Chapter 4: Missions
Even though they were socially the worst team, they pulled out wonders in their missions. Every time they were sent to paint a house, they would be back in less than an hour. When sent to walk the Kennel's dogs, each student came back to the kennel with three big tired as hell dogs. When sent to take out weeds, … wait a minute. These aren't real missions, what the hell? Tora might be hard to catch, but after catching him so many times that a new capture only took a few seconds, the team decided to get a real mission!
And that was why the Hokage's office door was kicked open, almost flying off of its hinges. The Hokage merely rose his eyes from the paperwork, confirming his suspicions. Who else could it be?
"Hello Naruto, how are you?"- he asked, giving the jinchuuriki a smile, pretending not to know why they were there. He had been throwing crap missions at them on purpose, Kushina had made him promise he wouldn't put Naruto in harm's way.
"Hokage gee-san, these missions are for babies! Give us a real mission!"- the jinchuuriki replied, obviously annoyed with his boring missions. Ninja were supposed to be awesome and kick thug ass, not to pickup trash and hunt cats.
"Although Naruto was a bit rude, I agree Hokage-sama. Please give us a higher ranked mission."- Sakura followed with a serious expression on her face.
"How am I supposed to be all cool and broody while painting houses?"- Sasuke asked. Wait, what the fuck did I just say? Is Naruto's stupidity contagious? The Hokage cleared his voice.
"What do you think, Kakashi? Are they ready for something better than a D-rank?"- Sarutobi asked. Kakashi rose his eyes from the Icha-Icha and nodded, not being able to stop reading for so long. Naruto made a mental note to burn that book to ashes sooner or later.
"Ok then, we've just received a C-rank escort mission. You are supposed to escort Tazuna, a bridge builder, to his house in the Land of Waves. Is that good enough, Naruto?"- the Hokage handed him a sheet. Naruto quickly snatched it and turned around, walking away.
"It'll do for now. See ya, gee-san. By the way, when we get back, we need to have a talk."- the blonde walked out of the room, followed by Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi. The Hokage was confused, could he possibly be talking about that?
Meanwhile, Team Seven was already outside, laughing their asses off. Even Kakashi was bent over, gripping his hurting abs from laughing so much.
"Did you see the demanding look that Naruto gave him?"- Sakura asked, causing another round of laughs.
"I'm so glad we did that."- Kakashi commented, wiping a laugh tear off of his eye before looking at Naruto.- "What was the mission about anyway?"
"Thats why you shouldn't read porn while receiving missions. It starts in two hours. We have to escort Tazuna, a bridge builder, to his home in the Land of Waves. On the way, we must protect him against bandits, wild animals, etc. We will receive the standard Thirty Thousand ryou each for the mission."- Naruto answered. The other genin smiled. The payment system was generous. For the half-assed D missions, they received Five thousand. For the C-ranks, they received thirty thousand. For B-ranks they received a hundred and fifty thousand. For As, they received five hundred thousand and if they ever got any S-ranks, they would receive a million. Even though the shinobi life wasn't very interesting when in D-ranks, it sure payed well. For Naruto, it was even better news, since he had just recently been ripped off by a flower salesgirl.
"Ok, everyone split up. We'll meet with Tazuna-san by the gate in two hours."
Two hours later
"What is this, a team for ants?!"- the old man that smelled like he bathed in sake replied. Tazuna was a man in his fifties. He had dark gray hair and a rough beard. His body muscles were toned, probably from years and years of building bridges. He had a tan skin, which wasn't odd since he lived near the sea. He wore simple fisher clothes, a pair of glasses and a straw hat. He seemed like an asshole.
"Do not worry Tazuna-san. These three genin, Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke, are strong enough to protect you. And even if they aren't, a jounin like me will be."- Kakashi answered.
"We understand that having a ninja called Naruto (sliced fish cake I believe) might not be very intimidating."- Sasuke taunted.
"Yeah, but I was intimidating enough to kick your ass."- Naruto replied. They engaged on a verbal fight that Sakura stopped with a single punch to Naruto's head.
"Whatever, let's just go."- and with that, they took off.
The trip was pretty boring for the first five hours. Though the genin had their guards up, the most they detected were a bunch of squirrels and an incredibly persistant wild boar that only gave up after taking a Housenka blast to the ass.
"Oh look, two puddles!"- Naruto quickly ran and jumped, ready to land on said puddle, ignoring Kakashi's warnings.
"Gah, what the fuck!"- a voice yelled as the puddle turned into a man who wore dark assassin clothes and a face mask. Naruto had landed with both feet on his face.
