And a third chapter within a week! I'll probably start to slow down a little now that I've got the world established, but I'll still try to keep things pretty regular. This chapter gets a little bit of a peak into the action, but I'll let you read that for yourself. Enjoy!

Today was the day. From the moment he rolled out of bed, Naruto felt tense, anticipating the mission. Kakashi said that they'd probably get there around 2:00pm, but it still felt immanent. At the breakfast table, no one else seemed to be bothered. They chatted about the same old stuff as they usually did, seemingly without a care in the world.

It was to be expected, he supposed. This was just another day on the job for them. They'd probably done this exact kind of job a hundred times or more, so there really was nothing to worry about. He tried to follow their example the best he could, just going about his job, trying not to overthink what was about to happen.

It worked for the most part, passing the hours working in the cockpit. There was something about the snide remarks from Sasuke about his incompetence and how lazy the captain was, that calmed him down. Sakura was back with the engine, like she said she often was, while Kakashi was once again reclined at his station, reading his favourite book.

The only break in routine came right after lunch. Sasuke and Sakura left the table first, both heading to the ship's hold, leaving Naruto and Kakashi to do the dishes. As they finished up and put the last dishes away in the cupboards, Kakashi motioned for Naruto to follow him.

"Come with me for a moment." As the two walked towards the back of the ship, Kakashi explained what was going on. "On each mission, we make sure to arm up a couple hours before we arrive. Most of the time it isn't necessary, but if things go sideways, we won't have time to run back here and grab them. I understand Sasuke gave you the rundown on the weapons?"

Naruto nodded in response. "Yeah, he did."

"Good. Chances are you won't get to use them today, but you need to be ready."

By the time the two of them got into the cargo hold, the others had already suited up, as it were. Sakura wore her pistol in a holster on her right hip, and strapped to her left thigh was her BK-55. Like other modern weapons and the rifle Sasuke had shown him before, it's outer plates reconfigured when not active, so the barrel and grip could slid into the casing, letting it take up about half the space as when it's activated. At the press of a button it would snap into combat mode, but until then it was tucked nicely at her side.

That didn't surprise Naruto, he was more interested by the four foot long pole that stuck up from over her shoulder. At the bottom end, near her lower back, two heavy looking metal blocks were attached, one on either side of the shaft. Between them, there was a slight glow from some kind of power source. Naruto had one guess as to what kind of weapon that was.

"You use a grav ham?"

Sakura couldn't help but giggle a little at his slack jawed face. She may seem like a sweet, friendly person, but apparently she had no qualms about turning a person's skull into paste, should the need arise.

"What, never seen a pretty girl use a pirate as a baseball with a gravity hammer before?"

Naruto tossed his hands up in a sort of shrug. "Honestly? No. That would be a first."

Flashing him a smirk and a flick of her hair, she quipped, "Well keep watching, we'll see if we can change that." right before she turned to head back to the engine room. Now that she was armed, there was no reason for her to loiter around, she had a post to be at.

Sasuke moved to follow her. He wore his HP-11 sidearm in a holster that hung underneath his right arm, poised for his left hand to draw. On his left hip was his 'Chidori' in its sheath, and on his right thigh was the long, heavy barreled pistol that was Sasuke's hand cannon.

Naruto just followed Kakashi over to the weapons, and followed his lead. Sasuke had shown him how to fasten his holster to his right side the day before, in a gunslinger styled position, so his HP-11 sat at about mid thigh. The bracelet and ball of his Rasengan rested on his left hip, and the rifle was on his back in carrying mode. Underneath his jacket he was wearing a harness he had been given the day previous. It was basically just two straps that went around his shoulders, but on the back was a small strip of metal. Not enough to restrict movement, or even for Naruto to notice it really, but it was enough for the AC-240's magnetic clamp to lock onto. The magnet would disengage the moment Naruto switched it into combat mode, allowing for an easy draw.

Kakashi wore his weapons very similar to Naruto, though his pistol sat on his left side. Across the small of his back, with its hilt sticking out to the right, the Captain had a short, foot and a half long blade in a pure white sheath.

With everything out, he sealed up the crate and lead Naruto back to the bridge. On the walk, he explained what had just happened to Naruto, in further detail.

"Typically, we wouldn't dig out the big guns-" he waved his had at his own sniper and Naruto's larger weapon, "unless we knew we were going to be facing trouble. We'd just grab our sidearms and melee weapons. We decided we'd get fully suited up today to show you the whole procedure."

