It had been a week from hell.
Since their return Asuma had simply been driving them into the ground with training. Sure, they all felt stronger already, but Naruto, Kiba, Akamaru, and Hinata were already tired of this new training routine. In the mornings Asuma would relentlessly drill their formwork to the point Naruto wanted to puke. The missions had to be completed quickly so they could still get lunch before heading off to do long runs and chakra-intensive sparring.
Naruto, true to form, whined.
" Come on, sensei, lets take a off already." said Naruto as he walked to the practice field. Hinata was busied in her jutsu scrolls as usual and Kiba was not yet there.
" Naruto, we can't. First, it's the day of group training…" Asuma began.
" Really? Yes!" Naruto interrupted, tossing his arms into the air. " We'll get to brag to everyone about our mission!"
" Not likely. Remember what Kakashi's team did?" Asuma said, lighting his cigarette.
" No. Did they do something?" said Naruto, apparently having not heard the story.
" Hinata, listen up." Asuma said before launching into the mission details. Kakashi's capture by Zabuza, Sasuke and Sakura saving him, Kakashi defeating the water ninja with his Sharingan, and Zabuza's apparent assassination.
" They really did all that?" said Naruto, obviously impressed. " That means Sasuke's getting a lot better."
" Yeah he is, which is why I upped the training. I don't what Kakashi's team of brains to catch up to my brawlers. And, I'm not done with the story." Asuma said as Kiba and Akamaru loped up.
" Sorry, we saw a …" Kiba began in his traditional excuse.
" Kiba, shut up." said Asuma, turning and leading his genin towards the group training grounds before launching into the rest of the story.
After resting and training Kakashi's team had met Zabuza again on the bridge, but this time he had help, a strange boy named Haku. While Zabuza and Kakashi fought, Haku had trapped Shino in some sort of cage made of ice and began to kill him with throwing needles. Sasuke and Sakura had tried to help, but Zabuza had stopped them. While he was being attacked, however, Shino had used his bugs to drain the cages chakra. It collapsed and Haku was caught off guard for a moment. Shino had launched every bug he had onto Haku and drained his chakra completely.
" Let me tell you, you never want them to do that to you." Asuma said, shuddering. " I saw it once in the field. Still have nightmares about it. Anyways, Kakashi then killed Zabuza. The end." Asuma seemed to caught in memory to properly finish.
" Why? I've used all my chakra before. It's not that bad." said Kiba, not intimidated by the bug users.
" Kiba, you cannot actually use all of your chakra." Hinata said, speaking for the first time that morning. " Your body holds back chakra to keep it alive. Without that reserve, you would die."
Kiba blinked as they arrived, looking to Shino nervously.
" Good that you are all here!" Guy proclaimed loudly as Sasuke looked at Naruto triumphantly, his boasting barely contained. " It is finally my turn to decide what we practice on!"
The assembled genin looked to the other jounin's accusingly. The jounin's looked guilty.
" I have decided that today, we will practice fighting without the aid of chakra, jutsu, or bloodlines." Guy proclaimed. Lee looked excited at the prospect, eyeing Neji.
" Aw, come on!" complained Naruto. " What's the point in that?"
" Naruto, taijutsu is the basis of a ninja's arsenal." Ten-Ten said, cracking her knuckles. " Eventually, you'll run out of chakra. Your screwed if that happens since that's all you have."
" No I'm not. I can hold my own in hand to hand." said Naruto confidently.
" Dibs on punching you, then." Ten-Ten said, smirking.
" Your on!" Naruto said, hackles raised.
The genin divided into pairs with the jounin patrolling and giving help.
" All right, here I come!" shouted Naruto, launching himself forward towards Ten-Ten roughly twenty feet. He was caught unceremoniously by Guy.
" Naruto, I said without using chakra." the green clad jounin said, putting him down.
" I didn't use any." Naruto protested.
" Yes, you did. It has become second nature to you, but you forced chakra into your legs for that jump. Without that chakra, you could not have made such a jump." Guy said slightly accusingly.
" Wait, we can't use any chakra at all?" said Naruto, gulping and looking to the smirking Ten-Ten. " Crap."