"Hey, you aren't wet and funny!"- Naruto quickly hopped off of him.
"And you're a fucking dream come true, ain't ya kid?"- the other puddle turned into a perfect copy of him. Both of the men had a single gauntlet that was connected to the other by a spiked chain. It looked pretty menacing and deadly.
"Mizu Bunshin?"- Sakura asked, trying to appear smart.
"No, they're twins. Isn't that obvious?"- Naruto asked. The two brothers laughed and pointed straight at the jinchuuriki.
"You're funny kid, that's why..."- one started.
"... we're going to kill you first!"- and they dashed at him, ready to shred the boy to pieces. Naruto simply opened his Fuma Shuriken and threw it vertically. The giant ninja star hit the middle of the chain and prevented it from moving forward with its owners. For every action, though, there was a reaction. Since the twins were running forward and the middle of the chain was pulled back, they went both flying head first into each other, knocking themselves out.
"I don't know if Naruto is a genius or if they are the stupidest Chuunin I have ever heard of."- Kakashi muttered. After a couple of moments, he scratched his head.- "Probably a bit of both."
"Hey, shouldn't you do something? They might wake up any second now!"- Tazuna asked, worried about the poison dripping gauntlets. Sasuke quickly reached for a roll of ninja wire but Naruto stopped him with a devious grin.
"I have an idea."- he quickly detached te chain from the gauntlets and tied the twins with it, building a complex contraption before pinning the chain to a tree with a kunai. By then, the twins awakened.
"What the...?"- one of them muttered. The other tried to facepalm but was obviously unsucessfull, so merely resorted to a sigh.
"They tied us up with our own chain. How humilliating."- the smart one concluded. Naruto smiled and approached them.
"Gentlemen, I'm only going to say this once, so hear me out. You are currently stuck in a trap I devised. You two are very stupid, so I'll use small words. That kunai is the only thing stopping the chain from spinning around a bunch of knots and tree branches while ripping you two to shreds."- this obviously scared the two, considering how they suddenly stopped moving, afraid that if they blinked, they would die. It took a few moments before the smart one spoke.
"What do you want?"- he asked. Naruto smiled.
"I want to know who hired you. I read the Bingo Book. You're the Demon Brothers, assassins for hire. Known for being rather persisten. You don't kill people for free though, so who hired you?"- the jinchuuriki replied, making them gasp as they tried to choose between betraying their boss and dying. The decision wasn't heard.
"Zabuza, Momochi Zabuza! He's our boss! He told us to kill Tazuna! That's all we know! He tells us to kill, we kill and get payed, that's all there is."- the dumb one quickly explained. Suddenly, the kunai that was stuck to the tree flipped off of it to get stuck in another tree, a few meters away. As a result, the chain was released, causing the twins to be ripped to shreds, spattering blood everywhere and scaring Tazuna.
"Why did you do that, kid? They told you what you wanted to know!"- the man asked. Naruto showed him a second kunai. It had been used to knock off the first one.
"This wasn't my doing."- a rustling sound made itself heard behind them. Being familiarized with his Fuma Shuriken's sound while it goes through the air, he knew that something sharp was coming.- "Get down!"
"Shit!"- Tazuna yelled as a gigantic sword came from nowhere, spinning like a shuriken and hitting a tree, being stuck there. The store had a circular hole on the top between the sharp blade and the dull side, and a semi-circular hole on the blade right after the handle. A shinobi appeared on it then. He had bandages around his mouth and nose, just like Kakashi. He wore camo forearm warmers and camo pants. He wore a rogue Kirigakure forehead protector right after his spiky hair.
"Gozu, Meizu, what a disappointment. You were some of my most loyal followers, and yet you betray me so easily. Now you're dead."- the man muttered. Kakashi rose, looking directly at the man.
"Momochi Zabuza, The Demon of Kirigakure."- their jounin saluted.
"From the looks, you're Copy Ninja Hatake Kakashi. That'll make this mission fun. I hope so anyway, I hate boring kills."- the assassin replied.
"Wait, Zabuza? Momochi Zabuza? From Kirigakure's Legendary Seven Swordsmen?"- Naruto asked. Zabuza laughed out loud before grinning through the mask. The sight wasn't pretty, to say the least. He crouched and grabbed Naruto's kunai.
"I guess you guys from Konoha know us as well. Yeah,why?"- the swordsman replied.- "Nice knife by the way."
"Thanks."- Naruto teleported to the knife, shocking everyone as he punched Zabuza in the face hard enough to send flying back. Before the rogue-nin could land, though, Naruto threw the kunai to the place Zabuza would fall on, teleported there and turned around to punch him in the face yet again. Zabuza went tumbling back before backflipping and landing on his feet. Naruto smirked, as if he was just playing.
