Started this later than I wanted to.
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This fic occurs with Itachi killing his clan when Sasuke was five. Sasuke finds Naruto and they both agree to help the other.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything I take from other animes or mangas.
Started: May 9, 2008
Worked On: May 10, 2008
Finished: May 11, 2008
Total Days Worked: 3 Days
Start to Finish: 3 Days
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Chapter 3: Training the Oni-Tenshi Denrei
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Naruto's annoyed blue eyes stared at the single brown eye of the chronically late Jonin. He was only late two hours this time, but was late nonetheless. "Ne, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said, his voice filled with chill. "Keep your schedule the way it is and you might just lose your mini-me in a few days." Naruto watched the Jonin. He seemed perfectly confident in his own abilities to escape, that didn't settle well with Naruto so the blond interrupted the pervert's next sentence. "Don't think I can't, either. You must be forgetting that I'm the boy that could outrun and hide from Konoha ANBU and never get caught when I was only eight."
Naruto grinned in satisfaction when Kakashi's face paled slightly. Sakura wasn't able to catch it but Sasuke did and smirked. Kakashi nervously eye-smiled and sweatdropped. "Now, now, that won't be needed. Heheh...Anyways..." Kakashi pulled out a clock and put it on a stump, setting the alarm. "You will have until noon to retrieve a bell from me." He said, holding up two bells.
"Wait, sensei, why are there only two bells?" Sakura asked.
"Forget that!" Naruto yelled. "Why the hell are you late when you have a perfectly fine clock right there!?"
Kakashi chose to ignore the fuming blond. "The person who doesn't get a bell will fail." He said, simply. "As I said, you have until noon to get a bell. And you better come at me with the intent to kill or you'll fail." With a quick eye-smile, Kakashi said, "Go!" and watched as all three shot off into different directions.
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Naruto crouched next to Sasuke on the branch as they watched the Jonin carefully.
"Ne, Sasuke, what should we do?" Naruto asked, running over all his jutsu in his head. Sasuke didn't respond immediately. He was thinking.
"Naruto, why would one of us get disqualified if oji-san said that this team had been planned for a long time?" Naruto shrugged until he saw what Sasuke was saying.
"You know, come to think of it, I've never seen a Genin team with only two Genin unless one of them died." Naruto put his hand on his chin to think. "Think he's tricking us?"
"Probably." Sasuke said, staring intently at the figure that was the Jonin. "Were taught to look underneath the underneath. This has to either be a test of teamwork or he's a dick sensei."
"I vote for both." Naruto muttered under his breath. "Whatever let's just find Sakura and tell her what we've figured out. We've already agreed to train her later." The two sped off to where they could feel the female member's chakra signature.
"We still need to figure out what to teach her." Sasuke said. "She has low chakra but her control is near perfect. We'll work on her reserves mostly while keeping her control top notch."
Naruto nodded. "Maybe she could do what the old hag did. That Tsuna woman." Sasuke deadpanned.
"That's Tsunade, Naruto. What I gleamed of her fighting style is only an educated guess and it should work. We'll have to have her test it if she has the concentration and control." Sasuke stored away a note to test her later as they arrived behind her. Naruto and Sasuke each placed a hand on her shoulder. She jumped a bit and turned around before sighing in relief.
"Jeez, guys." She whispered. "You scared me." Sasuke-kun is here! She thought.
"Sakura," Naruto began. "We need to work together. This is a test about teamwork, we hope, and we're going to prove this bastard what we can do." Sakura was a bit hesitant to believe Naruto.
"We know you have little chakra and weak taijutsu so you won't be able to physically help much." Sasuke said. Sakura just hung her as her crush spoke the painful truth. "We'll fix that later. Right now, you're just the brains. So, you should try and make up a plan."
Sakura was elated. Sasuke-kun wants me to help! CHAA! Inner Sakura piped in. "Okay, I don't know what you two can do but you're at least Chuunin. First, we'll..."
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Kakashi was standing in the middle of the clearing, reading his orange book and giggling. Wonder where the children are. He thought to himself during a break of perversion. Either they're stupid, or they're planning something. I should be on guard. The next part in the book made him blush extra hard and he nearly forgot to watch out, but he stayed vigilant.
