Chapter 17 Mission Days
Minato stalked his target through the underbrush. He held his breath carefully as he advanced upon his prey. Stalking forwards a few more steps, Minato paused, before pouncing. He grabbed onto the struggling cat and quickly scruffed it, making the cat go limp.
Kakashi jumped down beside him and inspected the limp cat, "Is that Tora? Does it have the ribbon on the right ear?" He asked.
Minato held the brown cat out to Kakashi as an answer. Kakashi waved him off. It was Tora indeed, there was the distinctive ribbon on its ear.
"Good job. Now that all three of you have each individually caught Tora once, we can begin moving up the mission ranks. Oh, and congrats on being the fastest to catch Tora on your team." Kakashi said patting Naruto on the head. "Now, let's head back."
Kakashi had been working on developing his team's individual skills. He'd discovered that Naruto had enhanced senses similar to Kiba when he tested their sense of smell. Most likely a result of being the host to the Kyuubi. This was a delight to Kakashi as he could train his sensei's son in his own tracking techniques since as a Hatake he was born with enhanced smelling capabilities like the Inuzuka. Kakashi could already tell that the kid would make a formidable hunter nin in the future. He was exactly like a bloodhound and his chakra sensing abilities only enhanced his capabilities.
Kiba also wasn't far behind Naruto in terms of tracking prowess. He was a natural at picking up the differences between scents, something that was slightly harder to do for Naruto. Kiba also had different combat tactics forcibly beaten into his skull by Kakashi. He would no longer charge headlong at his opponent, but would take advantage of his speed to quickly strike from unexpected angles.
Sasuke on the other hand would eventually become a natural ninjutsu using power house. The kid had large chakra reserves and learned extremely fast. Kakashi had apologized for the genjutsu he'd used during the test and offered a lesson on meditation to calm and center himself. The meditation would help improve Sasuke's chakra control and develop resistances towards mental attacks, like the hell viewing technique.
Overall the team was developing splendidly. Though there were many bumps along the way. Even though all three boys were skilled at fighting and could hypothetically mesh well. Kiba would often clash with Sasuke just on principal. They also discovered KIba had a very short patience and would often jump the gun and attack before he was supposed to. Sasuke and Naruto both had the problem of believing they could accomplish things on their own without the help of others. Though Naruto was slightly better than Sasuke at accepting scolding for this aspect. Naruto also had a tendency to go off and do things on his own without telling the team. Meanwhile Sasuke had a habit of ignoring the things Kiba said.
The few team exercises they had done couldn't solve all their problems right away, but it did help smooth things over. Sasuke gained a respect for the enhanced senses of his teammates. Kiba grudgingly admitted that Sasuke would learn jutsu faster than him. Naruto had to admit that he couldn't accomplish everything on his own. Slowly but surely they were coming together.
Minato had also stepped it up in sparring sessions with Kakashi during their individual sessions. He forced him to work harder without whipping out his Sharingan immediately. For the first time since Shisui died, Minato released his resistance seals to spar. In their first unrestrained private spar Kakashi couldn't keep up with Naruto's speed after he had released the first level of his seals. He moved to pull up his hitai-ate. Naruto took full advantage of the lapse in movement to defeat Kakashi. Minato had noticed that Kakashi's reactions seemed strangely delayed at some points and pointed this out to Kakashi. Kakashi had laughed awkwardly and then found a corner to sulk in. He assigned Naruto a solo D-rank in embarrassment.
Speaking of D-ranks, the monotonous D-ranks were tiring but paid decently enough, even though Naruto didn't exactly need the money. Kurama had even spoken up a few times to complain how boring watching Minato complete all the chores was. The great fox had taken to commentating on Minato's life like it was a bad tv show. Minato didn't exactly appreciate his life being turned into a source of entertainment. He also didn't really appreciate having his thoughts constantly interrupted by snide remarks, but he dealt with it all well enough. He'd retaliated by changing his mindscape into random colors and then enjoyed the Kyuubi's moans while dealing with a neon pink field of wheat.
"Maybe you should stick a tracking seal on it so that you don't have to look for it again. Watching you clumsily track a cat through a forest isn't fun." The Kyuubi said as Naruto and Kakashi began walking back to the missions desk where their team was waiting.
'Thanks for the advice, but it's good practice tracking Tora.' Minato thought back still carrying Tora by the nape of its neck.
When the duo finally arrived at the missions office, Tora was immediately snatched up by an ecstatic Madam Shijimi.
The wife of the Fire Daimyo smushed the cat into her ample bosom and cuddled it fiercely. "Oh Tora! I was so worried about you! I could have died!" She cried.
