Chapter 8 A C-Rank Mission At Last
Life for newly fledged Genin is far more work than Academy students. No longer are they one of 30 students in a class
with an instructor who explains principles and techniques found in textbooks. Now they are one of three Genin led by
a Jonin who has vast experience, but little time for foolish questions. Each team has only a couple of days of orientation
before being assigned their first mission.
Those missions are menial tasks, not glorious, however they help squads bond and learn to work together as a team.
Led by their Jonin, a squad hones abilities which will be useful in more difficult missions. Tracking down a missing pet
uses the same skills as tracking someone who has intent to harm others. Carrying out basic errands trains a squad
to follow orders without questions. And so on for each lowly mission they complete they prove their dependable character.
Eventually low-level tasks get monotonous, good Shinobi know they have to push back and break the wall down to a new level.
Despite the show of consternation on a Jonin's face when his squad is receiving a mission from the Hokage and they protest for
a higher level mission, the Jonin acknowledges challenges must increase for his squad to improve. So it was in such a situation
Kakashi found himself, standing in the Hokage's office with his squad. To date they had performed 20 separate missions in the
D rank range. Some took mere hours while others were more laborious. The last mission had finally brought the frustration out
in all three members of his new squad.
That mission had involved retrieving the same lost pet for the third time in two months! This particular pet owner was the
wife of a wealthy merchant. It wasn't a normal pet like a dog or cat, it was a squirrel. Identifying the specific squirrel had
become an art form for Kakashi's team. The first time took nearly 3 days to find the squirrel. The squirrel had taken up
cohabitation with several other squirrels in a particularly tall oak tree several blocks from the owners home. It's only obvious
differentiation from other squirrels was a small notch in its left ear, hardly noticeable except to the keen eyes of Hinata Hyuga.
Her Byakugan had sped up the next mission the following time it escaped. And with the team work of Naruto and Sasuke the
retrieval had become easier too. The first time they attempted to catch the squirrel the other squirrels running around caused
great confusion and lost them time catching the wrong animal. However, on the second retrieval mission, Naruto used his
shadow clones to capture each squirrel after Sasuke knocked them out of the tree with accurate throws of blunt shuriken.
The last straw was this last retrieval mission. Their squad was requested personally due to their experience with the
squirrel's retrieval. It took only an hour to retrieve the squirrel, and most of that time was walking from the Hokage's office
to the oak tree and back. The squirrel was held securely in a cage carried by Hinata.
"Why doesn't she just let the poor animal go free!" Naruto remarked as the squad was returning to the Hokage's office.
"Really, this makes the third time, and the squirrel is just going back to the same tree over and over.
It must miss its family." Hinata said, looking at the very depressed animal in the cage.
"I really don't care... maybe next time I'll use real shuriken on the squirrels. " Sasuke said, just as frustrated.
"Sasuke! No... you can't!" Hinata said fervently. It was easy for Sasuke to shock Hinata with his words, even
though he wouldn't really have done such a thing, it was not difficult to affect her still.
"Now, now, Hinata, Sasuke's only kidding aren't you?" Kakashi remarked smiling, knowing Sasuke had no such
intent on harmless creatures.
"Hn.. sure." Sasuke said with a smirk.
"Oh you!" Hinata got a bit red in the face. She'd come a long way since the survival test. She wasn't nearly as shy
around her teammates, even Naruto. Hinata still would get a bit red when Naruto would talk, but she was more likely
to respond than swoon, a marked improvement indeed.
The whole team laughed as they entered the Administration building housing the Hokages office.
"Seriously Kakashi Sensai, it's time we had harder missions, we don't want to be known as the squirrel retrieval squad!"
It was Sasuke's turn to joke about how easily the mission could now be carried out.
"Well, we've got to take the missions the 4th Hokage gives us. That is the way this works, they assign us missions and we
complete them. When you are ready I'm sure we'll get some deadly mission to grab some missing nin!" That little blurb
earned serious stares from three very serious Genin.
"OK, OK, it was just a joke! You guys are getting too serious!" Kakashi realized his squad was right, they had done about
all they could at this level of ranked mission. To advance in confidence and ability they needed more of a challenge.
A short time later they surprised the Hokage; Kakashi and his team standing before him so quickly after an assigned mission.
"C'mon Dad... er.. I mean 4th Hokage... this is the third time we've captured that squirrel! It's no challenge! We need a real mission!
We need a real challenge! " A pleading Naruto said blurting out his feelings to his father as his team mates nodded along in agreement
despite the disregard for etiquette in front of the Hokage.
"Naruto! Don't be so disrespectful! The 4th Hokage will give us what missions he deems we are capable of handling. "
Kakashi sighed, though inwardly proud of his team for showing initiative.
"Kakashi, is this insubordination from my son your doing?" Minato replied with a bit of a smile on his face.
" Of all shinobi, I would have thought you could control him better." He said with a laugh.
"But then, Kushina an I have the same problem with him at home."
The 4th Hokage paused for a moment to look over the squad performance evaluation.
His mind flowed back to the first of these evaluations he'd read from Kakashi. That one had been a real eye opener!
His son had somehow learned the forbidden Shadow Clone Jutsu. Though it concerned him, when he broached the subject
with Naruto the boy had been straight forward about learning the jutsu to control the extra chakra he had available.
After a stern discussion between Naruto, Kushina and himself, Naruto agreed not to seek further forbidden jutsu
without their approval. The others on the squad appeared to be working well with Naruto, and still had no idea
he had the Demon Fox inside him. Their sudden reappearance in his office after receiving their mission less than
two hours before had also surprised him, it looked as though they were ready for something more than simple
D rank missions.
