I don't own Naruto.

"Team 7, reporting for duty, Hokage-sama," Kakashi chirped, as his two genin started at their surroundings.

When Kakashi had sent Pakkun to reverse-summon them back to Konoha, he'd led them directly to the Hokage Tower, leaving them still reeling over the rapid change in scenery.

"It's good to see you all," Hiruzen commented, giving the team an idle glance. He could sense the most change in Naruto, feeling four well-developed elemental affinities in him. Lightning seemed stunted, but that was neither here nor there. Hiruzen knew the blond wouldn't be satisfied with leaving things as they were.

"As nice as it is to have you all back here, a mission has come up which I think would be ideal to whet your appetites. As an added benefit, there is a new Konoha genin that needs to be taught the ropes of the three-man team system, and I thought you could help her out."

He shouted towards the door, and their new teammate walked in.

"You!" Sakura growled.

Kakashi's eye narrowed, while Naruto simply looked puzzled.

"What exactly are you trying to pull, Jiji?" Naruto asked. "I don't have any problems with her, but don't you think putting her on our team is an accident waiting to happen?"

Sakura nodded along before the Third cut her off with a sweep of his hand.

"This isn't a permanent posting, merely one of convenience. Teamwork isn't only valuable when you are working with friends, but also when you're working with near-strangers, distant allies and even people you experience outright resentment for. Do you understand?"

"We understand, Hokage-sama, would you care to brief us on the mission?" Kakashi asked. "While I'm hardly happy with the arrangement, I can tell you've put thought into it. Can I assume that she passed all of T&I's tests?"

"Yes. Haku-chan derived all of her worth from her utility to her master. Anything done for him wasn't entirely her fault, but she is willing to make amends. As the object of her devotion has moved on, I am willing to trial her entry into the ninja ranks."

Sakura moved to make a complaint, but was silenced by Naruto calmly putting his hand on her shoulder. Hiruzen witnessed the two of them locking red eyes with each other, a silent conversation taking place in front of him. Focusing further, he could sense that they were actually conversing - inside of a shared genjutsu cast by their Sharingan eyes. Remarkable.

The conversation ended and Sakura slid her forehead protector back over her eye.

"This mission request comes from the casino owners of Tanzaku Gai. Over the past month, their takings have been stolen from their vaults without anybody noticing until the next morning. Four casinos have been struck already, each time after their biggest night of the week when they had the most money in their vaults. A high proportion of the Daimyo's taxes comes from the casino cartel in Tanzaku Gai, and I'm under a lot of pressure from the Daimyo to deal with this expeditiously. As a result, I will be sending your team and one ANBU hand. Do you understand?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama," Kakashi said. "When will we meet our accompanying team?"

"Right now. I believe you will know them. Team Ro!"

Kakashi's eyebrows raised as five figures landed in front of the Hokage's desk.

"Team Ro, reporting for duty, Hokage-sama," the purple-haired woman in the cat mask said.

"At ease. You have your orders, now I expect you to leave as soon as you are prepared. Dismissed."

The ANBU flickered away and Kakashi directed them out through the window and to a nearby rooftop. He shared a meaningful look at Cat as he introduced himself.

"Hatake Kakashi, former Captain. I trust you all know my capabilities?"

The entire ANBU hand nodded.

"Then let's do this quickly, Uzumaki Naruto, advanced elemental ninjutsu and taijutsu generalist, Haruno Sakura, genjutsu and medical support specialist, Momochi Haku, ice-bloodline user, typically used as long-range and medical support."

Naruto and Sakura shared a look at Haku taking the Demon of the Mist's last name, but neither were too surprised.

"Cat reporting, Team Ro Captain. Kenjutsu and upfront specialist with sensory and medical capacities. Dog 2 is our ninjutsu expert. Toad is our taijutsu specialist and infiltration expert. Boar is our interrogation member and genjutsu support. Finally Rat, assassination and kenjutsu specialist."

Kakashi nodded, apparently already knowing this. He gave a wink to Dog 2 as he looked at his genin to see if they'd taken it in.

Sakura and Haku had already filed it away, while Naruto was still memorising the masks and abilities. Aside from Cat, who he'd already taken note of, Dog 2 was a burly man rising taller than Kakashi, with pale red hair. Toad had long and straight dark hair with an extremely straight posture - Naruto would bet anything that he was a Hyūga. Boar was a petite blonde woman who looked incredibly impatient with the whole situation. Rat was pale, with short dark hair, and didn't appear to be reacting to any of the other shinobi at all.