It wasn't until seven minutes later when the attack came. He was almost too absorbed to notice it but he lifted his left arm at the last moment. The kick crashed into his arm and, to his surprise, he was pushed back a foot. Strong. He thought. He ducked an overhead kick and caught an incoming fist. He stared at the bright blue eyes that signified his teacher reincarnate. "Nice try." He said with an eye smile. He slipped his book into his pouch and caught Sasuke's punch before jumping over the sweep kick and laying flat to avoid the overhead one, forcing him to release Naruto. The blond struck quickly and hit the white-haired ninja where the sun don't shine. He didn't expect the man to disappear in a poof of smoke to reveal a log. He cursed and jumped away.
Sasuke copied Naruto's movement and quickly scanned around. Left, right, behind me, up, down! "Sasuke's thoughts were right as he launched himself into the air to avoid two hands that would've trapped him. He looked over to see that Naruto was less fortunate and was now just a head in the ground with a smiling Kakashi next to him.
Sasuke smirked as the Naruto head poofed into smoke and Kakashi quickly jumped back. The Uchiha landed in front of the elite ninja and began a taijutsu match where Kakashi blocked every single one of his attacks. That is, until a legion of Narutos burst from the tree line with an equal amount of Sasukes following.
Holy shit! Kakashi thought before he created a few clones of his own. He was hard pressed to survive but the clones all came at his front. They all pressed in, not giving the man a second to retaliate. The fight last for about six minutes before all of the clones just disappeared in a massive cloud of smoke. All that was left was a single Naruto and Sasuke, smirking. Sakura jumped out from the forest and landed next to Sasuke with her own smirk.
Kakashi was about to get into a defensive stance but he was stopped by the alarm going off. He reached to grab the bells and smiled. "Well, looks like you guys..." He trailed off when he noticed the bells were gone. "Hrm..." He hummed to himself.
Naruto grinned. "Ne, Kakashi-sensei, we got the bells." He said, holding them up. "And a little insurance." This time he held up an orange book and Kakashi's eyes widened.
Kakashi calmed himself down. "Well then, if you don't mind, how did you do it?"
Sakura smiled. "Well, when they first attacked you, Naruto discreetly put two ticks on you. They each traveled to one of the two target areas and, when they were ready, changed back into Narutos. That was also when the other clones disappeared and in the confusion, the first two gave the items to the real Naruto."
Kakashi 'hmm'ed and looked over his Genin. "Well, I suppose the plan was your doing, Sakura." She nodded. "Well then, I guess I'll just have to pass you!" He smiled. "We'll start missions tomorrow. Same time, same place as today." Before Kakashi poofed away, he retrieved his book and bells and received a message from Naruto. The message wasn't verbal but Kakashi understood it just as well. Naruto grabbed one of his kunai and pointed it threateningly towards Kakashi's manhood. The Jonin shivered and disappeared.
Naruto sighed. "Well, how about some ramen!" This got a groan out of Sasuke.
"I vote for dango." He said.
"Me too." Sakura said. She giggled when Naruto started to cry fake tears and acting like he'd just bee betrayed.
"Fine, but Uchiha is paying!" The blond said with a smile before leading them off to the dango stand.
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The next day brought Naruto standing in front of Sakura. Missions had finished for the day so now it was time to start her personal training. He and Sasuke had decided to train her every other day each and Naruto got the first day. His blue eyes staring into her eyes as if searching her very soul. "Sakura." Naruto began, Sakura paid attention. She knew she could get stronger under her teammates' tutelage and if she was stronger, Sasuke might go out with her. "You have very low chakra reserves, but high control. You also have an infatuation with Sasuke. As of now, that will stop at all times while training and on missions. Understand?" His voice wasn't cold but it was stern. She hesitantly nodded. "Good, now, we'll start out with a chakra control exercise that will help you increase your reservoir over time. While training with Sasuke, you will work on physical training. I will focus on chakra control, storage, and application. First, we will practice tree climbing without your hands."
