Chapter 10

The next day, Team 12 had all assembled at the main gate. On gate duty that day, chūnin Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane couldn't help but smile and light lightly at the excited faces of the genin waiting at the gate. Yakumo had her eyes closed with a excited smile on her face as she hummed a little tune to herself. Satsuki was shaking a little in apprehension and excitement, her lips quivering from trying to stop herself from smiling too much. While Naruto in his shirtless form, many people looked at the blonde, some womens were giggling, drooling and whispering each other on how manly that Naruto have, while the men were envy on the genin's chest and muscles. He ignored the gossips and decided to looked at the forest through the gate with a blank expression, a tiny spark of excitement in his eyes. After a few minutes Tazuna arrived followed by Anko, who after seeing the looks of her genin, couldn't help but smile.

"Well looks like the three of you are excited to leave on this mission huh! Well let's get to it then!" As she gave her orders, she received a unanimous "Hai!" from her genin and Anko saw Naruto whose looking at Anko, she decided to asked " Hey gaki, what's wrong". Naruto looked at her and replied " Wait sensei, look at your back", as she heed his genin's words she turned around and saw 300 clones (the same day as they perform a bell test), the people moved away to make a path of the 300 shadow clones who armed a golden helmet, spears in the right hand, they replace their original weapon to gladius on left waist, and shield on their left arm, they didn't wear shirt on the top because the t-shirt will be a nuisance when it comes to fight. Many villagers and shinobis are whispering among themselves as the eldest son of hokage have an own army in such a young age and his rank was genin, who was Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze? The girls and the Izumo and Kotetsu were shocked at Naruto's private army, Anko asked " Hey gaki, are you sure that it was yours?" Naruto looked at her and nodded, Anko look at Izumo and Kotetsu then said " Sorry, that's his daily routine and also that's his shadow clones though". The two were amazed at Naruto's weapon, after the mission they would ask him personally on what kind kf exercise that Naruto have? Then they headed towards Nami no Kuni.

As Team 12 headed towards Nami no Kuni, Anko noticed that Tazuna looked more tense then an escort client should be, it was almost as if he was marked for death. Then she notice a large puddle ahead and narrowed her eyes.

"A puddle that big, even if it rained recently it wouldn't be that big. Definitely has to be genjutsu. But maybe this'll be a good test to see how they handle a situation under pressure. If things start to turn, I'll step in." After making the decision of letting her team handle things, Anko walked on the puddle as chains wrapped around her and ripped her to pieces, to the horror of her genin and Tazuna.

The chains retracted as two cloaked figures charged at the group, claw like gauntlets raised to strike. "Eight Down." One of the cloaked figures said as they approached the group.

Satsuki froze, she thought her sensei was one of the best in the village, if she got taken down what good would she be. Swallowing her fear, she dodged the cloaked figure with straight hair as they lunged at her with his gauntlet.

Yakumo seeing Satsuki in trouble immediately threw a volley of shuriken at the person attacking her, managing to get her attention long enough for Satsuki to kick them away, as she threw her own shuriken. While Satsuki and Yakumo were occupied with one of the cloaked figures, the other one with unruly hair charged him and Tazuna.

Tazuna was scared, he had seen an ex-anbu captain get ripped to pieces and now he was going to see a couple of kids get killed before he died. The girls were managing to hold off one of them but the blonde alone wasn't going to hold off the other one. As the other attack approached Tazuna couldn't only watch in shock and awe as the blonde headed kid actually stopped them using his shield.

Meizu couldn't believe was just happened, a kid stopped his attack with just a shield. A shield against his gauntlet. But he respond as a he felt pain erupt on the right side of his body.

As Meizu lunged at him, Naruto whipped out a spear in a reverse grip, letting the gauntlet of his opponent glide across the blade of his spear, Naruto deflecting the attack to the left side of his body, and judging from the shock of his opponent he didn't expect that to happen.

"Oh well," Naruto thought as he smashed his shield towards the enemy's elbow to the left side Meizu's body, a sickening snap echoing across the road as Meizu fell to the ground gasping for breath and clutching the side of his body. However, Naruto didn't his assault as he turned around and struck the back of Meizu's head, his opponent's head impacting the ground with a dull thud as he remained motionless.

Gōzu couldn't believe his eyes when he saw his older brother hit the ground, holding his side. He didn't expect the kid to be skilled enough to handle his brother, let alone beat him. But his distraction cost him as a kick connected to his stomach, making him gasp for air. But he found himself unable to take a breath, as if there was no air for him to breathe, panicking and disoriented he slowly lost conciseness as his world turned black.

