Disclaimer: Naruto IS NOT MINE! If it was, then the epilogue/final chapter wouldn't have been nearly the exact same as JK Rowling's epilogue of Harry Potter.
"Is the target in sight?" a garbled voice asked.
"Yes, I have eyes on target," a blonde haired boy answered. "I'm about 10 meters above the target and a little west. Raven, where are you?"
"I am roughly 15 meters to your three o'clock," Sasuke's curt voice answered.
"Roger, Blossom, what about you?" Kakashi asked.
"I am about twenty meters in front of the target," Sakura answered. "My snare is set about ten meters ahead. Raven, Fox, if you can lead the target there, we can end this mission finally."
"Excellent," Kakashi said happily. "Now on my signal, Fox, you will rush in while Raven, you make sure that the target goes toward the trap. On three, one, two…three."
Naruto burst through the underbrush, racing toward a small black blur. "It's heading your way Sasuke!" Naruto cried as the animal made a sharp turn right.
Three soft thuds caused the animal to stop sharply as three shuriken embedded themselves in a tree in front of the target.
"Raven, watch it!" Kakashi scolded. "We are trying to capture the thing, not skin it."
"Hn," Sasuke grunted as he landed in front of the scared animal. It took one look at Sasuke and shot to the left. And right into the snare trap that Sakura had set up only minutes earlier. A yowling sound came from the trap.
"Is it Tora? Confirmation please, there should be a red ribbon on his right ear," Kakashi asked.
"It's him Kakashi-sensei," Naruto grumbled. "I think after having this mission a dozen times, we can recognize the furball quite well."
"Right then, the Capture Tora mission is complete," Kakashi said. "Let's get back to the Hokage Tower."
It had been five weeks since the trio of Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke had become Team 7 under the leadership of Kakashi Hatake. In that time, the trio's romanticized notions of being a ninja had been quickly squashed by the monotonous and quite basic missions. The three young ninja quickly learned that being a shinobi was not all about going on adventures, recusing damsels in distress or learning powerful jutsus. Kakashi, seemingly, took great pleasure in introducing the three young shinobi to the wonders of D-rank missions, especially the Capture Tora mission.
When the trio complained to their sensei, Kakashi would just respond, "You three are not ready for higher ranking missions yet. D-ranks are perfect for new shinobi. They help you three learn to work together. A shinobi's life is not glamorous and wonderful; you will have to do things that make you feel dirty. Pray that this is the worst experiences you have as a shinobi."
While Sasuke and Sakura both felt that Kakashi was just holding them back, well Sakura was more just going along with whatever Sasuke said, Naruto was grateful for the slow start, much to the amazement of his teammates. Naruto didn't receive a monthly stipend from the village any longer now that he was a genin, and had to pay the rent and for food by himself, and while D-ranks weren't very highly paying; Naruto used them as a steady source of income.
Growing up on his own had forced Naruto to learn a lot of different things that his classmates had taken for granted. Except for Sasuke, all of Naruto's classmates had families to help them, and Sasuke had his clan's funds to help. Naruto had to pay rent, food and ninja supplies; in his youth Naruto scavenged the training ground for abandoned kunai and shuriken. Naruto knew that he wasn't the best thrower in his Academy class but that was more because the equipment he used was not always completely balanced which would throw off his accuracy.
His first purchase with his new funds was a set of brand new kunai and shuriken. Naruto also wrangled a pair of jutsu from the Sandaime Hokage; two support ninjutsu that were created by the old man himself, the Shuriken Multiplication Jutsu and Kunai Multiplication Jutsu. Naruto loved the two jutsus, as they made sure he didn't need to be absolutely perfect with his accuracy, and with his chakra levels, Naruto could easily block out the sun with only a handful of real shuriken or kunai.
"Ah hello Team 7," the warm voice of the Sandaime said as Team 7 entered the Mission Dispersal Office. "A successful mission then?"
"Hai Hokage-sama," Kakashi said. "Mission: Capture Tora complete!"
