blithe radiance. At Naraku's castle, there was no pure light to be seen, only the tainted sheen of the Shikon Jewel and the pale, ghostly radiance of Kanna's mirror. Eternal dusk reigned upon the premises, where the demons flew freely in the smog-ridden skies.

The sound of the demons' cackles drifted inside. Kanna was sitting on her knees on the bare, wooden floor, holding the mirror directly in front of her so her master could obtain a clear view. Naraku gazed at it with slitted, narrowed eyes.

The image shown on the smooth glass changed constantly: it showed Inuyasha and his friends walking along peaceful meadows. Then it showed Kikyo nursing a wounded soldier in a small, antiquated village. It showed Sesshomaru, proud and aloof, pacing through a dense forest with his tag-alongs behind him. Finally, Naraku saw Koga, Ginta and Hakkaku walking by a riverside, guided by the stream's course.

He chuckled. It was rare moments like these that he allowed himself to cease plotting and to commend himself for his wit. He was the prey, pursued by many, who eventually proved stronger than the hunters. Still, he must not let his guard down for even a minute.

From the shadows behind the shoji screen, his offspring watched him carefully. Short, white-haired Hakudoshi was waiting for his chance. His master seemed to notice his presence because he asked without turning, "Is there something you need, Hakudoshi?"

"No, master Naraku, I do not need anything," Hakudoshi replied stiffly as he stepped into full view. When Naraku didn't answer, he continued, "Aren't you sick of all these enemies you have?"

Naraku chuckled again and this time, he turned to face Hakudoshi. "I quite enjoy the thrill of the chase," he said, his red eyes glinting against the ill-lit background.

Hakudoshi sneered. "But you must tire of them eventually," he insisted.

"And what do you suggest?" Naraku's voice was cold and low. He did not trust Hakudoshi.

"Ninjas," Hakudoshi answered promptly.

"Oh?" Naraku raised an eyebrow questioningly. To Hakudoshi's immense relief, he didn't scoff outwardly at his proposal. "And how would ninjas help improve the situation?"

Hakudoshi bowed his head, as if prostrating himself, only to gaze up sharply within moments, a knowing smirk spreading across his face. "A ninja," he declared, "is deadly and efficient. Besides, your enemies wouldn't expect you to hire one of them."

"Interesting," Naraku drawled. "Well, I'll leave the problem of hiring the ninjas to you."

In other words, Hakudoshi thought, he's saying, "Let's see you do it."

Did Naraku take Hakudoshi seriously or not? Hakudoshi did not know, and not knowing something always left him frustrated, particularly when it concerned Naraku.

His fists clenched as he left the room.

The land of Japan was an archipelago, a conglomerate consisting of four main islands and thousands of smaller islands. Distinctive of Japan was the hidden villages of the shinobi - home to the ninjas. But in Japan itself, there were no ninjas who would ever willingly consort with demons. They kept to themselves, concerning themselves only with human matters.

This was why Hakudoshi turned his gaze to lands beyond Japan's waters. Far east of Japan lay another continent where the power of ninjas was relied upon. In this land, the ninjas were in fact said to be even more powerful than their Japanese counterparts and demons were usually sealed away. It was all very interesting, Hakudoshi thought. Very interesting indeed.

Riding his demon horse Entei to his destination took only a matter of hours. Hakudoshi stopped inland where the temperature felt warm. The leafy, mountainous landscape resembled Japan very much in this part of the country, which was comforting to Hakudoshi, though he soon found himself getting lost either way.

After asking around, he found that he was in the Fire Country. He was given a map by a kindly old gentleman and told to walk north if he wanted to find the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Just how the location of a hidden village could be known by pretty much every inhabitant of the country was something that was beyond Hakudoshi, but he took the man's word for it and began to walk in the general direction the pointed in.

About two hours of walking later, Hakudoshi encountered his first ninjas.

They were standing around in a forest glade, doing one-armed push-ups enthusiastically. Or, at least, that was the case for two of them. They were the ones in the green spandex suits (though Hakudoshi had no idea what spandex even was, he just thought it looked very strange and no one should wear it, ever). The other two seemed to be sparring. The girl threw some sharp-looking knives at the boy, who ducked neatly to avoid them and came swiftly towards the girl, his hands moving rapidly to form strange-looking hand sign. It seemed something was about to happen.

