Chapter two: Search and Rescue
Two twelve year old blondes, Naruto and Ino, sat side by side at a desk as they pored over the information they desired to learn. For Naruto, who had taken up earth manipulation, it was the studies of how Konoha shinobi came to learn earth manipulation. Ino on the other hand was rereading the specifics of how to use the mystical palm technique to heal a dead fish, said dead fish was sitting on the counter in there small kitchenette, with her chakra.
"Damn it!" the girl said as she placed her head on her hands, "I can't look at this anymore! It's, like, trying to kill me!"
Naruto chuckled as he placed his own scroll back onto the desk, "I think you just need some fresh air and something to eat…"
He paused as she sent a rather potent glare in his direction, 'What the hell did I say?' he thought as he flashed her his best attempt at a disarming smile, "You know, to take your mind of the problem and get a fresh start when we get back."
'God she trips harder than Tsunade-baa-chan with no alcohol!' He thought as she flipped from frustrated to excited, "OK! Let's go, I know this really cool restaurant that makes awesome sushi! Come on, it's just down the street!"
He let out a sigh of relief as she jumped from her seat to the side of her bed and grabbed her small clutch, a woman's wallet, and glared at him, "Hurry UP Na-ru-to!"
Standing up and stretching as he patted his back side to make sure his own wallet was there. With a nod he followed the excited girl out of the suite wile smiling, "Lead on Ino!"
She squealed in delight as they made their way down the hall, "I was getting so hungry too!" She commented, "Not to mention board out of my MIND!"
'Yep, I don't like her when she's bored…. She gets to irritable,' he thought as he nodded in agreement, "That's what I was thinking too. I love training but studies can be tough without a decent distraction every few hours."
"Are you asking me to beat you up every few hours?" Ino asked innocently as they descended the stairs to the main floor, "Because, I will. Mock my words Uzumaki, I'll kick your ass any day!"
Naruto rolled his eyes while chuckling at his fellow blonde, "You, Ino Yamanaka, couldn't touch me, OK!"
He must have sounded pretty cocky because she scoffed before poking him in the arm and heatedly stating, "I-Touched-You!"
Grunting in response he shot her a pointed glare before taking a few steps away from her and saying, "I mean in a fight Ino. I'm just too sly for you."
They both glared at each other, eyes locked in a silent battle that neither one was willing to back down or look away from. A moment later they both started laughing, "You are an idiot Uzumaki Naruto, were team mates, why would I even want to fight you?"
Before Naruto could comment he felt a cold chill run down his spine and was suddenly very aware of the five other people in the entrance room. There were several tables stationed for people to sit at for the nine a.m. breakfast call as well as the front desk that had view of them all.
His eye's barely caught the light gleam of long silver hair before Ino pushed him. She looked as if she was going to give him a full check over with the worried glint in her eyes as she asked, "Are you OK, Naruto?"
That was all it took for the sensation to vanish as he thought, 'Who the hell was that?'
Scratching the back of his head nervously he could only chuckle as he tried to reassure her by saying, "Sorry Ino. Can we get out of here?"
Before Ino could answer the small bell chimed as the front door opened and Shizune stepped in. Naruto let out a sigh of relief as she hurriedly made her way over to them, "I thought… never mind, Hokage-Samma has sent us a Mission. Head up to the room, change into mission gear, and pack up because we leave in an hour. I am going to get Tsunade –Samma."
'What mission? Wait, OUR FIRST MISSION!' The blonde thought as he grabbed Ino by the hand and ran up the steps they had just come down from. Bounding their way back into their suite Ino grabbed her bag and ran for the bathroom to change, 'She must be as excited as I am!'
Grabbing his own bag Naruto made quick work of changing into black anbu styled pants, his black combat boots, and his black turtle neck under armor before sliding on his equally black gloves and vest. Strapping his Kunai holster to his left leg and shiruken holster to his right leg he then slipped on the half mask and tucked it in under his turtle neck.
Pleased with his speed he was about to start packing up his day to day cloths and training materials when Ino stepped out of the bathroom. They looked identical with the exception of their hair styles. While hers was long and pulled back into a single ponytail his was cropped short and wild.
"What?" She asked he felt the warmth rising in his cheeks, 'I'm glad they made us get these masks! I guess they're not as stupid as I initially thought.' He shook his head to clear his mind.
"It's nothing. Let's hurry and get everything cleaned up." He said as they both got to work. Tsunade and Shizune both walked into the suite to find it spotless as the two blonds finished sealing all four bags into their individual scrolls before they hander there sensei's their sensei's their own.