---
Roughly a half hour when they first broke, Naruto was a mess. Ten-Ten had beaten him unceremoniously and soundly. She'd blocked his every attack and he's been far too slow without using chakra to block hers.
" See, Naruto, this is why we did this. It's obvious your taijutsu needs work." said Kakashi, not looking up from his book.
" Neji and Hinata, you should double your efforts as well. You rely to heavily on your bloodlines." said Asuma. " You need to develop non-Hyuuga techniques." Neji looked offended at the suggestion while Hinata hung her head, looking ashamed.
" Everyone but Lee and Ten-Ten should. Sakura, your taijutsu is as bad as Naruto's, and everyone else is pretty much helpless with out their bloodlines." Kurenai said coldly.
" Hey, I have a idea." said Naruto, triumph flashing on his face. " I could make a lot of clones to fight everyone."
The collected ninja sweat dropped.
" No, no, I didn't mean it like that!" said Naruto, aggravated. " I mean because I get the clones memories. I could practice against everyone at once."
" That is a … brilliant suggestion." said Kakashi, looking intrigued. The assembled genin were shocked at Naruto's ingenuity.
" Are you sure he isn't a impostor?" whispered Sasuke to Kurenai. Kurenai nodded no.
" In fact, I think its time for everybody to learn shadow clones to try this out as well. It'll exhaust your chakra so you can't use it accidentally and give you access to a valuable technique." Kakashi said, standing up straight. He looked rather impressive.
Lee looked rather downhearted.
" Like you need to learn shadow clones, Lee." said Naruto, looking to the boy. " You can already kick all our asses at taijutsu." Lee looked rather surprised at the compliment, as it came from a person he was rather sure disliked him.
" Everyone but Lee, line up so I can show you the sign's." said Kurenai, brining the genin to her. " Kakashi, show Lee that move you copied from that Grass ninja."
" Fine. Come on, Lee. I'll teach you a high level taijutsu move." Kakashi said, leading the green clad individuals away. " Send a clone when we can come back."
" Break time!" said Naruto, laying down in the grass.
" No it is not." Guy appeared and towered over him. " I am going to help you with focusing chakra. You have massive reserves but use it wastefully. With my help, you will be as skilled as my apprentices!"
Naruto gulped, praying Guy didn't make him wear a green jumpsuit.
---
" All right, now that Naruto's gone, we can begin. Everyone, form the hand sign's and try the jutsu." said Kurenai, showing them the order of the seals. The genin all complied and formed the jutsu. Kurenai winced at the massive bursts of malformed chakra.
" Oh…go…." said Ino, wincing and falling to the ground. Choji also collapsed to his knees. Sasuke managed to force the pain back, but it was almost more than he could take.
" I didn't know a jutsu could be painful." said Shino, voice quavering.
" That's because of the chakra demand of the technique." Kurenai said, looking to the genin apologetically. " This isn't like other techniques, where your chakra drains away. This rips your chakra apart."
" So Naruto-kun has to go though that every time he makes a clone?" said Hinata as the pain dimmed away.
" Doubtfully." Kurenai said, looking thoughtful. The genin looked at her, confused. " This was like having a arm cut off, correct?" The genin nodded in agreement. " That's because of how much chakra it took. Think about Naruto's supply."
" It's more losing a single hair. You might not even notice." said Sakura, understanding.
" Maybe even less." Kurenai replied. " Now, I didn't give you much focus on purpose, so you could feel what its like to do it wrong. We're going to take this slowly, building up to the technique and doing it right."
The genin all nodded eagerly.
---
" This should work." said Guy, looking at a seemingly normal group of trees. " Naruto, I want you to run up this tree."
" What? How?" Naruto began loudly.
" By focusing your chakra to your feet like this." Guy said, walking up the side of the tree. Naruto's jaw dropped. Guy leapt off of the tree and landed gracefully. " Form a group of clones to help you learn this faster, as you suggested."
Naruto formed twenty clones, who each took a spot by a tree. " All right…focus my chakra to my feet." Naruto began, puzzling it out. In unison the clones leapt at the trees and tried to run up the sides. Before they got two steps, though, they fell to the ground heavily. They got up, grumbling.
" Oh, I should mention. Your rival, Sasuke, learned this technique in several days. It usually takes a month." Guy called out, trying to reach the boys ego. The clones all looked shocked at each other.
