Alright, here we go. I got some good reception from that last chapter, so I'll try to make this one even better.

There are little clues about the changes I have made in this chapter, and you might just find out what they are. What may seem like a plot hole may just be that change. Or it could be just a plot hole. Hopefully not.

XXXXXX

It had been one week since Naruto and his team had passed the gennin exams. The day after he graduated the exams, Naruto was ready and eager for training and missions. While he knew he wouldn't be saving princesses, he did hope there would be some action.

He surprised at the level of the tasks that he was presented with. The capture of a dangerous beast, transportation of important objects, and the guarding of exotic animals.

Capturing cats, doing groceries, and walking dogs respectively.

He was seriously pissed. He could understand guard duty or something, but odd jobs! It was just stupid.

At least the training was good. Kakashi was certainly no slacker when he came to teaching. He taught the other two tree walking on the second day, and Sakura was currently learning water walking. Naruto already knew tree walking and water walking, but that was about the extent of his chakra control. Kakashi had him working on an another chakra exercise, one that may be less practical, but was still more difficult. He definitely felt his taijutsu improving, and Kakashi had taught his team a bit about breaking genjutsu, and even taught all of them a simple one that fooled the sense of smell.

Along with the genjutsu and taijutsu training, Naruto's team did an almost obnoxious amount of teamwork exercises. They were a pretty close knit group, but their teamwork wasn't really anything to write home about. They had the basic positions down flat, and were now working on more advanced maneuvers.

As for ninjutsu, it was going along fairly nicely, at least in Naruto's opinion. Kakashi had decided to see if the team knew any ninjutsu, other than the three from the academy. Sasuke showed that he was able to use the jutsu that Kakashi used on Naruto, the Gōkakyū technique. Naruto simply reaffirmed that he knew the Mizu Bunshin technique. Sakura didn't know any extra ninjutsu, although she did know a larger amount of genjutsu than the boys. So Kakashi decided to teach his team one ninjutsu this week, although nothing particularly advanced, like elemental techniques, although the boys already knew one each. He decided to teach Naruto and Sakura a basic Shunshin technique, only a D-rank, as they had the chakra control required for it. The basic premise for this particular brand of Shunshin was to focus chakra into the users legs, then expel it when kicking off the ground. This technique required an extremely large amount of chakra for a gennin, so Sakura was only able to use the technique twice per day in order for her not to be completely exhausted. Naruto, in a testament to his vastly superior chakra reserves, and slightly superior control, was able to do the technique six times per day without even breaking a sweat. Kakashi assumed he could do it a maximum of twelve times per day, around twelve less than Kakashi himself could do. Quite an incredible feat from a ten year old gennin, even more than one might expect from someone born of such a high pedigree.

Kakashi taught Sasuke something a little easier on control, and a bit easier on the reserves. The technique was called the Uchiwagan (Fan Eye). It was a technique created by the Uchiha to help other Uchiha activate their famed doujutsu, and to grow used to its effects. It is only usable by those with Uchiha genes in them, and as Kakashi has a Sharingan eye, he uses the technique on his right eye to level out the perception. The technique allowed for heightened perception, and a quicker overall reaction time, though none of the other Sharingan abilities were able to be copied. It did, however, have a drawback, as the technique wore heavily on the reserves, and Sasuke was only able to use it for ten minutes without breathing hard. Still, the boy had fairly high reserves, more than most average twelve year old gennins, although still not at Naruto's level.

But still, the D-ranks were boring Naruto, and as he believed, destabilizing his psyche. 'Hopefully,' Naruto thought as he walked to the 7th training ground bridge, 'We'll be getting one of those C-rank missions soon. What could be better than testing out my skills against a bandit?'

Ah, dramatic irony.

XXXXXX

Kakashi walked into the Hokage's office, after being told he was clear to go in, and stopped five feet from the Sandaime's desk, waiting patiently for the Hokage to finish what he was doing. It was a fairly important task, and there was no way that Kakashi was rude enough to stop him.

After a minute, the Sandaime looked up from his book, widened his eyes a little, and hastily stuffed the orange masterpiece in his desk drawer. He cleared his throat, cheeks reddened slightly, and spoke,

"U-um, Kakashi, what brings you here today?"

Kakashi smiled his little eye smile, and said, "I am here on behalf of Team 7. They have completed the required amount of D-rank missions, and I wish to request a C-rank for my team."

