A Razor's Edge

Chapter 4: The Wind Up

By: T.E. Rose

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters much to my great displeasure.

A/N: Holy damn. It has been far to long since I last updated this story. All I can say about that is sorry but life seriously got in the way. I have had this chapter basically finished for a while now but have only just added the finishing touches and editing it.

That being said...

I am sure that I have several grammatical problems in the story below, hell there are likely some right in this authors note, but I do hope that you find the story is still worth reading. I do not now, nor do I plan to, have a beta and like all humans I miss things. I do not mean this to sound as an excuse, just a warning. I apologize in advance for any problems.

Now please if you would read and review.

Publishing Date: January 15, 2012

XXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXX

Sarutobi sighed as he glared at the latest stack of reports to land on his desk. Oh how he hated paperwork. It was the bane of his existence his greatest enemy. Ok. Well perhaps not his greatest enemy but certainly his most obvious at the moment.

The stack of reports ranged from the mundane, such as crop reports. To the important such as mission debriefing's for classified operations. Today his paperwork was particularly tedious, mostly because he could not focus on it. It had been three weeks since the most recent batch of Genin had graduated from the academy.

And now he had to grant the first C-rank to one of them. He cursed the day he made that bet with the blond. Though to be honest he had not expected the boy to figure out the meaning behind D-rank missions so quickly. Yet here they were three weeks and 56 missions later while he thought of a mission that the blond would find acceptable because, if he didn't, the blond would be a constant headache until he did.

He could still hear the blond ticking off the things that D-rank mission's were supposed to instill in young ninja.

XXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXX

***Flashback***

Sarutobi was sitting behind his desk in his office beginning to take care of the rather ominous stack of paperwork that had accumulated since he'd left to oversee mission distribution that morning.

Beginning the arduous task Sarutobi was immediately distracted by the fact that his office door had banged open rather abruptly.

Startled he looked up to find Konoha's resident prankster-in-chief, who despite being very focused and busy with his studies had always managed to find the time to do something that made someone else's life far more interesting than they generally liked it. Be that plastic wrapping toilets, inching powder in clothes, spiking somebody's drink with laxative's or dyeing somebody's clothes colors they were not supposed to be. Be they his own robes, tie-dyed blue, pink and green or the Hyuuga clan heads white robes orange.

Admittedly he found them rather amusing, if sometimes headache inducing. Now however the young man was a fully qualified ninja of the leaf. One who likely had the best work ethic of almost anyone on active service. The main reason that Sarutobi had been startled had been the fact that aside from his Chunin secretary who was always outside his door there was a pair of ANBU guards flanking it, so it should not have been possible for someone to barge into his office unannounced.

"Where's my mission you old goat!" demanded the blond as Sarutobi stared at the boy with a look of mild shock and bewilderment plastered on his face.

"Naruto the Mission Distribution Center is closed for the day. You know that."

"I mean my C-rank. I figured out the meaning of those D-rank missions." Declared the blond boldly a cocky grin spreading over his face.

The venerable old Hokage merely quirked an eyebrow at that. He had only stopped calling them chores a week ago and now he had the meaning of them figured out, or at the least that was what he was claiming. He took a moment to compose himself, a moment in which he merely stared at the bold young man standing defiantly in front of him. When he felt composed Sarutobi posed the question, "So what do you think the meaning of the mission's I give you are?"

Naruto looked thoughtfully for a moment or two, possibly considering how best to voice his theories. "Well, I think there are three reasons you give us these mission's." said the blond slowly considering how to continue. "The first being to instill the value of hard work in the new Genin. The second the value of teamwork and how it can make difficult or dangerous tasks much easier or safer. Lastly to instill a sense of pride in the village, by helping its citizens, and keeping it clean."

To say that he was surprised would have been an understatement and a drastic one at that. He had not imagined that the blond would figure it out this quickly. He thought that maybe the blond might come up with one reason for them, but three. Resigning himself to the fact that the blond had done quite well in coming up with what he had Sarutobi felt compelled to honor his bargain. "Come back in the morning I will have one arranged for you."

***Flashback End***

XXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXX

It was one thing to say another thing entirely to get it done. As he was sifting through the stacks of reports he came across a mission request form. Apparently a wealthy mayor from a town near the boarder with river country had had his youngest daughter kidnapped for ransom. He wanted a team of ninja present to make sure that the exchange went off smoothly and if at all possible recover the extorted money after the exchange.