"Alright then," Cat said. "Is everyone packed?"

"We have plenty already sealed away," Kakashi said. "Haku, are you prepared?"

"Hai, Hatake-sama."

"Just sensei, I guess. Right, shall we depart?"

The road to Tanzaku Gai was busy, wide and well-patrolled, so the ninja took to the trees along the side of the road so they could avoid the crowds and go faster. Naruto found that the ANBU had stuck to quite a slow pace and were keeping it up, causing Naruto to race to the head of the pack inadvertently.

"What's up kid, we too slow for you?" Boar called mockingly from behind him. Naruto fell into place alongside her as they leapt from branch to branch.

"Not really, but I thought we'd be going faster than this."

"Maybe you can take it, but it looks like your teammate there appreciates this speed."

Naruto looked back and, surely enough, Sakura was struggling to maintain her pace, considering that they had been going for nearly seven hours.

"Enough bickering," Cat scolded. "Save your stupid contests for when we make camp."

"I can hardly wait," Boar said, in a tone that left a shiver down Naruto's spine.

After a few more hours, Cat called a stop to the procession.

"We'll camp here for tonight so we can arrive early tomorrow morning. The nine of us will split into three watches - me, Sakura and Toad, then Naruto, Boar and Rat, then Kakashi, Haku and Dog 2."

The group got moving, preparing tents and digging a latrine. The ANBU were eating cold rations and didn't bother with a fire, so neither did Team 7. The ANBU had a tent for the men and a tent for the women, while Sakura and Naruto were so used to each other by now they didn't care about sharing a tent. Sakura's worries about Naruto had ended when she'd realised that he was a sound sleeper who didn't snore - indeed, he seemed more manageable asleep than awake - and some of Naruto's apprehension of Sakura had ended when he'd seen her hair sticking in every direction after a night of sleep and spent the night next to her feet.

Team 7 minus Sakura settled down for the night, while the others fanned around the camp. After a perimeter check, Cat addressed the others.

"Toad, make some earth clones to scout the area, then get a vantage point. We'll cover the tents."

The Hyūga nodded and disappeared.

"So Sakura, how does it feel to be the weakest in your team?"

Sakura's first response was to protest, but then she settled down.

"Frustrating, but I don't know what to do. My body just doesn't seem to improve, and my chakra levels aren't getting much higher."

"Girl, that's a problem most of us have gone through. The women who didn't come from clans or ninja backgrounds. The only reason you're having a problem is because your sensei doesn't understand what it's like not to be naturally gifted. Hell, he's probably worked harder than any of us, but he was dealt a better hand in life as well. Still, I'm an orphan from a civilian background. Anko and Kurenai are, but we've all made a name for ourselves. Orochimaru's experiments on Anko boosted her strength. I chose to focus on kenjutsu, while Kurenai focused on genjutsu. And then, all of a sudden, puberty came along and I could fight properly. Remember, you're only thirteen. You might still be going through puberty, but it hasn't finished yet. You'll get stronger."

"I… thank you," Sakura said. "I was worried I'd have to stop being a ninja."

"No chance. You'll find your way. Now, uncover that eye of yours and see if you can spot anything I'm missing."

The two of them scanned the forest in contented silence until the watches changed.

"So cutie's scared of me in his mind, is he?" Boar mocked. She'd removed her mask to reveal a face startlingly similar to Ino's, as she identified herself as a distant cousin of the girl.

"I'm not scared of you; I'm scared for you," Naruto argued. "You know what's inside my body. Do you really think he'd care that you were an ally if he had the opportunity to eat you?"

Inami's face paled as Naruto grinned in victory.

"So what's it like living in my shadow?" Kakashi asked, as Dog 2 palmed his face. Rat, in the distance, snickered to himself while he polished his sword.

"On guard, everyone," Cat warned. "We're potentially in hostile territory, even if this is Fire Country."

The two squads made their way to the largest casino in town, the Opium Den. The title was meant to be somewhat ironic, because opium was outlawed in Fire Country, but it was widely known that big spenders could get access to it inside the casino anyway. Naruto wasn't sure whether that meant the name was ironic or just purely descriptive. They were greeted by a very formal, if smarmy, looking man named Chou.

