Hey guys, what's up. I'm back, and so sorry about updating, I have been really busy. Anyway, I think I need to say thank you to Novrier for giving me some tips and stuff. huge thanks since he is actually telling me things that I should improve upon. So yeah. Huge thanks, and I will get this chapter going right... now.
A month had passed since Team 7 had passed their true test. They had been a true team for over a month, and all was going well. They had done quite a bit of work on somethings, mostly teamwork and strategies, but there was also a lot of taijutsu training, and a week dedicated to ninjutsu. The team had progressed by leaps and bounds, and not just the genin. Kakashi and Itachi had to constantly stay on their toes and train when they had the chance to ensure that the team could progress rather than be hindered by incompetent teachers.
The training regimen for the team was hard, and everyone participated, including the senseis. The start was some simple stretches and running, then they ran fifteen miles at top speed for cardio. After that it was water and snack, then it was agility training, which consisted of clones throwing kunai, shuriken, and a few fuma shuriken at all participants. Occasionally Tsunade would help out. She would use her super strength and throw little medicine balls at them as hard as she could. it also helped with pain tolerance. The Sanin helped out with every team a little bit once a week unless duty called, or it was requested for extra training.
After the agility, it was endurance and speed. They would have to use all of their jutsu consecutively and move constantly at the same time until they dropped. After that it was a break. Since everyone would have used all their chakra, it was purely taijutsu training next. After that, it was a quick rest and then the stealth and tactics portion. They played a multitude of games around all of Konoha. Hide and Seek was a constant. It had to combine both stealth and tactics as well as speed and endurance in some cases. Another thing was for them to sneak into a building filled with traps set up by one of the Sanin or another sensei. Sometimes it was the hokage even. And finally, the last part of that was chakra control since they would have been gaining chakra as they continued. With a smaller amount of chakra, it was easier to master the techniques. After that, they had lunch. Did I mention that it started at five a.m. and ended near two p.m.?
The rest of the day was missions or training if there were no missions. Currently, team seven was in the Hokage's office to get a mission.
"Alright let's see. Hmm. Team 7. Kakashi, Itachi, ae they ready for a C-rank mission?" the Hokage asked.
"We believe so Hokage-sama. They have shown extreme proficiency in every subject," was the response from both jonin.
"Alright then. Tazuna, you may come in. I have your new escorts," the hokage said, "They will be taking you to Wave country. They will continue to protect you until your bridge is built."
A man stepped in with a red tint to his cheeks. He reeked of alcohol and wore a disapproving look.
"No offense Hokage-sama, but these are kids! How are they supposed to protect me? the blond one looks pretty stupid to me," Tazuna complained.
"Tazuna, they are not just kids, I have also assigned both Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Itachi to protect you. they are both S-rank ninjas, so they will be more than enough to handle threats. It would take a kage-level ninja or several S-rank Ninjas to take these two," Hiruzen countered, "Now be at the gates in two hours, go pack."
Two hours later, Team 7, and Tazuna were at the front gates. They walked out of the gates and set off on their journey. It took a few hours for Tazuna to talk to anyone.
"Hey you, blond brat," Tazuna said pointing to Naruto, "Why are you on this team? You don't seem that strong, and everyone else here has either a council member for family or belongs to an esteemed clan. What about you?"
"First of all, my name is Naruto. And two, do you even know my last name?" Naruto aske irately.
"No, but why does it matter, you aren't from any clan in Konoha. So, who are you?" Tazuna asked. (Guys I know Tazuna didn't treat Naruto exactly like this, but I'm making him seem like his actually drunk. Given how much he drinks, it shouldn't be too much of a stretch.)
"Well first of all, how about I tell you my mother's name, Uzumaki Kushina ring a bell to you?"
"W-wait, she I-is y-your mother?"
"Hell yeah she is, and you know what that means?" Naruto smirked.
