Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.
"Aw man, not this mission again!" Naruto whined. "It's stupid and boring and we've already done it before!" Turning an offended glare upon the Hokage, Naruto continued. "We've already been genin for two whole months, give us a real awesome mission!"
"Naruto." TenTen hissed under her breath. "Don't yell at the Hokage! Besides, it's a perfectly good mission and you know it." TenTen shot a quick annoyed glare at Gai who was chuckling under his breath and commenting approvingly on Naruto's "youthful enthusiasm" when he should be helping her keep the boy under control. Naruto's bad enough without Gai-sensei or anybody else encouraging him…
The Hokage watched the interplay between the two genin with thinly veiled amusement. "This is the second C-ranked mission your squad has gotten, that's nothing to complain about when your team is only two months out of the academy." The old man informed Naruto.
"Yeah, except that it's the exact same freaking mission we had the last time you gave us a C-ranked mission!" Naruto shouted. "And last time we did it that mission was boring as hell! Nothing happened! We just spent an entire week walking around!"
The Hokage let out an amused snort, then said. "Well, that happens when you have an escort mission; sometimes nobody tries to attack the caravan you're protecting. Only desperate or foolish bandits will attack a caravan guarded by squad of Konoha ninjas; the sensible ones just move on to find a softer target." Not to mention this trade route is pretty secure to begin with so bandits are rare. That's why excort mission along that route are perfect missions to give to fairly fresh genin squads; it gives them a chance to get used to working as a team and being outside of Konoha for several days at a time, and almost no chance that there will be any trouble they can't easily handle.
"Well, how am I gonna get a chance to show off my awesome ninja skills if you keep sending me on missions where nothing happens?" Naruto demanded.
"Maybe we'll run into bandits this time." TenTen offered, hoping to placate her friend enough that he would stop causing a scene.
"We better." Naruto grumbled, a petulant expression making its way onto his face. "If we don't run into, at least, like a dozen bandits or something I'm going to be really pissed off."
"I hope we face at least two dozen bandits when they attack our caravan!" Lee offered. "That would give us an even greater chance to demonstrate our skills!"
"Ah, my most gifted students," Gai declared. "I promise that if we don't run into at least three dozen bandits in the course of our mission I will go out and capture that many, then bring them back you to fight yourselves!"
"Nah, it's gotta at least four dozen." Naruto insisted. "That way each of us gets a dozen of our own to beat up!"
TenTen groaned. "Not this again…" Ever since Lee's transformation he and Gai had a tendency to work each other up into a frenzy as they made increasingly crazier and crazier challenges to each other; on the rare occasions when Naruto jumped into the fray things quickly escalated completely out of control. TenTen desperately looked around the room, hoping to find someone who could stop her crazy teammates before they reached the realm of utter insanity, but Hokage seemed far too amused by Team Gai's antics to put a stop to them. By the time Naruto was declaring that he would defeat a hundred bandits while only using a single finger TenTen decided that desperate times called for desperate measures.
"Naruto, if you'll just be quiet and go get ready for the mission I'll treat you to ramen when we get back." TenTen offered. I just hope I can afford it with as much ramen as he eats…
"Yay! Free ramen!" Naruto cheered, before bolting out of the Hokage office. TenTen couldn't help but shake her head in amusement at the ongoing maelstrom of energy and mild insanity that was her best friend. It's a good thing he's so nuts over ramen or I wouldn't have any way to control him.
Once the Hokage was done chuckling at Naruto's antics he turned to the rest of Team Gai. "Well, there was one other thing I wanted mention before Naruto ran out of the room; you should know that this mission will be a little different, this time when you get to the border with the Land of Lightning you will pass the caravan over to a genin team from Kumo instead of just letting them travel the rest of the way on their own."
"Why can't we just escort the caravan for the entire journey Hokage-sama?" Lee asked.
"There are compelling reasons." The Hokage answered. "I'm sure if you ask your sensei he can explain the situation to you." With a smile, the old man said. "Now, I believe you have a mission to see to and I have a village to run, so if there's nothing else…"
The remaining members of Team Gai gave a quick but respectful bow to the Hokage and departed. On their way out of the Hokage's tower Gai offered a quick answer to Lee's question. "Even though we have an official treaty with them relations with Kumo have been very strained for the last five years; the Raikage has been building up his forces, and there have been a few … incidents. It's better for everyone involved if we let the Kumo shinobi take over the escort at the border." Noting his students' worried expression, Gai said. "It's unlikely that a simple escort mission would actually cause any sort of trouble with Kumo, but why take an unnecessary risk?"
"Aw man, I'm so freaking bored!" Naruto complained. It was the third day of their escort mission and so far the most exciting thing to have happened was one of the oxen dragging the merchant's cart let out a really loud fart. "When the hell are the freaking bandits gonna get here?"
"With any luck there won't be any bandits at all." The merchant, a well-dressed and somewhat portly man in his mid-thirties, told the boy. "I paid quite a bit of money to make sure you and the rest of your team would scare them all away."
"Aw man…" Naruto whined. "It's not fair! I go on these missions to beat up on stupid bandits, but once they realize just how awesome and badass I am they all go running away instead of giving me a fair fight. I really wanted to kick some ass on this mission…"
"Don't let your fires of youthful passion be quenched so easily Naruto-kun!" Lee cried out. "We will have our chance to show our brilliance yet!" Looking ahead further up the road, Lee called out. "Say, Naruto, shall we race each other to the bridge up ahead?"
"Another race?" Naruto griped. "Jeez Bushy Brows, that's really dumb. I mean, why would I wanna do a stupid race with you when-" Naruto suddenly broke into a full sprint towards the bridge while shouting back over his shoulder, "I already know I'm gonna kick you ass and get there first!"
Lee gave a startled cry as he realized Naruto's trick had gotten him a head start, then quickly took off after his teammate. Not about to be left behind while his students were engaged in youthful competition, Gai quickly took off after both them, starting off well behind but quickly making up for lost ground thanks to his longer legs.
"So…" TenTen sighed. "I guess I'll just stay back here … guarding the merchant … like we're supposed to be doing … while all my teammates act crazy … again."
"Ah, miss?" The merchant asked hesitantly. "Are your teammates … hmm … how to put this?"
"Yes, they're all insane." TenTen replied dully.
"I see." The man frowned in thought, then casually suggested. "Care to make a little wager on the outcome of the race? Obviously your sensei is going to win, but which of the boys do you think will finish first?"
TenTen considered the offer for a moment, then said "Fifty ryo on Naruto to win." Talking to herself the girl added, "Since I'm buying him ramen when we get back it's only fair that he help pay for it, however indirectly."
Apparently her last comment had been loud enough for the merchant to overhead, as chuckled and then said. "He must not be much of a boyfriend if he makes you treat him on dates."
"I … what? No!" TenTen sputtered. "Naruto's not my boyfriend! We're just friends who are going out to dinner … together … and …" TenTen trailed off as she noticed the merchant smiling.
"You know," the man said all too cheerfully. "Usually when a boy and a girl go out to dinner together people call that a date."
"It's not a date." TenTen insisted. "Naruto's just a friend. I don't like him that way."
"Oh, I see." The merchant said, nodding sagely. "It's one of those types of relationships, isn't it?"
"Naruto and I are not in any type of relationship!" TenTen maintained. "We're just friends!"
"Of course TenTen-san, whatever you say." The merchant said, his tone and the expression on his face making it clear he didn't believe her.
"A girl can't spend five minutes in the same room as a boy without people thinking they must be together." TenTen grumbled under her breath. Her mood brightened slightly as she realized that Naruto had managed to beat Lee to the bridge, proving that hard work and training were no match for underhanded sneakiness. Fifty ryo probably wouldn't cover all the ramen Naruto could eat when he got into a proper ramen-eating frenzy (which almost always happened when someone else was paying) but it would at least put a dent in the bill TenTen would have to pay.
The next few hours passed uneventfully, and after winning his race with Lee Naruto soon went back to complaining about the lack of action. TenTen spent most of that time chatting with Naruto in an effort to keep his tide of complaints down to a dull roar, though she was frequently distracted from this task by the way the merchant would smirk every time he saw the two of them together. I swear, next time we go out in public I'm going to make Naruto wear a big sign that says "not my boyfriend."
TenTen was shaken out of her idle musings as the merchant's cart began to unexpectedly slow, and when the girl looked up she saw they were approaching another bridge, but this time the bridge was occupied by a group of shabbily dressed but well-armed men. "Hello there gentlemen." The merchant called out with what sounded like forced cheerfulness. "What brings you here on this fine day?"
One of the men, judging by his slightly less shabby clothes he was the leader of the group, strode forward and answered. "Oh, we're toll collectors for this bridge." The man gave a smile and gestured to the bridge, "As I'm sure you can see, the bridge will need some repairs soon, so the daimyo has asked us to collect a toll from travelers using it until we have enough to hire some experts to oversee the work."
"Is that so?" The merchant asked warily. "How curious that I've never heard about this tax before…"
"Oh, it was just recently imposed sir." The man gave another smile. "I do have to apologize for the inconvenience, but I'm afraid you'll have to pay the toll if you want to go over the bridge. Don't worry, it's only a small fee, roughly ten percent of the value of your goods."
The merchant gave a disarming smile and then replied. "Quite reasonable. Of course, I am certain you can show me that you have all the proper credentials to confirm that you're authorized toll collectors. I apologize for the inconvenience, but you'd be surprised by the sort of tricks bandits will try."
"Ah, quite true." The man agreed. "Unfortunately, we lost our credentials a few days ago; a rather unpleasant merchant asked to see them, then ran off with them."
"Most unfortunate indeed. Sadly, if you don't have any credentials I'm afraid I simply can't pay your toll."
"So that's how it is." The leader said, his tone suddenly darkening. "Alright, I wanted to keep things nice and civilized, but if you're going to be stubborn about it…" The man gave a quick gesture to him followers, and the men drew their weapons and surrounded the cart. "Get off the cart and turn out your pockets; nobody has to die here, so don't cause trouble."
The merchant regarded the bandits for a moment, then gestured back at his guards and said. "Perhaps you haven't noticed the squad of ninjas I have guarding my goods?"
The bandit leader scoffed. "Please, this stretch of the road has been quiet for far too long; nobody buys ninja bodyguards any more. Those headbands don't even look real, you probably just grabbed a couple brats and some old drunk, put fake headbands on them, and then hoped nobody would be smart enough to call your bluff."
"Hey TenTen-chan, what's the deal with these tax collectors anyway?" Naruto whispered. "I mean, they're acting kinda weird."
"That's because they're bandits." TenTen replied.
"Why would the daimyo hire a bunch of bandits to collect his taxes?" Naruto asked.
TenTen sighed. "They're not really tax collectors, that's just a scheme they use to get people to give up their money without a fight."
"So … they're just bandits?" Naruto asked for confirmation.
"Yes Naruto, they're just bandits." TenTen confirmed.
"About freaking time you guys showed up!" Naruto shouted. "Who wants to get their ass kicked first?" Not waiting for a response, Naruto jumped off the cart and snapped a kick at the face of the closest bandit, who didn't even have a chance to react before the blow struck home.
Lee leapt into the fray the next instant, not about to let Naruto beat more of the bandits than him, and TenTen quickly flicked a kunai into the leg of a bandit that was moving into position to flank Naruto. With a smile Gai sat back in the cart and watched; his genin were more than capable of handling this fight by themselves, and someone needed to stay next to merchant just in case any bandits got through.
In less than a minute only two of the bandits, one of whom was the leader, were left standing. "Um … boss?" The only remaining conscious and mobile minion said uncertainly. "I don't think these ninjas are fakes…"
"Just figured that out, did you?" The bandit leader growled in irritation. Turning his attention to the ninjas, the man adopted a polite, diplomatic tone. "Well, we've obviously underestimated the three of you, so let's make a deal. We don't want any more trouble, so we'll just walk away and leave you guys alone if you'll do the same for us. Nobody's gotten really hurt, so there's no reason for there to be any more trouble over this unfortunate incident. Fair enough?"
"Banditry is against the law, we can't just let you go." Lee responded stiffly.
"Besides, if we did let you go you'd just attack someone else later, and then we'd be partly responsible." TenTen added.
"And on top of that." Naruto declared. "Right now Bushy Brows and I are tied at three bandits each, and we've gotta break the tie somehow."
The leader sighed, then asked. "Just to make sure, the punishment for banditry is still death, right?" Upon receiving confirmation the man sighed. "Dammit. I'd really be rather not be executed."
"Perhaps you should have thought about that before turning to robbery." The merchant said coldly.
"Yes, with the benefit of hindsight perhaps that wasn't the best decision I ever made in my life." The man admitted, before giving a resigned shrug. "Well, no way to change that now, but I'm not planning to go down easily." The man and his one surviving companion charged, the leader heading toward Naruto with his blade extended, while his companion was quickly intercepted by Rock Lee..
Naruto quickly pulled out one of his kunai to parry the blade, while TenTen flicked a shuriken into the bandit's leg. The man stumbled and fell as his wounded leg was no longer capable of supporting his charge, and before Naruto even realized what was happening the man's face slammed into the kunai clenched in Naruto's fist. The blade slid up the bandit's cheekbone before finding the bandit's eye and from there momentum carried the blade right into the bandit's brain. Gravity and the corpse's weight dragged Naruto's arm down, and the bloodied kunai slipped free of the bandit's skull with a sickening, liquid sound.
Before Naruto, TenTen, or Lee could even finish processing the bandit's sudden death Gai was there by Naruto's side. "Come along Naruto," The normally boisterous man said quietly "We've got a river right here, so we should clean that blood up before it sets in." Turning to the merchant and the rest of his team, Gai said. "You guys go ahead, Naruto and I will catch up in a bit."
The merchant and his two remaining guards traveled on in silence for several minutes before anybody spoke. "That was the first time I've ever seen someone actually die like that … from violence." The merchant said, sounding more than a little shaken. "Have the two of you …"
"No," Lee said quietly. "We only graduated from the academy a couple of months ago."
"Oh … so … was that the first time any of you…" The merchant trailed off uncertainly.
"Yes." Lee answered, his voice barely above a whisper.
Naruto… TenTen stared over the back of the cart in the direction of her friend, hoping he would be alright and blaming herself for the blood on his hands. If I hadn't hit that bandit in the leg then Naruto wouldn't have… I just hope he's alright.
Gai was silent as Naruto went down to the river to clean his bloodied clothes and equipment, and if he noticed Naruto desperately washing his hands over and over while muttering that they still smelled like blood the man said nothing about it. By the time Naruto had finally rejoined him night was beginning to fall, and Gai set up a simple camp for the two of them and put together a quick meal; Naruto accepted the rations, but only ate a couple bites of the food.
After Naruto had spent fifteen minutes poking listlessly at his food the boy finally spoke. "Gai-sensei … I killed that guy, didn't I?"
"Yes." Gai replied simply.
"I … I didn't mean to." Naruto whispered. "It's just … everything happened so fast and before I even knew what was happening I had … he was …" Naruto quickly swiped the sleeve of his jumpsuit across his eyes before growling. "Jeez, look at me. Can't even kill a guy without crying, some ninja I am."
"Naruto." Gai said gently. "The first time I killed someone I threw up and then I cried. There's no shame in your pain. It is natural to be distressed by taking another's life."
"I won't do it again." Naruto said determination in his voice.
"Then you'll have to give up being a ninja." Gai told him.
"Couldn't I just be a ninja without killing people?" Naruto asked weakly.
"No." Gai answered. "The life of a ninja is filled with violence and death; if you cannot accept that then you should not be a ninja."
"But … what if that guy had a family?" Naruto suggested, tears still in his eyes. "Maybe he's got a wife and a bunch of kids at home waiting for him to come home. Maybe he never really wanted to be a bandit, but he was forced into it because that was the only way to feed them…"
"All those things are possible." Gai admitted. "But even if they were all true, would you have done anything differently?"
"Of course I would have." Naruto responded.
Gai sighed and shook his head. "Many years ago, when I was only a chunin a few years older than you are now, one of my teammates went through a similar experience." Gai began. "We got into a fight with a genin team from Iwa, and she found that she couldn't kill her opponent, so she spared his life." Gai sighed once more, then said. "Five years later, the genin whose life she had spared had grown up and become a jonin." Gai's head dropped down as he said solemnly "There was a battle, and several of our comrades were killed by that jonin. When my teammate heard that her mercy had resulted in the death of her comrades she killed herself in shame. She blamed herself for their deaths."
Silence reigned over the campsite once more, until Naruto hesitantly said. "So … you're saying that if I hadn't killed that guy then he might've hurt other people, and then I'd feel responsible?"
"Yes." Gai said simply. "We were in the middle of a battle, Naruto. If you hadn't acted TenTen or Lee or even I could have been killed."
"No way!" Naruto insisted. "That guy was no match for any of you. He wasn't even a ninja, he was just a normal guy with a cheap sword."
Gai shook his head once more. "Even a non-ninja can kill a jonin like me if they get lucky. Any one of a million things could go wrong to cause the death of one of your comrades. If you had the chance to kill that man and didn't, how would you feel if it caused the death of one of your comrades?"
"Or maybe everything would've been fine!" Naruto insisted. "TenTen-chan's a lot better than me, she could've taken that guy down without killing him."
"Or she could have been killed." Gai countered. "Are you willing to take that chance? To put the lives of your comrades at risk in order to show mercy to your enemies?"
"No." Naruto answered heavily. Silence reigned once more over the camp, until Naruto found the next question he needed to ask. "Gai-sensei? Is it always gonna hurt this bad? Am I gonna feel this rotten every time I kill someone?"
"In time it will hurt less." Gai assured him. "But the pain will never go away completely."
"So … what do we do?" Naruto asked.
"Everyone finds a different way to deal with price of a shin obi's life." Gai replied. "I hold on to the good things in life; the simple joy of training and hard work, the pleasures of a simple challenge, the energy and passion of youthfulness. Other people find different solutions. Some of us treasure the time we have with our friends and comrades, others hold on to the belief that what we do has made a difference, that the world is a better place because of the lives we have taken." Gai's expression darkened in disapproval as he continued. "Other people say that ninjas are just tools to carry out other people's orders, doing that helps them to distance themselves from their own actions. And some of us…" Gai's mind turned to the man he had declared to be his eternal rival. "Some of us are still trying to find a way to deal with the pain. I can't tell you what to do Naruto, in the end you'll have to answer that question for yourself."
Gai said nothing, but the way he gave Naruto's shoulder a supportive squeeze and shot the boy a quick smile was worth more than any words. Finally the boy spoke up once more. "Hey Gai-sensei. You won't tell TenTen-chan and Bushy Brows that I cried, will you? I don't want them thinking I'm a wuss."
"It'll be our secret." Gai assured him with a smile. "But there's no shame in feeling the passions of emotions of youth, and tears are not a sign of weakness, just a sign of humanity."
"Yeah, you're right." Naruto agreed wiping away the last of his tears.
A comfortable silence descended over the campsite for the better part of an hour as Naruto contemplated Gai's words. Finally, Naruto spoke once more. "I'm not gonna pretend I didn't kill that guy, that I was just someone else's tool. I'm not happy that I killed that bandit, but it happened. He would've tried to hurt my friends if I'd done nothing, and there's no way I'd let someone do that. If somebody tries to hurt my friends, my comrades, or even an innocent bystander … I'll take them down. I won't go out of my way to kill anybody, but … if someone dies because they tried to hurt my comrades … I can learn to live with that." Naruto's voice tightened in determination. "I will learn to live with that." With a start, Naruto bolted to his feet and let out a loud shout. "You hear that world! You mess with my friends and I'm not holding back! From now on, Naruto Uzumaki is cutting loose!"
TenTen was quite relieved when Naruto and Gai finally rejoined them the next day. "There you are Naruto!" The girl called out. "Are you alright? I was worried about you!" The girl rushed up to him and looked him over, trying to find the slightest hint that there was anything wrong with him.
"Yeah, you know me, I'm always fine." The boy assured her, by all appearances back to his normal hyperactive knuckleheaded self.
"Are you sure?" TenTen asked, fussing with the boy's headband, which she was absolutely certain was a bit off center. "Naruto, if there's anything wrong or you need anybody to talk to you know I'm your friend and I'll be here for you, right?"
"Yeah, yeah, but I'm fine TenTen-chan. Really" Naruto told her. Seeing that the girl was not about to content with such a vague and general assurance, the boy added. "Gai-sensei and I talked about a lot of stuff last night, and I think I've got things figured out pretty well now."
"Oh … well that's good." TenTen said while adjusting Naruto's collar. "I'm glad you're alright, but still, if you ever need someone to talk to…"
"Okay, okay, I get it TenTen-chan." Naruto yelped in exasperation. "Jeez, when'd you turn into such a mother hen anyway?"
"Well, I apologize for caring about my best friend." The girl said stiffly, turning her back on the boy and preparing to walk back to the merchant's cart.
"Hey! Wait! I'm sorry TenTen-chan." Naruto quickly apologized. Yeah, she was being a bit of a pain, but she was just trying to be nice.
The girl sighed and turned back around to face her friend. "It's alright, I was being a bit of a bother. It's just … I was worried about you."
"Yeah, I kinda thought that was what was going on." Naruto replied. "Next time you get all clingy and nurturing I'll remember that."
"Or you could stop doing stupid things that make me worry about you." TenTen suggested.
"Yeah, but how boring would that be?" Naruto replied, shooting the girl a grin.
"You'll never change, will you?" The girl declared with resigned sigh.
"Nope." Naruto answered cheerfully. Going up to his other teammate, Naruto called out. "Hey Bushy Brows! Everything alright while we were gone?"
"Yes." Lee responded. "I trust you are well, Naruto-kun?"
"Yeah, I'm good." Naruto replied. Nice thing about guys, when we tell each other we're fine that's all it takes; chicks like TenTen need a bit more than that before they're happy.
"Excellent." Lee said. "Our client said the border town we'll be stopping in was only an hour or so away, shall we race each other there?"
"You're on Bushy Brows!" Naruto quickly accepted the challenge. Turning to his best friend, Naruto asked "Hey, TenTen-chan? You wanna race with us?"
Normally TenTen did her best to ignore the constant lunatic challenges her teammates indulged in, but for some reason this time the offer sounded oddly appealing. The girl looked to her sensei, who gave her a smile and quick nod. Turning back to her friends, the girl shot Naruto a quick smile, and without ever actually answering his question suddenly took off down the road at a full sprint.
"What the-?" Naruto cried out in surprise. "Hey, that's a dirty trick TenTen-chan!" I wish I'd thought of that first! The two boys shot off down the road, desperate to close the substantial lead their female teammate had gained over them.
"Ah … the joys of youth." Gai said, watching his students with a smile.
The genin arrived at the village half and hour ahead of their sensei and client, and passed the time while they waited with a mixture of light training and casual chatter. TenTen was quite proud of the fact that she had won their impromptu race, and when Naruto complained that she had only won by cheating she promptly pointed out that trickery and deceit were perfectly acceptable for tactics for a contest between ninjas, and in any case Naruto had done the exact same thing to Lee the day before.
When Gai and their client caught up with the young genin the ssnsei informed his students that they would be meeting with the Kumo team to hand off their client at the village's inn. "Hey, that's the same we place we stayed after the boring escort mission where nothing happened." Naruto declared. "They've got pretty good ramen there! Weren't you gonna buy me ramen TenTen-chan?"
"Yes, but that was when we got back to…" TenTen trailed off when an intriguing thought occurred to her. He'll probably eat less ramen here than he would at Ichiraku's; after all, he always says Ichiraku ramen is the best ramen in the world. "Alright, sure." The girl agreed.
The team entered the room, looking about curiously in the hopes of spotting their Kumo counterparts. The inn's owner, a rather boisterously jovial man with an impressively large mustache, cried out a loud greeting when they entered the door. "Ah! The mighty Gai and his valiant team have returned to my humble establishment! Such a joy to see you here once again."
"It's a joy to be back!" Gai cried out just as loudly, running up to the innkeeper and enthusiastically pumping his hand up and down. "I am delighted to see that this place is as filled with the spirit of youthful exuberance as I remembered!" The two men were soon exchanging increasingly loud and colorful pleasantries that devolved into a discussion on the joys of youthful energy..
I wonder if the two of them are related… TenTen sighed, wondering once more why she was doomed to be the only sane person in an increasingly insane world.
After the team dropped off their packs in their rooms Lee and Gai went upstairs to see to get the merchant settled into his quarters while Naruto, with TenTen in tow, sought out the innkeeper once more. "Hey, d'you guys still have ramen here?" Naruto asked upon finally finding the man.
"Of course we do young Uzumaki-kun!" The innkeeper cried out. "I made sure we were stocked up as soon as I heard you would be returning! Young men like you always have quite an appetite!"
"Awesome!" Naruto cheered. "TenTen-chan's paying, so I'm gonna eat until my stomach goes kaboom!" TenTen groaned and looked regretfully at her wallet, soon to be the victim of Naruto's insatiable appetite for ramen..
The innkeeper gave a booming laugh, then said. "Well, I'm sure your friend will be glad to hear that your bill has already been covered then." Smiling at TenTen's confused look, the innkeeper went on to explain. "Your Kumo counterpart arrived earlier today and paid for all of your meals. Quite generously I might add."
"They're already here?" Naruto asked, enthusiasm clear in his voice. "Awesome! Where're the Kumo ninjas at? I wanna see what they're like! I heard that in Kumo they…"
The innkeeper let out a jovial belly laugh and held up a hand to forestall any further questions or comments from Naruto. Before the man answered Naruto's question directly the boy heard an amused female voice directly behind him say. "Technically there aren't any Kumo ninjas here, just a Kumo kunoichi."
Naruto and TenTen quickly whirled around to see a rather striking blond woman clad in a purple outfit, proudly wearing a Kumo headband. With a smile the woman said. "You would be Naruto Uzumaki and … TenTen, correct?"
"Yeah that's us!" Turning towards the stairs, Naruto let out a loud cry. "Hey! Bushy Brows, Gai-sensei! The Kumo kunoichi's here to pick up our client!" Turning back to the woman, Naruto asked. "Hey, what's your name anyway?"
Before the foreign ninja could respond Lee and Gai came rushing down the stairs, only to come to an abrupt stop when got a good look at the who Kumo emissary was. "You … I recognize you." Gai declared.
"Well, I'm flattered to know my reputation has reached all the way to Konoha only ten years into my career." The woman said with a satisfied smile.
"Where is the rest of the genin team we were supposed to meet?" Lee asked.
"Oh, there was a last-minute change of plans." The woman explained smoothly. "Instead of sending a genin team they just sent me." With a smile, the woman finally introduced herself. "Special jonin Nii Yugito."
Gai's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "This isn't a coincidence, is it?" Gai demanded. "You're here because of Naruto, isn't that right?"
Huh? Why would she be here because of me? I don't even know who she is!
Yugito gave a delighted laugh. "Guilty as charged. I confess, when Konoha sent word to us of who would be on this mission I pulled rank to get it for myself." With a rueful grin the woman added "I suppose I was curious to meet a fellow jinchuriki."
"Oh yeah, that makes sense." Naruto said, a thoughtful expression on his face as he nodded sagely. Completely unaware of Gai's worried expression, Naruto asked. "Hey, Yugito-san, can I ask you something?"
"Of course you can, Naruto-kun."
"What's a jinchuriki?"
Reviewer Responses:
Aishuu, imgonndie: Glad you're enjoying it so far, hope you enjoy this chapter as well.
CelticReaper: I don't want to give away anything as far as pairings go, but I will say that TenTen will be playing a major role throughout the story. She's definitely the second most important character in the fic and will probably get as much screen time as Naruto himself. If I do end up pairing Naruto with someone else it will be because there's lots of fun potential for interaction between TenTen and any girlfriend of Naruto's; after all, between being his best friend and being one of teammates TenTen will be the most important girl in Naruto's life for a long time.
Ubernaut: You'll probably be glad to know I've got things planned quite well all the way up to what will be my equivalent to the Gaara retrieval arc then. Needless to say, things will have diverged quite a bit from cannon by then. I've got the timelines on the wave arc and chuunin exams straight, and as you said right now they're still about a year away. Team Gai won't be involved in events Wave country, butI do have something which I hope will be rather interesting and is to the best of my knowledge fairly original in store for Wave Country. Needless to say, the Chuunin Exams will also be different when they finally happen, and I'm planning have Gai wait until the cannon timeline to put his team in. After all, if I put them through the exams early Team Gai wouldn't get to have any interaction with the Rookie 9, the Sand Siblings, or any of the other crazy things that happened during the exam. How boring would an exam without all those things be?
aotrscommander: Naruto definately prefers orange to green. However, my personal interpretation of that entire scene was that Naruto cared far more about the fact that Gai was acknowledging Naruto's skill and ability than about what color the spandex was; Naruto probably would have been almost as happy if it was pink instead.