The Blazing Leaf
A/N: Ok guys, thank you for the reviews, I do take the input and criticism to try and do better, but hey, there are learning curves.
So far, the votes for a pairing are as follows:
NarutoxKarin-4 votes
NarutoxIno-4 votes
NarutoxFu-1 vote
NarutoxYakumo-2 votes
If a pairing has too large of an age gap, I scrub them unfortunately. Naruto may be an adult and be mature, but I'm not too into the statutory kind of thing. I personally am really leaning towards Karin for an Uzumaki rebirth in a sequel, or to make this into an epic. I'm not sure yet and would love to hear some thoughts on that idea.
The chapter after this one I will be following some of your suggestions and getting rid of the "no jutsu part" you guys are definitely right on that aspect now that I've mulled it over.
If you guys noticed, I avoided being descriptive with the D-ranks, I mean hey, they are boring. Some can be comedic, but we aren't really going for that here, are we? Any who, Team Five is getting ready for a C-ranked mission.
Chapter Ten: A Real Mission
Raido proceeded to grab a small bundle of cut up papers, kept together with a small elastic band. After separating them, he passed one to each of his two students who did not know their affinities yet. 'This should be interesting regardless. We are closing in on three months, and this team outstrips what my own team was capable of after graduating.' Were his thoughts as the two Genin eagerly took the sheets. His other Genin, and the most skilled of the three just watched with a small smile on his face, curious to see what his friends would be aligned to.
"Ok you two, we will do this one at a time, starting with Tekuno. He is the one that wants to be a Ninjutsu specialist after all. To find out your affinity, all you must do is redirect a miniscule amount of your chakra into the chakra paper you are holding. The reactions to your elements will show as the paper getting soggy for water, burning to ash for fire, crumbling to dust for earth, crinkling in on its self for lightning, and cutting itself apart for wind. Try it out Tekuno." The Jonin instructed the preteens.
Tekuno immediately assumed a focused look upon his face as he held the chakra paper in between his pointer finger and thumb. After a few seconds the paper started to crumble away. 'Oh sweet! I have an element that isn't the same as Naruto. I get to contribute something unique in terms of Ninjutsu now, and this will open all sorts of possibilities for us! I hope Iroha doesn't have the earth as well, talk about redundancy on the team.' Were the brunette's inner thoughts.
"Well, it isn't the flashiest of the elements, but it is definitely a good one to have if nobody on your team has it either. I don't count, I am a Jonin, so I know a little bit about a few elements, I can definitely help with earth manipulation though." Was Raido's assessment of this new development. 'Ok, so these three currently have Fire, Water, and Earth between them all. Now if Iroha has either Wind, as much of a stretch as that is, or lightning, still a stretch but more likely, then these guys will cover almost the entire spectrum.'
"Ok Iroha, let's see what you have then." He commanded his last Genin.
Said Genin held the sheet of paper the same way he saw his teammate do and was met with a paper that immediately crinkled into a rigid ball. 'Lightning! That or wind would have been the best for me, talk about pure luck!' The usually more serious of the older teammates thought to himself.
Raido just developed a small smirk on his face that was ironically matched on all his students faces. They also some how thought but did not voice the same thing, 'That's four out of the five.'.
"Well Iroha, I know of one Jonin who is extremely proficient in Lightning manipulation and transformation, and he just so happens to be Naruto's tutor. I am sure your teammate would be more than happy to introduce the two of you. I can help Tekuno more, as earth was the second affinity that I forced myself to learn. Water was the third and is the one I am not the best at, but I can definitely get you through the first stage for water Naruto, and since fire is my own natural element, I can help you master that one later." Raido informed his team.
Tekuno was excited that his sensei would be able to help him get stronger, and Naruto was glad that their commander had the knowledge necessary to help him through his second affinity. Iroha was a little downcast that Raido-sensei wouldn't be the one to help him with his element. 'But I guess since he is teaching me Kenjutsu, it more than makes up for it. Raido-sensei is one of the few in the village that are skilled with bladed weapons.' Iroha reminded himself and perked back up a little bit.
"Well, onto the teaching part. Naruto just get back to what you were doing for your water element. It is going to take you a bit to get since it is the opposite of your fire, and you have a weaker attunement to it." Raido instructed the red-head.
"Hai sensei." Was Naruto's response before he did a short shunshin back over to the pond. This caused Raido to sweat drop a little bit. 'That kid likes that jutsu too much.'
"Iroha, for the time being while I get Tekuno started, work on your forms for your katana training. After the end of this week, we will go and get you a blade commissioned and hopefully it is ready by the time we return to the village after out C-ranked mission." He said after turning towards the black-haired of the three.
Iroha just smiled and gave a slight bow as he went to retrieve his wooden practice blade.
"Okay Tekuno, come with me, we are going to get you going on the first part of earth chakra manipulation." He said to his last student and began walking a little bit away from the other two until him and Tekuno were in a tiny spot clear of trees and rocks alike.
"So here is the deal, the first part of earth chakra training is to manipulate it, just as Naruto is for water. Naruto must learn to pull water from the air, as that is less chakra draining than trying to create it from scratch within himself. That problem can't be addressed for his fire element unless he happened to be around a blazing forest or a camp fire, so he had to learn to create the flames on his own for the first step to that. For you, the point will be to harness the dirt around you and manipulate it into a variety of shapes. The best part about the start of earth training is that to get better with this aspect, you just need to get creative with what you try and mol the earth into. Are you understanding so far Tekuno?" Raido lectured.
