Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
Chapter 7
Morning in Konohagakure
Team 7 was currently on a mission to capture the Fire daimyo's wife's cat, for the umpteenth time in the three weeks that they had been an official genin squad. And they were starting to grow very annoyed and weary, chasing that cat all the time. It wasn't that the payment was bad, on the contrary the daimyo's wife payed a huge sum just to retrieve the feline. But it was the time it took too track down the cat and trying to catch it since he was as slippery as a fish.
And they had just about enough.
"Mission complete we've capture the Tora, again." Kakashi mumbled as he held the cat by his neck and at the same time Sasuke tried holding a furious Naruto back.
Said blond was pretty pissed of at the moment for one reason only. Every time they were told to capture the 'demon cat' as he had dubbed the feline, he was scratched multiple times. And if it wasn't for the thorough healing Kurama provided, he would surely have been left with lots of scars as a reminder. "Let me at him Sasuke!" He yelled in rage. In his hand he held a curved blade made of ice and he was trying to attack the cat but Sasuke was successfully holding him back by his collar.
"Naruto! Leave the cat alone. If you kill it we won't get paid and the Fire daimyo would be pretty mad at you for murdering his wife's cat." Sasuke scolded the blond and gripped his collar tightly.
"I don't care, you're not the one who get's scratched ever time." The blond yelled back still struggling to get free. He tried swinging his blade wildly at the cat was that being held out of his reach by Kakashi. "And now I'm going to return the favour."
Kakashi shook his head in disappointment. 'I have to do something about that temper of his.' He then said. "Okay guys, let's not waste anymore time." He placed the cat in small cage and handed it to Hinata. "Let's head back and return this kitty." He started walking between Hinata and Naruto to prevent the angry blond from lashing out against the cat. Sasuke walked next to the blond who was cursing the feline under his breath.
xxxx
The Hokage's office
The team was now watching how the cat was being hugged to death by the Fire daimyo's wife all the while cooing how she missed him. Tora desperately tried everything to escape the woman's grasp but failed miserably.
'Now I see why runs away.' Sasuke thought with a sweatdrop.
'That poor cat.' Hinata thought feeling sorry for the cat.
'Haha, this is way better than what I was planning, suffer evil kitty' Naruto said chuckling evilly and sported a mischievous grin on his features.
'They rolled around together on her bed stroking each other's...' Uhm yeah that was what Kakashi was reading. He was completely oblivious to what happened around him.
The fire daimyo's wife then gave Iruka the payment for the mission and left with her wildly flailing pet.
As the door closed the Hokage coughed and they turned to face him.
"Congratulations on successfully completing another mission." He said with a smile.
He got a nod in reply from Sasuke, Hinata mumbled a soft 'Hai' while Naruto grumbled something inaudible under his breath.
Sarutobi then took one of the many scrolls on his desk and started reading. "Well for your next mission you guys will have too, walk the Inuzaka clan's dogs, clean the river running through the forest south of here, babysit the-" He was rudely interrupted by Naruto.
"NO WAY!" The blond exclaimed frustrated while shaking his head. "We've been doing these chores for three weeks already. When are we going to do a real mission?" He asked annoyed.
His teammates didn't respond but they were inwardly agreeing with him. They too were exhausted of doing people's chores.
"Naruto you guys are still genin and as genins you have too start with these simple missions." Iruka scolded the jinchuuriki.
Naruto bit his lip and huffed.
Sarutobi was already expecting this to happen and had there for already prepared the speech he would give the blond. Removing the pipe he was smoking he finally spoke. "Iruka is right Naruto-kun." Naruto pouted. "As a shinobi you have to start with the easy missions first before going onto the harder ones." With his eyes closed he entered his lecture mode and started explaining the basic way how missions were given. That was until...
"...and if I can combine it with my lightning affinity it will be one awesome cool weapon." He heard Naruto speak.
Opening his eyes he saw Naruto holding a mallet made of ice and was explaining something to his teammates and sensei.
"Hmm your right but I will also be extremely deadly." Kakashi mused stroking his face mask.
"Are you even listening to me?!" Sarutobi 'exploded'.