That would do nicely. Setting the scroll aside he debated over rest of the cell. Mentally going through a list of available ninja. Eventually he decided on Inuzuka Hana to lead the mission despite the fact that she was only sixteen, with both Tobitake Tonbo and Hagane Kotetsu as support and so that they could assess how she handled being in command, as they were both elite Chunin well on their way towards becoming Special or even full fledged Jounin. Naruto could be added just to round out the squad to a standard four, from the reports he had it was very likely that it was just a band of brigands that had been operating in the area over the past couple of months.

If the reports of the two elite Chunin proved favorable then perhaps he would allow Hana to lead more missions with a less experienced supporting cast than this one. Essentially it was an acid test for both Hana and Naruto.

Another reason to make Hana team leader was her, and the other Inuzuka's, recent treatment of Naruto. He was not sure what it was but something had happened. Over the past two weeks the Inuzuka clan whenever possible had requested that Naruto be assigned to whatever mission's were requested for the district, that they called home.

Now that he was being allowed out of the village he imagined that it would only happen more often. He didn't know why but it would appear that Naruto was under their protection. Shrugging the Sandaime set about making a mission dossier filling in the pertinent details, at least the ones that he knew.

XXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXX

Naruto was excited, to put it mildly. He was going to be going on his first C-rank mission tomorrow and tonight he was going to eat dinner, with other people. People who actually invited him, to their house, It was a first.

The Inuzuka had been very nice to him ever since he'd beaten Kiba. His family had over the past two weeks requested his services several times to assist with things around the district and almost always either Kiba's mother or sister were there.

He still vividly recalled their first encounter. He'd thought they intended to hospitalize him for the beating he'd inflicted on the other boy but as it turns out… they had been rather impressed.

XXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXX

***Flashback***

Resigning to the fact that they were right he stopped his slow back peddle. "Alright so what do you want…?"

"Well that is the question isn't it." intoned the younger of the two Inuzuka women.

Naruto had a very bad feeling about this…

Both of the women approached from where they had been standing, chatting, before he came in. "Naruto-san, we want to thank you." Input the elder of the to Inuzuka women, as they came closer.

Hearing that Naruto responded very intelligently. "Huh?" Scratching the back of his head he found he could not follow their logic. He had injured a member of their clan quite severally. "Why would you want to thank me?"

"My son, Kiba, is brash. Someone his own age, other than the Uchiha, needed to outclass him so thoroughly for him to realize that he still has a long ways to go." Explained the older and more feral looking of the two Inuzuka women.

"You're…welcome?" Was the only thing Naruto could think of to say, stunned as he was. The younger of the two Inuzuka giggled prettily drawing his attention and having the effect of setting him more at ease. "He's ok right?"

"He's just fine, a little sore." Ensured the elder of the two Inuzuka, before adding as an afterthought, "And embarrassed, but otherwise." A hint of amusement finding its way to her voice as she said that.

"My brothers friends, they told us what happened. I just wish I had been there to see it." Added the younger of the two, a somewhat feral grin stretching across her face. That was surprisingly enough matched by one on the older woman's face.

Relieved that the women didn't want to do him bodily harm as he had first feared Naruto released a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. "So…What happens now?" Inquired the now easy breathing blond as a grin came over his own face.

***Flashback End***

XXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXX

Since his fight with the other boy the two of them had become relatively good friends, and he would admit to growing rather found of Kiba's older sister, Hana. It was nice being around people who actually treated him like a human being rather than some malign entity bent on world domination. He just wished he'd met them all sooner, then maybe he would have had a somewhat happier childhood. No use dwelling on the past now.

Walking down the streets he made sure to do as he always did when walking through Konoha. Avoid as many people as was physically possibly. Within a half hour though he had arrived at the house of the matriarch of the Inuzuka clan.

He was practically skipping when he arrived. His excitement was not lost on the Hana when she opened the door.

"What's got you so excited?" Inquired Hana, seeing her blond friends obvious excitement.

"The old goat is finally letting me go on a C-rank mission." He replied barely resisting the urge to jump up and down.

Hana let out a veritable bark of laughter at Naruto's nickname for the Hokage before ushering him into the house. "So do you know what your mission will be?" Queried the dog girl as they moved further into the house.

"No just that I'll be leaving tomorrow sometime." Said the blond grinning. Before following Hana into the dinning room. "Dinner smells good."

XXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXX

The following day Naruto made his way to the Hokage's office, it was only six in the morning but he had been to exhilarated by the prospect of his first C-rank mission to sleep much the night before and he was to antsy to sit around waiting much longer. So he wandered the nearly vacant streets of Konoha all the while making his way towards his ultimate destination.