"Thank goodness you're here, we weren't sure what to do. As it is Saturday, we have our largest take of the week tonight, and our vault is still under repair from the last assault. We're more vulnerable than ever!"

"Do not worry, Chou-san," Cat said. "The thieves have shown that they prefer attacking fresh casinos each time rather than old targets. Although all the other casinos in the area will have hired extra security, yours has the resources to hire the most protection. They will likelier attack a smaller casino tonight, if at all. May we see the vault?"

The man led them further through the casino, where the early-morning addicts were already drinking, or gambling, or in many cases both. The stale scent of smoke assaulted Naruto's senses as they passed the private gambling rooms, until they finally reached the administration area. Chou showed them inside, and it started to look like a normal office building. The path ran through an open plan floor, with accountants working in frenzied silence, occasionally glaring at the troupe of people who were interrupting.

"This is our vault. As you can see, titanium-steel bars to prevent access to the vault door itself, which is fourteen inches of solid steel."

A man-shaped hole had been carved straight through the door, which was the obvious point of exit and entry. The piece of scrap metal was cast to the side, and a swarm of engineers and repairmen were taking measurements and scribbling notes.

"Although this happened last week, all vault doors are custom orders and repairs will take weeks. Please scour the scene and see if you can glean anything."

"Naruto," Kakashi said. "Wind blade. See how far you can penetrate that piece of scrap."

The ANBU hand looked in an approval as a barely-visible sheen of wind came into being around Naruto's arm and the genin plunged it into the discarded metal. He sank about two knuckles deep into the metal before he could go no further.

"I could still cut, but the metal doesn't give sideways. There's no room for me to fit my hand in."

Kakashi nodded.

"I'd have the same trouble with my Chidori. An earth jutsu?" he asked.

"Very few nin have the affinity to directly affect metal," Frog announced. "And, to make such a precise cut, they would have to have the metal manipulation bloodline, the last user of which was apparently killed by the Fourth. I think a lightning or wind jutsu is still likelier."

Cat prowled around the scene, looking for clues. When she could find nothing else she addressed the group.

"We have nine people and ten other casinos in this town, three of which have already been hit. We're going to send somebody to each site. I'd prefer to pick and choose, but my orders are very clear that another attack is not allowed to be successful. We will split up and take one each, Kakashi will take one site and the rest of Team 7 will handle the final one. We will be in radio contact, so as soon as you register enemy nin hang back, contact us, and get support."

The group split to stake out their chosen casinos, with Naruto, Sakura and Haku getting the Will of Fire. Naruto snorted at the name as they entered, all three separating to get a feel for the building.

"Everything on red!" came a slurred voice from the middle of the gambling floor.

Naruto glanced at an inebriated blonde and her long-suffering companion as the ball landed on 17 black. Apparently she glanced over as well, because he was interrupted in his thoughts by a yell of, "Minato!"

He stared for a few seconds as she met his eye. Then-

"Nah, just some wannabe twerp."

Naruto's eyebrow twitched as he studiously ignored the Legendary Sucker, choosing to complete his mission instead.

After a half-hour break, the team reconvened and shared their opinions.

"There's a rear entrance through the kitchens," Sakura noted. "But there are staff cooking all day. The casino doesn't close at night, they just reduce staff."

"There's a secure route for the weekly takings that goes from the vault and nearly directly round back. It's difficult to see from the outside, but they may already have the place scoped." Haku said. The two kunoichi looked at Naruto.

"Well?" Sakura asked.

"They'd have to be idiots to attack here," Naruto said. "One of the Sannin is gambling right now."

As soon as he said that, the lights went out, leaving only the minimal glow of sunlight from the main doors to illuminate things. The casino tactic of reducing windows so that people couldn't tell the passage of time really didn't work in their favour.

"Shit, a day attack," Naruto said. "They must have changed tactics!"

The three darted towards the vault, with Sakura keeping the others informed of their status. Apparently two other casinos had been hit, and the others were on standby until they could identify the real target.

Smoke was surrounding the path to the vault, and Naruto's eyes began to water as they plunged through.

'Tear gas. Not an obstacle to me, but might affect the others,' he thought. Naruto's eyes quickly purged the irritant and his vision cleared again. Sakura and Haku were having difficulties. Naruto considered blowing the cloud away, but then they would lose the element of surprise. As much surprise as a chakra-beacon like Naruto could hope for. Maybe the team would be pre-occupied and not notice him.

