Inept Empiricism

Disclaimer / I don't own Naruto. Sadly . . .

We've Been Through Worse

9:00 AM. The twenty-three-year-old Uzumaki Naruto sat up in his bed. Wiping the sleep out of his eyes, he realized what the time was. "Oh shit! I was supposed to meet Obaa-san an hour ago!"

He ran out of the apartment complex half naked trying to pull on a shirt and his Jounin vest at the same time. On the way, he was barely down the block when something hit him, hard. Hyuuga Hanabi was on the ground, "Ow. . ."

"My bad," Naruto said as he pulled her up, "I was in a hurry so . . ."

Hanabi's glare was ice, "Yeah, well you better pay attention to where you go, idiot."

"Geez . . . no need to get so anal."

"Hmph. Whatever," she walked away with a very snarky outlook.

What crawled up her ass? He thought to himself as he ran down the road to the Hokage Complex. By 9:10, he walked in casually to her office with a stone like grin plastered on his face.

She wasn't happy though.

"An hour and ten minutes late. You're not as bad as Kakashi, but you're getting close."

"Sorry, I slept in."

"Don't let it happen again."

"Yes ma'am."

"Good. Now, down to the point. Have you heard of the troop movements the council has pulled?"

"No."

"Well, they've been stepping up. Pushing many troops to the north because of sighted sound activity. Now, in my position, I can't do many things to stop them, because of the 12th Law of the Nidaime Hokage, so I need people skilled enough to patrol the south on their own."

"I'll be heading this operation?"

"Yes."

"How many people can I have for my group?"

"I can give you seven."

"Jounin?"

"Of you're pick."

"I'll have Sakura, Chouji, Ino, Shino, Kakashi, Gai, and Neji."

"I can't give you Neji."

"Hinata?"

She shook her head. "Those two are leading forces in the north. Hiashi needs them up front."

"I need a Hyuuga."

"What about the new Jounin, Hyuuga Hanabi?"

"She's a Jounin?"

"Yes, and from what I heard, a damn good one too. She shows promise, but she's a bit . . . arrogant."

"I've seen her around. And that is a definite understatement."

"So you'll settle for her?"

"Yes," he said with a sigh.

"This is mission DP-102-1 unofficially named, Operation Shield. You leave in four days. Don't fail me."

He smirked, "I'll try not to obaa-san."

Naruto walked out of the Hokage's office, thinking of a rally point to report at during 'Shield'. He saw Kakashi walking out of the convenience store with a bag in his hands. Naruto went up to him and said, "Yo, Kakashi-sensei, new mission."

He perked up at this and asked, "Who's the lead?"

"I am."

"So, in other words, it's a suicide mission," Kakashi stated.

Naruto smiled, "Yup, that's why when we're in formation, you'll be up front."

"I see."

"So tell Sakura, Chouji, Ino, Shino, Gai, and Hanabi to be at Training Grounds 108, at eight."

"Hyuuga Hanabi?" Kakashi asked with suprise.

"I couldn't get Neji or Hinata."

Understanding replaced surprise and he said, "Oh, troop movements up north right?"

Naruto nodded.

"I'll get right on it. At eight?"

"No, for you, show up at five."

"Operation Shield has been estimated to take at least a month, so pack enough. Chouji, prep some K-rations, food, anything you can scrounge from the supply area. Just tell them I'm your lead, they owe me."

"What is this mission classified as?" Shino asked.

"It's a war related mission, so AB - Classification."

Hanabi asked, "Are you ready for this mission?" She was very disbelieving of his ability to lead soldiers.

"Yeah, we've been through worse before. I believe in my men."

Sakura smiled, "So let's shove off, see you in four."

One by one they left after answering questions about the mission, until only Hanabi was left. She was still talking about the parameters of the mission, when she was cut off by a sudden grumbling.

"Wanna get something to eat?" Naruto asked.

"No, I still need to clarify something."

"C'mon, this would go a lot faster with a steamy hot bowl of ramen."

She rolled her eyes, but that did sound good, "Alright, but just one bowl . . . and it's on you."

"Yes! Now onward, let's go to the Ichiraku Ramen Bar!"

And for a short period in time, she did a thing rarely anyone saw, she smiled. "OK, then Naruto, let's go."

"Y'know, I thought before, that you beat Neji on luck, and then that you were an idiot. Now I know, that even though you beat Neji with skill rather than pure dumb luck, you're still an idiot."

He laughed, but mockingly stated, "Y'know, that really hurt, Hanabi. And I'm going to get you back. You better watch yourself."

"Oh, I bet."

As the laughter died down on that night, he said, "It's getting late, so, need me to walk you home?"

"No."

"Alright, bye." Then they parted.

"Get down!" Naruto yelled as a hail of senbon flew over his head. "Hanabi! Pin point those fuckers!"

"South-southeast! Ten of them in the tree line."

He nodded to her and ordered a defensive parameter. "Kakashi, take Gai, and Chouji, flank their left. From there, you know what to do. Everyone else on me. We're pushing into Seven-Seven-Five! Move!"

Kakashi nodded and the three left from the group, Naruto ordered them up, and to hide behind something. Two seconds later, they would shift to a more forward location, gradual, but steady advance.

A rumbling, then silenced by shuriken. Sakura went to the source, and found an enemy with four stars lodged into his chest. He was gasping for air. Sakura cracked her knuckles as a sign of intimidation, and said, "Where are they?"

He looked over to his left, then died of excessive bleeding. Sakura told Naruto the directon, and he relayed it to Hanabi.

"Two platoons, they're bunched up. Hit 'em."

Naruto thought for a bit, then said, "Surround that position, improvise from there, but just give me one clear shot."

They nodded and spread out. They automatically formed four groups of two, and started advancing toward the enemy position. The enemy soon realized that they were being assaulted, when two people were killed by Sakura and Shino, and retreated into their bunker, which was clearly susceptible to enemy "fire", so to speak.

Naruto jumped in the air, formed some hand seals and yelled, "Gokakyuu no Jutsu!" A ball of flame rammed into the bunker and incinerated the enemy platoons.

When Kakashi and the others regrouped, Ino blurted out, "Man . . . that was intense."

Hanabi, again, smiled and said, "Nah, we've been through worse."

Thank you, to those who have reviewed my work. Um, I'm sorry to those who didn't understand the military language I used, but, I feel that shinobi are the "Armed Forces" of the Naruto Universe, and so I had to put something in there, to represent what I thought.

Vld - I was thinking about doing that. I really was. But, since you "fear" it, as a favor to you, my dear reader, I won't do that to Hanabi. She's not going to die.

As for my other readers. Stay faithful to me, and keep reading and reviewing!