A Mission More Dangerous Than Expected
Weeks passed sine Squad Seven passed the Bell Test, and they started their ninja careers. As Ninjas they were given missions, but due to the fact they just graduated, they started with simple D-Rank missions, which were assisting the villagers with chores, doing simple deeds around the village, and at times helping the Feudal Era and/or his wife with simple and yet somehow urgent help of catching a run away pet cat that Naruto Hinata and Sasuke had been assigned to today.
Naruto Sasuke and Hinata were in the woods using the communication device to communicate with each other as Hinata pinpoint the cat's location with her Byakugan as they closed in on an orange cat with a ribbon on it.
"Sasuke: I'm at point B."
"Hinata: I'm at point C."
"Naruto: I'm at point A."
The cat ran off at that moment
"The target has moved!" Kakashi said. "Follow it!"
Naruto Hinata and Sasuke chased after the cat.
When the cat final stopped, the trio hid behind a set of trees.
"We're five meters from the target." Hinata said.
"Give me the signal! I'm ready!" Naruto responded.
"I'm ready too," Sasuke responded.
"Okay—" said Kakashi. "Now!"
Naruto Sasuke and Hinata jumped after the cat, but Naruto manage to catch it first.
"I got it!" Naruto said. "I got it!"
Just then the cat started scratching Naruto's face off as it tried to break free from his grip.
"Can you verified the ribbon on the right ear?" Kakashi asked.
"Affirmative, we got a positive ID," Sasuke reported.
"Right! Lost cat: Tora captured. Mission accomplished!"
"Can't we have a better mission than this? I hate cats!" Naruto yelled.
…
Back at the Hokage's office, the Feudal Lord's wife—who was a chubby woman wearing rich purple robes—was hugging her cat Tora to death after they returned him.
"Stupid cat! He deserves being squashed," Naruto laughed.
Sasuke said nothing in response and Hinata sympathize with the poor animal as they watch.
"Now then, for squad seven's next mission, we have multiple task," said Sarutobi, "Among them: babysitting the chief councilor's three year old, helping his wife with the shopping, picking potatoes—"
"NO!" Naruto shouted. "I want to go on a real mission. Something challenging and exciting! Not this kind of stuff!"
"He has a point," Sasuke thought.
"Naruto," Hinata thought.
"I knew this was coming," Kakashi thought.
Iruka—who was there to help with handing out missions since it was summer vacation—got frustrated with Naruto's response.
"How dare you?! You're just brand new Genin with no experience!" Iruka shouted. "Like everyone else you start with simple missions to developed your skills and improve yourselves!"
"Are you serious?" Naruto asked. "Babysitting isn't a mission! It's just a stupid—"
Kakashi hit Naruto on the head before he could finished. "Would you put a lid on it?"
"Ow!" Naruto complained.
"Naruto, it seems you don't understand the task you were given," Sarutobi said. "Many request come to our village everyday. From babysitting to assassination. These request are recorded and ranked S, A, B, C, and D, just as a ninja is ranked here: Hokage, ANBU, Jonin, Chuunin, and Genin. The ranks of the missions are divided amongst the ranks of a ninja. If the mission is successful, we're given pay for our village and for the mission. Since you are brand new Genin, you start off with D-Rank missions, and when your skills are developed enough, even as a Genin, you can be given a C-rank mission."
Sadly Naruto had lost interest half way through and started talking to his teammates about Ramen.
"Silence!" Sarutobi ordered.
"Oh, sorry," Kakashi apologized as he had lost interest too.
"I'm sick and tired about these lame missions," Naruto said. "I'm not the same child who use to prank everyone anymore! I want a real mission right now!"
I'm going to hear about this later," Kakashi thought as he rubbed his head.
Sarutobi and Iruka were speechless at first at Naruto's response. But when the shock fade away, instead of being angry, they smiled and chuckled.
"So, Naruto wants to prove that he's no longer the prankster he used to be," said Sarutobi. "So be it."
"Huh?"
"Since you are so determined, I'll give you a C-Rank mission," Sarutobi explained. "Nothing too hard—just a simple body guard mission."
"Yes!" Naruto cheered. "Who are we guarding? Who?"
"Don't be so impatient, Naruto. I'll bring him in now," said Sarutobi. "Bring in our guest!"
The sliding doors opened and an old man wearing worn old clothes, a hat over his gray hair, and a Sake in his hand. He was flushed which obviously meant he was drunk.
"What the—it's just a bunch of kids!" the man complained as he took a drink of his Sake. "And you—the short one with the idiotic look on your face—am I supposed to really believe you are a ninja?"
Naruto looked around, trying to figure out who the man was talking about, only too realized he was talking to him.
"You'll pay for that!" Naruto yelled as he tried to charge at the man only to be stopped by Kakashi.
"You can't hit the client, Naruto," Kakashi said.
The old man decided to disregard Naruto's threat and introduce himself. "I am Tazuna—a master bridge builder—and must return to my country and finish the bridge I'm building that can change the world," he said. "And I expect you four to get me there safely, even if that means costing your lives."