When they reached the vault, the gas cleared and Naruto could see a man working some lightning technique, boring his way through the vault door. He was accompanied by two others, with Rain hitai-ate across their foreheads.

'Shit.'

Sakura immediately relayed the information via. radio, but one of the Ame nin must have been a sensor, as she picked up on the transmission.

"There!" she shouted. She lunged towards Sakura at speeds bordering jōnin level and they both plunged into the hallway and were swallowed by the gas. The second ninja, a veritable bear of a man, pulled out a warhammer and jumped into the air, bringing the hammer down in a two-handed grip.

Haku dodged to the side while Naruto merely stepped back, tracing the trajectory of the hammer with his eye. The hammer impacted only a foot away and the vibrations sent a wobbly feeling up his legs. Naruto lashed out with a finger jab to the face, but the large ninja was agile.

"Kirisame, keep them busy, damn it. This isn't easy," the ninja with the lightning jutsu growled. The named ninja nodded and charged at Naruto again, but had to move out of the way of a spray of ice needles. Naruto glanced at Haku, twitching his head to the corridor, and she nodded. He jumped into the smoke to assist Sakura.

"Looks like your boyfriend's jumped ship," the man chortled.

Haku had been trained not to engage with taunts, and simply summoned two ice blades. She flung them at the man, who blocked one with the hammer head and dodged the other.

"You'll have to try better than th-" he was cut off as a needle penetrated his shoulder and he nearly lost grip of his hammer. The needle was followed by another aimed at the femoral artery that came very close to his genitals. He managed to dodge, but was enraged by the attack.

"Bitch!" he frothed.

He jumped again, swinging his hammer up high. Haku dodged to the side again, but the man surprised her by letting go of the hammer and striking her across the face with a backhand. Haku fell to the ground and the man flashed through a series of handseals.

"Earth Release: Earth Spikes Technique," he muttered, just as that side of the room erupted in spikes, completely concealing Haku.

The man using the lightning technique grinned, sparing a glance at the conclusion of the skirmish. As he took the scene in, the technique shuddered to a halt.

"Kirisame?"

The spikes that had erupted hadn't stopped at Haku, piercing the man through the chest, gut, and right leg. And the spikes weren't made of earth.

Some of the ice spikes sloughed away to reveal Haku, who pushed herself up to a crouching position and surveyed the field. She'd been hit by a few small earth spikes before the technique had been concluded with the caster's death, and was cradling a useless arm.

The man at the vault door turned, face twisting in anger, as he thrust his arm out to the side. A sword handle was clutched in his fist and, as she watched, electricity sputtered into existence and surged out of the handle, forming a sword shaped entirely of lightning.

"I worked with him for years, girl. Maybe I can quiet his spirit by sending you to join him in the afterlife."

As Naruto plunged into the smoke-covered hallway, he moulded wind chakra to his chest and spat a gust of wind at the floor. The wind funnelled the smoke to the sides of the room and then up to the ceiling, where it lingered for the time being. The useful thing about wind chakra was that you didn't need to breathe in to use it; that merely bolstered the technique. With the air full of tear gas as it had been, breathing in too much would have been a mistake.

"Naruto!" Sakura shouted. She was being retrained by a water whip that was wrapped around her upper arm. The kunoichi in control of the whip was lashing out with another whip at imaginary opponents.

"I got her with a Sharingan genjutsu, but I think she's jōnin-level. She'll break out of it soon!"

Naruto nodded and flashed through handseals.

"Water Release: Jet Stream Technique!" he shouted, and spat a high-pressure line of water at the whip the woman was holding. It lost its shape and splattered to the ground, letting Sakura jump away. As the technique ended the woman broke free of the genjutsu and glared at the genin.

"Two against one, eh? How unfair… for you!" she jumped at Sakura, who bent out of the way at an unnatural angle and avoided the punch. The woman turned her failed punch into a handstand, lashing out with her feet. One of the kicks broke past Sakura's defence and knocked her into the wall. Before the jōnin could follow up, Naruto struck with a kunai aimed for the kidneys.

The unnamed kunoichi dove out of the way, avoiding the blade, but still receiving a shallow cut from the barely-visible wind surrounding the blade.

"Wind release? You're a surprising boy. I hear wind release users are rare in Fire Country."

She pulled a scroll out of her jacket, swiped a finger through the blood on her side, and swiped it down the scroll.

"They're about to get even rarer!"