"Good work you two. The old Monkey says a team consisting of a Jounin and three gennin were dispatched on a standard C-rank escort Mission to the land of waves. This Mission was bumped up to A-rank due to the appearance and apparent confrontation with the known associates of Zabuza, an ex Kiri shinobi."
She took a breath as she slid her scroll into her blouse, "They haven't heard back from team seven, consisting of Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Sasuke, as well as Haruno Sakura of team ten, and Sai of team eleven, for over a week and are presumed MIA. This is prioritized as a search and rescue mission."
"Right! We better get going then!" Naruto said with a nod of his head. He could feel the urgency rising up in his chest as the excitement and worry over the missing team bubbled up in the pit of his stomach.
As a group they jumped out the large bay window to avoid yet another lodging bill with the village. 'I wonder if she will ever actually pay a bill?' Naruto thought absentmindedly as they raced across the roof tops in the direction of wave country.
The team of four ran fifteen miles in just over forty five minutes before they came to the small port side village that would take them across to wave. There was a fine mist a quarter of a mile out from the shore line that Naruto assumed would limit their visual capacity by at least sixty percent but what really caught his attention was the lack of a boat on the docks.
Sparing a glance at his sensei he felt the frown form on his face as she growled. Her gaze would flicker left to right and he could see the frustration just barely contained by her clenching and unclenching fists and the tension in her shoulders.
"Maybe we can run across the water, if I remember right its only two miles between us and waves shore line." He said in an attempt to ease her clearly shot nerves, 'Why is this mission so damn important to her?'
Tsunade's wrathful gaze fell on him sending a sharp jolt up the middle of his back. The fear was almost overwhelming if not for the many times he had pissed Asuma Sarutobi off. Feeling his frown deepen he took a step towards her and said, "It's plausible."
Her gaze shifted from the boy to Ino for a long moment. Ino was rooted to the spot, her eyes were wide, and she looked ready to turn tail and run for the older woman. Naruto had to wonder if the girl had ever been in a situation where killing intent was present. The next moment Tsunade turned her attention back onto Naruto. As there eye's locked she called out to Ino, "Ino! Do you think you can handle a run like that?"
Ino was still in shock from the killing intent that she had been leveled with only a few seconds ago. Naruto could see it and he damn well knew his sensei knew it as well. 'What the hell is she trying to do? Is she still teaching us even now? God I hope so.' The boy thought as he made his way over to the blond girl.
"I'll carry her Tsunade-Samma." He said whilst he crouched down to allow her to climb on. His mind fell back onto his concerns for the other team as a sudden question cropped up in his mind, 'when was the last time sensei went on a mission? Is that what the problem is?' Deciding to test his theory he made to ease everyone's nerves as he said, "We'll find'em in once peace I'm sure of it."
Tsunade's Eyes widened as Naruto thought, 'So I'm right then. And what If I'm right about jiji's overall goal? How many more of these SnR missions he will send us on?'
"Let's hope so." She whispered as some of the steel found its way back into her eyes, "Move out!"
Naruto, with Ino on his back, was the first one on the water as he surged forward. He was pushing his legs as hard as he could and easily felt the strain of the fifteen mile run beforehand catching up to him, "Thank you Naruto. She's scary as hell when she's upset."
He almost didn't hear her with the sharp whistling of the wind, but he did, and so he smiled, "Don't mention it, that run was harsh."
The thick mist that covered the last mile was torcher for the blond as he tried to spot the mass of land they were supposed to be on soon. His initial assessment had been correct as seeing anything further then four feet in front of them was hard to do. With each step he hoped they would find the land mass as his legs were almost jello.
The faint sound of Shizune panting gave way to a rather sobering thought, 'this was not my brightest Idea.'
The next moment had him stumbling over the sudden resistance of the pale grey sand under his feet. His eyes could only widen a fraction as he shrugged the blond girl off of him and he tumbled across the sandy floor, "owch, that sucked!"
"Are you OK, Naruto?" Ino was chuckling as she walked over and held out her hand to him. It was in the fine mist that he almost couldn't make out the amused expression on her face and so he smiled up at her and took her hand.
Taking deep slow breaths to let his muscles breath he stretched himself out as best as he could before turning to see if Shizune and Tsunade-baa were OK as well. The visibility had cleared up a great deal, he realized, now that they were on the island he had to wonder if there was something special about the mist that surrounded the land mass.
Tsunade was the first one to fully recover as she made her way to him and ran her glowing green hands over the his aching body. The sudden spreading of warmth and subsequent relaxing of his tense muscles made him sigh in relief before smiling at the blond woman, "Thank you Tsunade-baa-chan."