…
After packing up; Naruto, Hinata, Sasuke, Kakashi, and Tazuna met up at the main gates of the Leaf Village, ready to leave.
"Alright!" Naruto cheered. "This is my first time outside the Leaf Village. I am so excited!"
"Hey? Am I suppose to believe that this runt is supposed to protect me?" Tazuna asked. "He's a joke."
"He's with me, and I am a Jonin, so you don't have to worry," Kakashi explained.
Naruto was ticked off being called a joke by Tazuna.
"Hey! If I were you, I wouldn't make fun of me!" Naruto shouted. "I'm Naruto Namikaze—the only son of the Fourth Hokage: Minato Namikaze! And I planned to succeed him and become the greatest Hokage!"
"I have a hard time believing a runt like you would be a son of a Hokage, much less the greatest Hokage," Tazuna said. "You're nothing but a joke!"
"I'll show you!" Naruto tried to charge at Tazuna only to be stopped by Kakashi again.
"Naruto, we're supposed to protect the client, not attack him," Kakashi said. "You're not honoring your father's memory by attacking someone you're supposed to protect."
Unaware of them, two ninjas each wearing a breather's mask, sharp claw like gloves, and a headband with four small squiggle lines aligned in a square was watching them.
…
Naruto, Hinata, Sasuke, Kakashi, and Tazuna walked through the grassy lands to the ocean that separates the Land of Fire from a series of islands that makes up the country: the Land of Waves—which is where Tazuna was from and where he was building his bridge.
"So why did you come to the Leaf Village to hire us anyways?" Naruto asked. "Doesn't the Land of Waves have ninjas of their own to help you?"
"No, Naruto. There are no ninjas in the Land of Waves," Kakashi replied.
"What? Why?"
"Well to have a hidden ninja village would mean they have military strength to protect them. There are many nations with their own unique hidden village, but only five has earned the right to call themselves a great nation—the Five Great Nations. And to prove it, each of those five villages have their own Kage—which means shadow. There's the Hokage of the Leaf Village of the Land of Fire, the Mizukage of the Mist Village of the Land of Water, Raikage of the Cloud Village of the Land of Lightning, Tsuchikage of the Stone Village of the Land of Earth, and Kazekage of the Sand Village of the Land of Wind."
I can believe dad being great, but old man Hokage? Seriously? Naruto thought.
"Naruto, I hope you weren't thinking anything bad about the Third Hokage," Kakashi warned.
"Uh, no sir!" Naruto responded. "So why is it the Land of Waves don't have any ninja village then?"
"Well, for a small nation tend to have their own form of self protection. The Land of Waves—for example—is normally protected by the sea. But that doesn't mean they don't need help from a neighboring ninja village nation from time to time," Kakashi said. "But I wouldn't worry about any possible ninja attacks. This is a C-Rank body guard mission, which means the only threat we have to worry about are bandits and thieves."
"I'll take fighting against bandits and thieves over doing some stupid chores any day," Naruto responded.
Tazuna looked down as if he was trying to hide a secret, which Kakashi noticed.
As they continued toward the Land of Waves, they passed a single puddle next to the path.
As they passed it and the puddle was out their view, the two masked ninjas formed out of the puddle with chains attached to one ninja claws to the other ninja's claws and jumped to attack.
They moved quickly and manage to wrap their chains around Kakashi—restraining him.
"Now!" one of them said as they pulled until they ripped Kakashi into pieces.
"Kakashi sensei!" Naruto shouted.
Then the ninjas appeared behind Naruto, causing him to freeze.
"Naruto!" Hinata yelled.
"Now it's your turn!" the ninjas set their chains ready to do to Naruto what they did to Kakashi.
Sasuke acted quickly as he took out a kunai knife and Shurikan from his holster. He threw the Shurikan first, which struck the chain and pinned it to a nearby tree. Then Sasuke threw a kunai knife which struck in the center hole of the shurikan and dug into the tree, securing it.
"I can't move1!" said one of the ninjas as he and his friend tried to break free.
Sasuke landed on both of the rogue ninja's arms, grab them, and kicked both ninjas at the same time.
In order to break free, the ninjas broke their chain. One went after Naruto while the other one went after Tazuna.
Naruto fell onto the ground scared for his life while Hinata activated her Byakugan and stood guard of Tazuna.
Just then Kakashi took one ninja down just as he scratch Naruto's hand with his claws, and quickly jumped in front of Hinata and took down the other.
Kakashi-sensei, Hinata thought.
Show off, Sasuke thought.
"But how…" Naruto turned to the piles of what he thought was Kakashi but was actually logs. "Kakashi-sensei used a replacement jutsu."
"Naruto, sorry I didn't help you right away. I didn't mean for you to get hurt," Kakashi said. "I just didn't think you would freeze up like that."
They saved me after all, Tazuna thought with a sigh.
"Good job, Sasuke, very smooth," Kakashi said, "You too Hinata."