Hiruzen looked at Kakashi with an expression that said 'Are you stupid or something?', and said, "Seven D-ranks are the minimum amount, that is true, but they are teamwork building exercises. I do have reports and recommendations for the teams fairly decent teamwork, but I really don't think it's enough for a C-rank. Unless you can tell me why their teamwork is actually beyond this standard, I'll have to deny this request."

Kakashi replied without missing a beat, "Their teamwork is at that level sir, I will not dispute it. But the reason they can take on a C-rank mission, is because, unlike a grudging respect most other teams would have, my students actually like each other. They eat at a restaurant with each other every other day, they spar with each other when I have to go do something else, and they even train with each other after my training is over. As a matter of fact, if I had not picked specific jutsu's for them, that no one else on the team could use at the time, I'm fairly sure they would share their techniques."

That statement made Hiruzen's eyes widen, only for a second, as he soon calmed his features, and smiled.

"I see," He said, taking out his always present pipe, "Well then, if they have that level of chemistry, and you believe they are up to the task," He looked at Kakashi, and when he saw him nod, continued, "then I suppose I can't put good ninja to waste, can I?"

Kakashi smiled, his masked crinkling, and said, "Thank you, sir," He then turned and walked towards the door.

As the Hokage lit his pipe, he started, and said, "Kakashi, you won't tell anyone about the book, will you?"

Kakashi looked back, and with a (half) face that screamed indignation, said,

"Blasphemy!"

XXXXXX

Ah, the sweet rays of sunshine. It was such a grand day, birds singing in the sky, smiling children running around, the euphoria of the sun filling their eyes.

Or at least, that was what anyone other than Uchiha Sasuke would have thought.

Now Sasuke didn't really like sunny days. This wasn't because he was dark, mysterious, evil or whatever. He simply didn't like how the sun always got in his eyes. And besides, it was much harder to fight and sneak around in the sun. Now what Uchiha Sasuke did like, what rainy days. It allowed for stealth, and if rain didn't annoy you, but annoyed your opponent, an advantage. He liked the smell of a rainy day. It was rustic, and a treat one didn't often get in the land of Fire. He loved the feel of the rain drops falling on his had, and the water slipping down his face. And most of all, he liked rainy days because they allowed him to think. On a sunny day, there was so much... energy, and if he tried to get a second to himself, he knew someone was going to come up to him and ask him for a date, like that strange blonde chick.

Unfortunately, for Sasuke at least, today was a sunny day. He knew that today he was probably going to be stuck with the worst job for the D-ranks, or Kakashi would go a little extra hard on him during the spars. 'That stupid cat probably escaped aga- Oh.'

And there it was.

Running along the road, as Sasuke walked toward his team's training ground, was the striped fiend. He was filled with trepidation, but that trepidation was kicked out of the way and refilled with relief when he saw a team of ninja chasing the cat.

He happily started whistling as he walked along the road, absorbing the other team's displeasure and converting it to happiness, but instantly recognized it as a bad idea. The cat turned it's head to the left, and as their respective eyes met, feline and human, Sasuke saw the cats eyes widen in recognition. The cat instantly changed it's course and ran straight at Sasuke. Flashbacks filled his mind, a cat jumping on his face, and unfortunately, he started thinking before he started acting.

'Oh god, that cat is going to jump on me, isn't it?FUUUUUU-'

And the cat, in one swift movement that made Sasuke reminisce of his brother training, used all five of it's appendages (including the head) to claw and bite his head. Instantly, the cat used the platform formerly known as Sasuke's head to jump onto the roof, the force of the jump somehow throwing Sasuke to the ground, where he unceremoniously stepped on and used as a platform again for the chasing ninja.

As blood somehow squirted from his face from the shallow wounds, he stood up, and slowly started walking, in a melancholy, to his destination. No one noticed the abuse he was given, it was all very common in a ninja village.

There were no more events as he trekked to the bridge. Naruto and Sakura merely looked up to the cloudless sky and sighed when they saw his state. There were no words exchanged as he leaned on the bridge, waiting for Kakashi.

Three hours later, his eyes were twitching, while his hands started to crack and break the wood of the bridge railing. Naruto and Sakura seemed to be in a similar state, and as Kakashi appeared on the horizon, the murderous force of a thousand armies was directed at his being.

'God damn it! He's usually only an hour and a half late, but this time he's freaking four and a half hours late. If we had showed up at the time he set, there would be one less Kakashi in this world!'