Naruto noticed the confused expression on Sakura's face. He smiled and walked over to a tree before stepping on it and continued walking up it. Sakura had her mouth hanging open. "Sakura, to do this, focus chakra to your feet so that they stick to the tree. You must keep a constant amount of chakra in your feet to make this work. The feet are the hardest place to draw chakra too and by learning this, it will be easier to draw it to other parts of the body and to learn jutsu." Naruto dropped from the tree to the ground. "Personally, I'd recommend going to the tree and testing out to see how much chakra is needed to stick and then get a running start."
Sakura nodded but looked a bit fearful. She wasn't afraid of heights, but she wasn't too drawn to them. She'd never been up high before actually, but she doubted she'd like it. She let out a sigh and walked to the tree before doing as Naruto suggested. She placed her right foot on the tree and changed the amount of chakra until it would stick. She memorized it and backed up. She prepped herself mentally and charged the tree. She placed her first foot on the tree and continued going up. She could feel how high she was and the thought almost made her lose focus until she heard Naruto shout, "Focus!" She did that and slowed to a walk before sitting herself on a high branch.
Next, she did what she didn't want to. She looked down and was shocked to find Naruto looked like an ant. Looking up, she saw there was only about five yards to the top of the tree. The limb she was on was just enough to support her. She was surprised to find that the height didn't affect her much. It was just slightly mind boggling to be so high up when man was meant to stay on the ground. She stopped her sight seeing when she heard Naruto calling for her.
"Sakura! I want you to run up and down this tree until you run out of chakra." His voice was loud enough to reach her easily even though he talked without actually raising his voice. He was probably using chakra to enhance it somehow. "Do this every day. It will help build your reserves if you go to bed with empty ones. Because the body is used to replenishing your chakra while you're still awake, and the process is faster while asleep. So, it will go as long as it would during the day, but it fills faster so it starts to expand your coils to fit the extra chakra that it creates. Do this every day, even on days you train with Sasuke, when we're not on a mission outside of Konoha."
"Hai!" She shouted down before viewing the scene before her. It was beautiful, the sun was still an hour above the tree line. Looking out from the top of the tree she could see the most of the village and a lot of the forest. It was peaceful. She let herself have one more look before she attached herself back to the tree and ran to the bottom. She slowed down and spun around before running back up. She would continue this routine for twenty minutes before her chakra would run out.
Naruto watched from the shadows as she did it. So, twenty minutes if her starting max. Tomorrow, she'll be able to last twenty-three. Then, twenty-seven or so. After that she'll start increasing faster. Thirty-five, forty-two, fifty. She'll come along nicely. Naruto turned and shunshinned back to his apartment.
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Sasuke looked up at Naruto when he heard the poof. "So, how did training go?" He inquired.
The blond grinned. "Pretty good. She was able to get up on her first try, but that's just more proof of her minuscule reserves. She made it twenty minutes today and will get about twenty-three tomorrow if she was in top shape. Though, with your training, she won't last that long."
Sasuke nodded. "Tomorrow, her physical training begins."
The door swung open before the boys could grin and Kumei jumped in. "Nii-san, Aniki! It's time for our jog around Konoha! Let's go."
Sasuke sighed and stood up. Naruto looked at his adopted sister. "Ne, imoto, how many laps this time?"
"Fifty!" She said, excited. Naruto raised an eyebrow.
"Fifty, eh? Last time was forty. Upping it a lot this time. Let's see if you can handle it." With that, the three set off for the main gate where they'd exit Konoha and run right outside the wall.
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Today was the second day of training and missions with Kakashi. The man hadn't shown up but thirty minutes late for the past two days because of Naruto's threat. Sakura was now standing in front of Sasuke, blushing.
"Today," the Uchiha began. "We work on physical strength. While you shouldn't need much strength for the things you will probably learn, you are weak even compared to Genin. We will build your stamina, which will allow faster buildup of chakra reserves. First, twenty-five push ups, fifty sit ups, fifty punches with each arm and fifty kicks with each leg. After that we will run two laps around Konoha and increase by one every training session." Sasuke fell to the ground to begin push ups. Sakura followed, trying to ignore Sasuke's moving body. He was finished with four times what she had to do when she got done. He tilted his head towards the gate and walked off. Sakura followed and let thoughts of Sasuke invade her mind. But each time they tried, they would be ruthlessly beaten down by the words Naruto told her the day before. 'You also have an infatuation with Sasuke. As of now, that will stop at all times while training and on missions. Understand?' She pushed the thoughts out of her mind, reluctantly, and followed Sasuke out of the gate. She was dreading what was about to happen.