The brown-haired boy nodded enthusiastically and responded quickly. "Yes sensei! Essentially what you're saying is that I just must use the earth like my own personal and castle, and that will help me learn to use earth chakra in Justus! Right?"
'Heh, not always an air head as he constantly decides to remind me, I guess.' Raido thought in amusement. He still held it against the kid for rushing in against a Jonin without a plan.
"Yes Tekuno, that is the jist of it. Now, for you to start off with, I want you to try and lay your hand with the back of it laying on the ground, palm up. Then, you will try and pull the dirt into your palm, you don't need a lot, but the idea is to start shaping it into a little ball, like this." Raido said as he demonstrated, placing his hand down, and forming a good-sized ball that fit comfortably into his hand.
"When you can get the point of rapidly changing its shape, will you be good enough to start learning Jutsu, like this." And Raido began making odd shapes, like a sculpted cat that looked oddly like Tora, a miniature tree with shocking detail, and a miniature child holding a stick.
Tekuno just got even more excited at the display. "Oh boy, don't you worry too much sensei, I am going to get this stuff down as fast as possible, I'll train a lot on my own time."
"That is good to hear, now take this, it is a scroll that details how to go about this exercise in more depth, you can use this as a guide and will help you when I am not around to answer your questions, like your personal training." Raido said as he tossed a small brown scroll to the boy.
"Thanks sensei!"
"No problem, now excuse me, I have to go and check on Iroha now." And the Jonin walked off towards his, in his mind, little Kenjutsu protégé.
-Break-
Raido caught Iroha working on the fourth form for the basic style that he was trying to teach the kid in terms of the use of a katana. It was the run of the mill style taught to all budding Leaf village swordsmen who didn't want to use the villages traditional tanto. It acted as a good foundation for personal styles that one could create, or learn from a master, apprentice relationship.
'Kid is getting good, definitely bringing him to get a real one commissioned. And a chakra capable blade with that lightning affinity of his. Iroha will be a Kenjutsu monster when he gets older.' The Jonin thought to himself as he watched the boy.
Iroha had just finished the form and was about to flow into the fifth before Raido interrupted him. "Ok Iroha, how about a quick little spar to help you hone your reflexes?"
"Yes, please sensei, I would like that." Iroha responded with a smile. Kenjutsu spars with his sensei were easily his favorite parts of training with team five. Yeah, team drills were all right and so was the chakra training, but swords were his passion. He couldn't wait until Raido-sensei brought him to a smith in a few days.
Sensei and student squared off with each other as Raido retrieved a training blade from a scroll he kept in his Jonin vest. With a burst of speed and a quick initiation of the spar courtesy of Iroha, the bout began.
-Break-
Naruto was slowly trying to concentrate the water molecules in the air around him to soak into the leaf he was holding between his fingers. It was harder than fire in his opinion, with that, it came almost naturally to him Super heating your chakra until it ignites had become a norm. Now trying to pull his primary elements opposite was grating on his nerves.
He had been at it for what felt like a couple of hours now, making a snail's progress. He decided to take a pause and clear his mind of his frustrations. He moved over to a tree and sat underneath its foliage cross-legged and put his left hand on his left knee and put his right into a half ram seal. Kakashi had shown him this exercise when he was younger, filled with youth's exuberance, and used it to help temper his patience.
Slowly, he breathed in through his nose, and exhaled through his mouth. His eyes were shut, and he allowed the sounds of nature and his training teammates drift away. The only thing he could hear now were his inner thoughts.
'I can do this.'
-Break-
Raido was making his way back towards where Naruto had gone off to train. He fondly shook his head at the sheer amount of effort his students put in to his studies ever since they fell under his command. 'With all the training these guys get up to, maybe I should have prepped them for a C-rank a long time ago. Eighty-four D-rank missions in the matter of three months might come off as extreme to other instructors.' He thought to himself.
'They are young still, but I had bloodied my hands when I was a bit younger than them thanks to the war. I'll leave it up to fate with their mission. If it is bandit clearing, they will have to kill, if its an escort, it's an escort, no use sweating over it. The Jonin of team five worried. As a first-time sensei, being taken from his duties as the Hokage's bodyguard, he just wasn't sure how to approach this subject with the boys. It was peace time, yet as shinobi, they were expected to take the lives of those deemed a threat.
'It's a lesson they need, and best it happens early in their careers incase it ruins them. We will take it one step at a time, and if any of them have problems, I'll be there to guide them through it.'
-Break-
The week was over, and the team was back to their regular schedule. After their morning training, Raido told Naruto and Tekuno they were free to go and to report back tomorrow to meet up for their C-ranked mission. Currently, he and Iroha were making their way down the commercial district in the Leaf. They stopped outside of a shop that had crossed blades in the display window. The sign above read 'Tekashi's Forge and Wares'.
"Ok Iroha, you have enough money on you for a down payment, right?" Raido asked. He didn't think this would be an issue, his kids had done a ridiculous amount of D-Ranks, and that cash added up quick with how frequent they did theirs.
"Yes Raido-sensei, I should have more than enough to cover the entire commission from what you were telling me." The boy responded before opening the shops door and entering. Raido followed him in and watched the Genin look around the walls in wonderment. The kid was a minor weapons fanatic as most swordsmen ended up being.
A large burly man covered in scars came out from a door behind the front counter. He had brown hair and eyes and an old, tired smile at seeing new customers, one that he recognized. "Raido! How good to see you, I trust that blade of yours is treating you well?" the man asked jovially.