Soon enough he was barging into the Hokage's office once more. Making his presence known without having to actually say a word. The door did that for him when it slammed against the wall. "MORNING OLD MAN!"

XXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXX

Sarutobi winced at the loud noise. It was far to early to deal with. He hadn't even had a good smoke yet. Closing his eyes tiredly the Sandaime gently pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "Naruto must you be so loud this early?"

Now normally Naruto would not have been this loud but his anticipation was ready to boil over already so his answer was, much to the Hokage's great displeasure, a resounding yes. "OF COURSE I DO! I GET MY C-RANK MISSION TODAY!"

"Not if you cannot control yourself. Then you will find yourself back picking garbage out the river everyday for the next four months." Responded the aggravated Hokage. While mentally grumbling about worthless ANBU guards.

His threat had the desired effect however as Naruto calmed down.

XXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXX

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the crafty old codger wondering if he really would keep him doing D-rank missions until the next crop of Genin had graduated from the academy. Deciding that he'd rather not test the old man he acquiesced to his request and calmed down. "So old man, what do I get to do?" he asked eager to get all the juicy details he could regarding his mission.

"That Naruto I will leave up to your mission leader." replied the aged leader simply. "You'll just need to wait a bit longer I sent messengers to them they should be here within the next hour or so." Before he turned his attention back to the ever present piles of paperwork that liked to clutter up his desk.

Naruto was not thrilled at having to wait. He had never been good at it. Hence his propensity to barge into the old mans office without so much as a courtesy knock. Now however he found himself with an hour to kill. So he made himself at home. Sitting himself down on the floor out of the way Naruto removed his ninja-to from its sheath before inspecting the blade.

It was, like all his blades, honed to a razors edge but he needed something to do so… removing his whetstone from his pouch he carefully began to sharpen the blade. The slight rasping sound the stone made as it passed down the steel focused his mind and more than anything kept him calm. He was not sure why but he had always found the sound therapeutic.

Far to soon for his liking however he felt compelled to cease his attempts to redefine sharp and put away his whetstone and re-sheathing his sword. Standing he walked over to see what the old man was up to but discovered much to his annoyance that it was not anything interesting, just paperwork. Sighing Naruto decided that he would go find something to eat.

Leaving the Hokage behind Naruto made his way back out into the early morning quiet of Konoha in search of a restaurant that would serve him food and was open this early. His choices, he soon discovered, were limited to exactly one stall. Not that he minded all that much. He was a fan of ramen. He just hoped Ayame was there and not just her father. While the old man was very nice, he was also very protective of his daughter. So Naruto wouldn't put it past the ramen chef to poison him.

That was a risk he was willing to take however.

Naruto pushed aside the flaps of the stall and to his surprise was not the first customer of the day. Iruka, the teacher who had overseen his supplemental written exam was seated on a stool along the counter. Chatting casually with Ayame while eating his ramen. Naruto gave him a bit of a squint eyed look before claiming one of the stools for himself.

XXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXX

Stomach now happily satisfied Naruto returned to the Hokage tower nearly thirty minutes later. His team members should be arriving any time now. A fact for which he was very grateful. He was not sure he could have handled having to sit around anymore.

Within minutes of his arrival back at the tower a pair of Chunin appeared and waited with him. They introduced themselves as Hagane Kotetsu and Tobitake Tonbo. A few minutes after the arrival of those two someone else arrived who Naruto did not need to introduce himself to. "Hana-chan? What are you doing here?"

"Mission. I'm supposed to meet my team now." Replied the Inuzuka cheerily despite the early hour. "What about you Naruto-kun?"

"Same. I couldn't stand sitting around my apartment though and so I've been here waiting for like an hour." That said Naruto, rubbed the back of his head sheepishly somewhat embarrassed by the admission.

The action did not go unnoticed by the dog girl who let out a short bark of laughter. "Well I need to speak with the Hokage so I'll see you in a couple of minutes." That said she approached the door and knocked before entering. Leaving Naruto and the two Chunin to wait in the reception area. They had all by this point figured out that they were there for the same mission. So they set about getting to know each other better. Well Naruto go to know them better as they already knew and had worked together on multiple occasions.

Kotetsu as it turns out was like him a close combat specialist, while Tonbo's specialty was somewhat more extravagant. He was a sensor type. Meaning he could sense other Chakra signatures nearby and their level. Needless to say he kicked butt at ninja hide and seek.