Sasuke's murderous thoughts went unnoticed, obviously, as Kakashi walked up to the bridge, smiling that god damned smile, and said, "Congratulations Team 7! We have a mission today!"

This did nothing to help the teams mood, it actually, as a matter of fact, made them glare at Kakashi with a little more intensity than before, so all in all, enough killing intent to kill an average jounin. But Kakashi, being much more than average, simply chuckled and smiled even more, if such a thing were possible, shrugging off the malice.

"Now, now, stop that. I think this mission will cater to your tastes a little better than the previous ones we have been on," Kakashi said, pulling out his almost omnipresent book. This action seemed to anger Sakura quite a bit, though the boys thought it amusing. Sakura started towards her sensei, but completely unwilling to deal with a beat up teammate, Naruto diffused the situation with curiosity.

"How will this mission... cater to our tastes, in your own words, sensei-teme?" He asked, stopping Sakura, making her look on at Kakashi.

Kakashi, ignoring the bastard jab, leveled out his gaze and said, "It's a C-rank."

With that, he turned and walked away, his dumbstruck gennin barely remembering to follow him.

XXXXXX

As Naruto jumped through the trees, he thought about his C-rank mission. It was a simple mission, just guarding a village. These missions were the only free missions that Konoha offered. As Hi no Kuni gained territory, Konoha decided to extend in offer to it's villages. In return for exclusivity in missions, and an extremely small fee, these villages became Konoha's protectorates, creating a proactive defense force, instead of a reactive one. The village protectors, usually a team of four chuunin for a small village like the one Naruto's team was going to, were restricted to the defense of the village and the destruction of any hostile force gathering within ten kilometers. This was to ensure the maximum mission rate, while still protecting their investments.

Usually a mission like this would last a few months. But, as they were only a group of three gennin and a jounin, this mission only last a week. They were something of a reprieve to the chuunin that usually guarded this village.

Naruto thought on what this mission meant. The reason the Hokage thought the chuunin needed a break was because the village was attacked nearly three times a week, almost every week. The village leader had yet to request a mission to eradicate the problem, as he thought the problem would resolve itself. He hoped that the village leader was right.

He was not. This would certainly lead to something referred to as 'The First Gennin Test'. The first kill of of a kunoichi or shinobi's life. Usually, a few weeks before his or her classes last test, the teacher at the academy would have a batch of criminals transported to his room, and chained up. The teacher would then instruct his students to slit the throat of the criminal. There is a criminal for each student.

The dropout rate for the academy is the highest around two weeks before the final test.

As Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto did not attend their final two years, they were not subject to this... exercise... and had not killed yet. Only one of them had been exposed to death, and even that was on a fairly small scale.

This would be their first true mission as ninja. Their official "hazing", judging them either worthy, or not.

XXXXXX

A footstep.

That's all they saw. A single foot blurring in and out of the screen at speeds most could never follow.

However, that's all they needed.

Blurring into action, the two ninja ran away from the video control room to the place where the footstep landed less than two minutes ago. Using eyes that were sharper than a fox's, the two discerned the size, shape and distinct pattern of the print. They began tracking the print, seeing and processing information at powerful speeds. The trail led out of the wooden complex into the forest surrounding it.

The pair sped along, until suddenly, the trail stopped. As they stood there, however, they were not looking for clues. One of them, a female, merely stated,

"They're hiding above us,"

It was a simple phrase, and nothing seemed to happen, except for a single leaf floating down from the trees. The female's companion, a male, stood directly under the leaf and merely waited for it to float down to him, where he caught the green capillary, and looked exactly 45 degrees to the left of him.

He spoke, slowly, "They went that way, towards the Iwa-Kusa border,"

She narrowed her eyes, and asked, "How many of them?"

He seemed to think for a second, and answered, "I think there were two of them. Should we engage?"

The woman shook her head, and said, "No. We aren't sure on their number or power level. Call in for backup."

The man nodded, put his left hand in a half tiger seal, and closed his eyes. After a few seconds, he answered, "Done," The man looked at the leaf in his right hand, smiled goofily and said,

"Look, a leaf was the downfall for the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Get it?"

There was a loud cracking sound, and a grunt of pain, followed by the woman saying,

"Shut up, you idiot."

XXXXXX

"Ah, so our protectors arrive!" said the village leader, a rather short, stocky man, not particularly fat, but he certainly didn't give off the impression of skinniness. His hair was brown and short, laid atop an angular head, reminiscent of a rectangle, marred with a strained smile of joy. His face was happy, but his eyes gave away his obvious unhappiness. The man obviously didn't like Konoha, or it's ninja.