Kiba grumped up to Naruto and whispered in his ear, "She should hug it a bit harder. That way we won't have to catch that demonic cat ever again."
Sasuke sidled up to Naruto's other side and snorted in agreement.
Minato scratched his head awkwardly and laughed, he hadn't had that much trouble with the cat…
The team walked up to the Sandaime's desk to receive their next mission, the Sandaime noticed them approaching and looked up from his stack of papers.
"Ah, Team seven. Let's see… your next mission is… An errand to the neighboring town to babysit the Chief Councilor's boy, and then helping to dig potatoes-"
"Hokage-sama, isn't there a higher ranked mission we can take?" Kiba whined, interrupting the Hokage's spiel.
Sasuke nodded his head and Naruto had a wry smile on.
Iruka stood up from the Hokage's left side and shouted, "You fool! You're still a genin! Everyone starts with the bottom missions and moves up over time!"
"B-but it's been nothing but chores so far! Are these really missions?"
Kakashi put a hand on top of Kiba's head, silencing him.
The Sandaime took a puff of his pipe and looked at Kiba, "Evidently you need an explanation of just what these missions are. You see… Every day our village receives requests that we sort into categories based on the degree of skill they require. Shinobi are also divided into skill levels. The missions are distributed to those with the abilities to complete the requests. You are currently at the lowest rank, D-ranks are the best you can get."
Kiba crossed his arms and huffed while Akamaru whined besides him.
Kakashi then stepped up, "Actually, I believe my team is ready for a C-rank today. I've trained their individual skills quite a lot recently."
The Sandaime hummed and considered Kakashi's statement. He looked over the team carefully. He was still unsure of Naruto's true strength. Kakashi had reported that Naruto was capable of rivaling him in taijutsu without his Sharingan but he had no knowledge of the amount of ninjutsu that Naruto knew just yet.
"Well since you put it that way I may have a task for you. Your next mission is to bodyguard a certain individual."
Kiba instantly perked up, "Who is it?!" He asked excitedly.
Smirking, the Sandaime called out, "Please come in Tazuna-san!"
The door off to the side of the missions office opened and a man dressed in casual work clothes entered with a bottle of sake in hand. Minato's first impression was that this man was drunk, his second impression was equally unfavorable as the man proceeded to open his mount and insult the trio.
"Are these the ones that are going to be protecting me? They look like a bunch of brats. Especially the dumb looking one with the dog."
"Huuuh? Who're you callin dumb you old drunk!?" Kiba roared. Akamaru barked from the top of his head as well.
Kakashi whapped Kiba on the head, "No insulting the client."
The man took a long and messy gulp of his sake, he turned to the Hokage and asked, "This isn't a joke right? Are they really ninja?"
"I assure you they are trained Shinobi who will do their best to protect you. Additionally you will have Jounin Hatake Kakashi with you." The Hokage said.
"Humph fine then." Tazuna looked condescendingly at the genin, "I'm Tazuna, super bridge builder. Until I safely back in my own country, where I'll be completing my next bridge, you'll be protecting me with your lives."
Naruto nodded sharply at Tazuna, Sasuke grunted, and Kiba crossed his arms huffily and turned his head.
Minato found it slightly strange that the man was so serious about his own safety, if this was really a C-rank there shouldn't be any need for the paranoia. The man was also rather worried for a simple C-rank client. Perhaps he was just a paranoid old man?
"Well then, we will meet tomorrow at eight at the gates of Konoha. Make sure to pack for several weeks of travel." Said Kakashi, putting his hands in his pockets.
The team nodded at their sensei while Tazuna grunted and left the room.
The next day at the great orange gates of Konoha, Naruto was leaning on the gate doors waiting patiently. Soon enough both Sasuke and Kiba showed up. Kiba saw that neither Tazuna nor Kakashi were around so he decided to let Akamaru down from his coat to play. Naruto and Kiba both spent several minutes playing with the small puppy before Tazuna showed up with another bottle of sake.
The man brought a dark cloud of worry along with his arrival. Minato narrowed his eyes at the man. Seems this wouldn't be a normal C-rank then… Minato dug into his pack for his sealing supplies and began to draw up a few basic barrier seals while they waited for their sensei.
After an hour had passed with no sign of Kakashi Minato finally decided to see what was keeping him. He crouched down and put two fingers to the ground to help him concentrate. Minato spread his senses out across Konoha searching for Kakashi. He found Kakashi at the memorial stone in training grounds seven and he frowned softly. Mourning the dead was fine and all but he couldn't let this habit cut into his life too much.