Abruptly, the boy stopped and turned around sharply to face Hakudoshi. So did the girl. They had perceived his presence.

"Who are you?" asked the boy bluntly, staring directly at Hakudoshi. Hakudoshi thought his eyes very much resembled his own, which was a little startling.

"I'm looking for the Village Hidden in the Leaves," said Hakudoshi. "I have a map, but I just can't seem to decipher it."

"It would help if you didn't hold it upside down," the girl pointed out helpfully.

Hakudoshi chose to ignore that.

At that moment, the two males in the green spandex sprang to their feet enthusiastically. They had identical bowl haircuts and Hakudoshi had to force himself not to cringe when looking at them.

"We can help you!" the younger of the two males said eagerly.

"Now, now, Lee!" said the older one with a stern look, which was unfortunately offset by a cheesy, toothy grin. "You can't help someone if you don't prove your worth first!"

"You are absolutely right, Guy-sensei! I am so moved right now!"

"... Are you really ninjas?" Hakudoshi asked, blinking.

"Why of course we are!" the ninja who seemed to be called Guy-sensei declared with a booming, sonorous laugh.

Hakudoshi said nothing.

The girl coughed.

"We're even from the Village Hidden in the Leaves," she added kindly. "My name's Tenten and this is Neji, by the way." She pointed to the boy with the peculiar eyes. He simply sniffed and looked away. "The village is just over that way," Tenten went on, pointing back behind herself. "Just keep walking. You can't miss it."

Hakudoshi was about to say something when the boy named Lee broke in:

"I can carry you there on my back!"

"No," Hakudoshi said. "No, no, no, no."

"Awww," said Lee.

When Hakudoshi eventually made it to Konoha, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, he was guided to an office where he promptly submit his mission request. When asked what type of ninja team he thought was suitable for the task, he responded, "As long as they're not wearing hideous green outfits."

The Hokage Tsunade took the hint - and assigned the job to the only other team on standby. A day later, they set off for Japan. It was not much of an improvement.

The boat rocked wildly upon the open sea, but not as wildly as a certain hyperactive blonde boy.

"We're going on an A-Rank mission! An A-Rank mission! We're going on an A-Rank mission today!"

"Shut up, Naruto," said Sasuke automatically.

Naruto promptly busted a vein.

"No, you shut up, Sasuke!"

"Whatever," said Sasuke. As he said this, he shoved his hands into his pockets and stared out at the waves in front of him. He seemed so damned cool that Naruto wanted to throttle him. If Sakura hadn't been seasick in the cabin, she probably would have been quick to agree - minus the throttling part, naturally.

"You think you're so cool, Sasuke," Naruto said sourly, "when I'm the one who's going to be Hokage! Believe it!"

At this point, Sasuke actually half-smiled.

"Bitch, please," he said.

Naruto's growl shook the mast.

"Knock it off, you two," Kakashi told them wearily. He didn't even look up from the adult book he was reading. "At least, don't try anything that would end up with us shipwrecked."

"Kakashi-sensei, have you ever been shipwrecked?" Naruto asked, momentarily forgetting all of his earlier frustrations with Sasuke.

"Yes, I have," said Kakashi, flicking a page in his book. "Then I was rescued by a princess from a far-off land."

"Cool!" Naruto whistled. "Did you kiss her?"

Before Kakashi could remind Naruto that he wore a mask everywhere and that kissing would be uncomfortable against the fabric, Sasuke said, "Naruto, you realise he's pulling your leg?"

"Oh," said Naruto, looking slightly dejected. "Were you pulling my leg, Kakashi-sensei?"

"How could I?" Kakashi replied. "I'm three metres away."

"Oh, yeah!" Naruto's face lit up with slow realisation. "Sasuke, stop trying to trick me!"

Sasuke banged his head against the side of the deck. "Why do I even bother…?"

Just then, Sakura emerged on deck. She was still rather pale and still felt slightly dizzy but otherwise, she was shipshape. She blinked against the harsh sunlight and cool breeze and squinted when she noticed Sasuke, Naruto and Kakashi just ahead of her. She was on the verge of calling out to them when she heard a voice behind her: "Boo!"