"So you three Genin think D rank missions are below you? You think you can handle something more serious?
I will be the judge of that!" He continued.
"Lets see what we have... escort of a gold shipment? No. Retrieve a scroll from the library of the Land of Rain...
I think not. Ah... how about this... escort a bridge builder home to the Land of Waves.
Yes... that sounds just interesting enough not to be so boring to three such EXPERIENCED "
Minato inflected on the word to such a degree each of the Genin turned red. "Genin."
"Bring in Tazuna, the bridge builder. " Minato motioned to his assistant Rin.
Rin, a Leaf Kunoichi, moved to a nearby door, her movements followed closely Kakashi and his reaction noted by Hinata.
Sliding it aside a man in his 50s appeared in the doorway. He wore rather simple garb and a broad straw hat common
to skilled workers in the Land of Waves. He seemed rather agitated and was finishing a bottle of what appeared to be Sake.
"Tazuna, I have a team to escort you back to the Land of Waves." The Hokage said to the man.
"What? These young whelps? You'd send me home guarded by them?" The somewhat slurred speech of the man not
hiding his disdain.
"If all you need is an escort to your land they should suffice. Bandits stand no chance against even young ninja, Tazuna. " Minato replied.
"And given the amount of money you have offered, this is all you can afford."
"Well if this is what I can get, they'll have to do." Tazuna said, with clear resignation.
"Kakashi Hatake, Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, Hinata Hyuga, you are hereby assigned this C rank mission.
You will escort Tazuna to the Land of Waves. His protection is your responsibility! " The 4th Hokage said officially.
Inwardly he was only slightly worried, but he had confidence in Kakashi. This would also be a good test of
Squad Seven's durability on a longer mission away from the Leaf Village.
"Alright! We've got a real mission! " Naruto enthusiastically proclaimed, pumping his fist.
"Calm down Naruto... OK, you three go and pack for a three-day trip and we will meet at the city gate in one hour.
Our departure time is 3 PM. " Kakashi told the three exuberant youth who disappeared a moment after he finished.
"Tazuna, we will meet you at the gate at 3 PM and escort you to the Land of Waves." Kakashi then disappeared
from the Hokage's office as fast as his charges.
Tazuna paid his money for the Leaf ninja service and departed to await his escort. Within an hour the group
of five assembled, ready to leave.
"Allright! Time to go to the Land of Waves!" Naruto said excitedly.
"Settle down Naruto. Since this is our first mission as a squad outside Konoha you three need to be on
guard as we travel between here and Tazuna's home. Inside the walls of the Hidden Leaf Village you can
walk with little worry about attacks by bandits or rogue ninja. But once we leave the village we must be vigilant.
We will use deployment pattern B for this mission. That means I will lead, Naruto you and Hinata flank Tazuna.
Hinata will scan forward with her Byakugan for any signs of danger. Sasuke will be the rear guard scanning to the right
and Naruto scanning to the left. Got it?"
"Yes Kakashi Sensai!" The three Genin responded simultaneously.
"OK then, let us go ahead to the Land of Waves." Kikashi raised his hand and motioned forward for the squad to move out.
The first hour set the pattern for the Genin. A set a steady pace covering about five miles per hour.
Since they had left late in the day the plan was to cover as much ground as possible and then make camp for the night.
There was little traffic on the road, only a few merchant caravans which they avoided with a quick detour into the woods
until they placed some distance between them and the caravan as a safety margin.
At 7 PM Kakashi called a halt for the night and the group made camp in a small clearing 500 yards off the road.
They set a watch so everyone could get at least 2 hours sleep. At 5AM the next morning they broke camp after
a small meal and continued toward the Land of Waves.
They stopped at a Tea House mid-morning for a break and refreshment. Other than the proprietor there were
no others which suited the group well. Kakashi noted the squad adjusted well to over the road travel.
A noontime stop at a dumpling house was not as private as Kakashi hoped. A rowdy group of men kept their attention
heightened but nothing occurred other than a few dirty looks from the men seeing the Leaf symbol on the headbages
the ninja wore. The group continued on their trip for a few more hours not noticing anything out of the ordinary.
As the shadows of the trees began their slow crawl to the East the nature of the mission changed. Kakashi,
his ever-sharp senses always on alert, noted the lack of wildlife and noises of nature. Further, a mist from no where
seemed to settle across the road. A nod to Hinata was all that was necessary to communicate a heightened state of alert
and watchfulness. But it was too late. In moments four shinobi sprang from the woods and flanked the Leaf ninja.
"Hand over Tazuna you Leaf scum!" One masked assailant demanded as he produced a kunai in a threatening manner
at Kakashi.
"I'm afraid you've made a mistake... Tazuna is under the protection of the Leaf Village.
You ninja of the Hidden Mist have no claim on him or his life." Kakashi answered the mans challenge.
"Ha... You have no idea who he is do you? I suppose he told you he was a master bridge builder and needed
to get home to complete his project? You gullible Leaf ninja! He stole the plans for the bridge from Mr Gato who financed the project.
We are contracted to bring Tazuna and those plans back to Mr. Gato. NOW HAND HIM OVER!"
Authors Note:
Up to this point I've held loosely with what has occurred as canon in Naruto. Look for more variations and changes as this storyline diverges. Certain events are going to remain fixed, while others will change entirely. Stay tuned for the fun!