" Come on! We'll do it in a day!" cried a clone. " Yeah!" shouted the others in unison. " No more messing around! Make more clones!"
Guy smiled to himself as an army of Naruto's began to unsuccessfully scale the trees.
---
" You already got it?" asked Kakashi, surprised. Lee had mastered the third taijutsu combination he had shown him already.
" I have, Kakashi-sensei." said Lee, smiling widely. Kakashi had heard of the boys excellent taijutsu skills, but he had always believed that was only due to Guy's constant tutoring. It seemed, however, that the boy was a genius of taijutsu as well as hard work.
" Then I suppose I will have to show you something harder." Kakashi said, activating his Sharingan and preparing to teach the boy some of the best combinations he had copied.
---
" This jutsu is just too troublesome." moaned Shikamaru as he formed the shadow clone incorrectly. " I don't think I'll ever use it in battle even if I get it perfect."
" I agree." said Ten-Ten, wincing as she struggled to stand. Her chakra reserves were nearly gone.
" Kurenai-sensei, I believe I have done it!" proclaimed Hinata tiredly. Kurenai walked over and inspected the single clone.
" Good job, Hinata. You can take a break now." Kurenai said with a smile to the girl.
Hinata walked over and joined Sasuke, Sakura, and Neji, who were resting a short distance away in the shade. They had finished before her. She activated her Byakugan and looked at the other genin. They all, even her genius cousin, had almost no useable chakra left.
" I knew it would be hard to match Naruto with shadow clones, but I thought it would be at least possible." Sakura said somberly.
" Hey, don't feel bad. Most people don't learn shadow clones until they become jounins." Asuma called lazily from where he was sitting.
" What? Then why did you have us learn?" yelled a annoyed Sakura.
" Because all of you, even Kiba, are exceptional genin." Asuma replied. Everyone but Kiba felt reassured by the complement.
" I got it!" barked Akamaru. By him stood another small dog, wagging its tail.
" Good dog, Akamaru!" said Kiba, petting the clone. The clone disappeared when he touched it, however. " Oh." said Kiba, petting the real one. Akamaru ran off to the shade and lay down, panting.
" Hinata-sama, I have a question." said Neji in a surprisingly polite tone. Hinata looked to her cousin. " How many clones is Naruto capable of creating?"
" I don't know." said Hinata, thinking back. Naruto had been improving, so his limit had likely increased.
" At least several hundred."
" Hn." Sasuke said, nodding. " He'll be a threat if he ever gets any skill."
" I agree." Neji said, looking at the other genius. " He will most definitely be a problem in the chunnin exams."
" Chunnin exams?" asked Sakura, sounding interested.
" The exam that you must complete before being promoted. It's in two months." said Neji, returning to his cold voice. " Guy plans on letting us enter, and I expect the other jounin's will enter your teams as well."
" There's no way we can let Naruto beat us." said Sasuke, determinedly. " I won't lose to the dead last."
Hinata was getting worried by this conversation.
" Hey, I'm back!" shouted Naruto, running over with a triumphant looking Guy. " Hey Sasuke, how long did it take you to learn the chakra focusing technique?"
" Less than a week." Sasuke said gloatingly.
" That long? It took me a hour." said Naruto, smiling proudly. Sasuke glowered at him. " With all those clones it didn't take long. It's going to be easy to learn things now!"
" Congratulations, Naruto-kun." congratulated Hinata.
" Thanks, Hinata-chan." Naruto said, sitting by her. Sakura felt jealous of Hinata for getting Naruto so quickly.
---
" All right, how'd it go?" said Kakashi, walking up with a beaming Lee. The genin struggled to their feet, feeling completely drained.
" Okay. They'll need to keep practicing. But, they won't be able to use chakra during the rest of the training today." said Kurenai, looking the genin over.
" Oh, come on! We can't practice like this!" whined Kiba.
" Shut up, Kiba." said Kurenai, silencing the boy. " Yon can and you will." Kiba gulped as the forceful woman glowered at him. " Naruto, form the clones. Everyone ready themselves."
" I will practice with Lee." said Guy, walking towards his favorite apprentice. " I wish to see what techniques my rival taught him." Lee smiled as he and his teacher fell into combat stances and began to trade attacks.