She squealed, and the others turned to look at her. Hakudoshi, Naraku's incarnation, stepped out from the cabin behind her. "Are you sure you're a ninja?" he asked. "You seem pretty weak to me."

Sakura felt a burst of indignation against the white-haired boy before her but before she could say anything, Naruto walked over and fixed Hakudoshi with a very insolent stare. "I don't like you," he said bluntly. "You remind me of Sasuke."

"Well, boohoo," Hakudoshi sneered.

Naruto frowned. He had met Hakudoshi only a few days ago at the Hidden Leaf village. Hakudoshi had been impatient and irritable about getting a team over to his homeland, an obscure island a week's boat trip away from the Fire Country. He had not seemed happy to receive Team 7 but he had to be satisfied with Tsunade's explanation that Team 7 was the only team that could be produced at his short notice. The other, more experienced teams were either on reconnaissance missions to the Sand and Sound villages or working to restore Konoha after the recent invasion. For Naruto, despite the excitement of an A-Rank mission, he couldn't stand Hakudoshi at all. For the majority of the journey, he had picked fights with his dubious client.

At that moment, Kakashi sauntered over with a stern expression on what could be seen of his face. "Naruto, it does not pay to be rude to your employer."

Hakudoshi smiled to himself. Kakashi was right. He was the employer. Not Naraku. "Now," he said aloud, "Would you like to have more information on your targets?"

Sasuke wandered over and his intent face was like a nod to Hakudoshi. The white-haired boy, his face suddenly serene, pulled out a small pile of sketches and handed one to each of the Ninjas.

"You know, if your drawings didn't look like they were made by a two-year old, we'd have a bit less trouble identifying these people," Naruto commented but he stared at the sketches anyway.

There was a picture of a woman holding what looked like the Hiragana 'he' (A/N This Japanese character looks like an inverted letter 'v'). "Huh?"

Sakura examined her sketch and giggled. "My target's pretty hot!" It was a Buddhist monk with sexy black hair a bit different from Sasuke's.

Sasuke glanced at his picture of a girl in strange attire holding a bow and arrows and Kakashi had the drawing of a man with long hair holding a giant sword. "Like Zabuza and Kisame's…"

"Well, what do you think?" asked Hakudoshi.

"They're going down!" Naruto declared somewhat cockily. "Believe it!"

To his surprise, Hakudoshi's gaze softened. "Just you wait," he said. "That group's peskier than a fly. You'll have a hard time killing them off."

Inuyasha held his sword above his head and swung it, directly at his hapless victim below. "Die!" he yelled with ferocity, his robes swishing as he moved with startling acceleration.

Around him, the trees rustled, as if reacting to the fighting. The lizard demon's howl was piercing. It hissed in anguish, clutching the open stab wound it had received. Hurrying backwards a few paces, the lizard demon did not see where it was going in its haste; it fell over and tripped, falling painfully on some sharp rocks behind it. It howled and thrashed about, its long, scaly green tail twitching madly in desperation.

Jumping off Kirara, who was flying over Inuyasha, Sango raised her giant boomerang and yelled, "Time to put the demon out of its misery! Hiraikotsu!" Then she tossed her weapon.

The sound the Hiraikotsu made was like that of keening death. The lizard demon gave one last hiss and ducked for cover. It was lucky to escape a fatal hit, although its tail had been sliced cleanly off. The blood sprayed and the demon howled in its final breath. The Hiraikotsu swung in a graceful arc and as it sped purposefully back towards Sango, it took the lizard demon's head with it. It certainly made for a gory sight.

Miroku slipped off Kirara's back as well. He hurried towards the demon's corpse, which was giving off a repulsive, demonic aura. Reaching into the folds of his robe, Miroku pulled from thence a sutra charm. He placed it on the lizard demon's body and took a step back, murmuring a small prayer. The body glowed and it gave off no aura any more.

"There," said Miroku in a satisfied tone. "It's been purified."

There was a sound of someone panting slightly and Kagome appeared on the scene, Shippo on her shoulder. "Did you defeat the demon?" she asked breathlessly.

"Yeah," said Inuyasha, giving the headless corpse a kick. "Come on, let's get going."

"I'm hungry," Shippo whined. "I want lunch."