Why did freeze up like that? Naruto thought. What's worse Sasuke had to save me.
"Hey!" Sasuke called to Naruto.
"Yeah?"
"You're not hurt, are you?" Sasuke asked in a teasing way. "Scaredy Cat."
"Sasuke!" Naruto growled as he about to attack Sasuke.
"Naruto!" Kakashi called.
"What?"
"Stand still. These ninjas have poison in their claws, enough that even a scratch could kill you if not treated," Kakashi said.
"Huh!" Naruto looked at his scratch marks.
"The poison will seep into your blood stream if we don't open the wound and remove it. But for right now the best thing to do is not move! If you do, you would just spread the poison faster!" Kakashi warned.
Naruto paled realizing how critical it was.
"By the way, Tazuna…" said Kakashi. "We need to talk."
…
Kakashi tied the two ninjas to a tree, making sure they couldn't cut themselves free.
"They're Chuunins from the Village Hidden in the Mist. Their specialty is relentless attacks. They keep attacking no matter what is the case," Kakashi explained.
"How did you know of our ambush?" a ninja asked.
"A puddle, on a clear day, when it hasn't rained for weeks," Kakashi said, "Not really a good camouflage in this grassy field."
"In that case, why did you leave it to the Genin to do the fighting?" Tazuna asked.
"I could have taken them out quickly, but then I wouldn't have learn anything. I wanted to see who they were after and what are they after," Kakashi explained looking at Tazuna suspiciously.
"What are you talking about?" Tazuna hesitantly asked.
"I wanted to know if they're after us, ninja attacking ninja, or after you, the master bridge builder," Kakashi explained. "When you put in your request, you asked for standard protection from thieves and bandits. You didn't say there would be ninjas after you, hunting you down. If we knew this, the mission would have been ranked B or higher. Our task was to simply get you to your destination, and protect you while you finish your bridge. If we knew we were going to be attacked by enemy ninjas, we would have staffed differently, and charged for the cost of a B-rank mission. Apparently, you have your reasons for doing this, but lying to us is not acceptable. We are now beyond the scope of this mission. Naruto Sasuke and Hinata are Genin, and any mission above C-rank would be too advance for their level of training. But because you didn't reveal the truth of this mission, Naruto is not only wounded but also poisoned, and we will have to go back to get him treated and have the poison removed."
Naruto looked at the scratches on his hand and glared with anger. But not at Tazuna.
Naruto took out a kunai knife and stabbed his hand right where the scratch marks were and deep enough that it bleed out with the poison.
"Naruto!" Hinata responded.
"What do you think you are doing idiot?" Sasuke responded.
"The day I became a ninja, I swore I would no longer joke around pulling pranks, and work hard in my ninja training so that one day I can make my parents proud, and show everyone in the village that I am more than a son of the Fourth Hokage," Naruto grunted in pain as he removed the kunai, "And now I make another promise to you Tazuna that I will no longer freeze up. That I would protect you until the mission is over and your bridge is build."
"Naruto… uh… that's great and all… and good job removing the poison by stabbing yourself in the hand but… if you lose any more blood, you'll die," Kakashi said.
Naruto paled once more and started sweating with panic.
"You should probably stop the bleeding now," Kakashi said.
"Ah! Kakashi-sensei, help me! I don't want to die!" Naruto cried in panic.
Oh Naruto, Hinata thought.
"Alright Naruto. Show me your hand and I bandage it," Kakashi said.
Naruto gave Kakashi his wounded hand, unaware that the wound was already healing—but Kakashi noticed it.
The wound is already healed—just like Kushina, Kakashi thought.
"Uh, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked. "Is everything okay? You're creeping me out."
"Uh, right, don't worry," Kakashi said as he bandaged up Naruto's hand to decrease suspicion and questions since he was the only one of the group who knew about what was sealed in Naruto. As he did that, Kakashi thought to himself, I wonder if Naruto's and Kushina's healing abilities is somehow connected to the Nine-Tail Fox.
"So, since the runt is no longer in danger, you can at least escort me back to my home country, right?" Tazuna asked. "I paid enough for just that much."
Kakashi sighed. "Alright, Tazuna. We'll escort you back to the Land of Waves," Kakashi said. "But we will discus what is really going on with this mission, and we will decide from there what we will do after that."
"Sounds fair," Tazuna responded as he thought to himself, Hopefully nothing bad will happen until I can convince them to continue this mission.
A/N: Sorry for the long wait. For those who don't know, around the summer of last year, I started a poll last summer to let the readers decide which one of five stories should update every month, and ever month four of the five stories on the poll will change with an exception of the previous month's losing story which had a redo with zero votes. The winning story i work on from the beginning of the next month when the new poll is posted (when I have the time of course) until the end of the same month. Which means, the reason I was able to work on this story now, is because it won last month's poll. And you can vote on what other story you want me to work on this coming Month.
Also, since this chapter is the rewrite of the actual last chapter of 'Naruto Namikaze' I'll be deleting that story, but this story will remain.