"Hn," Naruto scoffed. "We were, but it got boring a few seconds after you started."
Hiruzen fell back into his chair and facepalmed. 'What am I going to do with you Naruto.' He thought exhausted.
"Come on ojii-san don't you have a simple mission for use, one that doesn't imply us doing chores." Naruto begged.
The kage's eyes momentarily shifted to Kakashi who gave him a small nod. The then Sandaime sighed in defeat and started to search through the pile of mission scrolls on his desk. "Here it is." He mumbled. "Okay, I can give you a C-rank escort missions."
Naruto perked up at that. "Cool, so who are we escorting, a princess, a daimyo..." He started to rant on.
"Bring him in." The Hokage ordered the chunin at the door. Said shinobi left and returned with a old man who was clearly drunk.
"Wait a minute, these little gaki's are supposed too protect me." He slurred. "They look really weak as specially that blond one, I wonder if he can even use that mallet he's holding."
A giant tick mark formed on Naruto's head and he made to lung at the man but Kakashi held him back by the collar of his shirt.
"Why don't I test it on your head old man." He yelled angrily swing the mallet wildly.
The old man took a swig of the sake jar in his hand and grumbled. "Annoying brat."
"Team 7, this is Tazuna a bridge builder, your are to escort him back to his home in the Wave country and protect him while he finishes the bridge that will connect the Wave with the main land." Sarutobi told them.
"Naruto you can't attack our clients even if they say bad things to you." Kakashi meanwhile lectured the blond. "If you do so people won't be sending Konoha mission requests anymore."
"Sorry sensei." Hanging his head low Naruto apologised.
Kakashi smiled behind his mask, 'He's learning.' He thought.
"Okay team, pack enough supplies for two weeks." Kakashi told them. "And we meet at the west gate in one hour."
The genin complied and all left towards their homes.
xxxx
Naruto was already finished packing his stuff and he was currently staring at a wooden box in his hands. It was the same box he had gotten from the Hokage when he had turned 7. It contained one scroll that he had yet to open, two pictures of his mother and green goggles he received for his birthday.
He had decided to take the box with him, prevent it from getting stolen by others while he was away for the time being.
After stuffing the box with his precious items inside his bag, he exited out his door. Descending the stairs of his apartment building quickly he arrived on the streets below where Sasuke was already waiting for him.
Together then they made their way towards the Hyuuga compound were they picked up Hinata. The trio then finally headed towards the gate where they waited for Kakashi and the client to arrive.
Naruto was grinning the entire time the were there and Sasuke could help but ask. "Why are you so happy?"
The jinchuuriki didn't stop grinning as he answered. "This is my first time leaving the village and I'm really excited. Aren't you?."
Sasuke nodded. "Kind of yeah, this is better then crappy D-rank missions."
"What about you Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked still with a bright grin.
The Hyuuga answered. "Yes, I am." She nodded with a faint blush
The two adults finally arrived after 15 minutes. "Yo." Kakashi greeted.
Tazuna gave an annoyed grunt as a greeting.
'How rude.' The genin thought.
"So are you guys ready for your mission out of the village?" The jonin asked.
"Hai sensei." Hinata answered.
Sasuke nodded.
"You bet, I am." Naruto exclaimed loudly.
"Then let's go." Their leader said and started walking with Tazuna, his genin squad following promptly behind him.
They were on the road to the wave for several hours now and up until then nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
Naruto at one point started asking Kakashi and Tazuna questions about shinobis in other countries. The silver haired nin was happy to answer then while the others listened as well.
That was until Kakashi noticed a small pool of water in the distance, his eyes narrowed at the suspicious puddle.
"Everyone be on guard." He then said. "People can attack from everywhere, like the sky, from behind a bush and even the ground." He hinted.
The trio then noticed the upcoming puddle and knew what Kakashi was implying.
While they were walking their formation slowly changed with Hinata and Sasuke walking on either side of Tazuna and Naruto behind the bridge builder. Kakashi started walking behind the group as they passed the puddle.
As they passed the puddle moments later two cloaked figures rose out of said puddle. Both had on breathing mask and their headbands had the insignia of Kirigakure no Sato engraved on it. They both wore a metal gauntlet on each one of their hands that were connected by a chain.