"Same here," Sango agreed, taking hold of her flat stomach.

Miroku eyed Kagome's yellow daypack vociferously. "Do you have any Ninja food, Kagome?" Ninja food was the name that Kagome's friends had dubbed her packaged foods. It was instant and it was tasty – the sort of thing a Ninja might prepare with his magic.

Kagome unzipped her bag and peered inside. She said, "I've only got some instant ramen and we'll need water to prepare it. Unfortunately, we're in the middle of a forest." As she said this, the trees rustled again in the win, as if to stress her point.

Inuyasha sighed. "Then we may as well keep going."

It was a peaceful and serene day. The midday sunlight filtered through the tree branches, shining warmly on the dirt path the party trod. Inuyasha was in the lead, arms folded underneath his robes, his silver hair swishing behind him. Kagome was close by, yabbering on to Shippo about something. Sango and Miroku were walking beside each other and Kirara, in her kitten form, was perched on Sango's shoulder.

"Don't you think it's beautiful on sunny days," Sango mused, "When the birds are singing and there's a cool, pleasant breeze? And there hasn't been an earthquake for a while."

"Oh, yes," Miroku agreed solemnly, "It's a beautiful day. Normally, we're thinking about Naraku but sometimes, it's nice to talk about the weather."

As he said this, his hand moved swiftly up and down Sango's backside. She had changed back into her long skirt but she still didn't appreciate Miroku caressing her.

Next thing that could be heard was a loud, ringing slap and a furious voice: "Pervert!"

"At least Miroku's bold," Shippo remarked offhandedly. He suddenly eyed Inuyasha. "Inuyasha, you never make any advances on Kagome whatsoever. You should try bathing together in the hot springs sometime."

Next thing that could be heard was a fist connecting with a head and an indignant voice: "Ouch!"

"You should learn to keep your mouth shut," Inuyasha said haughtily.

"Sit, boy."

Inuyasha came crashing face-first onto the forest floor. Sango and Miroku stood on his head as they walked by, adding further injury to injury.

Kirara meowed.

"Why isn't anyone else sane here?" Inuyasha demanded. Suddenly, he went cross-eyed, looking at something on his nose.

"Is something the matter, Inuyasha?" Kagome inquired as she looked back.

Inuyasha slapped his nose. "It's Myoga," he said, holding the flattened flea-demon in his palm for the others to examine.

"Greetings, master Inuyasha," Myoga said, making an attempt to stand.

Shippo hopped off Kagome's shoulder and ran over to Myoga. He looked politely curious. "What's wrong, Myoga?"

Myoga looked strangely exhausted. His eyes blinked and his nose twitched as he spoke earnestly: "I was just at shore when I saw a boat anchor in. It looked like one of those vessels that travel a long way overseas. Anyway, I stuck around to see the passengers disembark and…"

"And?" Inuyasha prompted him.

Myoga continued, "They were Ninjas!"

"Ninjas!" Sango, Miroku, Shippo and Kagome exchanged bemused looks. Inuyasha blinked.

Myoga nodded. He seemed quite serious now. "They were Konoha ninjas! The best of the best! Even people from overseas have heard of the legacy of the Village Hidden in the Leaves."

"I haven't," said Shippo.

"Me neither." Sango and Miroku shook their heads.

Myoga looked crestfallen.

"So what are Konoha ninjas?" Kagome asked, frowning.

"They're exactly that," Myoga explained. "They're highly trained Ninjas from different clans, each with their own special techniques."

"Sounds scary," said Shippo. He looked over his shadow apprehensively, wondering if there could be a Ninja following him now.

"So what's this got to do with us?" Inuyasha demanded roughly.

Myoga coughed and resumed his tale. "With the ninjas, I saw Naraku's incarnate, Hakudoshi, also disembark."

"Oh!" said Miroku. "So that means those ninjas are our enemies!"

"Quite right," Myoga said, "And it's a bad thing, I tell you."

At that precise moment, the bushes rustled and Naruto entered the scene, still grasping Hakudoshi's sketch. He had a very clueless expression on his face. At the sight of him, Myoga gave forth a very comical wail and hid in Kirara's fur.

"It's a Konoha ninja!" he wailed. "Look at his headband."