"She was t-the l-last descendent of the r-royal family. Which w-would make y-you the heir to Uzushiogakure. And since you are the last d-descendent, you would be t-the Uzukage, w-wouldn't you?" Tazuna asked fearfully.
"Damn right it would, but you know I don't really care. Anyway, I'm not some clan-less loser like most would think. And guess what else that means, I inherited every single scroll and technique owned or created by Uzu. And we know how powerful they are, especially in terms of sealing. So, I'm most certainly not the weakest."
"In fact, I might add that he is the strongest of all of us here," Kakashi said.
Tazuna nearly fainted on the spot and quickly apologized to everyone and they went one their way. About another hour in, Naruto, Sasuke, Itachi, and Kakashi saw a puddle. They didn't say anything but it hadn't rained in weeks, and it was extremely dry. Which would mean it was a ninja or several ninjas. As the group walked by, two figures sprang from the puddle silently. Kakashi turned around and immediately threw a kunai, nailing the chain they had into a tree. They tried to pull it out, but to no avail. Around twenty more ninja sprang from the trees and attacked to cover the demon brothers of the mist. Sasuke dealt with half of them with a well-placed fireball. Hinata and Naruto mopped up the rest while Itachi and Sakura dealt with the ones that tried to deal with Tazuna.
Naruto joined Kakashi in beating the Demon brothers. As they were nailed to a tree, they had no choice but to take off their gauntlets or they risked their heads being cut off by two well timed blades. Itachi and Sasuke appeared right behind them and slammed their elbows into the bases of their necks. They were knocked unconscious and Kakashi and Itachi took both of them into the forest. After a minute, screams permeated though the air. Fifteen minutes later, they both came back and talked to Tazuna.
"Alright Team 7, this mission has been bumped up to an A-rank mission. That means that it will be a lot more dangerous. Doesn't matter though, we will continue this mission. Doesn't really matter to any of us. But be warned, this will be difficult for you. We will be running into at least one A-rank missing-nin."
With that they continued on and kept a keen eye for anything out of the ordinary. They were almost at wave when Naruto heard a whiling noise. He looked up and saw a giant sword flying strait at Tazuna. Naruto sprinted forward and pushed Tazuna out of the way. Sasuke was suddenly next to him grabbing the handle of the blade and looking at Naruto. Naruto immediately understood and ducked as fast as possible. Sasuke swung the giant blade over Naruto's head sending it right back to where it came from. It easily sliced through branches and tree trunks. A minute or two later, a dense fog rolled in slowly. It was too thick to see through, they couldn't even see their hands in front of their faces. Naruto felt a swish next to him and saw a brief glint of a sword. A clone popped out of nowhere and pulled Naruto out of the way. The was a slight grunt and suddenly it was gone. Naruto expelled a large gust of wind and dispelled the fog, showing the missing ninja headed right to Tazuna. Before anyone could react, Tazuna was sliced in half. As soon as the halves hit the ground, they poofed into smoke. Next to Naruto was Tazuna, who looked at where the clone had been sliced in half. Gone was the clone of Naruto that pulled him out of the way.
"Zabuza Momochi, wielder of the legendary Kubikiribocho. A-rank Nukenin of Kirigakure. Master of the silent kill. Well, I'll offer you a deal. I heard that Gato plans on betraying you after you kill Tazuna. We'll let you go, but only if you don't kill Tazuna. We can wait until Gato tells you to kill Tazuna. For now though, pretend you got stuck by that Hunter nin up in the tree. He is with you right?" Kakashi offered.
"Fine, but if he doesn't, we will still fight, correct?"" Zabuza asked.
"Yes. And for right now, just say you lost. If we are wrong, you will be able to keep you reputation and not have to worry about us," Itachi said.
"Deal. Well, um… See ya later I guess," Zabuza said as he walked away.
"Now that this is done, Tazuna, where will everyone stay?" Kakashi asked.
"You can stay at my house."
"Well then, let's go!" Naruto shouted.