Her crush set off at a decent speed that she kept up with. Running wasn't that bad when starting, but she soon felt the pain of running. She was breathing heavy when they were a quarter of the way around the first lap. She was not exhausted yet, but she wasn't used to putting this kind of physical effort forward and wasn't used to breathing right. She knew it'd straighten up, but that thought didn't make her any more comfortable running.
She surprised herself when her legs didn't start to burn until they were three-fourths of the way finished with lap one. She bit her lip and tried to ignore the pain like they'd been told in the academy. She would do this, if not for Sasuke-kun, then for herself. Push! If I become stronger, Sasuke may start to like me! Her will forced her to move.
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By the time they finished, Sakura wasn't feeling hardly any pain because of the endorphins that her body produced when they'd reached the one-third mark on the second lap. She was going good after that. Now they were done and Sakura knew they had another thing to do before she started on her tree climbing.
"Now, repeat the exercises and perform Naruto's assigned routine. Then you're dismissed. I'd recommend getting some food before heading home." Sasuke shunshinned into a nearby tree to watch and see if the girl listened.
Of course, she started her push ups, sit ups, and the rest of her exercises. The endorphins were starting to wear off and she could feel the pain her body was in, barely. She started running up and down a tree just like the previous day, though she only lasted seven minutes because of the physical activities.
What a day. She thought before she fell to the ground unconscious. Sasuke sighed and appeared by her.
"Poor girl, worked herself to her limits." He picked her up bridal style and walked towards her home. I sure hope she's doing this more for herself than for me. Her infatuation with me could cause her trouble on missions. The black-eyed and black-haired Uchiha entered Sakura's bedroom window and set her down on the bed. He removed her zoris and covered her before jumping back out the window, leaving no evidence that he was there.
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Sasuke and Naruto were standing in front of Sakura who was sitting on the ground in front of two marbles. They'd been doing D-rank missions and training Sakura for a month and they figured it was time to see if she could perform the technique. Naruto decided to start.
"What we are going to teach you today is a form of 'super strength.' It takes great chakra control that neither me nor Sasuke have. In fact, hardly anyone has attained the amount of control for it." The blond was smirking. They'd taught her the water walking shortly after the tree climbing and then she had to levitate a kunai over her hand. They moved to the other extremities of the body and then made her do water walking or tree climbing while levitating the kunai. Her chakra level was about mid to high-level Genin. Her chakra control was still perfect, or as perfect as you could get. "It doesn't take as much chakra as jutsu but it takes concentration and focus to use. Now, flick the first marble as hard as you can." Sakura nodded.
The pink-haired ex-banshee aligned her finger with the marble and flicked with all her strength. The marble flew about seventeen feet out. The girl looked back to her team mates. Naruto calmly walked towards the flicked marble.
"Good strength to begin with." Sasuke said. "Now, focus a layer of chakra around your middle finger so that it will stop the pain of coming into contact with the marble." Sakura did as she was told and Sasuke could see the blue outline with his Sharingan. "Now, focus chakra into your finger like in tree climbing." He watched as the outline of chakra filled into her whole finger covered in chakra. Sasuke smiled." Good, now for the hard part. You have to release the inner chakra in a burst without the outer shield faltering. Practice doing that until you're confident you can do it." Naruto came back with the marble and set it down on the ground back where it was before.
The blond smirked. "Come to us when you're confident enough." Naruto and Sasuke walked over to a tree to begin their planning. "Alright, Sasuke, we need to find out what would suit her best. She has mediocre chakra levels, very high control, and book smarts."
Sasuke contemplated for a second. "Sounds like a medic-nin to me. We'd have to find someone else to train her for that, though. We could teach her weapons or solid chakra manipulation. Then...we could start her on chakra manipulation. It would give her an edge to have jutsu she could do with less chakra than normal."
Naruto nodded. "That sounds good." He noticed a lack of chakra usage and looked back to see Sakura walking towards them.
