CHAPTER 7: NEW SWORDS, NEW MISSIONS

Konoha Weapons Shop

The Konoha Weapons Shop had all kinds of weaponry from kunai to shuriken to tantos to scythes to multiple kinds of swords, spears, axes and maces. The wide selection has amazed Naruto every time he came in.

"Good morning, Naruto," a dark-haired girl with buns greeted with a grin from behind the counter.

"Hey, Ten Ten," Naruto replied. He stepped up to the counter and set his katana down on its side in front of Ten Ten. Ten Ten's eye went wide upon seeing the overall design of the sword.

"Where did you find this?" Ten Ten finally asked after getting over her dumbfounded state.

"I was returning from a solo mission a couple days ago and I ran into a couple of bandits or possibly missing nins," Naruto explained, "There were two of them, a man and a woman. The woman was carrying the katana you see now. I made them run off but I didn't pursue since I now had a freed hostage to look after." Ten Ten nodded in acknowledgement before looking back down at the sword in question.

"The hand guard is shaped like the head of an animal," she observed, "More likely a fox. As for the red jewels, they could be decoration but at the same time, they have some kind of ability that I can't be too certain about." Naruto tried his best not to make a face upon hearing the hand guard looking like a fox's head but failed. Ten Ten noticed this.

"Is something wrong, Naruto?" she asked with sincere concern.

"Oh, it's nothing, Ten Ten," Naruto defended rather quickly, "Really."

"Naruto," Ten Ten moved around the counter to where Naruto stood and placed gentle hands on his shoulders, "I know you contain the Kyuubi; my parents told me when I was younger." She felt her short, blond friend tense up in her gentle grip but she continued.

"I didn't exactly know you but I felt bad whenever the villagers showed you nothing but cruelty over something you never chose to have," Naruto seemed to relax a little, but not a whole lot, "You have gone through so much in your last 14 years. You're a good ninja and a good person." The whiskered Genin showed a grateful smile before thanking Ten Ten and leaving the shop with his katana in tow.

Training Ground 7

Naruto arrived at his team's training ground to find that he's the first one there. He decided to pass the time by trying out his katana for the first time. He unsheathed the blade and did some practice swings before sheathing it again. He took a seat on the grass and unrolled a scroll he checked out from the Shinobi Library before arriving at the training ground. Within the scroll was information on a sword style called 'Fox's Deception'. Within minutes, he had the basics down and was starting to go over the not-as-complex techniques.

Several feet away, Sakura had just arrived and was watching her teammate practice from the rock she sat on the other day. She saw him move from one motion to another with a fluidity that really impressed her. But admiration turned to shock as she saw the last routine end with tornado-level gust erupting from the katana and shredding several trees nearby.

"Holy shit!" Sakura flicked her eyes back and forth between Naruto and the decimated forestation. She didn't even realize that she just voiced out loud what her mind was saying at the moment.

Naruto turned around upon hearing what his pink-haired friend just said, not even aware until then that she had arrived. While she was shocked at the damage from the recent sword routine's aftermath, he was actually in shock from hearing her curse like that.

Shaking off the sensation, Naruto sheathed his katana before walking up to join Sakura.

"I don't suppose you kiss your mother with that mouth?" the prankster asked with a playful smirk. Sakura had to take a moment to process what Naruto just said but he then added, "I guess you don't even know you just swore."

"I did?" Sakura asked innocently, finally over the shock, "I was just so shocked that-." Her following silence let Naruto fill in the blanks.

"What did I say?" she asked curiously. Naruto leaned forward and whispered into her ear. The look on Sakura's face told the story.

A few minutes went by and Kakashi eventually showed up, not having his nose in his adult novel for a change.

"I'm afraid that you'll be on your own for the next couple days," Kakashi informed his two remaining students, "I was just at the Hokage's office and was assigned a solo mission. If you can convince someone to substitute while I'm gone, that's just fine. Anyway, I need to leave in about an hour so I'll see you when I get back. Take care, you two." The one-eyed Jonin was gone in a swirl of leaves.

"Do you think Baa-chan will give us a mission?" Naruto asked the pinkette.

"I don't think it's likely," Sakura said quite frankly, "But it's worth a shot." The two Genin headed for the Hokage Tower.

Hokage's Office

Shizune closed the door to Tsunade's office behind her, a stack of papers in her hands. She took a step toward her receptionist's desk but stopped when she spotted Naruto and Sakura headed her direction.

"Naruto, Sakura, what are you doing here?" Shizune asked from her spot in front of the door.

"Good morning, Shizune-sama," Sakura replied politely, "We were wondering if Tsunade-sama had any missions available." Shizune looked rather reluctant at first. She pondered for a moment or two before speaking, "I believe she's kind of busy right now, but I guess she can afford one quick meeting with you guys." She sidestepped to allow the Genin to access the door. Sakura walked up and knocked. A monotonous "It's open" came through and she entered the office with Naruto coming up behind her.

"Morning, you two," Tsunade greeted, looking up from her paperwork, "I'm kind of busy with paperwork so you'll have to make this quick if you don't mind."

"Well," Naruto started, "We were wanting to know if you have any missions for us."

"Figures," Tsunade smirked, "With Kakashi on a mission, you guys need to keep occupied." She shifted through a stack of papers and said, "All I've got are D-Rank missions right now. Wait!" Her hand stopped at one particular paper and she pulled it out from the stack for a better look.

"Here's one for you two," she explained, "It's C-Ranked but it's the best I've got right now. A nobleman's daughter needs an escort from Konoha to a private estate in Tea Country where she is to attend a formal gathering with other nobles from other countries. Her father is already over there, helping with preparations so she just needs to make it there. You are to meet her at the inn down the street at around 3 pm."

"Wait, if this is a noble, then why isn't the rank higher?" Sakura asked.

"Well, this noble family doesn't have any known enemies," the busty Sannin answered, "And no threats were ever made against them."

"Sounds like it's gonna be so easy, it'll be boring," Naruto blurted. This got a "Shut up, brat" from a now annoyed Tsunade.