She didn't say anything however. Her shoulders were slumped and her green eyes were shadowed by the bangs of her hair. It was, in his opinion, the appearance of inner turmoil and he could only hope she was winning that war. As she healed Ino she suddenly turned a sharp gaze to Naruto, "Keep close, the contact Information says their VIP lives another mile to the north of here."
Without hesitation He followed his sensei and team mates as they rushed their way through the trees. They were meet with little difficulties from their surroundings until the small two story house came into view. Almost stumbling, Naruto had to wonder if Hatake had trained any of these people, as he spotted the silhouette of a person his age trying to hide in one of the tree's at the edge of the house.
"Hal…"
The raven haired boy didn't get to finish his sentence as a pebble crashed into his forehead and he fell. 'Shit! She knocked him out!' Naruto thought as he placed both hands behind him and focused a swirl of wind chakra to propel him faster.
With a quick flip he managed to catch the boy before sticking to the wall of the house, "What the hell baa-chan! You KNOCKED him OUT!" he barked at her.
He barely noticed the stone heading for him in time to tilt his head, however, the wall behind him crumbled from that impact as he fell to the ground. 'SHIT!'
Landing in a crouch he spared the wall a glance before turning back to the woman with wide eyes, 'Did she use that kind of force on him?'
"Keep quit and get inside." After seeing what she did to the wall he wasn't going to argue. Ino spared him a worried glance and mouthed 'what the fuck.' Following the girls and pig to the front porch he couldn't be any less surprised to watch his sensei barge into the house and shout, "Konoha shinobi, REPORT!"
The effects were instantaneous as a pink haired girl and another raven haired boy, both with Konoha Head Insignia's, scrambled to their feet. 'Why hadn't they been investigating the noises?'
"I'm Sakura Haruno," The Pink haired girl started, "of team…."
"I know who you two are. I SAID Report." Tsunade growled her fists clenching wildly once more as she scanned the people in the room with a harsh glare. Naruto was not willing to say anything as he silently moved to the couch beside him and set the boy in his arms onto it. With a quick wave Ino was by his side before she ran through hand seals.
Holding her hand above the other boy's head she let out a breath she hadn't seemed to notice she was holding, "Well?" Naruto whispered only to sigh in relief as the boy's onyx black eye's fluttered open. The blonde boy barely noticed Ino smile before he turned his attention back onto what was going on behind them.
"… sensei is upstairs. He's been out for a week now and we have been trying to get him to wake up but…" Tsunade waved her hand to quite the girl. Her pail features were a harsh contrast to her normal light tan complexion, and her normally vibrant green eyes were dulled by whatever it was she had witnessed.
'Is she suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome?' Naruto questioned himself as he took in the way she seemed to want to drop to the floor at the first sign of combat. Sasuke mirrored his temporary team mate in appearance with the way his eye's jumped from one person in the room to his downed team mate.
"Shizune and Ino, go get Kakashi up. I want a full report on what has happened here." Tsunade commanded as the woman's attention was drawn upon the old man in the corner. Naruto could only assume she was staring at the jug in his hand as the man himself glanced from it, to her, and let out a loud sigh, "Would you like something to drink um…"
It was Sakura who answered as a small amount of her usual attentive and peppy spirit rose up, "Tsunade of the Sannin, otherwise known as the Slug Princess." She looked very pleased for having recognized the woman as she took a seat at the table.
The man's eye's widened before a wide grin spread across his face and he made his way into the kitchen while shouting, "Let me get you a bottle of your own Tsunade-Samma!"
Eyeing his sensei Naruto noticed the way her shoulders slumped as she closed the door behind her. As she took a seat at the small table in front of the door he had to wonder, once more this day, what had happened to make her like this? She had focused most of her attention on the table in front of her as she called out an apology for the hole in the wall upstairs. 'It's probably a habit.' The blond thought as she suddenly began inspecting the two gennin sitting at the table with her. After a moment's pause she then turned her weary gaze unto him as he kneeled down at the table next to her, "This could have been a lot worse than just a downed Jounin. Do you understand that Naruto?"
The boy's mind pulled upon that sentence as the memory of his only attempt at using the shadow clones for studying purposes, his eyes narrowed as he stared down at the table, "I do Tsunade-Samma that comes with the choices we have all made to become shinobi of our village. We fight for our village and sometimes, even though it seems unfair, we die for our village."
Her eye's narrowed and her lips tightened into a deep scowl. There was a slight gleem of light that suggested the was likely to cry as well before she schooled her expression and nodded at him, "As long as you are aware of the sacrifices we make…"
The statement, a wounded one at that, was enough to confirm for him that she had lost someone precious at this age. Pushing the thought aside though he focused on a more important one, "How come you didn't go and resuscitate Hatake-san, Sensei?"