"That symbol doesn't look like a leaf," Kagome commented, remembering that 'Konoha' meant 'Leaf'.

The Konoha ninja turned around and spotted the people who were watching him intently. He looked at them. They looked at him back. He stared at the sketch. They continued to stare at him.

Finally, Naruto walked over to Sango and asked, "Do you know this lady?" He showed her the drawing.

That's me, Sango thought in amazement. The sketch was a little off but it showed her in her demon slayer uniform, with her hair done up tightly into a bony tail and grasping the Hiraikotsu with a ready expression. But before she could indicate as much, the blonde went on. "I can't for the life of me figure out what that 'he'-thing is."

Sango hastily hid the Hiraikotsu behind her back. "Me neither," she said.

Naruto looked very downcast. Because Sango had her hair down and was dressed in the skirt, he did not recognise her; and he thought the Hiraikotsu was actually part of her clothing, since he could not see all of it.

Although Kagome, Miroku and Shippo thought Naruto was amusing, Inuyasha glared at him and flexed his own sharp claws. "Just who the hell are you?" he demanded.

Naruto looked up and blinked. His bright blue eyes made him appear as un-Ninja-ish as possible. He looked so carefree, so innocent, that even Inuyasha could not feel hostile towards him. Then he stood with his hands on his hip and gave a very broad grin to all. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki and one day I'm going to be Hokage, the best ninja in my village! Believe it!"

Shippo stuck his nose in the air. His long bushy tail twitched with an imperious air. "You don't look like a ninja. In fact, you look pretty dorky to me."

"Why, you…!" Naruto was suddenly furious. He lurched forward to give Shippo a piece of his mind, when suddenly; he caught sight of what Sango had been hiding.

He stopped.

"Why'd you stop?" Shippo demanded. But Naruto wasn't listening to him any more. He looked at the Hiraikotsu, then at Hakudoshi's sketch, where the 'he'-shaped object was depicted. One could see his mind was jerking into gear and that he was figuring out something that was significant.

At last, he pointed a finger at Sango and shouted, "You're the person I'm supposed to bust up!"

Everyone gasped.

"Where's Naruto?" Sakura asked Sasuke.

They were walking down the path towards the nearest village. Having disembarked the ship, Team 7 was now starting the search for the targets. Apparently, Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango and Miroku travelled a lot and so were difficult to find unless a trap had been set for them. Kakashi wanted to find the targets, and then set a trap for them.

It was the team's first assassination mission and Kakashi was very cautious about letting his almost virgin squad take it on. But in his opinion, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura had to live through at least one killing mission to understand the life and death situation in ninja missions. Shinobi weren't always the heroes.

Of course, Kakashi planned to do most of the murdering himself and let the others stay back and watch how it was done. But now, Naruto had already wandered off somewhere.

"He's probably gone to that forest over there," Sasuke said calmly, "Thinking we were behind him."

The forest looked gay and welcoming.

"What an idiot," Sakura muttered. "I guess we have to go looking for him."

Kakashi was reading Make out paradise as he walked. For some reason, this irritated Sakura. "Stop reading that stupid book, Kakashi-sensei! We've got to find Naruto!"

"Of course, Sakura," said Kakashi with a small sigh. Slipping the book into his pocket, he nodded decisively. "Let's check out the forest first."

Kakashi wasn't particularly warm-hearted and he had faith in Naruto's skills. He wasn't too on-edge about the boy's well-being.

He should have been. For Naruto was currently confronting Inuyasha with a very intent purpose. Inuyasha had pushed his friends behind him and had drawn the Tetsusaiga. His yellow, inhuman eyes were locked onto Naruto's suddenly serious and determined expression; neither was to back down.

Myoga had already escaped; such was his fear of the Konoha ninja. Everyone else present watched apprehensively as Naruto's hands moved to perform his trademark technique.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Yes, it would prove to be an interesting fight.

Preview

Inuyasha: Who are these Ninjas? Why are they trying to kill us?

Naruto: Ha! We'll beat your butt!

Inuyasha: Heh. Whatever.

Naruto: Huh? Who's that strange man talking to Sasuke?

Inuyasha: It's Sesshomaru!

Kagome: Next time in Target: Inuyasha: Sasuke meets Sesshomaru: a Deadly Encounter!