"What the fuck?"- Zabuza had no idea in hell about what was going on. What was that? He didn't run at me, he materialized next to me. Could it have something to do with that knife? One thing Zabuza knew. He shouldn't underestimate that kid.
Before Kakashi could do anything, Zabuza formed a handseal and quickly disappeared in a mist that formed unnaturally.
"Ninpou: Kirigakure no jutsu."- I don't feel like fucking around. I'm going to take out that jounin and then have a nice little game with the kids.
"Everyone, form around Tazuna. Zabuza specializes in silent assassination. His target is Tazuna, so I'll track him down."- Kakashi commanded. The three genin surrounded Tazuna, weapons ready to attack and kill.
"Naruto, what was that? How did you get to him so fast? You weren't that quick a week ago."- Sakura asked. Naruto smiled as he could feel the envy of his power emanating from Sasuke. He showed her his kunai and the seal that the handle had.
"It's a jutsu that my dad, the Yondaime Hokage used. It's called "Hiraishin no jutsu", or "Flying Thunder God." Without the kunai, it would cost a lot of chakra, but the kunai reduces that ammount alot. But, it has a twist. You can't just steal the kunai and use it. You need to know how to teleport, otherwise when you activate it, you'll get stuck in a different dimension and die."- he replied, glancing at her perfect "o" shaped mouth. Sasuke was getting nervous for some reason and tried to shrug it off by asking another question.
"Can you use it without the kunai?"- he asked. At this, Naruto smirked. The Hiraishin no jutsu had multiple strengths. One of them being you could teleport to something that you placed a seal on, including your enemy.
"Yes, if I engage in a taijutsu fight for example, I can place a seal on my enemy without him knowing and teleport to him later. It costs a lot of chakra though, even for someone with my reserves."- he explained. The technique wasn't made public for a reason. If someone besides an Uzumaki, Kage or jinchuuriki tried to use the technique, they would probably die.
"I see..."- Sasuke wasn't even listening to him anymore. The mist was making him insane. He could feel killing intent in the air. It was so intense that he wanted it to end, no matter what. I'm going to kill myself! He grabbed his kunai and started raising it to his own neck.
"Sasuke! Relax. I am not going to let my comrades die."- Kakashi's voice was heard. Sasuke broke out of it immediately. He felt confident. Kakashi was famous as one of the if not the most powerful Jounin of Konoha. There was no way they would die.
"Brave words for someone that is imprisoned! Suiton: Suiro no jutsu!"- the mist disappeared to reveal Kakashi being entraped on a water sphere by Zabuza some meters away from the genin gang. The crazed killer looked at the three kids.- "Your precious leader and master is now imprisoned. Let's face it, you three against a Jounin class ninja. You're going to die."
"Go away! You can't defeat him! Take Tazuna and run! He can't leave without releasing me!"- Kakashi shouted. Naruto smirked and tilted his head to the side, giving his Uchiha partner a confident look.
"Do you feel like running away Sasuke?"- he asked. Sasuke laughed before turning his face and returning Naruto the look.
"Running away wouldn't just be boring, it'd be stupid. If he's so good, Kakashi, he'll just drown you and come after us. We have to attack."- Zabuza laughed insanely at this as if the whole situation was a complicated joke that only he seemed to get. The murderer rose his hand to point at the two before flipping them off.
"Try me, bitches."- he taunted. Naruto approached Sasuke and they exchanged ideas through mutters. Zabuza thought of stopping them, but he decided that if they actually tried, it would be more fun. When they agreed on the plan, Naruto stepped forward and pointed at Zabuza.
"You're the last known alive member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. It took a bit of searching, but I found out an old diary of a ninja that said that the most powerful member of the Swordsmen usually carried a scroll that could be used to summon said swords so they wouldn't have to carry them. Since you're the only one alive, you're the strongest one. Give me Nuibari and I'll let you go."- the blonde proposed. Zabuza laughed and laughed. Then, he stopped to look at Naruto.
"Wait, you're actually serious?"- and then he laughed like an insane person again. Naruto didn't show any kind of emotion as the trained killer mocked him.- "You think I'm just going to hand over one of the Legendary Swords to some derp I met? You'll have to take it from my cold dead hands!"
"Fine with me!"- a cloud of white smoke appeared around him. It soon dissipated, revealing a Naruto holding an open Fuma Shuriken. He jumped up, frontflipped and threw the death star at Zabuza. It went like a buzz saw and everyone was convinced that the villain would simply be cut in half. He killed their expectations as he merely grabbed the shuriken with his free arm.