They both rapidly dashed towards the closest person, that being Kakashi and wrapped him with their chain before pulling it tightly shredding the jonin to pieces.
"One down." The both Kiri shinobis whispered.
"Kakashi-sensei." The genins cried as they saw their sensei being cut.
In seconds the two attackers were now behind Naruto. "Your next." The whispered their chain fell around the blond. Only this time when they pulled on the chains the blond exploded with a pop of smoke.
The two momentarily halted in their path when it happened. "A clone." They said in shocked.
"You don't say." Naruto said sarcastically appearing at the side of one of Kiri shinobis sporting an ice mace that he smashed into the face of the shinobi. Said ninja was knocked unconscious.
"That's one down." Naruto said as he raised the mace.
The other Kiri nin momentarily halted when he saw that his partner down. A mistake on his part as Sasuke took that opportunity to deliver a hard spinning kick to the Kiri shinobi's head and he was sent spiralling in to one the nearby trees and was instantly rendered unconscious.
"Good work team." Kakashi said appearing through shushin. "You handled yourself well against two C-rank missing nins." He praised.
Both boys grinned.
Kakashi turned to Hinata who had taken a defensive stance and Tazuna who was shaking in his spot. "Good job defending Tazuna, Hinata." He said looking at several senbons that were embedded in ground around them.
After they tied the to attackers up Naruto decided ask. "Sensei, what's the deal with them attacking us out of the blue?"
"Hn, because someone here is targeted." Kakashi's eyes moved to Tazuna. "Why are you being targeted Tazuna-san?" He asked with an unhappy tone.
The bridge builder frightened, hesitated for a moment before began explaining how his home country was taken over by a tycoon named Gato a year ago. And how his dictatorship brought down the economy of their country and everyone there lived poor. As a result of that they didn't have enough money for a higher mission. The completion of the bridge would break Gato's control and that was why he was now being hunted.
Kakashi seemed to be deep in thought while his team faces showed different expressions, sadness because of what happened to the Wave country and anger at Gato.
"I say we help him sensei." Naruto spoke up.
"I agree with Naruto," Sasuke spoke next. "We have to stop Gato."
Hinata hesitantly nodded in agreement with both her friends. She wasn't sure if they were ready for this now higher ranked mission, but on the other hand she also wanted to help the people.
Tazuna stared nervously at Kakashi knowing it was his decision whether they decided to continue or returned to the village and leave him to his own faith.
"It seems my team has come to an agreement and we'll continue this mission." Kakashi said finally eyeing his team who now looked determined. "But we are going to need back up." He pulled out a scroll and wrote something inside before rolling it back up and proceeded to. bite his thumb before going through a fast series of handseals and finally slammed his palm on the ground. A puff of smoke later and a small brown dog was staring up at the jonin.
"What can I do for you for you Kakashi?" He suddenly spoke to the surprise of every around him except Naruto.
"Pakkun I need you to head back to the village and give this to Hokage-sama." Kakashi said to his summon handing him the scroll. Pakkun took it in his mouth and with a nod left in a puff of smoke.
Kakashi turned back to his team and Tazuna and spoke. "Now that that's taken care, let's continue." And they continued their journey to the land of Waves.
A/N: Finally I'm able to update again after almost 4 or 5 months I think...
I had to devote all my attention to my schoolwork since I didn't want to fail my exams. But even when I was done with them I couldn't bring myself to write fanfiction.
(Writer's block if you wondering)
But I got my inspiration again and enough free time, (until July comes around) and will try to update as much as I can...
And if some of you are wondering, "No more secrets" is currently going through so many rewrites that I don't even know when I'll get it up, but I'll try to do my best to finish it. Sorry, it's just that I wasn't satisfied with how the first two chapter 8's turned out that I deleted them and know have to start again.
"A new world" is going to be rewritten completely, I won't reveal anything just yet though.
And "Family Bonds" will be put on hold for the time being
Anyway thanks all of you who have read my stories so far and the ones who reviewed, fav-ed my stories.
Tell me what you think about this chapter with a review
Bye b(^^)d