" All right!" Naruto said, smiling confidently. He performed the shadow clone, inspiring jealousy from the genin at the ease he did it with. A platoon of Naruto clones faced them. The genin all forced themselves forward, hoping to take their aggression out on the clones.
---
Five hours later, even Naruto looked tired.
" Again." said Kurenai, taking a combat stance. Even the jounin's had joined in.
" Come on." said Shikamaru, struggling to stand. " We've had enough."
" I agree." said Sasuke, nursing a bruise on his cheek. " We've learned all we can against the clones."
" Aw, quit being such babies." called Naruto.
" Naruto, shut up!" said Kiba irately. " If you had to fight this long, you'd be tired too. ."
" Yeah. Don't feel too proud since you don't really have to fight." said Ten-Ten, also annoyed. The other genin, even Hinata, nodded, expressing similar feelings.
" Well fine!" Naruto said defiantly. " I won't use any clones. So, who do I fight first?"
" Naruto, you've gotten better from all the practice this afternoon, but I don't think…" began Asuma.
" I will fight you." said Neji, walking forward. Despite his exhaustion, he carried himself well.
Without a pause for the jounin to protest, Naruto and Neji launched themselves at each other. Neji connected a punch to Naruto's face, knocking the smaller genin head over heel's. Naruto sprang back up only to be knocked over by sweep kick.
" Both of you, stop!" shouted Kurenai commandingly. The genin froze. " That will be enough of that."
" I can take him!" complained Naruto, brushing himself off. Neji laughed.
" No, Naruto, you can't. A loser like you, without the gift he was given by the Fourth, would be nothing."
" You shut up!" Naruto yelled angrily. Kakashi leapt over and restrained him from attacking. " In a fight you know I would win!"
" No, Naruto, even with your clones, you would lose. I can see the real you with my Byakugan and attack you. With my Jyuuken your clones not even have a chance against me." Neji said cruelly, turning and walking away. Everyone fell silent. " Despite the annoyance you can present, you will never be a challenge."
" Neji, you shouldn't say such things about Naruto-kun!" shouted Hinata, leaping in front of her cousin.
" Why? Unlike anyone else here, I respect him." Neji said. Hinata looked at him, confused. " He's the only one here who was marked from birth." he said, taking his forehead protector off and revealing the Caged Bird seal. " He is the only one who had to suffer for reasons he had no control over. But he was not held back."
Neji glanced back to Naruto. " You never put any effort into things, despite your natural intelligence and talent. You wasted your genius. I see you as a failed version of me, Naruto. One who never realized his potential."
Neji began to turn, but Naruto cut him off.
" What's that seal on your head?" Naruto asked.
" It is the mark of the branch family of the Hyuuga. It gives the main branch the ability to control us." Neji replied coldly.
" Can it be removed?" asked Naruto.
" Only by the main family." said Neji.
" Hinata-chan, could you remove it then?" Naruto asked. Neji gaped in surprise.
" Naruto-kun, it is the family tradition. I must not remove the seal." said Hinata.
Everyone felt Naruto's anger rise.
" That's stupid, Hinata!" Naruto shouted.
" Naruto-kun…" Hinata began, but Naruto cut her off.
" Why the hell does the main family need to mark and control the branch family anyways?" Naruto said, struggling away from Kakashi.
" Naruto-kun, I can't…" said Hinata, beginning become afraid.
" Don't give me that bullshit! No one has a right to mark someone else!" Naruto shouted. Everyone stepped away. His eyes had gone red with slit like pupils. He suddenly stopped and closed his eyes, like he was forcing something back. " Sorry. Sorry." he said, opening his eyes, which had gone back to normal.
Neji stepped back as Hinata activated her Byakugan and looked to him. Hinata began searching through the embedded chakra. Neji could feel a tingling feeling as her gaze passed though the seal and winced, preparing for the pain. It came, but was not nearly as painful as he expected. He felt something dripping down his nose and opened his eyes while wiping the liquid off. He looked to his hand and saw a green ink smudged on them. He pulled a polished kunai out and looked at his forehead. The seal was gone, the tattoo ink forced from his skin. He wiped the rest off.
" I-it's r-removed." said Hinata shaking.