He paused a moment as they reached the balcony with the lift, and stepped off. "It's up to you of course, but these bigger weapons are usually pretty uncomfortable to sit in a chair with for too long... unless you're Sasuke, his doesn't get in the way at all. I only grab mine if I know I'm going to be using it."

The two entered the bridge, and each took their seat behind Sasuke. "The more jobs you go on, the better you'll get at judging what you should bring, and what you should leave behind."

It made sense to Naruto. If they were just hired to drop some cargo off at a spaceport, it wouldn't make much sense to be carrying a rifle through that crowd. Just his sidearm would be more appropriate. But like Kakashi said, he'd get better at deciding that with more experience. Or he could always follow the example of the others on the ship, this hardly seemed to be their first rodeo.

With that, he settled back into his chair for the last hour of the trip. He soon found out that Kakashi was right. Leaning back in his chair with his AC-240 across his back was definitely not something he wanted to do each day.

The closer and closer they got to their destination, the jumpier and more paranoid Naruto got about the sensor readings and blips in the distance. He soon found that there really was nothing to worry about, as Sasuke dropped them out of their slipstream, and began the approach to the system. It was never a good idea to use a slipstream drive inside a solar system, so the regular engines would take it from there.

It was only a matter of minutes before the planet that the mining colony was orbiting could be seen in the view screen. The planet itself was a gas giant, it's various shades of blue rippling and swirling, like a giant, cloudy marble. Their mission objective lay in the thick asteroid belt, among countless floating rocks varying in size from pebbles to mountains.

Looking at his instruments, Naruto began to worry and got Kakashi's attention. "Captain! The sensors are getting pretty erratic, I'm not sure what's causing it. It's getting pretty hard to tell what's out there."

The one-eyed man didn't seem perturbed by this development, in fact, he looked like he had been expecting it.

"It's the mineral they mine here." He explained. "In it's unrefined state, it confuses sensors. Don't worry, it doesn't get much worse than it already has, we'll still be able to detect something like a ship's power signature if it gets too close. But just in case, keep your eyes extra sharp." He finished off, gesturing out the window.

The facility in question was dug into one of the largest asteroids, with two landing pads above ground level, and the rest buried beneath the surface. There were floodlights set up to illuminate the pad, also casting light on the solid blast doors that lead to the facility. Naruto guessed that was what Kakashi meant when he said these places where defended. It would take a bombardment from a sizable warship to blast through those doors, not to mention the mounts on either side of the opening that looked like they held some potent turrets to discourage any unwanted landing parties.

That was at least, until the Raikiri's crew got a closer look.

"What the hell?" Naruto couldn't help but utter.

All around the doors were scorched blast marks, but the most notable features was that both of the mounted turrets had been blasted to pieces. Not the kind of firepower that the average pirate crew had at their disposal. Any and all exposed equipment had also been destroyed, including the long distance communication array. The only thing not wrecked was the blast door itself, which managed to repel whatever assault had befell this place, at least for the time being. By the look of the place, if the attack had lasted much longer, the door would have given way. Whoever was responsible had either been spooked off by something, or where still in the area. Good news, as it meant that there were probably survivors. Bad news in that whoever did this was still at large.

The two there in the room with Naruto had grim expressions, both taking a couple minutes to learn what they could, before deciding on the next course of action. Kakashi must have had a plan, because he began to speak.

"First order of business is to see if we can raise anyone inside the compound on the comm. If that doesn't wor-"

A blip appeared on Naruto's console. "There's a ship closing in on us, starboard side!"

Snapping to attention, Sasuke brought the Raikiri around to face the newcomer. Naruto almost felt a sigh of relief when what he saw out the window wasn't a typical, scrapped together pirate barge. It was a much more hope-inspiring sight.

To be specific, it was a Sparrow Class warship, Konoha's current model of Corvette. It was the smallest class of ship that could be considered a 'warship', but that didn't mean it was small. It was still over five times the size of the Raikiri, usually holding a crew compliment of around three dozen soldiers, with several batteries of cannons, as well as smaller turrets to fend off enemy fighters. A ship like that would probably be commanded by an experienced chunin, or a fresh jounin. The main purpose of the corvette was to destroy similar sized craft that may pose a risk to friendly capital ships in larger engagements, but they could also be used as patrols either on the border, or within the Alliance's territory.