Raido smiled for his part and at seeing the confused look on Iroha's face. "Yes Tekashi, Kokuto has been as reliable as ever. I just used her in a spar with Hayate about a week ago. How's business?" he asked in turn.
This seemed to make the newly introduced Tekashi to glow even more. "Oh, it is going swimmingly, especially with all of you shinobi, always running out of kunai and shuriken keep business coming well enough, with he odd commission every now and again. Now, what can I get for you today?"
"Well you see, my student here has been learning the basics of Kenjutsu for a while now, and since we will be getting a C-rank tomorrow and will probably be out of the village, I decided now would be a good time for him to commission a blade, naturally I referred him to here." Raido answered, as he gestured for Iroha to introduce himself.
The boy walked p and gave a short bow to the weapons shop owner. "It is good to meet you Tekashi-san, my name is Iroha Raigan and I would very much like to request your services and commission a katana of my own now that my sensei has deemed me ready for such a thing." He respectfully inquired.
Tekashi grinned at the manners on display, younglings these days rarely treated their elders with the proper respect. 'And respect they should! Most of the village is filled with veterans from the last war after all!' were his thoughts before he returned the bow. "I would be more than happy to help you out with that my boy." He took a magazine out from under the counter and handed it to Iroha. "Here, why don't you and your sensei check out the blade designs I have in their, and if you want some customizations done, feel free to ask.
Iroha and Raido checked it over and Iroha found a blade design he liked a lot after a few minutes of searching. It was one that tempered the chakra metals to a pale ocean blue color and was about three and a half feet long, with a ten-inch handle. The bottom of the blade flared out into pointed ends and then thinned out where a hand guard should go. He opted to have the handle wrap be a navy-blue cord wrap and asked for a black sheath with a small white lightning bolt designed into it.
After running it by Tekashi, he thought for a second, before nodding and giving them a quote. "Well I would say that should take me around five days with my other orders I have right now. As for the price, I would have to say one-hundred thousand ryo. If you can't pay it off now, we do financing here since shinobi are usually good for their money, if something doesn't happen to them in the field. They wouldn't want to piss off their weapons supplier, would they?"
"Oh! I can cover that now actually!" said Iroha, shocking the shop owner. He didn't expect a Genin who shouldn't have been out of the academy for too long to have that much cash on him. At his questioning look, Raido decided to shed some light on the situation. "I had them do a drastic amount of D-ranks over the past three months, all of the kids, including myself have a nice little bank cushion because of it."
This got a knowing look from the man, he knew the pain of those missions, but if you did enough of them a week, you could make a good living. "Well alright then, lets just get an invoice for the order, and I can send you two on your way." And with that Iroha would soon have a sword that he was thinking of all sorts of names for.
-Break-
The next morning saw Naruto in the training ground just before their usual meet up time waiting for the others. Even now, just sitting down he had a leaf in hand and was trying to soak the damn thing. He had a tiny amount of progress over the last few days, the thing at least got damp now, but that was not nearly enough. After a few minutes of practice, his team started drifting in. First Iroha showed up greeted Naruto with a nod and a yawn, the former of which Naruto returned to the boy. Soon Tekuno joined them with a chipper good morning to the two and the trio waited for their sensei to arrive.
At exactly five, Raido appeared in a shunshin. "Good morning you three, the administration office doesn't open until eight so I want to spend a couple hours reviewing all of the survival training and guides I gave to you guys, before we actually leave for the mission, you will have an opportunity to go and pack some gear. Now gather round, I want to get this over with."
And once they formed a semi-circle around him, he began reviewing over everything he thought they would need for their C-rank. You never know what might end up happening on missions so best to be prepared and made aware in his eyes.
Once it was ten minutes until the office opened, he concluded the review and decided to address an issue that had almost slipped his mind until now. "Tekuno, since we will be leaving the village, you will be required to change into a darker colored shirt while you are packing. Do you own anything in a dark green, blue, black, brown, or grayish color?" Raido asked his student warily, the other two looked professional enough, and he didn't want to insult his charge with a critique to his fashion sense.
This got a surprised look from Tekuno as he glanced t his torso in thought. "Yes, I do sensei, I just used that shirt for training and the what not. If you didn't want me to wear it, I could have changed my shinobi attire awhile ago." He responded, getting an immediate sweat drop from the three others on the team. 'He had something else to wear this entire time!' were the uniformed mind shouts of the others who had always wondered why Tekuno wore a color that would give him away out in the forests.
Raido just rubbed his face and tried not to get too aggravated. "Very well, just be sure to wear something more fitting for a shinobi from this day forward, ok"
"Of course, Raido-sensei!" Tekuno responded happily.
"Well, lets make our way to go see the Hokage, he usually likes to brief every team the first time they take a mission above the rank they usually do. He can also assign us one then as I'm sure he will have a few he hasn't brought over to be distributed yet." Said Raido, and team five quickly made their way to the administration building connected to the Hokage's tower.
After Raido requested the first C-rank for Team Five, the Chunin on duty wrote them a slip, and instructed him to bring his Genin next door to see the Hokage. They only had a ten-minute wait after climbing the tower, and soon the four shinobi were standing in front of the old man's desk, waiting for instructions.
Hiruzen smiled kindly at his Jonin and three of his fresh Genin. This was the team with his surrogate grandson on it, and if they were here it meant they were requesting their first C-rank. "Well good morning Team Five, please, have a seat, all of you." The Hokage gestured to each of them. After they all were seated, he decided to address the current issue.
