Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Legend:

"Someone is talking."

'Someone is thinking.'

"A technique is being used."

Gas V:

Konohagakure no Sato—Administration Building

At the moment, one would find Team Yamato standing on a brown mat in front of the Mission Assignment Desk. Sitting behind the desk were the Sandaime Hokage and five nondescript Chῡnin who were separating mission scrolls into separate piles. They were also looking at reports from completed missions, recording the "mission complete" and the rank of the missions in little black logbooks.

The Sandaime Hokage overlooked the group for a moment, his experienced eyes taking in everything about them. Any injuries they might have, the state of the team's clothing, the schooled expressions the team wore, the professional stances they all stood in, the glints in their eyes. He saw it all and more, much more.

"I wouldn't ordinarily do this but, because of your performances during your sixty D-rank missions, the glowing reviews from your clients, and personal recommendation from your Jōnin sensei... I have decided to grant Team Yamato their first C-rank mission."

This—This was a huge step. Naruto, Fuki, and Sasuke had tired of D-rank missions the first day they had to catch Tora. They would have complained earlier about it but Yamato had warned them against it, saying that they were adults in the eye of the law now. It would only tarnish their future careers if it was noted that they were childish or pushy or, even worse, demanded a mission above their level. Plus, while D-ranks usually ranged from 5,000 and 50,000 ryō each mission, shinobi could do several each day, quickly racking up a payment equal to a day's work.

C-ranks, though, were completely different. Not only did the pay range from 30,000 and 100,000 ryō, the missions weren't "glorified chores". C-ranks missions involved actual shinobi work like bodyguarding, gathering semi-important plants or herbs from outside of the village, hunting wild animals, or delivering mail. A single C-rank mission would look great on their records, especially since they had graduated two months ago.

And, if the mission went well, they could probably get another C-rank mission after they finished this one.

"What is the mission, Hokage-sama?" Yamato asked in place of his three shell-shocked, though noticeably recovering Genin. "... If I may ask so, of course."

The Sandaime Hokage nodded, "Your team will be escorting the leader of Takigakure no Sato, and his son, back to their village. He has just completed a series of negotiations with Konoha for Taki and he has requested a Konoha team to take him home."

Naruto was practically beaming at this point. This mission would be the first time he had left Konohagakure and Hi no Kuni. He would be able to see how much the terrain resembled those shown in Iruka-sensei's lectures on geography. He might even get to see or pass by some of the famous, former battlegrounds between renowned shinobi.

The best part, though, was the opportunity this mission would present the team. They would be escorting their client back to Takigakure no Sato, the fabelled "unlocatable hidden village". The reason that Taki no Kuni hadn't fallen during the last three shinobi world wars, despite the fact that it was surrounded by four different countries. They, mere Genin, would see something that a lot of shinobi and hidden villages would sacrifice practically anything for.

It was a humbling thought.

"Of course, Hokage-sama." Team Yamato bowed as one to the Sandaime Hokage. Then Yamato stepped forward and asked, "When should we leave?"

"Your mission begins tomorrow morning at six o'clock sharp. And the mission should last about two or three weeks. I suggest you pack for a three week trip." The Sandaime Hokage responded. A faint grin broke out onto his wrinkled features as he leant forward, "And be sure to tell me all about your trip when you get back..."

Naruto grinned, "Sure can do!"

"Fufufufufufu..." Fuki chuckled slightly, covering her mouth with her right "hand". "We'll do our best to get as much details for you as we can, Hokage-sama..."

"We are going to a living legend, after all." Sasuke commented with a smirk. While the Sandaime Hokage may be teasing them about telling him about their mission when they got back, he must have been curious about Takigakure no Sato as well. Everyone was.

Hi no Kuni—Konohagakure no Sato—North Gate

Team Yamato met up with their client and his son at precisely 6:00 am the next morning. The client himself was a man with short, spiky black hair and steel blue-colored eyes. He was wearing a dark-blue shirt, formfitting black pants, black sandals, and a dark-blue Taki hitai-ite around his forehead. And his name was Ike Numaken.