The storage scroll exploded in a fountain of water, and the woman threw the still-spurting scroll straight at Naruto. He was instantly soaked, and the kunoichi ran through handseals.

"Water Release: Pressure Damage Technique!" she shouted, and the water stuck to Naruto's clothes started to squeeze tight. Thinking fast, and really wishing he could use lightning techniques better, he channelled fire chakra to his extreme tenketsu and simply held it there, folding it back on itself. Folding fire chakra more than a few times could cook the body from the inside, but Naruto had the control to fold it back twice. The heat gathered in his skin bypassed his body, which was protected by virtue of his chakra control, and evaporated the water, letting it join the tear gas in the ceiling.

Naruto spared a look at Sakura and saw her in the corner of the room, clutching her collar, as the water technique constricted her clothing too. With a growl of rage, Naruto flooded the same tenketsu as before with water chakra.

"Steam Release: Broken Kettle Technique!"

The chakra burst out of his body and towards the kunoichi, gathering water at it went and turning the steam into a churning funnel of skin-searing gas. The stream hit her and broke her technique with a scream, letting Sakura slump to the ground. The other kunoichi had been less fortunate, the steam blistering her skin and causing serious burns. She moved to perform another technique, but she had breathed in the steam and simply fell to the floor, wheezing for breath. Naruto considered ending her life as a mercy, but let her lie for now, as a source of potential information. He started to check on Sakura, but was interrupted by a flare of chakra from the vault room that felt unmistakably like ice.

"Go, Naruto, I just need a minute," Sakura wheezed.

Naruto nodded and ran for the other room, praying for the best.

The man threw his hand forward and the sword followed, blasting an arc of lightning at the recovering Haku. An instinctive wall of ice erupted around her and grounded the attack, but the water running from her defences showed that the electricity was able to boil away her wall. As she was about to stand up to retaliate, the blade was plunged straight through the wall and started to carve it apart with absolute ease. Just as he was nearly finished cutting a hole-

CRASH

A wave of water struck the rain nin, washing him away from Haku and swamping the sword. Rather than electrocuting its wielder, however, the lightning blade merely retracted into the hilt, saving its owner from a shock.

"Rokushō Aoi," Naruto snarled. "A-rank Konoha missing-nin. What do you think you're doing here?"

"I see you've read the bingo book, boy. Well, then you should know that you're wasting your time here. You're getting involved with things far beyond you. Take your teammates and go and I might forget this assault."

"We're going nowhere," Naruto said. "You're a traitor and a murderer, and you're coming back with us to face justice."

"Cute, how you think you can do that and all," Aoi commented.

He then lashed out with the blade, lightning spreading from the hilt to Naruto's shoulder in less than a second. Naruto was able to twist out of the way, but he was still grazed by the sword, which cut and cauterised him nearly simultaneously.

Naruto fell into a roll and then flung the downed kunoichi's scroll at him, hoping to soak the man in water.

"Pathetic," he commented, slashing the scroll in half and leaving the contents sealed away. "Impressive, for a genin, perhaps, but a pathetic decision to engage me. No matter."

He plunged the sword into the ground, letting the lightning conduct itself across the sheen of water collected on the ground. Haku was protected by her wall and Aoi by his partnership with the sword, but Naruto was forced to jump into the air to avoid it. He shot out a wind bullet which impacted the floor and stopped the spread of the lightning. It had the added effect of redistributing some of the water, leaving him a dry patch to land on.

He drew a kunai, channelled wind chakra along its edges, and charged the missing-nin, relying on the elemental strength of wind against lightning.

Aoi laughed and clashed blades with Naruto, confident in his weapon's supremacy. Despite the elemental imbalance, Naruto's wind blade was unable to cut through Aoi's blade, and the sword cut through the wind covering and made contact with the kunai, whereby Naruto was jolted by the contact and dropped his blade.

"You see how stupid it is to do battle with the wielder of the Raijin no Ken? As its master I am all but invincible in a kenjutsu battle. You should just give up."

"Master, you say?" came an irritated voice from the hallway.

The blonde drunk from before in the gambling hall was stood in the doorway, arms folded.

"I really don't like people stealing my uncle's toys. I particularly don't like people beating round Konoha shinobi. Don't get me wrong, I have no love for the place, but I rely on the place for my war pension."

"T-Tsunade of the Sannin?" Aoi stuttered, backing away from the imposing woman.