"So, am I to assume that you are here to request a C-ranked mission for your students Raido-kun?" he asked his old bodyguard.
Raido nodded before speaking. "Yes Hokage-same, my team has completed eighty-four D-ranks in the past three months and have undergone some of the more advanced training for Genin. I feel they are more than up to the challenge of taking a more advanced mission. Do you have anything that you would like us to take care of?" he respectfully answered and asked his village leader.
'Hmm, I don't have any escort missions right now. We just got a huge influx of requests to eliminate some bandit camps towards the northern border. Should I send fresh graduates, Naruto at that, to go and bloody their hands?' Hiruzen thought to himself. He looked at each of the Genin, trying to decipher if they were up to it. Tekuno was trying to maintain a professional posture, but you could see the excitement rolling off him. 'He seems confident and eager enough.'
Looking at Iroha, he saw a much calmer façade, but even then, he caught the slight smile on the boy's lips, clearly anticipating leaving the village for a while. Looking at his favorite Genin, not that he would tell his other shinobi that, he couldn't help but to swell with pride at the blank, professional face on the boy was wearing. 'Well Naruto-kun, you want to join the ANBU, and you are so advance already, I won't hold you back, I just hope you and the other two can stomach the lives of being shinobi after this.'
"You are sure that you feel that these Genin are up to a C-ranked mission then Raido-kun?" he asked the Jonin. At being addressed, Raido straightened his back just a little bit more, and met the old leaders' eyes before responding. "Yes, Hokage-sama, I am confident in these three shinobi to live up to the task."
Hiruzen smiled grimly. "Very well then. Let's see what we have then." He looked through a couple of the mission scrolls that he had already approved that morning and found one that should be easy enough. This one would bring the boys to the northern border and would be looking to be about twenty to thirty bandits in the area. The Daimyo was requesting they all be sentenced to death. "This will have to do. Raido, you and your students will need to travel to the border of with the Land of Waterfalls. We are allied and we will not be crossing the border so no issues should arise. You will be given ten days to reach that area, search it for a camp of bandits, and dispose of them per order of the Daimyo. Do you have any questions?"
"Will we take any prisoners to take back for interrogation Hokage-same?" was a question posed by Naruto.
"You only need one prisoner Naruto-kun, and preferably the bandit who appears to oversee the rest. The others, you will have to eliminate and dispose of the bodies properly. It goes without saying to protect any civilians if they are caught in the cross fire or attacked by these rogues." Was Hiruzen's answer.
Naruto's expression did not change any but Tekuno and Iroha each looked a tad uncomfortable with the mission parameters. Seeing this, Raido asked for the team's opinion before accepting the mission. "Guys, what do you think, are you capable of completing the task?" he asked them with a challenging tone, trying to lighten them up a bit. This got the desired effect of distracting them from the thought of having to kill, and to not wanting to appear weak in front of their leader. They answered in unison. "Yes, we are up for it!" and Naruto and Raido just smiled at the change of attitude.
"Very well, Team Five accepts the mission Hokage-sama." Raido told the old man who promptly threw the scroll towards the Jonin. "Very well Raido, you should leave some time before nightfall, dismissed."
"Hai Hokage-sama." Was the in-sync response 24from the four shinobi as they rose from their seats and bowed. They then made their way out of the office and out of the building. Once outside Raido turned to address his charges. "Ok, we will leave in two hours from the main gate. Pack for up to three weeks in case something goes wrong, each of you take one of these storing scrolls, no backpacks on missions." He proceeded to toss a small scroll to each of the boys. "Dismissed."
-Break-
Back at his apartment, Naruto was double checking all of his equipment. 'Ok, extra kunai set, check. Extra shuriken set, check. Extra senbon set, check. Three extra uniforms, check. Extra shinobi tape for uniforms, check. Soldier pills, check. IFAK, check. Tanto?' Naruto reached behind him to ensure that it was still strapped to him, as well as his weapons pouches. 'Check, need those. Let's see.' He moved from his bedroom to his kitchen and started checking his cabinets for food to pack. He found a box of field ration bars, as well as some shinobi Meals Ready to Eat, or MRE's. 'Food, check.' He then made sure he had two canteens strapped to his waist and that they were full for the road. He also went and grabbed his survival kit which had his fire making kit, 'redundant', and his tent set. 'Ok, I should be all set.' He thought to himself, and finished sealing everything into the scroll, which he put into his utility pouch. 'I can't wait till I am a Chunin and rate a vest. Those things can carry so much in their pouches.' He thought despondently.
Once he was set, he moved to his front door to leave. When he opened it, Kakashi was their looking like he was about to knock. "Oh, hey Naruto-kun! Perfect, I was hoping to catch you before you guys left for your mission. Hokage-sama just informed me about it." Said the Jonin.
"What's up Kakashi-sensei? I don't mean to sound rude, but I have to make it to the gate soon."
"Mah, no worries, no worries. I was just looking to give you a gift in celebration of your first C-rank. Here, I thought you might like this, sorry for the crude wrapping paper." Kakashi said as he held out a parcel wrapped in brown to-go bag paper. Naruto accepted it and quickly tore it open with the childish enthusiasm he rarely did. Gifts from Kakashi were almost always shinobi related, so he always loved them.
Upon opening the gift, he found something that brought a fond smile to his face. There were a few dark brown facemasks, the same yet a different color to the one Kakashi always wore.