Then the front row clones throw their spears at Gōzu then he dodge the upcoming spear volley, when Gōzu finally got away from the throwing area he didn't know that he felt a hot metal piercing his flesh, he turned around and saw Naruto whose stabbed him in the back. Gōzu finally draw his last breath and Naruto stabbed him again to make sure he was dead, as they finished their job, the clones put their shield down also their spears and the girls sighed in relief while Tazuna was awed at the team's teamwork.

Naruto ordered his clones to spread out and set up a perimeter to have a discussion, to say Anko was shocked would be an understatement, not only had her team manage to hold off enemy ninja, they managed to hold their own against 2 chūnin ranked opponents. While she was extremely impressed with Satsuki and Yakumo's incredible teamwork to defend the client along the shadow clones who were near the client's area, they build a house like a tortoise shell to protect the client in the harm's way, she was at a loss for words when she saw how efficiently, unity and brutally Naruto along his shadow clones took down his opponents.

"That elbow had to have broken a rib or two and that blow to the back of the head alongside how hard the impact was while using a shield, there's no doubt that he had some serious injuries. While Satsuki and Yakumo had a good defensive position while their teammate was dealing with the enemy that was expected, they're still genin. But Naruto dismantled Meizu then surprising attack at Gōzu's back while his clones throwing spears at him to create a distraction and he killed them like they were nothing. Just how strong is this kid?" Breaking out of her thoughts, Anko dropped down to the shock of everyone but Naruto, which she took note of.

"That was amazing! Looks like my cute little genin really can handle themselves in the big, bad world!" Anko said grinning, explaining how she used Kawarimi to substitute herself with a long in order to assess how they performed against live opponents, and that they exceed her expectations.

Hearing praises from their sensei, Yakumo and Satsuki revealed bashful faces and smiles, as they couldn't say anything in response to Anko's praises. Naruto's blank look remained, but a hint of happiness could be seen in his eyes. But the peaceful moment was broken when Anko turned to Tazuna, and addressed the situation.

"Look here Tazuna-san, I know that this has definitely escalated from a C-Rank escort mission. You mind telling me why we were attacked by the 'Demon Brothers' when we're just supposed to be escorting you." Anko said, a scary and angry glint in her eyes at the audacity of the man to put her genin in danger.

Tazuna almost immediately went down to his knees and begged them to help him. Telling them about the situation with Nami no Kuni about how a crime lord, Gato, has taken over and practically ruled the small village with an iron fist. That a C-Rank mission was the most that the could afford with the allotted funds from the few villagers who had extra to spare. As he finished he pleaded with them again to help him, that they would repay them in the future when the Wave was back on its feet.

Anko heard the sob story and couldn't help but feel pity towards the man and his village. According to code, she was to abandon the mission and report Tazuna to Minato and have his name blacklisted as requesting a false mission. Deciding that she couldn't make this decision alone, and that it was her genin's first time outside of the village she asked them.

"Well, you all heard his story. What do you think we should do? Remember, it's okay to not want to continue, it's a dangerous mission." Anko asked, her teasing voice unusually gentle. She didn't get a answer from Yakumo or Satsuki, the two girls looking at their feet. She didn't blame them, they had heard that Gato kidnapped women and girls and forced them into the "entertainment" business. But she received a response from the least vocal of the team, but the response wasn't one she or anyone else was expecting from him.

"Anko-sensei. We are going on this mission. We're going to escort Tazuna-san to Nami no Kuni and he's going to complete that bridge. Then, I'm going to find every one of Gato's thugs and tear their throats out. Finally, I'm going find Gato himself and rip his head off!" Naruto started out quietly but near the end he raised his voice as his eyes burned with so much fury that they were a little shaken by it. But as quickly as it came, it left, his blank face returning, though they could tell how he felt from the small scowl now on his face.

While she was shaken at him at first, Satsuki steadied her resolved and agreed with her teammate, though not about the killing part. Yakumo followed suit, knowing that it'll be dangerous and that she could become a liability given her condition, but steeled her resolve. Anko, seeing the now determined faces of her genin could only smile at them for wanting to help Tazuna, though she was a little scared of Naruto's proclamation, he wasn't actually going to kill anyone was he?

The team coming to an agreement before him to help him and his people, Tazuna could only bow his head lower and mutter "Thank you," over and over again, tears streaming down his face. After their vote, the group continued on their way towards Nami no Kuni; finally reaching a checkpoint at a friend of Tazuna who lent them a boat. After the boat ride, they proceeded on their way, only an about an hour and a half from Tazuna's homeland.