"That's right. Now, give me the sword, kneel on the ground, and I'll consider not feeding it up your behind. Only consider it, mind you," she smirked.

Aoi, realising he was boned either way, made the last act of vengeance he could, activating the Raijin and throwing it at Naruto. Tsunade moved to intercept, but she was nearly on the opposite side of Aoi from Naruto, and it only took a few precious milliseconds for the sword to hit. It took Naruto just under the shoulder, burning straight through and making his blood boil and his muscles convulse from the electricity. The sword was inside him for only a second before Tsunade snatched the handle, deactivating it. Naruto fell to the floor, convulsing, as Tsunade raised the Raijin threateningly.

"Now you're going to get it. Using a Senju artefact on an Uzumaki? My uncle'd be rolling in his grave."

Rather than speak, Aoi simply extended a finger and pointed at the handle of the Raijin. Tsunade's eyes followed his finger's path to see some of Naruto's boiled blood - it had apparently splattered onto the sword's handle. Tsunade flexed her hand and could feel the telltale stickiness of blood between her and the handle.

"No..."

"Yes. Hanzo knew all about your hemophobia. He was a strong and kind man, and that's why I'm doing this for him."

He snatched the Raijin from Tsunade's unprotesting hands and activated it.

"Killing a Sannin... Something my master never got round to doing."

He brought the sword full swing in an executioner's arch, but as the lightning blade was about to meet Tsunade's neck, it fizzled out.

"Huh..?"

And that was when Naruto struck. With his blood he summoned the pack of nin-dogs, who bit down on any sensitive areas they could find, before Naruto directed triple-folded fire chakra to his hand. With a mighty heave, he stood up, ignoring his useless left arm, and plunged his right straight through Aoi's torso. It cleaved a clear path through his lung and out through the other side, boiling his blood and then cauterising the wound. Nearly exactly the same effect as the Raijin had on Naruto.

"Payback's a bitch," Naruto said, as Aoi's body slumped to the floor.

Losing interest in the dead traitor, he took note of Tsunade's insensate body to the side and took pity on her, washing the nearby blood away with a gentle water technique.

"Hey," Naruto shouted, slapping her across the face. "Get back in the room, all the blood's gone."

The legendary kunoichi slowly came to, eyes focusing on the gristly hole through Naruto's shoulder. She flinched, but the wound was cauterised and wasn't bleeding.

"Your arm! We need to operate straight away," she started.

"Don't worry, I have somebody on it," he said, as the Kyūbi's chakra started to flow through his body and heal him. The burnt flesh sloughed away as it was replaced by new, and Naruto's aching muscles repaired themselves.

"That's- then you really are him!"

"Huh?"

"Minato's son!"

"Wait, you mean, as in the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato's son? You're aware that I'm an orphan, right?"

Tsunade apparently realised her blunder and clammed up.

"Oh no no, I'm not letting this go. Not after what the toads said too. Did Jiraiya train the Fourth?"

Tsunade dumbly nodded.

"Why, those sons of- people knew, but they just let me rot as some anonymous orphan, hated by all the village? Some fucking testament to their hero."

"It was to protect you from Minato's enemies, make sure you weren't kidnapped by Iwa."

"And letting your hero's child get thrown out of the orphanage at age four is one of those measures meant to protect me? Sounds like a pretty crappy idea to me."

Naruto scooped up the Raijin and moved to walk towards Haku's ice wall.

"Wait, that's a Senju clan artefact, you can't just take it."

"And who would I give it to? You? You who cut ties with Konoha fifteen years ago and haven't visited since? I'm securing this weapon for my village, and if you want it back I guess you'd better take it up with the Third."

He activated the Raijin and sliced through Haku's ice wall, leaning through, lifting up the beaten kunoichi and body flickering to the corridor. Sakura was already standing, having overcome the lightheadedness associated with strangulation.

"Report," Naruto barked.

"Minor bruising, lost consciousness briefly. I'll be fine. Now let me see to her," Sakura said, accepting Haku's unconscious body and glancing at the vault room.

"Did I see Tsunade of the Sannin run past?" she asked.

"It doesn't matter," he said. "She isn't related to this mission."

Sakura wonder at what had put Naruto in such a bad mood as she healed Haku's broken ribs with shaking hands.

"Naruto, Sakura!"

A disheveled Kakashi burst into the room, closely followed by Team Ro.