"I know you aren't in ANBU and don't rate a porcelain mask yet, but I figured you would appreciate some of these until you do get into the Black Ops." Kakashi explained with his patented eye-smile.
Naruto took one of the masks and pulled it over his face. He then took his storage scroll back out and put the rest in there for safe keepings until he returned from his mission. Once that was done, he walked up to Kakashi and embraced him in gratitude. "Thank you Kakashi-Niisan. I love them."
Kakashi returned the hug, and ruffled Naruto's hair for good measure. "Your welcome my little mini-me. Now, I believe you have a mission to get to, good luck and tell Raido I said hello."
"Thanks, Kakashi-Niisan, oh and by the way, we found out my teammate Iroha has a lightning affinity, he was wondering if you could give him the start for elemental manipulation."
"Oh, that's a surprise, sure, just bring him by for one of our spars, and I will try and work something out with him, now get going kid!" Kakashi shoed the Genin away from his own apartment.
"Yeah, Yeah." Was the response as Naruto activated a shunshin to make up for lost time to get to the gate.
Upon arriving in a small cloud of smoke, Naruto noticed that his team was there, minus Tekuno. 'I really need to try and modify the shunshin to make it a bit better than a smoke cloud. Oh well, I wonder where Tekuno is at?' were his immediate thoughts.
"Hello sensei, Kakashi-Niisan says Hello." He addressed his Jonin, who was looking at him with a raised eyebrow, probably due to the addition to his wardrobe.
"Are you sure that you aren't Kakashi?" Raido jested in response.
"Nah, I'm not that good of a shinobi yet sensei. But hey, Iroha, Kakashi said that when we get back, he would be willing to help you with your lightning training." He addressed his teammate.
"Oh, nice, thanks for asking him for me Naruto, I appreciate that."
"No problem."
It was at this time that the three heard a shout. "I'm sorry I took so long!" Tekuno was sprinting down the street. "My parents were nagging me to be careful and what not and mom just had to take a bunch of photos. He said as he got near them. The rest of the team noticed that he seemed a little disheveled and had lipstick smeared on his cheek. His teammates were trying to inform him of this without busting out laughing at the poor brunette. After he finally noticed what their gestures and laughs were about, he turned beet red. "Oh shut up! It's not my fault my mom can be annoying sometimes."
"Mhmm, well whatever, we are all here so let's get a move on. I want to move fast so we will take to the trees for as long as we can. Move" Raido commanded, and Team Five was off like a race horse, heading North.
After a few hours, the sun was beginning to set so Raido instructed his Genin to make camp in clearing of the forest. Most of the Land of Fire consisted of dense woods, or large swaths of agricultural land. lumber and fresh produce were their home country's main exports.
After setting up the camp, Raido dished out camp duties to each. "Ok you three, here's how we will split it. Iroha, you will take all the canteens and fill them up. Tekuno, you're on cooking duty, so go and try and hunt down some rabbits, or search for a stream and try and fish. Naruto, you got firewood duty for the night."
"Yes sensei." Answered Iroha, and he began collecting from his teammates.
"I'm on it!" Tekuno exclaimed, handing off his canteens to Iroha before speeding out of their clearing.
"I'll be back quickly sensei." Was Naruto, who just slowly made his way into the trees.
This left Raido alone in the camp. 'Hmm, well, now I guess I have a bit to read a good book with them gone.' He thought to himself and pulled a small one out from his own utility pouch. He quickly started reading Icha Icha Make out Tactics before his students could return and judge him. This one of his few secret pleasures.
-Break-
After a night in the woods, Team Five was having a breakfast of left-over rabbit that Tekuno had killed the night before. They had already packed up there supplies and were just trying to wake up as the sun rose, even when sleeping in the wilderness, Raido ensured they were up before the sun.
Soon enough they were back on the move towards the area they were supposed to sweep for bandits. Late in the afternoon that same day, Raido halted them before double checking his map to make sure they were in the area they were supposed to be. 'We have a lot of ground to cover along this border area. We can camp where we are now, there is a good clearing down below, and we should be less than a mile from the road that the bandits keep hitting merchants on. We can start patrols in the morning.' Raido thought.
"Ok you three, set up camp, tomorrow, things get serious. Settle amongst yourselves the camp duties for the night, then double check all of your gear, we might make contact tomorrow." Raido addressed the Genin of the group.
This got differed reactions from his students. Tekuno, as expected looked nervous but excited. Iroha, just seemed to be trying to steel himself to be able to fill out his duties, they all knew what they would have to be doing. Naruto was one that scared him a little bit. The red-head had his mask on so it was hard to tell, but his eyes showed blank indifference to the news of possibly killing men tomorrow. 'You really pounded the shinobi codes into this kids head, didn't you Kakashi?' thought Raido.
-Break-
The next day, Team Five started their patrols in the area, currently they were taking the southern quadrant of the area the Hokage told them to look for these bandits. So far, no contact had been made besides the occasional forest animal. The most dangerous thing they ran into were a couple of black bears.
That night, Naruto was taking the first watch of the evening while the rest of the team slept. Though he didn't show it, the thoughts of killing someone were on the young shinobi's mind. He was currently trying to reassure himself that this was all that he trained for up and to this point. 'Kakashi-Niisan has lectured you on this a lot Naruto, there isn't anything to worry about. Those bandits are just criminals, and the Daimyo has ordered their deaths. There shouldn't be anything else to it really.' He tried to pep himself up. 'You are a shinobi, a trained assassin in the Hokage's forces. You want to be apart of the elite ANBU, so what's the problem.'