"Excellent," Hiruzen grinned. "That seems to be a new record, it only took you three a couple of hours to find Tora this time. Neko, can you please inform Madam Shinji that Tora has been found."
The cat-masked ANBU nodded and slid back into the shadows to inform the wife of the Fire Daimyo that her escape artist of a cat had been found and returned.
"Now then, if you three are up for it we have a number of missions still available," the Hokage said. "A council member needs a babysitter for their grandson, the Inuzaka clan needs some assistance in walking their dogs…"
"Oh come on jiji, we've been doing these chores for over a month," Naruto interrupted. "Don't you have anything better? We are ninja for Kami's sake."
"Naruto, you have only just graduated from the Academy," Iruka scolded. "You are not ready for a higher ranking mission. You know how missions are ranked, and as genin you can only receive D-rank missions…"
"Or C-ranks if deemed advanced enough," Naruto cut in. "Come on Hokage-sama, we have the Rookie of the Year, the smartest kunoichi, the Copy Cat ninja and me, who learned a B-rank jutsu in one night. I think we are advanced enough of a simple C-rank mission."
The Hokage turned his gaze toward Kakashi who met the aged man's stare. "Well Kakashi, do you believe they are ready for a C-rank mission?"
Kakashi looked down at the three genin, who had turned to him. Naruto and Sakura were failing miserably to hide the pleading in their faces while Sasuke was only just failing. 'They have come a long way,' Kakashi thought.
"Yes Hokage-sama, I believe Team 7 is ready for a simple C-rank mission," Kakashi answered. Naruto and Sakura cheered while Sasuke's smirk was the extent of the stoic boy's excitement.
"Very well," Hiruzen said. "I believe that I have just the…"
"Hokage-sama!" a panicked voice shouted out, barging into the MDO.
"Easy there Shiji-kun, what's wrong?" Hiruzen asked.
"We just released word from Asuma Sarutobi and Team 10," the chunin panted. "It seems that their client, Tazuna of the Wave, didn't relay all the information about who might be after him. Sarutobi-san has requested additional backup, Team 10 managed to fend off an ambush by the missing ninja duo, the Demon Brothers, but he believes there might be more enemies around."
The Hokage's usual jovial expression hardened into one of granite, much like the Hokage monument overlooking the village.
"Team 7," he barked. The four ninja instantly came to attention at their Hokage's command. "You've just gotten very lucky or unlucky. Your mission is to back up Team 10 and assist them in their mission of guarding Tazuna until he completes his bridge. Understood?"
"Hai Hokage-sama," the four ninja barked.
"Dismissed!"
"Meet at the east gate in thirty minutes," Kakashi said. "Pack for three weeks, move it!"
The three genin nodded and raced off.
"Hokage-sama, are you sure it is wise to send just another genin team?" Iruka asked.
"Wise, probably not," Hiruzen admitted. "But there are no teams so readily available, and Kakashi-kun and my son should be able to handle anything Gato is able to muster. Also, Naruto-kun was correct, Team 7 is more than ready. I have high hopes for them and more importantly, I have faith in them."
"Good you are all here," Kakashi said as Team 7 met at the east gate of Konoha. "Have you got everything?" The three genin nodded. "Good, now it's a full day's travel to the coast, Team 10 will most likely be there so we've got to move fast. Now let's move!"
The three genin and one jonin leapt off into the forest that surrounded and protected Konoha, leaving no visible trace.
"Tazuna, where is this boat supposed to meet us?" Asuma Sarutobi asked the older man with a conical hat and gourd of sake hanging from his satchel.
"Right here," Tazuna said. "Don't worry he'll be here. His boat is the only way across to Nami without Gato knowing."
"Hey sensei, who do you think will be sent as back up?" Choji Akimichi asked, in between bites of chips.
"It will probably be a team of chunin or something," Shikamaru Nara answered. "This whole mission is troublesome, why did we even decide to continue it. We are way out of our depth."
"Because we couldn't just let the people of Nami continue to suffer," Ino Yamanaka shouted.