"It's lucky you got here when you did, any later and the bandits that have been here for two years would have gotten us," The smile ran away from his face as he angrily looked at Kakashi, trying to prove a point.

Kakashi sighed. Speaking slowly, he said, "The bandits operate out of an area that is thirty kilometers from here. If you wish the bandit camp destroyed, please request a mission from Konoha. A B-rank pay would suffice for a camp of such size, as there are no shinobi. In fact, I would gladly take care of it right now, if you signed in contract for the mission," The village leader was obviously repulsed at the idea of paying for something he thought should be free, and turned away without a reply.

"Well then, if you have no further grievances, we will leave and find a place to stay in. Do you have a place you can recommend?"

The leader didn't even look like he acknowledged the words, but said, "Touzo Manami's was the place that the previous four stayed at. She'll probably be used to it by now. Down the road to your left, and then take a right. It's the green one,"

Kakashi nodded, and turned away, walking out the door. His three protege bowed, and followed him.

As the quartet walked down the street, they noticed some of the glances the village people threw at them. They were stares of contempt, poorly hidden by some notion of respect. Noticing his genin's confusion, he explained.

"Most of these townspeople have the same mindset as that village leader. They think that their village is an exception to the contracts they made, as the bandits almost exclusively target this town. They think that the bandits are getting away with crimes because of a technicality,"

Sakura looked at Kakashi in confusion, and said, "But sensei, aren't they? The bandits are quite obviously exploiting the contract to escape justice. Isn't this town an exception?"

Kakashi replied without missing a beat, "No Sakura, this village is not an exception. Any bandit with any sort of a brain would take advantage of the contract, and rightfully guesses that most villages will be too greedy, and expect to pity Konoha into attacking them, free of charge. Any good bandit leader would probably stay for a month or so in one spot, and then go raid somewhere else. Bandits will do anything to stay alive, and to make a profit. Every once in a while, a village will order a mission for a bandit camp to be eliminated straight off the bat, but these villages soon gain a reputation, and no one but the most cocky of bandits will raid the town. The only way this village is special in any way, is that usually, after five months or so, the villagers will get fed up and request a mission if the bandits decide to stay. These bandits have long overstayed their welcome, but the villagers are just too stubborn. More likely than not, this town will probably be completely looted in a few years if there is nothing done about it,"

Kakashi's speech had taken them down the whole block, and after turning around the bend, they saw the green house, four houses down from where they were. Only three of the group took in this information, as Sakura was too focused on the subject.

She rebuked Kakashi's reply, saying, "So, if I interpreted you correctly, you're saying that if these villagers don't request a mission, we're just going to let them die?" The look on her face was indignant.

Kakashi stopped in his tracks, compelling the other three to stop as well, and looked Sakura in the eyes. He spoke slowly, not as if speaking to a child, but like he wanted to put emphasis into his words.

"Sakura, there is one thing you need to understand, right now. In our world, this world of secrets and death, morals are something that simply don't exist. Sure, Konoha helps other people in need, but is not because we are good, but it is because we are selfish. We always want something in return. We give out favors, not charity. If Konoha started giving out charity, soon, charity would become expected of us. And that one day that we don't give out charity, it will lead to revolution. And there is always one thing about revolution. If there are enough people for the revolution, the changes will always take place. So when you think it's just terrible to let these people die, and we should do something to help, for free, just remember my words. And ask yourself a question:

"'Which do I like more? This town that I have no connections to, or Konoha, the place where I was born and raised, where all my friends and loved ones are?' If you are in the right state of mind, Sakura, I think you may be able to choose the correct answer," And without waiting for a reply, he started walking away, the stunned Naruto and Sasuke barely remembering to follow, and leaving Sakura behind, paralyzed by his words.

Long after the three boys walked into the green house, she turned and walked in the opposite direction, contemplating.

Contemplating her entire reason for being what she was.

XXXXXX

I am fairly sorry about the late update. Shit happened, and quite frankly, I forgot about this fic, until I had gotten some recent reviews and alerts. I have decided to update now, instead of waiting the extra three months to get the other six thousand words for this little arc done.

This is also unbeta'd, the beta'd version will come out in about a week.

Just one thing. Next chapter, there will be action, there will be fight scenes and it will be (hopefully) glorious. Anyways, hoped you enjoyed the chapter, and if you did, review, because reviewing makes me want to update.

Ciao!