"After wielding KubiKiriBocho for so long, grabbing a Fuma Shuriken is easy as pie to me. Naruto smirked, making Zabuza realize that the attack wasn't over there. A second Fuma Shuriken appeared in the shadows and went straight at Zabuza.- "Nice try, but not good enough!"
"Damn it!"- Tazuna swore as Zabuza simply hopped over the shuriken. Naruto was still smirking as the shuriken exploded in a cloud of white smoke revealing that it was merely a disguised Sasuke. Sasuke turned to look at Zabuza while flying back, running through handseals.
"Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu!"- he spat gigantic fire ball that went straight at the murderer. Zabuza turned his head to look at the raging hell that was directed at him.
"Fuck!"- he jumped up, releasing Kakashi from the prison. In the middle of the air, he ran through handseals. Kakashi was also running through them, as if copying the murderer. Zabuza was at the peak of his jump when Naruto misteriously appeared in front of him, grinning.- "What in the living fuck...?"
"White Crow Art: Drill Peck!"- Naruto spun, creating a drill with his body, hitting Zabuza and making him crash against the ground. When the dust settled, they could see Naruto standing a few meters away and Zabuza laying down on a small crater.
"You...little...ss-shit. How?"- he asked. Naruto grinned for the thousandth time that day.
"You heard me speaking to my partners. When I engaged in a taijutsu fight with you, I planted a seal on you just in case I needed it. It costed me chakra, but it was worth it. You're done."- by now, Kakashi was almost finishing his seals. He was probably reading Zabuza's mind with a genjutsu. Speaking of which, Zabuza was now staggering to his knees, trying desperately to not be defeated by two stupid brats.
"Zabuza, the Demon. Defeated by children. I never thought I'd see that."- Tazuna commented. Sakura giggled.
"Our team is better than most. Now you understand why we were assigned to protect you?"- she replied.
"Shut your trap! I'll kill you all!"- Zabuza shouted. Kakashi finished his seals.
"No, you won't. Suiton: Suiryuudan no jutsu."- a large ammount of water began bubbling in the lake nearby and out of it came a water dragon, flying and spiraling in the air before shooting directly at Zabuza. The dragon hit Zabuza hard enough to push him back into the air, crash through a tree and slam against another tree before falling to the floor. Naruto slowly walked towards him. Zabuza was barely conscious from the impact as the jinchuuriki searched his pockets and took out a scroll.
"You...little...*huff*...shit..."- he managed to mutter. Naruto gave him no response as he opened the scroll it had seven circles drawn on it. Each had the sword that it contained's name. There was Nuibari, KubiKiriBocho, Samehada, Kiba, Hiramekarei, Kabutowari and Shibuki. The first one, the one that had Nuibari written on it, started glowing in a white light as Naruto made his chakra run through it. After a moment, a cloud of white smoke took place, but quickly dissipated, revealing a very thin sword that looked like a long, thin needle. The end of the sword's handle had an eye like a needle as well. If there was a sword perfect for piercing, it was Nuibari. Naruto quickly caught its handle and measured its weight.
"What a nice sword. Thanks Uncle Zabuza."- suddenly, three senbon appeared on Zabuza's neck, killing him. Three more came flying at Naruto who teleported to the kunai he had left next to Tazuna.
Standing next to Zabuza was a ninja wearing green clothes and a face mask that resembled Konoha's Anbu masks, except this one didn't mimick animals.
"Are you a Kiri hunter nin?"- Kakashi asked, gasping for air. The last jutsu had taken out a lot from him.
"Yes. I've been tracking Momochi Zabuza down for a year now. Thank you for weakening him down enough for me to make the kill."- she then turned to Naruto and pointed at the scroll.- "Those swords belong to Kirigakure. Return them at once and we'll have no problems."
"I'm keeping Nuibari, like it or not."- the blonde replied, reading himself for battle. The Kiri hunter-nin lowered her head, as if thinking about it before raising it again.
"Fine, you may keep Nuibari as compensation for helping with Zabuza's assassination and as a gift to reinforce the peace between our two villages. But you must hand over the rest. Samehada, Kiba, Kabutowari, Shibuki and Hiramekarei."- Naruto nodded to her response, rolled the scroll up and threw it at her. She stuck the scroll in a pocket and grabbed Zabuza's corpse.- "Now, I must dispose of the body. Goodbye."
"Goodbye."- and she disappeared. Kakashi turned to the genin and was about to say something before he fell to the ground, unconscious.
"Great, Tazuna-san, can you guide us while we carry him?"