Some ten minutes later Hana came out to find all of three of her team members waiting for her. "Pack for a week long trip. We'll meet at the main gate in an hour." stated the Inuzuka before leaving to pack herself.

XXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXX

Naruto hurried home, not bothering with side streets and detours this time. It was still early enough that their were not that many people up and about yet. He took the side roads, shortcuts and detours earlier mostly because it was a habit ingrained in him since he was young to avoid as many people as was possible.

Once there he found his pack and quickly set about filling it, well checking to make sure he had everything. He had, for the most part packed it last night as soon as he'd gotten home. He'd been far to excited to do anything else. Mentally going through a checklist of necessities, but found that he'd remembered everything. Adding a few extra ration bars to his bag and making sure his bedroll was tightly secured to the bottom of his pack he set out for the gate.

XXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXX

He was the second one to arrive at the gate, Hana and her three companions were already there and waiting for the rest of them. She was absentmindedly scratching one of the triplets behind the ears.

"So what's our mission?" Naruto asked when he was close enough that he didn't have to yell. Though clearly still excited about the prospect of his first C-rank.

Hana just shook her head in amusement at her blond friends antics before replying. "We'll talk about it once the others get here."

Naruto frowned at his friend before leaning against one of the low retaining walls that flanked either side of the road and waited for their teammates. "So…You get to lead the mission?" Naruto asked breaking the silence that stretched between them. Hana didn't respond verbally but just nodded her head in affirmation. "Nervous?"

Hana glared at him briefly before speaking. "A little. This is the first mission I'm going to lead since I got promoted."

Naruto was a little surprised by the honest answer from the dog girl. From his interactions with her and her clan he'd thought that they were all brash and over confident. This was a new side, one he hadn't seen before and he wasn't exactly sure what to say. He didn't have much experience with this sort of thing, he had very few friends and fewer still who were around his age. So he did the only thing he could thing of to do. "The old goat wouldn't have put you in charge if he didn't think you could hack it." assured the blond as sincerely as possible.

Hana nodded grudgingly that the Hokage likely would not have put her in charge or Naruto on her squad if he thought things would get out of hand and if they did both of their other teammates were experienced Chunin. "Thanks. I guess you're right." she smiled at him the knot in the pit of her stomach loosening somewhat, but still definitely there.

Naruto, Hana and the triplets waited patiently for Tonbo and Kotetsu to arrive and when they did the group immediately set out. Initially Hana was going to brief them right at the gate but she decided that it would save time to do it when they stopped for lunch. Which they did an hour or so past noon.

XXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXX

Sitting in a forest clearing several hours later and still more than a days travel from their eventual destination Hana removed a mission folder from her pack and flipped it open. Reviewing it briefly before looking up to see the members of her team eating rations from their packs. She had been surprised that Naruto had kept up as easily as he did despite the fact that he couldn't use chakra to enhance his speed. She supposed he must wear weights most of the time but removed them before they left.

"Alright so here's the situation." Began the Inuzuka drawing the attention of her teammates. "We are supposed to oversee a ransom drop for a mayor in Region 4 whose daughter has been kidnapped. By a person or persons unknown. We are going just to make sure the drop goes smoothly and if possible to find out who is responsible. Questions?"

Kotetsu was the first to speak after Hana had given them a quick rundown of the facts. "Are we expecting any enemy ninja?"

Hana looked unsure for a moment before she answered. "Yes." She replied simply while scratching one of her dogs behind the ears.

"Then why is this a C-rank?" asked Tonbo quickly. As a hostile ninja presence usually warranted a minimum of a B-rank mission status.

Hana once again hesitated before answering. "Well we don't know for sure that their will be. But I would hazard a guess that their was based on the fact that the girl was snatched without anyone seeing who took her. Even if their wasn't it doesn't hurt to be prepared for the possibility."

Both the elder Chunin nodded approvingly before returning to their food. Naruto thought about what they had been told before adding a question of his own. "Are we supposed to follow them after the drop or just try and figure out who they're working for by looking at them?"

Hana turned her attention to the youngest member of her team. "That depends on whether or not there are hostile ninja at the drop. Above all else we are not to endanger the little girl if it can be helped. Her safety is top priority. Finding out whose behind it is secondary." Replied Hana confidently, much more comfortable answering Naruto's question rather than the other two Chunin.

Naruto nodded before asking one final question. "When is the exchange suppose to take place."

"Two days from now at sunset." she responded quickly a slight smile on her face. As that was by far the easiest question they had asked her.