His son, Shibuki Numaken, was Sasuke, Fuki, and Naruto's age. He had short black hair, blue eyes, and slightly pale white skin. He was wearing a light blue, long-sleeved shirt, black pants, dark-blue sandals, and had a purple Taki hitai-ite tied around his forehead.

When Ike and Shikbuki saw Team Yamato, though, their reactions varied. Shibuki's eyes widened at the sight of Fuki—noting the wings, the talons, and the tail—and stayed glued on her despite his best attempts to look away. Ike looked a bit surprised at Fuki's appearance but quickly schooled his expression and glanced at his son. Seeing him staring, Ike gently tapped him in the forehead and then shook his head when Shibuki looked at him.

Even though Fuki looked as if she hadn't noticed the look, the rest of her team did. Yamato put a comforting hand on her "shoulder" while Naruto and Sasuke whispered something to her. At the same time, they gave Shibuki murderous glances. They knew Fuki was still a bit self-conscious about "her changes", despite what she said to the contrary, and having looks like that directed at her didn't help one bit.

'If you weren't our client's son...' Naruto thought angrily.

Yamato stepped forward and gave Ike a small bow, "Good morning, Ike-sama. As you have requested of the Sandaime Hokage, we have come to escort you back to your village."

"Then let us be off." Ike said once Yamato had gotten up, "I hope we can cover a lot of land before nightfall."

Team Yamato's three Genin shared looks. The client wanted to cover a lot of ground? They grinned at each other. With her wings, Fuki could fly and, with his Kiton, Naruto could levitate himself and glide through the air. If the client wanted to cover a lot of ground, Naruto could create a small horde of Gasu Bunshin to life Ike, Shibuki, Sasuke, and Yamato as they flew.

'I will find a technique that allows me to fly, or I will develop one.' Sasuke thought with slight annoyance. Why was he the only one of them that didn't have a special ability or technique that would allow him to fly like the others? It irked him just a little bit. He was still happy for his friends, though. With a pinch of jealousy.

"Ike-sama... we have a suggestion." Fuki said as she stepped forward, pointedly not looking at Shibuki. "You see, my teammate and I have the ability to fly. If you wanted to cover more ground faster, we would be most happy to use these abilities to speed things along..."

Ike looked at Yamato, who nodded, verifying the information. Takigakure's leader than looked at his son, who looked curious about the thing. His son was probably wondering if it was similar to her method of flight and, to tell the truth, so was he.

"We can do that."

The sky above Hi no Kuni

"I still can't believe this thing is made out of those..." Ike paused for a moment, straining his memory to see if he could remember the name of those clones the blonde had made. "Gasu Bunshin?" Yeah, that seemed right. "... It's unbelievable, really."

After Ike had agreed to allow Team Yamato to use their abilities of flight, Naruto had created a small horde of "Gas Bunshin" which he then used the Henge no Jutsu. This had transformed the clones into a large, light-weight raft that would be able to hold everybody. But that wasn't the best part though. No that honor belonged to the fact that, even with their weight in it, the raft was able to float into the sky.

Sasuke shrugged, "That's Naruto for you."

"And it isn't that unbelievable, Ike-sama." Yamato cut in with a helpful air. "You see, Naruto's Gasu Bunshin have the ability to control whether or not they float and/or fly in the air or not. So even in this transformed state, they are choosing to float."

"Shouldn't our weight have made it impossible for us to be up here, though?" Shibuki asked.

"Of course it should! My Gasu Bunshin Raft™ could probably only hold two of you guys by itself." Naruto said from where he, using his Kiton: Henge no Jutsu, was floating above the raft. "I'm using a new Kiton jutsu I developed to cushion the bottom of the Gasu Bunshin Raft™. Not only does this "cushion" bear the extra weight, it also allows the Gasu Bunshin Raft™ to do its intended job."

"... That doesn't make any sense."

Naruto looked down at the offender who said that while his eye began to twitch. He had explained it really well! It should make perfect sense! Why he aught too just open a hole in the raft underneath Shikbuki and watch him plummet. it would serve the little teme right, for eyeing Fuki like some sort of monster, and for questioning his Kiton jutsu.