" Thanks, Hinata." Naruto coldly. Hinata looked to Naruto, fighting back tears. He still looked angry, but there was a hint of forgiveness in his gaze. " Now you can't whine about that anymore, Neji. I don't want you to ever compare yourself to me again. There's only one person that I know of that knew the loneliness I did, and you aren't him."
" Hinata-sama…" Neji said, stunned.
" I'll remove the rest of the clans seals and destroy the scroll for creating them." Hinata said, sounding guilty.
" That's a good idea, Hinata-chan!" said Naruto, walking over. He had returned to his normal, cheery self instantly. Hinata looked to him with hope on her face. " Sorry. I yelled. I just…the whole seal thing was kinda touchy."
" Yeah. That was as bad as calling Choji fat." said Ino, not thinking.
---
" Ow." said Naruto, nursing his jaw where Choji had hit it after going berserk. " It's kinda hard to eat ramen like this."
" Shut up, dead last." said Sasuke, taking a seat at the ramen stand by him.
" What the hell are you doing here?" Naruto asked, annoyed.
" Getting dinner." said Sasuke. He turned to Ayame. " I'll have a pork ramen."
" Oh." Naruto said before burying himself back his noodles.
" So, dead last, you up for a real fight tomorrow?" Sasuke said, smirking. " See how we do against each other with out jutsu?"
" Your on!" Naruto replied, accepting the challenge from his rival.
---
When the clan had assembled in the meeting chambers, there was general confusion. The reclusive heir only spoke to them occasionally, and they had not expected her to call a clan meeting. Then, her cousin Neji walked in front of the clan, taking a seat by her. They gasped as he removed his forehead protector and revealed the blank forehead.
" What is the meaning of this?" asked one of the elders irately. He quailed as Hinata focused on him with her Byakugan. She broke his seal. He took off his forehead protector as well, wiping the ink away in amazement.
" On the suggestion of Uzamaki Naruto, I have decided that the Caged Bird seal will no longer be used by our clan. I have destroyed the scroll for creating them and I will remove them from you now. Neji, please help me." Neji nodded at Hinata's request, having been instructed by Hinata in how to remove the seals. They began to remove the seals from the startled Hyuuga.
Hinata smiled to herself, thinking about how Naruto had seemed proud of her when she had promised to destroy the seal forever. He had apologized profusely about yelling at her, even when she had told him to stop. She felt a little bad that Naruto had been so guilty about that, but in the back of her head she was glad he was so worried about upsetting her.
You really have him. thought a evil little voice in her mind, making her giggle.
---
Naruto couldn't calm his excitement the next day at practice, which was the usual affair. The moment it was over he raced off, waving his goodbyes and heading to the combat ground by the lake Sasuke had decided they'd meet at. He was looking forward to finally putting that Uchiha into place. He arrived and looked around. The area was a small grassy beach by the lakeside with a few trees and bushes.
" Good to see you came, dead last." said Sasuke, dropping down from a tree. " I thought you'd chicken out."
" No way!" shouted Naruto defiantly. " There's no way I'd miss this opportunity to kick your ass!"
" Then lets start." Sasuke said, lowering into a ready position. " Hey, one thing. If I win, you have to tell me who that person you respect is." Sasuke said, picking a topic for the bet that would make Naruto nervous. He was not disappointed with how Naruto squirmed at the though.
" Uh…okay…and if I win, you have to dye your hair pink!" Naruto said, launching back his own psychological attack. Sasuke's eye twitched. Now he couldn't let himself lose for anything.
Naruto opened by creating a dozen clones which charged Sasuke head on. Sasuke smirked as he activated his Sharingan. With ease he dodged and blocked the clones attacks, scattering and destroying them.
" Come on, Naruto what was that?" Sasuke taunted.
" Reconnaissance." said Naruto, flashing a vicious smiled.
The two young ninja flew at each other at top speed. Naruto formed another team of clones which tried to slam into Sasuke at top speed, but the boy dodged away and delivered a kick to the real Naruto, sending him tumbling into the water. The clones turned and leapt for him, but he defeated them with the same ease as before. He looked where Naruto lay in the shallows. This had been far easier than he had thought. He launched himself in a flying kick. Naruto didn't even have time to dodge, with Sasuke landing a bone crushing hit to his chest.