"I got it." She said, smiling. She raised her hand and flicked. Sasuke watched the chakra shell form and fill before the contained chakra blasted out in a single direction.
"Good." Sasuke said, smiling. She was coming along well. He led the other two back behind the marbles. "Flick one of them as hard as you can and release as much chakra as possible. Make sure to release right on contact with the marble. Don't push it into the marble just release."
Sakura did as he said. She curled her finger back and aimed for a tree. She let her finger fly with all of her strength and all the chakra she could fit in her finger. She felt the contact with the marble but, surprisingly, it didn't hurt in the least. Now, what happened next surprised her even more. The marble shattered and millions of nearly invisible shards riddled the ground and tree. The pieces each made their own barely discernible hole. The closer they were, the deeper the hole went. As far as Sasuke could see, the deepest was four inches.
"Impressive." Naruto said. "You seem to be getting the hang of this. Now, a question. How would you stop the marble from shattering while still hitting it with the same amount of power?"
Sakura stopped to think. It took her around four minutes before she made up her mind. "I suppose you'd have to harden the material or place a chakra coat on it too."
"Good." Sasuke said. Sakura deadpanned. He used that word way too much. "Practice coating the marble and your finger in chakra while filling and expelling the chakra form your finger. But don't actually hit the marble until you're ready and we can supervise it."
Naruto continued from Sasuke's words. "This is the reason it takes so much chakra control. Hardly anybody has the control and concentration to focus on two different chakra manipulations. This is three and is even harder. The only time anyone's ever focused on more than one is when they're doing something that is ingrained into their reflexes, like tree climbing or water walking. Continue this for your training tonight. We'll come back tomorrow to finish the lesson."
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It was an hour later when Sakura was able to barely focus all three. While she was doing it, though, she noticed that when she expelled the chakra from her finger, it came out in a burst in all around where she was hitting. She'd have to ask about that later. She had been practicing with a few clumps of dirt she pulled up. Every time, she'd lose focus on the object's cloak and it would bust.
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Naruto and Sasuke came back the next day to see Sakura practicing. She must be really into it if she's already back out here this early. Sasuke thought. Sakura had forgone the dirt clumps today, and was instead just focusing on keeping all three chakra areas focused. She could do it with concentration now, though she assumed after months of use, it'd become reflex.
"Sakura." She was startled out of her practice when her two team metes came up. It was about an hour before their sensei would arrive. Naruto grinned. "Now it's time to put it to use." He pointed to the marble and then a tree. "Flick the marble at that tree using the exercise you've been working on."
The girl sighed and lowered herself next to the marble. She was hoping she could do it right, but more, she was wondering what kind of effect it would have. Her finger curled back and she gathered the chakra on instinct. She focused on the marble and aimed for a hard knot in the tree trunk. When she was ready, she let loose her finger. She felt the painless contact and watched in awe as the marble shot from the ground like a bullet and a large crack appeared in the knot. She hadn't even been able to see the marble fly.
Sasuke knew she and Naruto wouldn't see the marble's flight but, with his Sharingan, he could. It had flew straight and almost shattered just from the high speeds. When it hit the tree he was shocked. "The marble went in about six inches and the area around the knot is terribly unstable. The marble itself is non-existent now." They all stared at the tree up close.
Sakura was the first to break out of her funk as she remembered her question. "Ne, Naruto, Sasuke-kun. I noticed that when I flick, the chakra sprays out all around the area. Wouldn't I able able to focus it into a single area and increase the power?"
Naruto eyes bugged out. "Good god, isn't is strong enough?"
Sasuke ignored the blond. "That is the next step but it is a waste for the basic style. It's only use would be when flicking a object at something. You may practice on your own time, but it is not part of our training plans. Now, apply the same concept but on your fist and punch the ground. Applying the chakra to the ground wouldn't have much of an effect besides lowering the height of the land."
Sakura did as Sasuke told her to. It took a lot more chakra than one finger and was bit harder to concentrate on. But she pulled through and flung her arm to the ground as hard as she could. She felt her fist sink into the earth but it didn't stop there. Spiderweb cracks rippled out from the point of impact and a few areas upturned. "Sugoi(Amazing)..." She said.
