Okay, so mother nature is a bitch, I'll start this with that simple conclusion. If my power hadn't clicked off when it did, this chapter would've been done early yesterday morning. But the world's got to keep on spinning and all that, right? So, with that wee bit of first world problem griping out of the way…welcome to the fifth chapter of Shadows Apprentice. I know I do this a lot, but I must thank everyone who's followed and liked this story so far. Fifty plus in both categories, it's honestly blowing my freaking mind every time I look at it. Without y'all doing that, I wouldn't be continuing this, so thank you.
Chapter 5: The Next Steps
Naruto never claimed to be the most brilliant person to come out of his group of up-and-coming shinobi. He didn't quite have Sasuke's raw power, he didn't have Shikamaru's intellect and ability to see a wider picture better than just about anyone, though he was certainly going to say he had more motivation than him thank the gods, but there was one thing he did better than just about anyone. Come up with unconventional strategies outside of that little playbook a lot of shinobi followed damn near to the letter with very little deviations. That said…. he still felt like this was pushing it even for him. When he returned to the meetup spot where they'd began, he found that he was right. He'd found two boxed lunches thar were no doubt meant for the two of them that managed to get the bells from him. Walking closer, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up a little bit. He almost wanted to chuckle, but he didn't. Well, that didn't take long. He hadn't even had a chance to grab them before Kakashi was there. He turned and saw the jounin, book in hand, glancing at him over the top of the pages. "Did you honestly believe this was the best choice? I knew you were impulsive but, I have to give you credit, I didn't think even you would think trying to eat by yourself was the better method. You had to know I'd be ready for that."
He wasn't sure how well this was ultimately going to work out, but he did believe that their idea to attack as a team was their best option. 'Sasuke and Sakura probably aren't ready just yet so…play along' he thought to himself. "I mean, can you blame me? Obviously taking you head on wasn't working out for me, and I do my best work on a full stomach," he said. Kakashi eyed him, not saying anything. "And besides, maybe I just wanted to draw you out so you can't sneak around and get the drop on me," he said.
"A positive spin on a foolish action. You really are checking all the boxes today, aren't you?" He folded the book and tucked it into his pocket. Naruto raised an eyebrow at this. Was he going to fight him seriously? "And by the way…if you're going to plan an ambush, maybe you shouldn't keep shifting your eyes from side to side. You make it more than a little obvious that you're waiting for your comrades to get into a favorable position. So how about we dispense with all this preamble, and just get started? It's starting to become just a little tedious." Naruto growled a bit and raised his hand, signaling that wherever they were to go ahead and attack. Sasuke led this approach, jumping from the branch of the tree he had been situated on and throwing a pair of kunai at him while Sakura sent a shockwave into the ground intending to knock Kakashi off balance. He was indeed shaken up a bit, but he was still able to knock Sasuke's kunai away with one of his own before moving out of range of her jutsu. Naruto quickly made three clones and the four Naruto's went to surround Kakashi
"Those bells are as good as mine!" They went in, and though two of the clones were dealt with quickly, taken out by two quick strikes from the kunai he still held, the remaining one managed to grab onto Kakashi's right arm. The real Naruto ducked under his left arm and went to grab onto the bells but Kakashi, his legs still free, kicked him in the stomach, sending him away but not that far as Naruto managed to catch himself. Coughing a bit from the impact, he looked towards Sakura. "I think we almost got him that time. Can you restrain his legs like you tried before?" he asked. Sakura thought about it, biting her bottom lip. She'd used a decent amount of chakra already, and she didn't know for sure if she could continue if this dragged on much further. Still, she assumed Naruto had a plan and she trusted him. She'd push herself that extra little bit if it meant just getting this done and over with. She gave him a nod and gathered her chakra. Naruto looked over at Sasuke and the two shared a silent nod. A tense moment passed, and both Naruto and Sasuke moved at the same time. Kakashi went to form a clone, but Sasuke was ready for it. He sent another fireball to force him to move, only to have Naruto, who by now had cloned himself two more times, launch a series of punches. Kakashi parried most of them, but his attempt to readjust his angle was met by Sasuke being there with a kick that did connect, though only glancingly.