"Plenty of time to get there then." Interjected Kotetsu looking up form his food. Which he had just about finished. Tonbo merely grunted his agreement as he was chewing a bite of his own field rations.

XXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXX

Once everyone had finished their meal. They packed up the things they had taken out being sure to not leave any trace of their presence. Mostly out of procedure than anything else as they were still in Hi no Kuni, if they were out of country then it would have been an absolute necessity.

Their presence erased the cell continued on its way. Hoping to cover significant distance and cut their travel time the following day down significantly. Hoping that they would be able to arrive in time to scout the location of the drop before it was actually supposed to occur. If possible they were hoping to find positions from which two of the teams members could wait and watch while the other two made the drop.

Overall they were making good time when they stopped for the night. They had pressed hard enough that they would arrive sometime late the next day as oppose to late the morning after which would give them plenty of time to scout the location the following day.

In camp that night Hana set up a watch schedule four, one man, two hour shifts. Starting with Naruto, then Tonbo, followed by herself, then Kotetsu.

XXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXX

Naruto didn't like being on watch despite the fact that Tonbo was still awake, at least he thought the man was awake it was hard to tell with the guys eyes covered. In fact Naruto had been wondering how the man saw where he was going but didn't want to be rude. The sounds of night were hard to ignore at first. The crickets, the sound of wind passing through the tree branches overhead, the calls of coyotes among other nocturnal animals waking up to hunt. It was quite stressful.

At one point he'd become very tense when he heard a sound in the underbrush in the forest surrounding their camp but it turned out to be one of Hana's dogs marking his territory. Other than that though his time on watch had thankfully proved uneventful. Waking up Tonbo he walked over to where his bedroll was set up and wrapped himself up in his blanket using his pack for a pillow.

His sword laying next to him so that it was on hand should a situation arise during the night. His kunai holster, supply pouch, equipment pouch and his tanto were stashed in his pack. Which made for a rather lumpy pillow. The only other piece of gear he kept close to hand was his sheath of throwing knives still on his left forearm. Thankfully everyone else's shifts proved as quiet as his own.

Despite the fact that nothing eventful happened he still slept restlessly. Sleeping within the walls of a ninja village, even one filled with people who were not overly found of your existence gave one a sense of security. Sleeping outside the walls, in the open made him uncomfortable, he felt exposed and he wasn't sure he liked it. Then again maybe it was just his natural paranoia of sleeping near people he didn't know that well. He slept closest to Hana because out of the whole team she was the only one he'd know on a personal level for more than a day but even near her he felt uncomfortable.

In his dreams that night he kept seeing a gigantic face behind iron bars grinning at him its enormous teeth gleaming in an almost otherworldly way. It was frightening to say the least. Whatever it was made his sleep even more uneasy than it already was.

XXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXX

The following morning after a hasty breakfast the group started off, once more obliterating any trace of their presence. They were intent on making it to town sometime before sunset. Naruto was not looking forward to sleeping outside again. What he really wanted was a nice warm bed, his own in particular, despite its lumpy mattress, but he could probably make due with another. In fact he could probably suffer through another night of sleeping out in the elements as long as he didn't have anymore of the dreams that had plagued his sleep last night.

Hana seemed to notice something was off with him though as she kept glancing at him as they traveled but she didn't say anything until they stopped for lunch shortly after noon.

XXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXX

Naruto had wandered a short ways away to fill his canteen from a nearby stream, dropping an iodine tablet into it to kill any bacteria that may have been in the stream. It gave the water a slightly off taste but it was better than getting dysentery.

Taking a quick sip and making a face he turned around to find Hana watching him from a short distance away. Feeling compelled to say something, he did. "What?"

"You alright? You seem off today." asked the dog girl. Her concern for her friend showing on her face.

"Yea fine. Just had trouble sleeping last night." Admitted the blond Genin before taking another sip of the bitter tasting water and making a face. Causing Hana to let out a slight giggle seeing it.

"Yea the first night outside the walls can be a bit overwhelming." Responded the brown haired Chunin to her friend and teammates admission. "It will get easier."

That said the pair went back to their rest site to find the other's already eating.

XXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXX

They arrived shortly before dinner that night. The mayor put them up. Giving them rooms in his rather large, rather extravagant house. Apparently there was a rather lucrative iron mine in his domain and while a portion of its profits went to the governor there was still quite a bit left over. It was no wonder he was chosen by whoever it was had organized this.

He had been quite relieved to see them.