"Two other casinos were hit with three-man jōnin teams," Cat reported. "What happened here?"

"A-rank Konoha missing-nin Rokusho Aoi and two jōnin-level Rain nin were here. Aoi was in possession of the Raijin no Ken, and was using it to melt through the vault door. We engaged and killed two of them, with the one over there left alive for questioning."

Naruto gestured at the scalded kunoichi lying feet away. Boar moved to stabilise her, realising that everyone else was being attended to. It was at that moment that Tsunade chose to appear.

"Team Ro, Kakashi, fancy this."

"Tsunade-sama," Cat breathed. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm after that sword the blond brat is hoarding," she said. "It's an artefact of my clan."

"It wasn't so important to you when it was being used to rob casinos just down the road from you, was it? But now you've seen it you want it, just like an entitled little brat!"

"Now now, Naruto," Kakashi said. "Stealing isn't nice."

"Neither is interrupting an A-rank mission and putting the life of Konoha shinobi in danger. Are you going to let that slide too?"

"What exactly do you mean?" Kakashi asked. "Because, yes, I would take that very seriously."

"Tsunade appeared out of the blue as I was engaging Aoi. I was making slow progress, but hadn't pulled everything out of my sleeve yet. He was toying with me, so I was playing on that so that I could quickly use one of my advanced techniques and end things. When he saw one of the Sannin he panicked and immediately went for the kill, piercing me straight through the shoulder with the Raijin." Naruto gestured to his still-healing injury. "Instead of trying to correct her mistake by defeating Aoi and healing me, Tsunade froze up and was about to be killed by the missing-nin. I was forced to fight through a debilitating injury to prevent her from being killed as well. Considering the fact that I killed the missing-nin in possession of the Raijin, I consider it Tsunade's fault that I was injured by the damn sword, and the Uzumaki being related to the Senju via. Uzumaki Mito, I decided to claim the sword for Konoha and let Hokage-sama decide what to do with it. This woman has no claim on Konoha's artefacts, considering her recent record for loyalty to the village."

Kakashi took in Naruto's rant calmly before turning to Tsunade.

"Is it true that you endangered my student's life, Tsunade-sama?"

Despite being an S-rank ninja, Tsunade started to sweat a little at the expression Kakashi was managing to convey with his one eye.

"My hemophobia is well-documented," she began. "I was attempting to help. It isn't my fault I was caught by surprise-"

"No. It is solely your fault you were taken by surprise," Kakashi interrupted. "Hanzo of the Salamander keeps extensive notes on all shinobi of interest, and it's ridiculous to believe that a Rain nin would not be aware of your weaknesses. You are free to do as you wish when the only person at risk is you, but throwing yourself into a situation you aren't competent in, and endangering Konoha personnel, is simply reckless. Possibly treasonous. Please remove yourself from the scene before you make any further mistakes. If you wish to take possession of the Raijin no Ken you will have to visit Konoha and take it up with Hokage-sama yourself."

Tsunade looked ready to argue, but merely shot Naruto a bitter look and slumped away. Cat gave her previous idol a look of disbelief, and Sakura and Haku looked ready to maul the woman after hearing Naruto's story.

After she was gone, Cat addressed the group.

"A very well done, Team 7. Our apologies that we only got here so late, but there were other Rain nin attacking, as well as interference teams to prevent us from getting here. Now, let us deal with the bodies and explain our mission completion to the client."

AN: Nothing to report. Time to respond to some more reviews.

Link0011: I couldn't up and abandon the toads. But this story isn't going to be kind to Jiraiya, so prepare yourself.

Fate's Pride: I think that was you saying that you'd rather just Naruto and Sakura entered the Chūnin Exams as a twosome, but I couldn't pin down whether it was that or them finding a third member for the exams which annoyed you. As this chapter hopefully shows, there's a potential candidate for a three-person team. While Naruto and Sakura could do fine in the exams as they are, the exams aren't so much about individual progression as getting as much exposure to potential clients. That's why I find it unlikely that the Hokage would authorise anything less than three people in a team, unless one member was so deficient that they'd cause other, promising, members to fail before the individual stages.

Dave: You commented on Chapter 1 but I'm assuming you're referring to Chapter 3. Yes, he very briefly touched Sage Mode, but wasn't ready for the nature energy. As you've seen, there's a filler mission here that I wanted so we could meet Tsunade, and there's another chapter before we reach the Chūnin Exams.