"I thought that you voted to keep going because you thought that Sasuke would like you if he heard about this mission," Shikamaru pointed out, causing the blonde girl to turn red in anger, and embarrassment at being caught.
"Shika…"
"Ino be quiet," Asuma barked. "Someone's coming."
The other genin instantly surrounded a scared Tazuna while Asuma slipped his trench knives onto his fingers. "Come on out," he called out. "We know you are there."
"Ma, ma," a lazy voice answered Asuma. "No need to get so authoritative Asuma."
Asuma's shoulders relaxed as he returned his knives to his belt. "It's all right team, our back up is here."
Four figures leapt down from the trees, three figures that Ino, Choji and Shikamaru instantly recognized.
"Sasuke-kun!" Ino cried, her blonde hair trailing behind her as she rushed past her teammates toward the Uchiha heir.
"What are you guys doing here?" Shikamaru asked.
"We are your back up Shikamaru," Naruto answered.
"But you guys are only genin too? Why were you sent and not a squad of jonin?"
"Because Hokage-sama ordered us," Sakura said.
The soft rumble of an engine brought any conversation to a rapid halt.
"That will be Genji," Tazuna said.
Through the gloom and mist a long boat appeared with a weather-beaten man at the helm.
"Tazuna, what's going on? Who are these people?"
"These are the Konoha shinobi I hired," Tazuna said. "They are here to free us from Gato's yoke."
The boat driver grinned broadly. "Excellent," Genji said. "But we better hurry, Gato's patrol boats will be coming through here soon."
The two Konoha teams and grizzled civilian climbed aboard the rickety boat and they were off.
"Keep all your heads down," Genji ordered. "If we are spotted by Gato's men, we are done for."
"I'll put a genjutsu around the boat," Kakashi said. "That should keep us under the radar." Kakashi's hands flashed through some hand signs and the genin felt a subtle level of chakra fall over them.
The boat ride lasted only ten minutes but none of the genin made a sound in fear of being discovered. When the boat gently nudged against the shoreline of Nami did the genin finally allow themselves to relax.
"How far is it to your home Tazuna?" Asuma asked.
"Not far," Tazuna said. "Only a couple of miles from here. This was the closest Genji could land without us being spotted by Gato's spies inside the village."
The group set off for the bridge builder's home, the six young genin all feeling tense as if they were being watched. Unbeknownst to the young Konoha shinobi, they were being watched. Hidden in the trees were a pair of figures; one was well over six feet tall, dark hair and bandages covering the lower half of his face. Strapped to the man's back was a massive sword that was as long as the man was tall. A smaller figure stood next to the swordsman, this figure wore a uniform of some sort and a white mask hid its face with four wavy lines on the forehead.
"That's Asuma Sarutobi and Kakashi Hatake," the taller man growled. "I didn't expect Konoha to respond so rapidly, and to send Kakashi is something I didn't plan for."
"What should we do Zabuza-sama?" the shorter figure asked.
"We retreat," Zabuza said. "We can't fight both Kakashi and Sarutobi, even if we had the Demon Brothers. And those brats are unknowns, even if they are brats. Let's go Haku, I have to call in some favors if we want to complete this job."
The shadowy ninja leapt from their hiding place and faded into the mist.
"You noticed right?" Kakashi murmured.
"Yes," Asuma answered. "Things are going to become a lot worse than it gets better." Kakashi nodded.
"Tsunami! Inari! I'm back!" Tazuna shouted as the old man entered a two-story house.
An attractive young woman with long black hair came rushing out of another room.
"Father!" the woman cried before embracing Tazuna. "You're home!"
"Yes I am," Tazuna chuckled. "And these brave shinobi are here to help us."
The woman turned to the Konoha shinobi. "Oh please come in," Tsunami ushered. "Thank you very much for seeing my father home safely."
"It is no problem ma'am," Asuma said, a faint blush tingeing his cheeks at the sight of the woman. "Tazuna, is there a place where we all can sit down and discuss what will be happening from this point forward."
"Right, there's enough room in the kitchen," Tazuna said. "Tsunami, where's Inari?"
"He's down by the docks," Tsunami said. "He should be home soon, it's getting late."
The eight Konoha shinobi sat down at the kitchen table with Tazuna and Tsunami.
"Ok everyone listen up," Asuma said. "This mission, while it has had some very unexpected bumps in the road, will only get more difficult. While we were making our way here, Kakashi and I sensed two people watching us."
"These two people did leave after observing us for a bit," Kakashi picked up the conversation there. "We can only surmise that these two were comrades of the Demon Brothers, and were waiting to ambush us."
"Why didn't they then?" Naruto asked.
"Probably because they didn't feel confident taking on two jonin," Shikamaru said. "An successful ambush means scoring the most damage while sustaining the least amount of risk to themselves. What's the point of an ambush if you get hurt or killed in the process?"
Asuma and Kakashi nodded at the Nara heir's explanation.
"Shikamaru is correct," Kakashi said. "Konoha's most recent information on the Demon Brothers was that they are aligned with Zabuza Momochi, a former Seven Swordsman of the Mist. If this is true then this mission is easily A-rank, can could be even more difficult if Zabuza after seeing Asuma and I, decides to find more help."
"We are no way near ready for this type of mission," Choji moaned.
"No you are not," Asuma said frankly. "But it is too late to change anything, so Kakashi and I are going to use this time to get you all as ready as possible."
"But how?" Ino asked. "How can you possibly train us for this sort of thing?"
"We are not sure," Kakashi admitted. "But this is the life you have all chosen, mission are not always cut and dry. Incidents happen on missions and circumstances will change, and not always for the better."
"I am sorry that I have dragged you all into this mess," Tazuna apologized. "But we are desperate, we had no other option. If the bridge is not completed then Gato will completely rule this land and continue to strangle its people."
"Don't worry Tazuna, we will do all we can to stop this scumbag," Naruto said. Tazuna gave the exuberant blonde a thankful smile.
"I knew you were dumb Naruto but not this stupid," Ino scolded. "We are just genin, what can we do to save an entire country?" The blonde girl shook her head, missing the glares that Sakura and Sasuke sent her way, something that Shikamaru and Choji didn't.
"Anyway, tonight we will relax," Kakashi said. "Make sure you all get a good night's sleep because tomorrow, we hit the ground running."
After a delicious dinner provided by Tsunami, the jonin sent their teams off to bed while they began hashing out a training regime for the young ninja.
"You've missed your chance Forehead," Ino said as the two kunoichi settled themselves down for bed. "It's obvious you haven't captured Sasuke-kun's heart yet and not that I'm here, he'll see what a real woman is like."
Sakura's brow twitched at the use of her hated nickname. "Look Ino-pig, just because Sasuke-kun hasn't responded to my advances doesn't mean he won't. Who between us knows Sasuke-kun's dreams and ambitions?"
Ino glared at her rival, knowing that she didn't have a clue and that Sakura now had a leg up on her. "You might think you have the advantage now Sakura, but you'll see, by the end of this mission, Sasuke-kun will see that I'm his girl," Ino claimed.
In the boys' room, the last loyal Uchiha felt a cold shiver run down his spine.
"Good morning brats," Kakashi chirped, jolting the four male genin from sleep. Instantly, Naruto and Sasuke had kunai in their hands and were ready to attack before recognizing their sensei. "Well done you two, Choji, Shikamaru, we aren't in the village anymore. You should be expecting an attack and always be on guard. Now get dressed and meet us downstairs, its time to start your training."
The cycloptic jonin left the four boys to get dressed in a puff of smoke.
"Troublesome," Shikamaru grumbled. "Your sensei is annoying, it's barely the crack of dawn."
"It's the way he is Shikamaru," Naruto said as he pulled on his jumpsuit. "Oh and by the way, if you aren't downstairs soon, he'll come back and drag you out, trust us." Sasuke nodded, and the two male members of Team 7 left the bedroom.
Soon enough the six genin were gathered outside Tazuna's house, but only Team 7 looked alert.
"Now that you are here, we can get started," Asuma said. "Kakashi and I have discussed what you've al learnt so far and knowing that we could be attacked at any time, you all won't be learning anything new, there simply isn't enough time."
"What?" Ino cried. "Then what is the point of training us then?"
"You all will be training on mastering your current abilities," Kakashi said. "Asuma tells me that his team has already learn tree walking, so all genin will work on the next step, water walking. Lucky for us, there are plenty of places in which to practice."
"Now water walking is a more advanced chakra control exercise than tree walking," Asuma said. "While with tree walking, you only need to expend a set amount of chakra to 'stick' to the tree's surface, water is not a solid. Water is constantly moving and changing, and so your chakra must match it. The aim of this exercise is to be able to stand on water without exuding a ripple. Once you have achieved that, then we will more onto walking and then running on top of water."
"To stand on water you must release you chakra from the soles of your feet in a constant flow to in essence create a platform that you will stand on," Kakashi said. "Oh and unless you don't mind wearing wet clothing, you might as well strip down."
Instantly Sakura and Ino's faces bloomed a beet red as they glanced toward Sasuke. The boys hid their embarrassment a bit better but were still nervous about wearing so little in front of girls.
"Come on then, you are all ninja of Konoha," Asuma said, trying to act stern but you could hear the undercurrent of amusement in his voice. Kakashi had hidden his face behind his book but there was a slight hitch in his shoulders.
Naruto glanced at his teammates and Team 10 and saw that none of them looked like they were willing to be the first. The blonde sighed and unzipped his jacket.
"Naruto, what are you doing?" Choji asked.
"I don't feel like only having one set of sopping wet clothes," Naruto said. "And anyway, people's bathing suits are just like our underwear, sometimes covering even more."
Asuma and Kakashi grinned as Naruto tossed his jacket and pants to the shore and stood, facing away from his teammates, and tentatively took a step into the water.
"You'll need to go deeper than that Naruto," Kakashi said. "And are you all just going to stand there? Get moving genin."
The other five genin jumped at Kakashi's command and began to discard their own outer clothing, and took their own tentative steps into the water.
Naruto felt his feet wobble as he stepped out further into the small inlet that the Konoha shinobi were training in. The blonde could feel the water fighting his chakra as it tried to stabilize the water beneath his feet.
"Hey this is really easy."
Naruto turned to see Sakura and Ino, dressed in only their shorts and thin tops, standing roughly eight feet out in the water. The sight of his pink haired crush and Ino, who many of his classmates thought was the cutest girl in their class, standing only feet from him, wearing nothing more than short shorts and thin T-shirts was enough for Naruto to lose control and fall into the water causing Sasuke to laugh and the kunoichi to giggle.
But one of those giggles died in a young woman's throat as Naruto resurfaced, sputtering. His black shirt was clinging to his chest, outlining a very fit physique for a boy who was only 13. Naruto's normally spiky blonde hair was laying partially flat thanks to the water, causing the young girl to think of another blonde.
'Holy Kami! Naruto is hot!' a stunned voice echoed throughout the head of Sakura Haruno.
'Yeah, who knew that under that hideous orange jumpsuit, Naruto was hiding such a rocking body,' a second voice giggled in Sakura's head.
'Who are you?' Sakura asked. 'And what are you doing in my head?'
'I'm you,' the voice answered. 'I am your subconscious, who you truly are at the most basic level.'
'If you are me, then why are you complimenting Naruto, I love Sasuke-kun,' Sakura argued.
'Girl, you are 12, what do you know about love?' Inner Sakura asked. 'And so what if I did compliment Naruto, he's cute. There's nothing wrong with looking.'
'I guess so,' Sakura agreed.
Training was called for the day when the mist began to burn off, and the two Konoha teams returned to Tazuna's house.
"All right you guys, that was a very solid first effort," Asuma said. "It is not surprising to see how quickly Sakura and Ino picked this up, they have the smallest chakra capacity. But I was surprised at how fast Naruto was able to get the basics down; I mean he has the largest chakra reserve of them all. Hell, its larger than pops."
Kakashi nodded. "Yes, they all have been quite surprising but will it be enough," he said. "We still need to know what they are capable of, I am sure that each of your team knows some of their clans' jutsus?"
Asuma nodded. "They each know at least one," the son of the Sandaime said. "Shikamaru knows the Shadow Possession Jutsu, Choji knows his Partial Expansion Jutsu and Ino knows the Mind Body Switch Jutsu, what about your brats?"
"Well Sasuke knows the Great Fireball Jutsu and the Phoenix Flame Jutsu," Kakashi said. "Sakura knows the Academy three and the False Surroundings Jutsu and Naruto knows the Shadow Clone Jutsu, and the Kunai Multiplication and Shuriken Multiplication Jutsus."
Asuma whistled. "So pops did show him those two jutsus then?" he commented. "All right then, looks like we have quite a talented group."
Kakashi nodded. "But it won't likely be enough," he said. "Zabuza was ANBU-level when he tried to overthrow the Mizukage, and I doubt that he's lost that much strength since then."
"True but surely you can handle them," Asuma said. "I doubt that Zabuza has many friends that he can call on to help him."
"That is true but we can't be sure," Kakashi pointed out.
A knock interrupted the jonins' conversation.
"Come in," Kakashi said. The door slowly opened to show Naruto and Shikamaru. "What can we do for you boys?"
"Kakashi-sensei, we wanted to speak with you and Asuma-sensei about an idea we…"
"No, you Naruto," Shikamaru interjected. "This was your idea."
"Fine," the blonde sighed. "You said that this Zabuza guy was most likely going to ambush us but didn't because he didn't have enough teammates, right?"
"That's right," Kakashi said.
"Well, I was thinking why don't we take this Zabuza and Gato down before his back-up gets here," Naruto said. "Don't we have the advantage?"
Kakashi grinned beneath his mask. "What makes you think we haven't already thought of that? The problem with that idea is that we don't know where Zabuza's base is?"
"Well, I can find out," Naruto said. "I mean, I can send out my clones, disguised and we can find it really quickly."
Kakashi and Asuma turned to one another.
"That could work," Asuma admitted. "So you know the trick about the Shadow Clones then Naruto?"
Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I've known about the memory thing since team announcements," he said. "But would it work?"
"It could," Kakashi said slowly. Naruto noticed Kakashi's hands twitching and Asuma responding. "All right Naruto, you have three days to find out where Zabuza's base is and come up with a suitable assault plan. If you can't, then we will have to wait until Zabuza makes his own move, understood?"
"Yes sensei," Naruto said with a crisp salute. The two genin quickly left to find a place to plan.
"You are putting a lot of faith in those two, especially Naruto," Asuma said.
"I am," Kakashi agreed. "Naruto has this gift to get people to believe in him, I don't know what it is but it makes me want to see what he'll do. He's going to surprise a lot of people, something has changed in him since he graduated."
"He does have that gift," Asuma said. "Being able to get Shikamaru to participate means something, kind of reminds me of him, doesn't it?"
"It does," Kakashi said. "It's in his blood for sure."
A/N: Well there's the newest chapter of 'Hidden Legacy,' hope you all enjoyed it. I wanted to change up the Wave Mission from my previous stories, I looked back on my previous Naruto story 'Underneath the Underneath' and wow, it was pathetic. I really didn't know how to write with any type of pacing, Naruto's power levels were all over the place and I couldn't get like anything right. I hope that this new edition will be much better. I do have an announcement, this story will follow all of Naruto, from the start of the manga, to his journey with Jiraiya, and then into Shippuden and perhaps past that, at the very least that is what I am hoping to accomplish. It is going to take some time, I am hoping to have an update every 10 days to two weeks but that is fluid and can always change. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and til next time,
SlytherinKnight