"What's keeping that Sensei of yours?" Tazuna asked impatiently, tapping his foot.
Kiba groaned from were he was sprawled out under a tree, "He's always like this, he'll probably show up soon with another ridiculous excuse."
Sasuke grunted in agreement.
Sure enough Kakashi soon turned up and said, "Yo! Today I had to help an old lady with her groceries but her house was at the top of a mountain."
Tazuna and Kiba sighed simultaneously while Minato studied the man closely.
Sasuke stood from where he was sitting and said, "Let's go then."
Kiba bounded up to Naruto and said excitedly, "Hey. Hey. Naruto! Isn't this exciting? This'll be our second time out of the village! Do you think it will be anything like the first?"
Sasuke turned his head as he remembered the short lived kidnapping and Minato chuckled awkwardly, "Heh. Kiba if were lucky nothing like that will ever happen again."
Tazuna shifted uncomfortably. "Am I supposed to be reassured with you brats?" He asked bluntly.
Kakashi eye smiled, "Maa you have nothing to worry about. I'm a Jounin, I'll be coming along too after all."
Kiba crossed his arms letting Akamaru jump back into his jacket, "You shouldn't insult ninja to their faces old man."
"Heh. I'll respect you when I want to." Tazuna said taking a swig of his sake.
"You watch it! I'll be Hokage one day!" Kiba shouted.
"Isn't the hokage the best your village has to offer? I don't think you have what it takes."
"Why you!" Kiba made to charge at the man but Kakashi held him back.
Minato suddenly detected two unknown signatures near the edge of his range, he glanced at Tazuna and frowned. He couldn't ascertain the intentions of the two presences but he didn't like how they felt.
"Alright… Let's go then…" Kakashi drawled, he started walking down the road leading away from Konoha.
Kiba quickly followed Kakashi eager to get away from Tazuna for a bit.
Naruto looked at Sasuke who had already stood and was following the duo down the road, he shrugged and waited for Tazuna to start walking before he followed.
A few hours later as they were still walking Minato signaled to Kakashi using discret hand signals that two prescenes had been tailing them since Konoha.
Kakashi blinked at Naruto in confirmation and signed to wait and see.
Kiba walked along not suspecting anything, the two presences were down wind after all.
Sasuke noticed the hand signals exchanged between Kakashi and Naruto and his right hand drifted over his kunai holster.
"Hey, Kakashi sensei. Are there ninja in Wave?" Kiba asked out of the blue.
"Mm… No. Not in the Land of Waves. There's not much to worry about for this mission, you won't be facing any Ninja during a mere C-rank." Kakashi replied.
"Aww so I won't encounter any enemy nin?" Kiba whined.
"Of course not! Haha!" Kakashi said, patting Kiba on the head.
Tazuna looked down at the ground with a slightly drawn look that Sasuke, Naruto, and Kakashi all took note of.
Minato felt the two unknowns move around the side of the group and stop up ahead around where the road turned slightly. He signed this information to Kakashi who nodded back at him.
Soon enough as the group continued walking they came upon a small puddle by the side of the road. Kiba glanced at it as they walked past but didn't say anything.
Just as they had passed it two figures slowly appeared out of the puddle, one riding on the other's back. The figures were dressed in black and white camouflage, they wore respirator masks and wore the symbol of Kiri shinobi. Each of the nin had a great clawed weapon on their arm that was connected by a long bladed chain.
The one riding on the other's back leapt off and aimed straight at Kakashi. They lashed the sharp chain around and captured Kakashi with it. Kakashi froze, caught by the chains.
"What?!" He yelled.
"One down." The two enemy nin said pulling sharply on the bladed chains and chopping Kakashi into pieces.
Kiba froze at the sight of the gore while Naruto and Sasuke took up defensive stances next to Tazuna.
The two nin dashed towards Tazuna circling around Sasuke and Naruto.
Sasuke leapt up into the air and pinned their bladed chain to a tree with a well aimed shuriken. He reinforced the pinned shuriken with a second kunai. Sasuke then landed on top of the clawed weapons that the two nin held and kicked them backwards. The two enemies quickly disconnected the chain from their claws and dashed away from Sasuke towards Tazuna. Naruto moved to block the one on the right while Sasuke moved towards the one on the left.
Naruto threw a punch that was too fast to be blocked at his opponent's gut; then sharply chopped the back of their neck as they bent over from the impact.
Sasuke blocked a sharp thrust with a kunai, just as he was about to counter Kiba came flying in from behind him and nailed his opponent with a Gatsuga, sending him flying backwards.