"Shibuki-san... Naruto is the developer of an entirely new branch of Elemental Ninjutsu." Fuki said from her place on the raft. Hey, give her a break! Her wings had gotten tired after the first hour of flying so high in the sky. And the raft looked so inviting and comfortable, she just couldn't resist. "I know he tries to explain it as best as he could but unless you have his knowledge, it can be hard to understand what he means."

"Oh... what is he tryying to say?"

"Naruto has used his Kiton Ninjutsu to create a cloud of dense gas on the underside of this raft. This cloud is partialy bearing the weight of the raft. Do you see how Naruto's hands are twitching? That is a sign that he is controlling the cloud's direction, as when he twists his fingers a certain way, the cloud and raft turns that way too."

Naruto's eyes bugged out. How had Fuki noticed that?

Fuki glanced at her blonde teammate as her right "hand" came up to her lower mouth, "Fufufufufufu fufufu..." Ike and Shibuki tensed, "You didn't think that I didn't notice, Naruto? I have to notice. It's essential for our slowly developing arsenal of Konbijutsu."

"You two are already developing Konbijutsu?" Ike asked, surprised.

"Yes. Naruto's Kiton techniques mix well with my own techniques, so it shouldn't be that much of a surprise that we decided to use that as a basis for Konbijutsu." Fuki answered before she turned her head and glanced over at Sasuke, "Our Konbijutsu thought are not as destructive as Naruto and Sasuke's Konbijutsu, though.

Sausuke raised an eyebrow, "You call flash-freezing an enemy, the area around the enemy, or a supporting structure is less destructive? Do you even remember that time when you took out the main supporting structure of the K.M.P's—"

"Don't mention that!" Naruto shivered.

"Our Konbijutsu don't cause explosions whenever they take effect, so no, I don't believe they are as destructive as yours. Or as noticeable." Fuki said with a small, challenging smirk on her face. "And besides, the K.M.P said that building needed to come down anyway."

By this point, Ike an Shikbuki were very confused. It was very unheard of for a fresh Genin team to have enough trust and knowledge of each other's abilities to begin to develop Konbijutsu. But, judging by the closeness of Naruto and Fuki, it didn't seem that big of a step. Developing two entirely different "strings" of Konbijutsu, with two different people, at the same time? That was unprecedented. That was—that was...

A miracle.

"You are lecturing me about noticeabilityly? Hah! Your Konbijutsu, like mine, leaves very noticeable traces behind. Do you remember the floor of Iruka's classroom? How you basically poured "five gallons" of liquid nitrogen onto the floor?"

"I didn't see you complaining about it."

"That's because I thought they were all psychos! I didn't hae time to compain! If I did, I would've complained about not using those new Katon techniques that Itachi-niisan taught me back then."

"Katon, huh? If you used those, you might as well have burned down the school!"

Ike and Shibuki revised their opinions: Developing two entirely different "strings" of Konbijutsu, with two different people, at the same time, who argued with each other? It was more than a miracle. Much, much, much more. Was there something "more" than a miracle?

"Stop bickering you two." Yamato interupted the growing argument with a stern look. "What have I told you about that?"

Sasuke and Fuki hung their heads, "Sorry, Yamato-sensei..."

A/N: Author's Note: Well, another little ficlet bites the dust. But we have started a semi-new C-rank Mission (considering that there was an OVA where Team Kakashi went to Takigakure no Sato)... but I hope it interests you. I mean, here Shibuki's dad is alive and they have reacted at Fuki's "Fufufufu" laugh... I actually can't wait to do Fu and expand on her, and Takigakure's, skills. Think "Powder-based" Ninjutsu.

Maybe I'll even through in a Fuki vs. Fu, Fuki & Naruto vs. Fu, or a Fuki & Naruto & Sasuke vs. Fu?

And poor little Sasuke. He can't fly yet, can he? He'll get a might bit jealous when he discovers that Fu can fly... or maybe get inspiration from how she does it so he can replicate it... or somehow learn Naruto's technique?