"Think that's amazing?" Naruto asked. "Wait until you can do it as well as it's inventor. She can cause the whole area to churn itself. She can shatter a tree trunk with a single punch. The problem is, when used on another person, their body will sense the chakra and will put up a small barrier of chakra. So, it will not rip a limb or shatter a skull. But, it will still hurt them...like hell." The blond rubbed a phantom pain in his arm.
Sasuke continued where he left off. "As it is, it is possible to break their arm by overpowering the barrier, but I wouldn't worry because their limb would be numb for a while from the hit."
"Sensei is almost here." Naruto cut in. "Sakura, along with depleting your chakra every night, practice using this method on every part of your body that could be used as a weapon."
"This list is: the forehead, chin, hands, feet, heels, fingers, knees, elbows, hip, shoulders, forearm, and shin." Sasuke said, listing the useful ones. "This will get your body used to it and make it sort of a reflex. It will help with the chakra control and focus later on."
Sakura stood up and rolled her arm. They watched as their eternally tardy sensei arrived thirty minutes passed his set time. Naruto was okay with the thirty minutes, as it seemed he wouldn't ever arrive on time unless it was life or death.
"Yo!" He said with a smile. "If your training is done, let's get to missions and then some jutsu training afterwards." That was about all he could teach them, along with ethics and life lessons, seeing as Naruto and Sasuke were already high Chuunin and they were both training Sakura.
Sasuke grunted, Naruto huffed, and Sakura glared.
The pervert sweatdropped. "Don't worry, next week we'll go on a C-rank mission, how does that sound?" He asked. He received three nods. They're ready for one, but I don't know if they're ready for their first kill if we have to deal with bandits.
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"Pein." A female voice said. The orange-haired Jonin Boss of Ame turned to look at his partner. She had just started reeling in her large paper wings. She was the Angel of God in Ame and Pein was God. Everyone knew this. "The Kazuka clan seems to have survived the annihilation years ago and they're rallying against you." Well, some people refused to believe he was God.
Pein seemed to think a bit before he grinned. "I'll handle it. I think Naruto and Sasuke would like to visit sooner than expected. How long do we have until they attack?"
"We have about two and a half months." She replied.
"I'll send out a messenger in two months time to Konoha requesting their presence." Pein sighed. "This time we'll eradicate the Resistance and set up an alliance with Konoha. I'm also interested to see how the boys have progressed."
"May I inquire as to why you watch these boys as you do instead of removing the Bijuu?" Konan asked. She knew she was out of line, but Pein wouldn't mind much.
Pein's frown disturbed her a bit. "Madara works in contrast to myself. I'll put of his plans as much as I can without him knowing. Luckily he cannot leave the temple in his new body for three years." Konan nodded and shunshinned out. "Madara." Pein muttered under his breath in disgust. "I have the only two people who could ever end you on my side."
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Sakura's fist crashed into the ground as she released the pent up chakra. The ground erupted in a straight line and flung a black object into the air. "Red Berry here phase one complete. Ramen Lord, Darkness King, you're up." Sakura shook her head a bit at Naruto's code name but kept her vision focused on the target. They were currently on the most dangerous mission any Genin ever went on in th Hidden Leaf.
"Roger." Came the static-laden voice. Two blurs shot out of the trees on opposite sides of the black object. They landed on a branch and jumped around to circle around. Once more and they both fell to the ground with a poor defenseless black cat tied up with rope. It let out a pitiful meow.
Sasuke held the cat up and click his headset. "Plagiarist, target apprehended. Ribbon on ear confirmed. Mission accomplished."
"Ne, Kakashi," Naruto said, "I think it's time for that C-rank mission you promised us. These D-ranks are almost enough for me to go all Itachi on cat kind." Sasuke grunted in annoyance at the reference but smirked all the same. Kakashi, in the distance, just sighed.
"Hai, hai. Report to the rendezvous point." The connection was cut and the three Genin jumped off towards town where Kakashi was waiting, being a lazy ass sensei.
The three Genin met up with their sensei and, with a glare, set off for the Hokage's tower.