"Tch. First you freeze up, then you steal my opponent." Sasuke said, kicking at the now unconscious Kiri nin.
"Hey shut up! I didn't freeze! I was just surprised is all!" Kiba yelled point at Sasuke harshly.
Kakshi appeared behind them, "Good work you three, Kiba don't freeze up like that next time. Naruto, very clean. Sasuke, good aim." He then turned to Tazuna, "Now I believe you have something you should tell us? Those two have been following us since we left Konoha according to Naruto."
Tazuna hesitated as Naruto and Kiba moved to tie up the Kiri nin. Once the enemy nin had been tied up against a tree the group fell into discussion mode.
"These are Chunnin of Kirigakure. Kiri shinobi are often renowned for their willingness to fight until their goals are achieved, even at the cost of their own lives." Kakashi stated, examining the two Shinobi.
"Kakashi-sensei, I think they're the Demon Brothers, Gozu and Meizu, from the bingo books." Naruto said.
"Hmm… You may be right Naruto. They're supposed to be subordinates of Momochi Zabuza, the Demon of the Mist, right?" Kakashi asked. Naruto nodded in response.
The Kiri nin soon woke up and realized they were captured. They struggled in their bonds a bit before they gave up and settled down.
"How did you know we were here?" One of them asked.
"We have a very good sensor and it hasn't rained for days. There shouldn't be any puddles…" Kakashi said drily.
"W-well if you knew they were following us then why didn't you do anything?" Tazuna spluttered.
"I wanted to know who their target was. I needed to know if they were after you or one of us. There was no report of any Shinobi after your life Tazuna-san. The request you submitted was to have an escort protect you against bandits or thieves. In any case this has clearly become a B-rank or higher mission. Protecting you from ordinary dangers until you finished the bridge is one thing but this is clearly another. As it is, this mission is currently beyond our pay grade." Kakashi stated.
"Are we going back to Konoha then?" Sasuke asked.
"Please no! Please wait and let me explain myself!" Tazuna said hurriedly.
"Well? We're waiting." Kakashi drawled.
Tazuna hung his head, "As you've said… This job is more dangerous than I led you to believe. There's a super scary many that wants me dead."
Kiba tilted his head, "A super scary man?"
"You've probably heard of him…"
"Who is it?" Naruto asked.
"He's a billionaire in the shipping field. His name is Gato!"
Kakashi's eyes widened, "You mean Gato. Gato of Gato Shipping and Transport? One of the richest men in the world?"
Tazuna nodded, "That's the one. On the surface he seemed like a normal business man. But the truth is that he's a ruthless criminal who employs gangs of mercenaries and teams of Shinobi. He traffics in drugs and contraband. He lives by every low and vicious trade known to man… In fact it was just one year ago that he set his sights on Wave. He came under the guise of a business venture and then the violence began. He soon took over the entire marine transportation and shipping industry. He has a stranglehold on all forms of transportation, which is the lifeblood of our island nation! The only thing he has to worry about is the bridge that has been under construction for some time already…"
Naruto hummed in thought. "So you, as the architect of the bridge and its head builder, are in the way of Gato's hold on Wave."
Sasuke turned to the bound Kiri nin who bristled at his look, "So that means these guys are working for Gato then?"
"Huh. Okay so a super rich dude is after you is what I'm getting." Said Kiba scratching the side of his head.
"I still don't understand though. Why didn't you tell us that you were a target then?" Asked Kakashi.
"Wave isn't really rich. Even the local Daimyo is poor. I have no money at all… A B-rank mission is more than I can afford…" Said Tazuna, the man seemed to be shrinking into himself with each word. "If you turn away from me now. I'm as good as dead. But." He said perking up again. "That's not any of your concern! It won't matter when my daughter and ten year old grandson cry all day! Oh! And you won't mind if my daughter vows eternal hatred on all Konoha Shinobi for the rest of her life! Don't worry it won't be your fault!"
Tazuna laughed uproariously as team seven collectively sweat dropped.
Kakashi sighed and looked at his team for an answer. Naruto once again had a wry smile on his face, Sasuke smirked at Kakashi and Kiba bared his teeth in a ferocious grin.
Kakashi sighed again, "Well… I suppose it can't be helped. We'll continue to protect you, at least until you return to your country!"
Tazuna smiled victoriously and set off at his ambling pace down the road once more. Team seven exchanged wary glances behind his back and followed him.
"Well. For now let's find a place to camp for the night! I'll send a message to Konoha to pick up the Demon Brothers and inform them of the mission rank increase." said Kakashi.
The team nodded at him and continued down the road until they reached a forest and set up camp for the night.