He couldn't help but to be nervous. He was afraid that he would freeze up and fail, possibly leading to one of his teammates getting hurt, or worse, KIA. 'That cannot happen, at any costs.'
"You should have nothing to worry about Naruto." Naruto whipped his head to his right, there on the tree branch he was perched on was his sensei, casually dangling his legs.
"What do you mean Raido-sensei?" The Genin asked curiously. He hadn't even sensed the man approach, but he was a Jonin after all.
Raido chuckled at the question. "I mean you shouldn't have any problems if we make contact with any bandits. You three are extremely skilled for Genin, you especially with your abilities in the three basic shinobi arts. We can easily just have you place all the bandits under a high level widespread Genjutsu, and I can have you three just walk up to the bandits and slit their throats. I probably won't have you do that for the sake of you guys getting combat experience though. I was a Tokubetsu Jonin for my skills in assassination before I rounded my skills out though, and I have been training this team to do exactly as I used to. The Hokage makes teams in a certain build, Iroha, Tekuno, and yourself were deemed the best possible team to have an assassination specialty. All the formations and team drills I have taught you guys lean towards assassinations in tandem, so I feel you guys will perform perfectly when the situation arises. You're training to go into ANBU Naruto, this mission will help you get used to the dealings of that unit very well. The ANBU are sent out on these kinds of missions all the time, except they are for missing nin that sneak past our border patrol." He informed the red-head.
This seemed to perk Naruto up a little bit, and Raido could see some of the tension leave the boy's shoulders. It was as if the thought of the mission wasn't bothering him too much anymore. "I think I really needed to hear that sensei. Kakashi-Niisan lectured me a lot about how difficult killing a fellow human would be for the first time, so for the most part I know what to expect. He shared the first time he killed with me, he was far younger than I am now, but that is war, I guess. Do you think the Leaf and the Land of Fire will be in another war any time soon sensei?"
"Hmm, it isn't likely. None of the other villages have shown a spark of aggression towards us for some years now. The last international incident we had was the Hyuga fiasco with the Hidden Cloud village. Hidden Rock village would be a big contender, they still hate us for the Third Shinobi War and what the Yondaime Hokage did to their forces, Minato-sama slaughtered them with his Flying Thunder God technique. Besides either of those two, I don't see a war happening in the future, the Leaf has the largest amount of shinobi compared to the rest of our competitors. The Fire Daimyo has a special interest in keeping our borders secure and makes sure that even though we bring in a huge boost to our own funds, that we are well financed and supplied on his dime. He doesn't even tax his own shinobi village, that is how committed the man is to a well-oiled war machine." Said Raido.
"I guess that makes sense. Everything I read and heard says that that was ridiculously bloody. I was going to look more into the second war since it isn't covered in too much depth in the academy. Anything you can tell me about that?" asked Naruto.
'He still doesn't know about his clan. I wonder how he would react? I'll have to tell Hokage-sama that the kid has an interest so he can cover it before he stumbles on it on his own. Maybe he will tell the kid about Minato and Kushina as well.'
"No Naruto, sorry, I wasn't a shinobi during that war, but I know it was nearly as bloody as the third. Some shinobi villages were even wiped out during that time. You should ask Hokage-sama about it though the next time you have a chance to visit with him on your off-time." Raido suggested to his student, trying to shift the conversation elsewhere.
"That's a good idea sensei, Jiji will know more than enough about it, the old fossil." Naruto said fondly and with a small smile on his face. "But you mentioned the Yondaime's jutsu earlier. What do you know about that?"
This through Raido for a loop. While he was under Minato's command as a member of his bodyguard, he had been taught to use his signature jutsu in tandem with his teammates incase his Kage was ever in a pinch. He didn't expect Naruto to be interested in the deadly technique since it was fabled that no shinobi from the village had learned to replicate it to use on their own.
"Well, I actually know how to use the technique, but only when the other members of Yondaime-sama's old bodyguard detail worked together. The three of us just didn't have the knowledge of seals or the conditioning of the speed the seals initiate to be able to use it effectively. Why do you ask?" he inquired.
Naruto just looked down a little sheepishly, rare behavior for his usual professional and blank demeanor. "Well see, Yondaime-sama is the one of my idols. Besides him, I really only look up to Sandaime-jiji, Kakashi-Niisan, Iruka-Niisan, and yourself sensei. ANBU too of course." Naruto admitted while rubbing the back of his head.
'It is kind of ironic how much you look up to your old man when you don't even know he is your own father, or what he had to do the night of your birthday.' Thought Raido.
"Well Naruto, if you wanted to try and learn that technique one day, I would recommend learning about Fuinjutsu and the art of seals. Besides needing to have a ridiculous natural speed that Minato-sama achieved through weight training like you do now, he was a seal master who only his own sensei Jiraiya of the Sannin could hold a candle to."
"Fuinjutsu? I guess I could look the basics up in the library and try to teach myself some of it, and maybe Jiji knows it as well. And as for speed, I'm fast for my age and I'm only eleven, I have time to get that fast when I'm older." Naruto thought out loud.
'He is indeed fast, I know plenty of Chunin who can't hold a candle to the kid.'
"Well, your shift is over Naruto, go get some sleep."
"Hai sensei."