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Naruto glared at the cat as it's overweight owner, the fire Daimyo's wife, carried it out. Sasuke smirked in superiority at the cat and Sakura ground her fist into an open palm. The cat clung to the woman like a lifeline. Kakashi, Iruka, and Sarutobi sweatdropped.
Team Seven was currently in the missions room waiting to receive their next mission after returning the hell cat. Kakashi stopped the Hokage from going through the D-rank missions. "Hokage-sama, I believe my team is ready for a C-rank mission now."
Iruka stood up. "But they just left the academy a month ago! They should wait a get more training before leaving on a C-rank!"
Kakashi just eye-smiled at the Chuunin. "Iruka, Naruto and Sasuke were high Chuunin level when the left the academy." Sarutobi raised an eyebrow while Iruka' eyes bulged a bit. "And they have been helping Sakura and have reconstructed Tsunade's legendary strength. I'm sure they can handle it."
"How were they able to replicate Tsunade's strength? Only she knows the theory behind it." Iruka said, sitting down in disbelief.
Sarutobi fake coughed. "Uh, I think I might know." The Chuunin and Jonin turned to look at their superior in interest. "You see, they started training when they were five. When they were eight or so, they would leave the village for weeks at a time doing their own missions. It was one of these missions, during an academy break, when they ran across Tsunade. According to their report, she almost killed them, but Sasuke used his Sharingan to see what she did. Apparently, it takes perfect chakra control and focus. So, Sakura is probably the only one that will ever be able to do it, besides Hinata."
"You guys left the village seeking missions?" Kakashi asked, looking at his two male charges.
"Hell yeah!" Naruto shouted. "We've taken on B and A-rank missions!"
"And one S-rank mission where you almost died." Sasuke muttered.
"Hey! The fact is, I didn't die, and we even got our little sister then. If not for me, she'd be crushed under a ton of wood and burnt by the fire."
"Ahem." The Hokage drew everyone's attention. "I don't think we need everyone knowing what went on during the specific mission. Specifically where it was. Now, before we forget," Here he stopped to pick up a scroll. "you will be protecting a certain man while you escort him back to Wave Country and guard him while building a bridge." Sarutobi called out to the man and the door opened.
They all watched in disappointment as a red-faced drunk with glasses, a towel around his neck, and tattered clothes walked in. He looked at them. "I ask for bodyguards and I get an emo, an idiot, and a fangirl?" Sasuke bristled at that while Sakura glared. Naruto however...
"What did you just say!?" He refrained from attacking the man.
"I assure you sir," Kakashi cut in, "My Genin are perfectly capable of protecting you. And if they can't, I'm a Jonin and can handle anything that comes our way." His eye smile disturbed Tazuna slightly. Kakashi turned to his students. "Pack for a month away and meet at the front gate in an hour."
With a nod and two puffs of smoke, the three Genin were gone.
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Sarutobi went back to his paperwork after he'd left the missions room. Until a poof signaled that a ninja entered his office. He looked up to see Naruto with an emotionless face. He barely noticed it before it split into a wide grin.
"Ne, oji-san, I was wondering if I could take Kumei along with us." He asked. "I want her to get some experience in the field."
Sarutobi tilted his head down and considered the pros and cons. Sure, she'd get experience but she might also hold the team back. It wasn't completely unusual to take others on the lower ranked missions but Tazuna seemed to be nervous when asking for the mission so he might have lied.
His musings were cut short when Naruto spoke. "If it's any consolation, she's high Genin in level." That cut down on a few cons.
"I suppose so. Just make sure to keep an eye on her and don't let her fight if any ninjas come along."
Naruto grinned. "Thanks oji-san! I'll make sure she doesn't affect the mission or hurt herself." Naruto shunshinned out of the office.
Sarutobi sighed. Maybe I should make Naruto and Sasuke Jonin sensei or academy teachers. They're powerful by themselves and they managed to get Sakura up to high Genin at the least. Sarutobi mused a bit before he saw a movement int eh corner of his eye. He spun around with a kunai ready only to see his paperwork stack had doubled. "Son of a..."
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Sakura landed next to the gate with a light backpack to see Naruto, Sasuke, and Kumei standing there. She walked up to them with a smile.