The ship was shaped mostly like it's namesake, a sparrow in flight. A large head that held the bridge and command deck sat on the front of the ship, coming to a slight point like a beak, followed by a cylindrical body that extended back. The wings of the ship were shorter than an actual bird's wings, instead only extending a short ways, acting as mounts for several maneuvering thrusters, making it more nimble. Towards the very back, the ship tapered off, leaving the main engines at the tail, completing the mostly cylinder shaped ship, though it was shorter than it was wide.

On either side of the Sparrow's head was a rotating battery of heavy guns, with four large barrels. Two similar weapons mounts were at the back, on top of and below the tail. Several smaller, anti-fighter turrets were placed strategically around the hull as well. It was a largely gray ship, with deep green accent painting on some of the ship's edges.

Typically speaking though, a Corvette should have an escort of several fighters. Where where they now? Naruto supposed they might have been destroyed in the fight, it would explain a few things. The light damage on the hull of the corvette, for one.

While Naruto and Sasuke both visibly relaxed that it was a friendly ship, Kakashi just looked puzzled as he examined the hull.

Sasuke must have picked up on it, because he asked, "What's the matter?"

Humming to himself, Kakashi paused. "This section of space is patrolled by the 23rd Konoha Fleet. But if you look there-" he pointed out the identification number on the Corvette's side, "that ship is from the 48th fleet. I wonder what it's doing here."

The comm beeped out a signal, interrupting that train of thought. Flipping a switch, Kakashi answered the other starship.

"This is Captain Grayson of the Konoha Patrol Corps. What is your purpose for coming here?"

That made Naruto cock an eyebrow. "Talk about rude. Wait, Konoha Patrol corps? Is that new? I've never heard of it."

Sasuke took that as an appropriate time to toss in a snide remark. "Big surprise there."

Naruto just shot the Uchiha a flat look for a second or two, before Kakashi butted in, supporting Naruto.

"I've never heard of it either."

While this back and forth was progressing, Kakashi had sent a reply. "This is Captain Hatake, of the Raikiri. We were just passing through the system and thought we could fuel up here. Just a leaf on the wind, really."

Naruto's eyes widened at that, as he turned to look at Kakashi. Before he could say anything, the other vessel responded. "I'm afraid that won't be possible. We're dealing with a situation here, we'll need to ask you to move along."

Naruto got even more bug eyed at the response. Sasuke picked up on this, and questioned the blonde in a hushed tone, letting Kakashi think. "What's with the weird face?"

Replying in an equally hushed voice, Naruto spoke up. "It's that phrase he used, 'A leaf on the wind'!"

A shrug was his answer he got. "So? It's a saying of Kakashi's."

"No, it isn't! That's a Konoha code, it means that we have a connection to Konoha!"

Now Sasuke looked a little more interested, but not nearly as surprised as Naruto.

"It makes sense. Kakashi used to be an Elite Jounin with them, before he retired."

"Elite Jounin!?" That was a huge development. In the entire Fire Alliance, there was only a handful of Elite Jounin, that rank alone guaranteed you to be a commander of your own fleet. It did explain some things though, like how Kakashi was allowed to arm his crew to the teeth. Naruto waved his hands, he was getting distracted. "That's not the important part. The important bit is that 'Captain Grayson' didn't give the right response. So either he's the most incompetent captain in all of Konoha, or-"

"Or something is seriously wrong here." Kakashi finished for him. He squinted his exposed eye and looked towards Naruto. "But how is it that you know of that code?"

Now that he was in the hot seat, Naruto squirmed a little. "I grew up on a Konoha ship."

Right at that moment, Naruto saw movement on the scanners. They were still jumpy and glitchy from the nearby minerals, but something just powered up behind them.

"There's something behind us! It just powered up!"

Sasuke grabbed at his controls, aiming to get them out of there, but before he could do anything there was a lurch through the ship.

"They've latched onto us with magnetic grapplers!"

From the view screen, the underside of a large cargo ship was peeking over the top of the Raikiri. It was un ugly ship, looking mostly like a big, lumpy rectangle. It was large, but far from intimidating, it probably wasn't even armed. Fortunately for whoever was aboard it, they didn't need to be armed. The Raikiri was in no position to resist, unless they wanted to tear the plating off the ship where the clamps had attached.

"Damn it!" Naruto punched the console in front of him. The cargo vessel must have powered down and been drifting in among the asteroids, until they were in a position to pounce.

As they started to be pulled into the open hangar bay doors of the freighter, the voice from the Konoha ship crackled over the comm again.

"On second thought, I think I like you just where you are." The faceless man on the other end sounded infinitely smug.

Naruto's mind was flying at a 100 miles a minute as adrenaline started to flood his system. "How the hell did pirates get their hands on a Konoha Corvette?!"

Kakashi seemed calm, though deadly serious. "I don't know, but it doesn't matter right now. We only have a few seconds before they'll have us in their hangar, then they'll try to board. They're probably keen on grabbing another ship."

It was right then that Sakura ran up from the back, joining the rest of the crew as they listened to their Captain give the rest of his plan.

"When the doors first open, I don't want to be stuck in a defensive battle on the Raikiri. We'll make a push off the ship, and take the fight to them. We need to access the docking bay controls to release our ship. Once we're free, we'll deal with the warship."

Naruto was following along, up until that. "How are we any match for that ship? You told me the kind of weapons we have, it won't even scratch it!"

That didn't seem to bother any of the other three people present. It was actually Sakura that chimed in to calm him down. "Don't worry, we've got some tricks up our sleeves."

The masked man nodded. "She's right. I know my ship, and I know theirs, probably better than they do. We'll be fine, so long as we can get out of this freighter."

They were almost fully inside the other ship now. The four of them started moving back to the cargo area, where they would make first contact with whomever would try to board them.

With only moments to spare before the landing ramp would be forced open, they had to set up a position that would allow them to push into the hangar, and blast through the opposition. Sakura had just the thing.

"Guys, help me with this!"

She ran over to a large canister on the edge of the room. It was easily as tall as she was, and about three times as long. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't be budging without proper equipment. It just so happened though, that she knew it was empty, making it slightly more possible to move. And she had a hunch there was another thing working towards them being able to move it.

"Naruto! Push that end, you're good with heavy things!"

He ran over to follow her lead, the other two joining in as well.

"Didn't you say to use a grav trolley next time?"

She chuckled to herself. He had her there. At first there was no budge. But after a second or two, there was a change. Naruto adjusted his footing, and bit down, hard. The strain could be seen in his arms, and his mouth opened involuntarily.

"Aaaarrrrghhh!"

The steel crate started sliding, and now with the momentum they had, they kept going until it was sitting right in front of the ramp, where the boarding team would be coming from. It's widest side faced the enemy, though Naruto wasn't quite sure what was gained by that. Then again, he was mostly just concerned with catching his breath.

Things started to make sense when Sakura reached over her shoulder and gripped the shaft of her weapon. When she pulled the grav ham from its harness, she took up position behind the crate and gripped the handle of her weapon with both hands. There she stood, waiting, looking like a batter ready to swing.

Across the floor on the other side of the room, Kakashi had drawn his pistol, holding it in his left hand, his right was resting on the hilt of the blade that sat across his back. Sasuke had drawn both of his guns, his heavy pistol in the right hand, and the smaller one in the left. His jaw looked clenched, and he let out a puff of air from his nostrils, as well as a fair amount of smoke. The scale markings around his collar bone seemed to crawl higher, reaching almost to his jaw, and Naruto could pretty safely say that the first pirate who came face to face with the Uchiha boy in the coming seconds was going to end up a little... crispy.

Naruto himself slapped on the control bracelet for his spherical weapon, and reached behind his back to grab his gun and lock it into combat mode. He held it in a right handed grip, the stock up against his shoulder, the barrel pointed at the door.

The groan of hydraulics sounded out, and the ramp lowered down into place, leaving the cargo bay wide open.

Sakura just smirked. "Shannaro!" The deep buzzing noise of her hammer activating, and her swinging it at the broad side of the crate in front of her signaled the start of the fight. Naruto could only hope that his crew was as bad-ass in a fight as they looked right now. He knew he wouldn't be dying today, but he did not want to be forced into getting serious.

When the hammer made contact with the crate, it made known just why it was called what it was. With a pulse of energy, the crate that had been nigh unmovable moments before was lifted off the floor and launched out of the loading ramp at record speeds. It didn't even slow down while turning the six people who had tried rushing up the entrance into a smear on the floor. It continued into the stacks of boxes and containers that were piled around the freighter's hangar, scattering quite a number of large containers, making all the bandits that had been prepared to open fire dive for cover. That was all the distraction that was needed.

The Raikiri's crew rushed towards the opening, making a break for cover in the hangar. Naruto felt his blaster thrum with energy as he open fired, and with that, all hell broke loose.

Next chapter will get more into the action, as you can probably tell, hopefully this chapter still felt engaging enough though. As always, tell me what you thought!