-Break-
They had finally found the bandit camp. It had taken them till the fourth day. Team Five was hiding in the trees a distance away, watching the guard duties for the little camp and making note of how frequently they changed. When the sun started to go down, Raido withdrew them further away to address them.
"Ok you three, I will leave this up to you to hash out a plan on how to eliminate the targets. I will say that you can assume that the largest tent will hold the guy that Hokage-sama wishes for us to return to the Leaf with as a prisoner. The rest is on you, I will not engage in combat unless it is absolutely necessary to ensure you guys survive this mission, do you understand?" he asked them in the most serious demeanor he could muster. His kids would be bloodying their hands shortly and becoming true shinobi so quickly into their careers.
Naruto at the very least had a lot of knowledge on tactics thanks to Kakashi. He decided to take charge of the planning. "Ok, so, as we noticed while we were watching the guard rotations, they change about every five hours. It is just now sundown, and the last guards changed around twenty minutes ago. That gives us four hours and some change to hash this stuff out. We can expect most of them to be asleep or drunk by the time we make our move during the guard shift. I say that during the shift, as soon as the old guard is out of sight, we start off at different points around the camp, and assassinate the guards in a clockwise order until we hit a post that someone else already hit. Then after that, we can use our earpieces to coordinate as we move through the scattered fires and tents, slitting throats one by one. We should try to do all of it quietly, and only go all out on these guys if we get caught. What do you think guys?"
Iroha and Tekuno were looking at the youngest on their team in surprise. All of what Naruto just said made complete sense and was probably their best bet. By the time they would hit the camp, most of the bandits would be sleepy, or already sleeping. The guards would probably be the hardest part if they did all of this right. The each agreed with the red-head and they then proceeded to go over the final details an to ensure hand and arm signals were understood, as well as frequencies for their earpieces.
Raido looked on proudly at his kids. The plan that Naruto came up with was a good one, and if nothing too surprising happened, it should be a quick, clean mission.
-Break-
"Black, are you in position?"
"Affirmative Red, waiting for the shift change at guard point seven."
"Roger, Brown, what about you?"
"Ready and good to go! Watching Guard point eleven."
"Excellent, I am ready at guard point six. Remember to call over every time a guard post is eliminated and disposed of." The bodies would need to be hidden just in case someone came to check up on their friends while the other posts were being hit.
Naruto was in the trees, hidden by the thick foliage as he observed the guard in front of him. The man was clearly starting to fall asleep, and his relief would be coming soon.
'You get to live just a bit longer it seems.' Naruto thought grimly, trying to steel himself in preparation for their attack.
"Overwatch, this is Red, are we good to commence once the posts have conducted change over?" Naruto asked his sensei through the earpiece.
"You are good to go Red."
"Copy. From here on out, radio silence until switching posts."
Naruto got the affirmatives from each member of the team, and then focused back in on his mark. Soon enough, a black-haired man with a sword came to relieve the brown-haired one that was currently falling asleep.
"I hope you aren't falling asleep on post Norio?" the black-haired one said to the now identified brown-haired.
Norio seemed to get upset about this considering his friend seemed to be slurring his words slightly. "Well Sen, I hope you aren't drunk before taking post?" he challenged.
"Oh, don't be such a worrisome bastard Norio, nothing is going to happen out here, its night time in the middle of a forest, I just have to watch out for animals at this point. Why don't you go and get some sleep now though, most of the camp has called it a night already, though Shig is still up by his fire if you want a drink." Sen advised his friend.
"Well, a quick drink before bed might warm me up, its chilly and I'm surprised we haven't gotten snow being this far north yet."
"You're not complaining about it being warmer than usual during the winter, are you? Take it as a blessing, now go on, you're relieved from duty for the night." Sen ordered.
Norio obliged and began walking back towards camp while Sen did a quick scan of the tree line. He thought he heard a rustle to his left. 'Probably an owl or something.'
As Norio was walking away, he never expected the short whistling sound before his life turned to black. A kunai was piercing through the back of his skull, and his body fell forward with a thud.
"Heh, what did you do, trip on a rock you sleepy bastard?" Sen asked his friend as he turned around to laugh at the poor man. When he turned around and saw the kunai sticking out of his friend's head, he tried to scream to sound the alarm, but a gloved hand covered his mouth from behind, and before he knew it, the blade of a tanto was drawn across his neck.
Sen gurgled into the hand as blood squirted from his jugular, his lifeblood flowing out of him, it did not take long before he succumbed to the blood loss, and died with his eyes wide open, just like his friend Norio and his pierced brain.
Naruto dropped the dead body onto the ground and just stared at it for a few seconds. He had to shake himself back into action, he had three more posts to hit before he could move inboard with the team. He quickly moved the bodies into the tree line away from the start of the clearing. 'I think I am going to be sick.' Were Naruto's thoughts before he had to swallow his own bile. He quickly tried to re-orientate himself and used the radio to inform the others that he was moving to his next mark. "Red here, post three eliminated and disposed of, two tangos down. Moving to four."
With that, he got a move on, and repeated this process as quickly as he could, trying to keep his deeds out of his mind.
-Break-
The Genin of team five all experience a slow down with their first kills. They managed to push over that hilltop though and carried on eliminating the guard posts. They then had snuck through the camp, snaking their way through fire pits and tents, slitting throats whenever an opportunity arose. There were only three tents that they had not hit yet, and one had their future prisoner.