"Hey, guys. What's Kumei doing here?" she asked, confused.
Naruto grinned. "She'll be coming with us!"
"And why's that, Naruto?" The cyclops asked as he walked up with Tazuna in tow. "She's not even in the academy yet."
"Meh," Naruto waved his concerns off, "she's High Genin in level and can take care of herself. In any case, oji-san approved it and I want her to get some real life experience."
"Just make sure she doesn't go against anyone she can't handle." Kakashi said before leading them out of the gate.
"Yay!" Kumei yelled, jumping in the air. "Aniki, this is my first time out of the village since I came here!"
Naruto just grinned back at her. "Maybe you'll get to kick some bandit ass too!" He laughed. "But if ninja attack, let us handle it. Any that come would be higher than your level."
"Hai, aniki. Maybe we'll come across some bandits then. I want to test myself! I mean, it's fun beating the tar out of your clones, but the real thing is a true test since they won't hold back." She skipped along side Naruto
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After a while, they passed by a puddle in the road. There was nothing odd about it at all, except that fact that it hadn't rained in a week. They just continued on with Kakashi, Sasuke, and Naruto giving the puddle a glance.
It wasn't long after they passed that two figures with breathing masks and gauntlets with a chain connecting them rose from the puddle. They both swung around Kakashi and trapped him within their chain. The chain links had spikes that sliced through the pervert as both men pulled. Next they turned to the remnants of the group and charged.
"Kumei, Sakura, protect Tazuna." Naruto said, his face set into one of grim determination. Sasuke pulled out the oni blade he'd taken from the Kazuka Jonin and disappeared. He reappeared between the two Mist Missing-nin. Their chain fell apart before the flat of the blade hit the taller one in the face.
"You bastard!" He said before slicing at Sasuke with his claw. The Uchiha simply jumped over it and kicked the guy in the face. He did a flip in the air and brought his heel down on the Mist nin's head. The missing-nin fell unconscious and Sasuke tied him to a tree.
The other ninja swerved around Naruto and tried to attack Tazuna. He failed when Sakura's fist crashed into his face, flinging him back. Naruto brought up his foot and kicked him dead-center in the back. Naruto spun and back handed the guy, leaving him in the same state his partner was in.
Kakashi jumped from the trees and approached the two tied up Mist nin. "Well Tazuna," He said without turning around, "it seems you have some explaining to do." Now he turned around and set his gaze on the sweating man.
Tazuna was sweating bullets as the ninja watched him, waiting for his answer. "Well, you see, Wave Country has been taken over by an evil man, Gato."
"Gato of Gato Corporations?" Kakashi asked in awe. "He's the richest person in the elemental countries."
"Hai, he is." Tazuna said and lowered his head. "But he's also a crime lord that took control of the waterways around Wave, stopping anything he doesn't want in from getting in. The bridge is the only hope Wave has of overcoming its poverty and Gato's clutches."
"So he hires ninja to kill you." Naruto says. "But why didn't you tell Konoha of this and getting a correctly ranked mission?"
"Well, because of Gato, Wave is poor and even with our Daimyo's help, we could barely afford the C-rank mission."
"This mission is B-rank, bordering on A-rank." Sasuke said with a smirk. "Sounds fun."
"Well, then we shouldn't have been doing this mission to begin with." Kakashi said. "But we're not going to back out of it. We have a Jonin, two Chuunin and two Genin by strength. I'm sure we can handle them." Though next with be a Jonin. Kakashi mused to himself. "Ma, let's get going." They all followed, Tazuna feeling like a weight was lifted off of his shoulders.
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Chapter 3 done. I always hated typing the Wave Arc...Dunno why, I like it, but I don't like to write it -.-'
I seem to write better when what I do has nothing to do with Canon 0.o
Like when they first went to Ame, I got all of that in about one day, easy. But I have trouble with the academy part and such. I even had an easy time writing Sakura's training :D
Well, in any case, Chapter 4 might be a bit longer since I have to type that part about Inari being a little bitch. That'll be a bit -.-' I hate doing that worse that typing the Wave Arc.
Fillers:
Yes: 0
No: 2
I'll let the vote go until after the Tsunade retrieval arc.
Read and Review please D: