Protector's pride
SUMMARY: Naruto Uzumaki fought to save his precious people from harm. But he took things seriously very late. This is what happens when the death of one of his precious persons instigate the change in him earlier. This will be an au but will follow cannon pretty closely pairings undecided as of yet.
I don't own the series. This story may have some similarities with other stories with same theme but occurrence of that is purely coincidental.
Eye of the tiger
One week had passed since the formation of team seven but they had done nothing but team training. More often than not the three of them teamed up against Kakashi trying out various set ups and positions for the field.
For Naruto this week had been enlightening to say the least. According to his new sensei the reason he could not pass the conventional exam was never a fault on his part. He simply had too much chakra to be tamed at such a young age. He currently was trying to keep a number of leaves attached all over his body. And he was slowly succeeding every try exceeded the time limit of the previous one.
Sasuke was doing two hundred pushups a little to the side his body was glistening with sweat; Ino was sitting beside him trying to read from a scroll while every five seconds her eyes will draw to the Uchiha. "Yo" a voice from behind Naruto announced their teacher's arrival.
And soon the three of them stood in attention facing their lazy and pervert sensei that had his nose buried in the orange book he always carried. Without even raising his head to meet his students Kakashi continued in the bored monotone he always used, "alright team the week we dedicated to training only is finished today, and I am impressed with the progress you have made. From now on we will start doing missions in the morning till afternoon and then we shall train the battle simulations we had been doing. This will be our routine for every day except the weekends we shall work on individual improvements then."
The three genins yelled their affirmative at the same time and followed their leader. Kakashi whistled a merry tune as he saw his students curse silently. Whatever Naruto had expected a mission to be it never was cleaning the house of some lazy ass. He sincerely hoped that this kind of mission was just accident.
But the following days proved to him that these so called d ranked missions were nothing but menial labors. Still he didn't complain rather let all his frustrations out during the battle simulations and spars that concluded the day. Right now he was facing Sasuke in the spar. Sasuke had his traditional Uchiha fighting style while Naruto took the tsunami fist stance.
As soon as Kakashi signaled them for begin Naruto moved in his left fist lashed out in a powerful punch that Sasuke dodged simply moving his head back out of Naruto's range. But his eyes widened as he realized his mistake a kick hit him straight in the abdomen. Sasuke quickly jumped back to gain some distance but he didn't get the window of time he was hoping for. As Naruto was quickly on him but this time every single attack of his was blocked.
Sasuke stifle the cry of pain that was trying to find its way out of his throat the blond sure packed a lot of power behind his attacks but he was slow at least slower than he was. And he knew he had to capitulate on that point. He blocked the incoming attacks until one attack provided the opening he needed. Sasuke smiled as he saw Naruto do a double take as soon as he lost his balance but the whisker cheeked boy never managed to regain his momentum as sharp jabs from the last Uchiha forced him back on to defensive.
Naruto was blocking most of the hits still a few were constantly getting in. Sasuke's accuracy and agility was greater than his own but still he could take this kind of punishment for a whole hour. Sasuke seemed to be tiring as well. A formed in his lips as Naruto pushed chakra in his feet and lashed out with a high kick at the raven haired boy.
Sasuke saw the kick coming and charged in with a low punch as well. With a quick duck the kick went missing while the punch headed true the blonde's stomach. Until a hand hit the fist from sideways deflecting the punch. Both the boys jumped back they had been going on for a while now both panting and bruised.
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Kakashi watched the boys fight it out while feeling proud both of them were quite strong for their age, Sasuke was always a genius but in this short time Naruto had proven to him how much hatred can blind someone. He felt himself blessed to have a team that can grow to rival the sages only if he manages to teach them that much.
Naruto was the perfect front line warrior, he had chakra capacity of a monster, and he had stamina and a lot of endurance everything that a frontline fighter should have. And Kakashi knew exactly how to mold him but for that he will need to learn the boy's elemental affinity. While learning manipulate the elements was considered high level tech one could simply learn a jutsu of that element at least twice faster than any average shinobi.
Sasuke was just what a true Uchiha should be, he had above average chakra capacity and control but above all he had skills rarely seen. A perfect assassin, smooth and fast Sasuke was the key on which team seven's success depended.
While Kakashi did take care of the boys under his care the very thought of the girl under his charge slipped his mind. He would take special care of the boys teaching one of them personally while letting a shadow clone teach the other about strategy and sorts while Ino would sit and ogle the last Uchiha shamelessly.
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While she would never admit it out aloud she had been quite disenchanted with the new reality of her crush. There was a dark and cold void in Sasuke that she didn't feel sure she could fill. The time in team seven had been strange for her, she had been closer to Sasuke more than she had been in academy but she had seen a new side of the blonde boy as well. Naruto was not the joker they had assumed; he was almost as strong as Sasuke and he possessed a depth that intrigued her.
Team seven operated like a well oiled machine even though it was only d ranks the genins proved themselves willing work along with others. Sometimes small scuffles would break out between the two boys but both of them would hold on till the customary sparring session to vent their frustrations.
"This is flower girl here; I see the target over"
"This is maelstrom here I am moving in for apprehending the target."
A third voice replied them, "This is avenger, and I am ready. Begin operation hell cat."
Crouching on top of the shed overlooking a certain feline codename, 'maelstrom' smirked. A single hand seal later one more shadow clone appeared beside him. The original raised his hand giving a silent count down to three. As his countdown ended one of the blondes transformed into a net while the other one threw it at the unsuspecting cat.
Or so was the plan, the cat dodged the net as if he was born for that job. But the feline brain failed to comprehend the cunning mind of shinobi as the net lying behind him transformed back and got hold of his neck.
Two more figures appeared beside the other blond boy standing victorious. "That was a passable work dobe." The monotonic voice of the lone black haired member pissed the hell out of Naruto. "Next time you do better" he replied through clenched teeth. "Huh Sasuke kun can do it faster than you can blink idiot." Ino took her chance to support Sasuke.
"There won't be any next time" the lazy voice of their instructor came as he leaned against the opposing building his orange book held in front of him. Kakashi Hatake was an enigma, he appeared lazy and pervert. He was lazy and a pervert but beneath it lay a blood thirsty battle hardened warrior whose skills few could match. He might seem uncaring but every day he would check upon his charges watching them as the silent sentinel he was
"What do you mean sensei?" Ino chirped she was relieved to be rid of this cat; her clothes had patches of mud on it souvenir from their search. While Sasuke remained silent Naruto let out a big sigh of relief, "thank god I really hate this cat" his face bore various scratches the cat gave them before he had locked it up in a cage Sasuke supplied.
Kakashi eye smiled at his team he was happy that slowly but surely Naruto was healing from the emotional trauma of watching Iruka die. He knew of the boy's habit of regularly visiting the grave and spending hours there but at least Naruto was no longer drowning in self pity unlike himself. He replied, "I think it's time you guys take it to next level."
Kakashi smiled under his mask as he saw his team cheer as a whole even the stoic Uchiha smile. 'I hope my decision doesn't come back to bite me in the ass' he prayed silently.
The journey to the hokage mansion was a swift one, they entered the mission room and Naruto went ahead to hand over the now snarling cat to the client a big fat lady. "That was another job well done by squad seven." Commented Sarutobi Hiruzen once titled the god of shinobi smiling slightly as he smoked his pipe. "You bet old man we are the best." Naruto announced boisterously it seemed as if the mere sight of the old kage triggered a lot of happiness in the boy.
Chuckling slightly at being called old while the others looked horrified, Hiruzen spoke, "well that remains to be seen but for now what about another d rank?" this time it was Hatake Kakashi who strode forward, "excuse me Hokage sama but I deem my team ready for a c rank." The slight arched brow signaled Kakashi to explain, who nodded and continued, "My team has shown correct aptitude for team work and has been trained in mock battle situations but unless they get the taste of real world I fear their progress might get hindered."
Sarutobi could see the reason behind the man's argument his sources also told him that team seven was currently the best genin team from this year but it was too early for a fresh green team to take on c ranks. He knew that this rank was where most of the accidents occurred as the client often lied about the importance of the mission and he had to pay with the loss future generation.
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Naruto had been enjoying the day more than almost every other day in his life, being an orphan and the demon brat he had never crossed the boundary of leaf until this day. They were to guard a caravan to clothes to the border towns of fire country in process crossing the entire of the country. But he was a bit disappointed at the very little change of scenery.
He walked along the left side of the cargo while Ino sat on top of the cart her eyes closed and her consciousness trapped in a bird scouting the area. Suddenly her eyes snapped open jumping down she yelled, "A group of bandits at two kilo meter distance nearly 4'o clock." Kakashi nodded his head from his position at the head of the spear. "Any more details" he asked calmly his mind already working on a plan to get his charges acquainted with the harsh reality that is the life of a shinobi
Ino felt all the eyes on her, she was desperately trying to remember the details but this was her first attempt on something nonhuman and that made her confused. She replied haltingly, "I am not really sure but I think there were some archers in the pack. I think about five to six."
Kakashi knew the information was not enough but it was all he had at this point. He signaled the merchant to stop and called the genins close. "Sasuke I will leave the archers to you be as stealthy as you can be. Naruto you will encounter the melee forces and ino use your technique to pit as many of them you can against themselves. I will step in if necessary."
The team as one yelled their affirmative and Sasuke took to the trees aiming to reach the bandits before his team this will be his first test. This will be where he will prove that the Uchiha name still lives. Naruto had made one shadow clone to take Sasuke's place his face hard set no more the boy with a smile could be seen. His visage was of one who had faced death before. Ino trembled she was scared but she refused to give in.
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Nearly fifteen minutes later the cargo had to stop because of the log that blocked the path. Inside his mask Kakashi smirked the action was starting. And sure enough fifteen men all in some wooden armor and katana charged at them. Naruto muttered his favorite jutsu name as he dashed ahead to intercept the bandits. Twenty shadow clones formed at his side with the kunai drawn they leapt into battle.
The bandits paused for a moment as they saw the kid making replicas of him. This suddenly seemed a lot complicated than before but their hesitation didn't help them as their fore most warriors were attacked by three blondes at the same time. They didn't really understood what hit them as three orange blurs hit them before they were knocked out.
Naruto lashed out at the person who he figured out to be the leader his two clones right beside him. Unlike his earlier opponents this guy was not shocked he slashed his katana downward at the approaching shinobi only to find a metal knife blocking the attack. Scowling hard the man tried to press harder only to feel incredible pain. Glancing downwards he saw the grinning face of the two doppelgangers as they lodged one blade each in the bandit's body.
Naruto froze as he saw his victim vomit blood before crumbling down the scene was so familiar he could almost replace his sensei's face with the bandit's. The clones that were fighting different opponents froze as well before disappearing in the cloud of smoke.
Kakashi was feeling proud the way his team was handling itself, his clone that was tailing Sasuke had dispelled to alert him of the job's success. But he felt like cursing aloud as he saw Naruto sink into his knees haunted by his ghosts. 'Come on Naruto don't give in' Kakashi screamed in his mind.
A fireball nearly the size of a medium sized rock hit the bandits scattering them as Naruto watched on blankly. He saw Sasuke join the fight holding the remaining bandits off. He knew he should join the fight help Sasuke but his body felt like molten lead. Until a soft hand lay up on his shoulder the warmth broke him out of his trance. Ino stood behind him her hand laid on his shoulder. Her presence gave him comfort gave him power. And once more the clearing was filled with clones. "Sasuke get away" Naruto yelled as his clones each threw a handful of shurikens before calling out, "shadow shuriken jutsu" a deadly rain of steel fell upon the bandits leaving only a trail of dead bodies as the aftermath.
Kakashi nodded in grim satisfaction two of his team had drawn their first blood today, while Naruto initially took it very hard he managed to cope and in Kakashi's book results were everything.
Two days later
They were returning to the village the rest of the mission was a piece of cake but the training was not. Kakashi had once more upped the ante as he had the team master tree climbing in a day before setting them up on different jutsus. Naruto as it turned out was a wind element making him the perfect companion for the last Uchiha.
The battle had proved to son of white fang how weak the female in his team was but unfortunately Ino's chakra reserves were too small to do anything other than her family jutsu or healing jutsus. Both of which Kakashi had no experience in. so for now he settled with training her stamina and accuracy in close combat.
Currently he sat on the top of a tree watching his team train and interacting with each other in great interest and amusement while Ino did loosen her crush she would still vehement support the Uchiha in matter against the third member of the team. 'Much like how my team used to be' Kakashi mused silently. Suddenly a shrill cry of bird was heard instincts honed by ages in battle told Kakashi that this was a herald of bad news. Sure enough a bald hawk the messenger bird used by konoha swept down wings spread. The bird landed on his shoulder out stretching its leg. Kakashi removed the letter tied to the bird's feet and the eagle once again soared up in the air.
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Sasuke had stopped training the moment the eagle arrived he had never seen such a majestic bird before. The way it flew told him that the bird knew his strength and he had pledged it to Konoha much like Sasuke's family did. While he didn't show it to his team the killing had affected him as well. The splattered red on the grasses was so like his nightmare. Just like the day when that man had painted his world in red.
Kakashi burned the message with a small katon jutsu his lone visible eye hard like steel. "We are moving to wave" he called out, "we have only half a day's time to reach there. So there will not be any breaks in between."
And with that team seven set out in a journey that would shape the team's fate.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Next chapter: wave arc
Please read and review I know I was late but I was busy with my college stuff so please excuse me. AND GUYS THESE ARE THE GIRL'S I HAVE SHORTLISTED PLEASE TELL ME WHICH ONE YOU WANT.
1 INO
2 TEMARI
3 HAKU(FEMALE) IF YOU GUYS WANT
4 YUGITO
5 KUROTSUCHI