It was an honest question mirrored by the plain curiosity that reflected in his eyes. It must have looked very disarming for Tsunade as she turned to growl only to lose whatever words she had. A moment later she sighed, bowing her head in shame, "… I am afraid of blood."
Another whisper, just barely loud enough for him to hear from right beside her but it was enough to make his eyes widen before nodding as the old man came out with two shot glasses and the two bottles of Sake.
Getting to his feet he moved to the old man and kindly took the bottle from him, "Have a seat jiji, I will pour your drinks."
The man looked surprised for all of a minute before he smiled and did as he was told. 'People must not show much for manors to the elderly around here…' He thought as he set a shot glass before the two elders, despite the young appearance of his sensei, and poured the first two shots.
Before the old man could lift his glass Tsunade held her hand over his glass surprising the occupants of the room, "Would you get a third glass for my student please."
'I really hate how dead to the world she sounds right now.' It was starting to piss him off with how depressed she was but at least she was showing an interest in teaching them. Thinking about it, as the old man stood to go get another glass, the blond had to marvel at how easily she had taken to them and at how quickly she had started them on their training.
As the old man came back out Naruto watched as he took his spot and set the third glass where he had been sitting. Taking his seat he quietly pored himself a glass before setting the bottle between the three of them.
"Um… Tsunade-Samma… Is he o-old enough to drink?" the pink haired girl sounded intimidated to the blond as he thought, 'you should be.' He had known both of the twelve year olds sitting at the table from there academy day's and it wasn't hard to remember how they both acted like buffoons. Sasuke, clinically depressed and a border line flight risk, was easily the class bully while Sakura, and a lot of the girls in class (Including Ino), followed his example like it was a prideful thing to bully the other students.
"If he's old enough to die then he's old enough to drink." Tsunade answered as she held up her shot glass. Following suit the blond couldn't help but remember the hundreds of reports he and his clones had read that night so long ago. There were so many records of how gennin had died and the mistakes that there teams had made. The blonde had no arguments in studying things himself after that because those records were burned into his memories forever.
"aye!" The blonde cheered sullenly before pulling his mask down; he then slammed the throat searing alcohol back and swallowed hard. If not for his pride he would have scrunched up his face and probably coughed. Instead he took a slow breath and made himself enjoy the burn, "that hurt."
Tsunade chuckled, and if his eyes were as accurate as he believed them to be, she even cracked a small amused smile. It was gone the next moment as he smiled up at her and poured another glass for the three of them.
"Well, my name is Tazuna and I am the bridge builder they were hired to protect." The third member of their little drinking party spoke up with a nervous chuckle. 'He must think he is interrupting some tender moment between student and sensei.' The thought amused the blonde as he realized that it was, in some way, a tender moment between them.
"According to the Hokage you lied on a mission request form that put the lives of our villages gennin in danger as well as brought serious bodily harm to their Jounin. Tazuna, I would crush you myself if you ever let something like this happen again. Konoha, while not my favorite place in the world, will always work with a customer to insure future transactions. Do I make myself clear?"
The man was wide eyed as he shook his head. He too was intimidated by his sensei, 'man, what a world we live in…' his eye's cut to his sensei as smile morphed into a smirk and he raised his shot glass, "to making your sensei smile, even when they don't want to!" he cheered as he glanced at his sensei. She glared, but he had made her smile, and even after they drank it was still there, if not faintly.
Authors Note:
There will be questions as to why Naruto is the way I am portraying him to be (I am righting my notes in advance) to answer this I would like you to consider the first part of my summery in chapter one. Raised and trained by Sarutobi Hiruzen. The difference is glaring because in cannon he was left to fend, mostly, for himself with very little guidance from anyone until he was in the academy. By this point he would be locked into his mindset that he could only rely on himself and everyone else's opinions were unimportant. However with Sarutobi raising him he had the guidance and instruction to become something far more. I will be incorporating flash backs in later chapters to his younger days to further explain this, and I hope you will be patient with me until then.
Furthermore, I realize that my grammar is not top notch and I hope that you will overlook this glaring weakness as I have come a long way from when I had first started writing.
Finally, I chose to use the wave arch as a staging point to guide the direction of this story as well as to show case a bit of team Tsunade's talents. As you have already seen Ino is a quick learner having been able to resuscitate Sai with what you can assume is one of her first attempts at the mystical palm technique. I haven't done much with Shizune and ton ton just yet and that's because she was a fairly well balanced and set in her way's character from any stand point. Do not fret though because I will be working with them as well in later chapters.
Thank you and please review! ^_^