To Sasuke's surprise, Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke.
" Shit." said Sasuke, looking around. When did he escape?
Before be could react a squad of clones leapt from underwater and grabbed him, dragging him down. He was caught off guard and got a mouthful of water. He struggled against the clones for a moment before breaking free, leaping out of the water onto the beach. He coughed up water for a moment before forcing himself to his feet and getting back on guard.
In unison, twenty clones launched themselves out of the water like rockets. Even with his Sharingan he could barely dodge their attacks, and one connected, knocking him along the beach. He tumbled to his feet as the clones surrounded him. They charged in unison, hoping to outflank him. Sasuke leapt into the air and launched a giant fireball into the clones, frying them all instantly.
" Ow!" said Naruto, wading out of the water. " That hurt!" As Sasuke landed another team of clones raced at him. Sasuke began to get bogged down by wave after wave of clones. He realized that Naruto was trying to wear him down like he had in training the day before. He had to end this and fast.
" Phoenix Immortal Fire Technique!" he shouted as he forced the signs together before firing the continuous volley of fireballs into the oncoming wave of clones. They were blasted apart by the rapid fire attack and the real Naruto barely had the chance to dodge away. Sasuke continued to fire towards Naruto, not giving him the chance to form more clones. When Naruto stumbled he stopped the jutsu and raced forward towards the recovering Naruto. Naruto barely had stood up when Sasuke delivered a punch to his gut, lifting him off his feet.
" Got you." Sasuke said triumphantly as the blonde genin tumbled to the ground. Sasuke drew a kunai and raced to Naruto, pinning him down with one hand and holding the kunai to his throat, signaling defeat.
" Dammit! Let me go!" Naruto said, struggling.
" It's too late, Naruto. I win." Sasuke said, releasing Naruto and standing up. He put the kunai away and stood in his cool pose. " Looks like you lose the bet." He'd decided to use the bet to make Naruto nervous, not really wanting the answer, but he was going to take this victory.
" Yeah." said Naruto, standing up and brushing himself off. " It's you."
" What?" asked Sasuke, not understanding.
" You're the only other person I know of who had to grow up with no family." Naruto said painfully. " When Neji was whining today, I couldn't take him really serious. At least he had family. Everyone else in your clan was dead. You were like me, completely alone. Maybe even worse, since you had family at one point."
Sasuke blinked. The Naruto he knew had never been this deep a thinker, at least he had thought that.
" I mean, even if your gay, you're a friend of mine." Naruto said, turning and looking at the setting sun.
" WHAT?" shouted Sasuke, his eye twitching.
" Naw, really, I'm fine with that. Just don't hit on me. Hinata-chan would be jealous." Naruto said jokingly. However, he found Sasuke's hands around his throat a second later.
" Naruto…why the hell…do you think…I'm…" Sasuke stuttered in his rage. If anyone else had heard that…
" You never went out with Sakura, so I guessed." Naruto said, straining to breath. Sasuke let him go, eye twitching heavily.
" I…think I will…go ask Sakura on a date." Sasuke said, turning and storming away. He had to save his reputation, even if it mean putting up with Sakura.
Naruto watched Sasuke storm away in confusion.
---
When Kiba came running up the next day at practice, he didn't give his usual cat-related excuse.
" Hey, did you guys here? Sasuke's going out with Sakura!" Kiba said as he came to a halt. " I always thought he was…you know…"
" You did too?" Naruto said, pleased he wasn't alone in the assumption.
" Thank god. The Hokage was rather worried about that." said Asuma, taking a drag of his cigarette. " I guess we will have more Uchiha after all."
" What are you talking about?" asked a bewildered Hinata. The boy's blushed in unison.
" Nothing, nothing, Hinata-chan." said Naruto, smiling nervously and waving her off. Kiba and Asuma looked unwilling to discuss it as well. She sighed and let the subject go.
--
Three more days of heavy training went by. However, when Kiba and Akamaru arrived one day, Asuma spoke up.
" We're not training today." he said.
" All right!" shouted the boys in unison. Hinata was glad of the respite as well.
" We have a mission we need to head to the Hokage's tower to discuss. The other teams have been assigned to this one as well." Asuma said, turning and leading the way.