Naruto could see Iroha and Tekuno now, the had the last few tents surrounded. Naruto gave some hand signals to get their attention, and then used some more to communicate that he would take the leader's tent, and that they should each clear out one of the remaining tents. They both indicated that they understood, and soon were inside the last tents. Naruto could hear the ring of steel, and the sound of dying men choking on their own blood. It was a noise he had grown all to familiar with this night. There were more bandits than their intel told them to expect, and he had killed sixteen men so far. Now he just had to capture this one man, and he could put this night behind him.
'Let's move Naruto, this is the last part of the mission.'
He moved to the entrance flab of the largest tent there, and slowly sneaked inside. He spotted a man who had fallen asleep by a candlelit desk.
'This should be easy, he is the last one alive, and should be much trouble.'
Naruto already had his tanto drawn, it being covered in blood, and having taken most his kills that night. With a burst of speed, Naruto was upon the man shrouded by the candle light, and quickly stabbed him in the side of his leg with his tanto.
The man jerked awake with a scream and near jumped out of his seat. Naruto was quick to cover his head with a cloth sack from his pouch, and to move his blade to the man's throat.
"Don't even think of moving, you are under arrest, and you will be coming with us back to our village." He informed his prisoner.
The man whimpered before screaming out for help. "INTRUDERS IN THE CAMP! SOUND THE ALARM!"
"Do you think we would be so stupid as to leave any of your friends alive? They are all dead, and you are coming with us for some interrogation and torture. Now, doesn't that sound lovely?" Naruto asked the man coldly. He wasn't in the mood after the things he had done this night, this was the easier task out of everything. He pulled his tanto away from the man's throat and bashed him in the side of the head, knocking him out cold.
Naruto secured the sack over the man's head properly now that he wasn't struggling and bound his arms behind his back. He then applied a tourniquet to the bleeding leg so that the prisoner would survive the journey back to the Leaf.
When he was done, he lifted the man over his shoulders in a fireman's carry and walked out of the tent to find his teammates. When he exited, he found them outside with their sensei waiting for him.
"I am proud of you guys, you left no survivors besides our friend here, and now we can grab some intel from this tent." Raido addressed the Genin.
"Thank you, sensei. Iroha, Tekuno, can you guys search the tent for any useful documents or maps? I'll stick with the prisoner."
"Yes Naruto." Responded Iroha with a fake smile.
"Sure thing Red." Said Tekuno rather weakly.
Those two entered the tent and it was just Naruto, Raido, and their unnamed for now guest.
"How are you feeling after everything Naruto?" Raido asked with mild concern. He had already had a talk with the other two while Naruto was rounding up their mark. The other two had some sort of grim acceptance with what had happened and were probably holding back any vomit until they had some true alone time.
'I figured he would check in on us.' Thought Naruto before he sighed.
"it wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be, the first two were difficult but they were over with so fast. The rest just turned into a chore at one point and that sort of scares me. Shouldn't I feel some regret over this." He asked. He had heard the whisperings of the civilians at home about him being some sort of monster, or demon. He didn't want to think that maybe they were right about him.
'I think I know where his line of thought is going.' "Not necessarily Naruto. All shinobi get used to killing quickly enough once they get to it. If they do not, they get taken off active duty forever. None of you three froze up, which means that you have the resolve and fortitude to carry out the orders our Hokage gives us. You can think of this as your final test to be deemed a true shinobi now. Sure, there will be rank tests and the likes, but you guys are just starting out, and now, you've truly gotten your hands dirty. None of you did anything wrong though, you just followed orders, and did your job. Just think of how you would feel if you decided to let any of them go and they went an killed some innocent merchant just travelling on the road?"
"That actually makes a lot of sense sensei. I think I will be fine in the long run, but right now, I just feel, weird about the whole thing." And that was the truth, Naruto didn't know how he should be feeling about everything. He had just gone numb after a certain amount of the cold-blooded killings.
"I know Naruto, you all will be fine. I believe all three of you will be amazing shinobi one day, and today cemented that theory. Let's gather your teammates, destroy the camp with a few fire jutsu and call this mission a wrap and start moving home. With the prisoner, I'll have to test all of your endurances to the max, we have to do a straight shot so this guy can get medical attention and be put into proper confinement." Raido instructed.
"Hai sensei."
-Break-
After lighting the clearing on fire, Naruto watched Raido-sensei put the flames out with a large-scale water jutsu once he thought enough of the bodies had been burnt to a crisp, they had pilled them all towards the center, with all the bandit's materials thrown into the pile with them. Not the most ceremonial of mass burials.
"Ok team five, let's get a move on towards home. The faster we get there, the faster I will let all of you go to sleep."
And they were off without a blink. Raido gave the kids a break and carried the prisoner who was still out like a snuffed candle.
Naruto was taking the time while they hopped through the trees to think everything over, and whether this life was for him.
'It's not like I really enjoyed ending their lives, but it was kind of thrilling, wondering how everything in the mission would play out. It's like a game really, a deadly one, but one that everyone gets into with an understanding. Each day may be your last, so why not do what you can to achieve your own goals, right? This gave me a valuable feel for killing, I'll have to do a lot of this throughout my career, there is no doubt about that. The ANBU kill all the time, so if they can do it, then so can I.' he reasoned with himself. After settling that issue, he hardened his resolve to his dreams. 'I will make it into ANBU, and after some years later, I will do what I can to become Hokage, and move away from hiding behind a mask, I don't want to be behind one my entire life.'
Now with that settled firmly in his mind once again, our red-headed shinobi was ready to go with the flow of the shinobi world.