" What is it, Asuma-sensei?" asked a excited Naruto.
" Not sure, but with four teams it won't be a D-Rank, I guarantee that." Asuma said. The genin's spirits soared hopefully.
They arrived at the tower and headed to the meeting room, where Kakashi, Guy, Kurenai, and their teams met them. Naruto noticed Sasuke had allowed Sakura to stand much closer to him than normal.
" Now that everyone is here, I can begin." said the Third, walking into the room. " Near the border of the Rain country is a small village called Omasu. Recently, a group of thugs fleeing the civil war in the Rain country has taken over the village. Mostly they are low level combatants, but their leader is a chunnin ranked individual named Shiro who is leading the group. I felt this mission would be a good change for you to practice infiltration and neutralization of a enemy. Usually this mission is ranked above you, but my faith in your four jounin's to keep you safe and the fact I am sending four teams on the mission lets me fudge the rules." The Hokage sat down at his desk, giving Hinata a approving glance obviously related to destruction of the seals.
" Sound's like a piece of cake. The genin will take the thugs while we take Shiro." Asuma said, stretching his arms behind his head.
" There is one complication. I don't want you to violate the Rain countries border if they flee back over it. The area is as unstable as usual and they might see it as an attack." said the Third. " I really hate dealing with that country." they heard him mumble under his breath. " Here is the mission files. I want you all to head out at once."
" Yes, Hokage!" the assembled teams said, snapping to attention. The Hokage smirked. That never gets old.
---
" All right, we are going to treat this mission with utmost care." Kurenai said as the teams assembled outside. " I want everyone to go and ready their packs. Make sure you have everything prepared correctly. We won't be stopping for extra food if you forget. We also are going to travel lightly, so don't weigh yourself down in extra weapons." she added, glancing to Asuma.
" I'll have the weapons in my scrolls if anyone needs replacements." offered Ten-Ten.
" Good thinking. Everyone, dismissed!" Kurenai said. She suddenly found herself alone, the other jounin reacting to the order as well.
A hour later, after several inspections and changes to their equipment, they were fully assembled by the gate.
" I only have enough cigarette's for two days!" whined Asuma.
" Going without them will be good for you." said Kakashi, messing with the four books he had stuffed into his vest. Asuma resisted the opportunity to say something about the jounin's reading habits.
" We'll be there by this evening if we move at full speed." said Guy, standing boldly. " Let's go!" the large jounin strode forward a short distance before taking off at a run. Everyone followed a second later, caught up in Guy's eagerness.
---
About a hour after sunset they found the village. They took cover in the trees a safe distance, observing the small village.
" We'll come back after we drop off our supplies and make our plans." said Kakashi, looking over the village with his visible eye. Hinata got the feeling that he was seeing far more with his normal eye then she could with her Byakugan. The other jounin nodded in agreement and led them off into the forest.
They made camp and deposited their gear in a small clearing in a dense part of the forest. They set up several small camouflaged tents to hide their supplies.
" So, what's the plan?" asked Naruto as they assembled. Kakashi had cleared a patch of dirt and outlined the village on it.
" For now, we gather information so we can form a plan. Just racing in would be bad because we don't know how many enemies there are or where they can be found. If we attacked without knowing, the villagers might be harmed. When we strike, we have to strike perfectly and quickly." said Kakashi, looking at Naruto lazily.
" First, I will take Neji, Hinata, and Shino to observe. With their Byakugan, Neji and Hinata can spy from cover. I'll stay by Hinata and guard her, just in case." Kakashi explained, looking to the girl. " She is our only medic, so we can't afford to lose her. Shino, I want you to send your bugs in to scout out and mark everyone in the village." Shino nodded at the plan. " You will be able to find and identify anyone instantly and the Hyuuga will help us get a feel for where everyone is. Meanwhile, you will all stay a short distance away, ready to help if we are detected."
" And what then?" asked Kiba.
" After I have decided we know their defenses adequately, we will meet up with everyone who isn't with the scouting party and make out attack plan. We should strike while it's night since we will be able to move more safely." finished Kakashi before he could be cut off again. " It is necessary that you stay back and stay hidden until we return. Do you understand?"
Everyone nodded.
" Then head out." Kakashi said, turning towards the village.