This combined assault began to achieve its goal. Above all, they needed as much of his attention as possible on repelling their attacks to give Sakura time. It seemed that they weren't entirely successful though. More than once, Naruto had to send a clone to intercept his attempts to break out. Still, even though they were doing okay, in a drawn-out fight, Kakashi still had the edge. He had more experience and was much less exhausted chakra wise because he simply had mopped the floor with them up until this point. Just as Naruto tried to think of another way out this, they heard Sakura call
"Naruto! Sasuke! Move out of the way!" she clamped both of her palms flat on the ground. They did so, and the same immobilization jutsu shot up and grabbed Kakashi's legs, but this time Sakura had her team there to assist. The last of Naruto's clones grabbed one arm while the real one grabbed the other. "Go, Sasuke!" Sakura shouted. With a smirk, Sasuke moved in and swiftly snatched the bells from Kakashi. As Sasuke stepped back, looking down at them, everyone was silent for a couple minutes. Naruto almost didn't believe what he was seeing for a second. Surely, he was underneath a genjutsu right? That on-the-fly plan couldn't have actually worked, it couldn't have. But sure enough, when their jutsu dispelled and Kakashi stepped out, brushing some lingering dust from his pants let out a grunt before smiling.
"Well, that seemed rather cut and dry to me. Congratulations, you all pass." Sakura raised an eyebrow as the three of them gathered around.
"Wait…sensei, I'm a little-okay, I am VERY confused. We succeeded but…Sasuke was the only one to get the bells. So, is he the only one who gets to eat or what?" Naruto had had a similar thought. Kakashi had said the whole squad would lose if none of them had managed to grab a bell, but how did the other half of the task shake out if one person got both? And it struck him as odd in the first place that a training exercise meant to task a team of three to do something would include elements that in and of itself might foster a lot of infighting. If the three of them hadn't decided to work together, they likely would have stuck to their divide and conquer plan which had already blown up in their face multiple times in the span of a very short period. As Sakura voiced these same concerns however, which made him smile a bit seeing the same wavelength the two of them seemed to be on, Kakashi however seemed to wonder what was unclear in the objective.
"It's true that the exercise is itself designed to risk infighting in a team. I wanted to test and make sure that your teamwork was solid enough to put the needs of the overall squad above the selfish individual needs of your own personal wants and desires. Naruto easily could've tried to eat the food on his own while I dealt with you and Sasuke. In doing so he would have proven himself selfish, and I would've dealt with it in my own way. The fact that he never intended to, but that it was all manufactured to set up the combined efforts you undertook to accomplish the mission, regardless of potential personal risk, is at its very essence the perfect way for a shinobi to live. It's the type of lives that everyone hopes to live in service to the village." He turned towards the small memorial stone that rested not far them. As he slowly walked over to it, the genin followed, Naruto in particular picking up on the lowering of his voice and, for the first time since they got here, how…human he sounded. There was no mocking, no insults, just pure honesty. In this moment, this wasn't just coming from Kakashi-Sensei the teacher, but Kakashi Hatake, a fellow shinobi who had clearly seen his share of troubles.
"All the rules your taught in the academy are important, and they have their place in our line of work. I don't want you to assume otherwise. And those who go out of their way to mock and abandon those rules when they matter most are scum. This is true. But…it's often been my experience that those who abandon their friends, who only worry about themselves…are worse than scum. If you learn nothing else during our time together, make sure you remember that." He looked over his shoulder and each of them gave him a nod to affirm that they did indeed understand. Smiling, Kakashi faced them and gave them a quick thumbs up. "Very well. Squad seven will begin it's first round of missions tomorrow. For now, let's eat," he said.
"Yes! We passed, we actually passed!" Naruto cheered, giving Sakura a quick hug, causing her face to flush but she quickly joined him in his cheers. Sasuke smirked, more subdued but no less happy. First step in a long journey, but easily one of the most important ones. After a moment more celebrating, Naruto paused. "Wait…Sensei, there's still only two boxed lunches. I get the metaphor with the training and everything, but that's still not enough for everyone." Kakashi chuckled
"Oh, come on, did you already forget I had this planned? Those are for a solo mission when I don't have time to pack. We can go into town and get something to eat, my treat. Do you have anywhere specific you'd like to-"
"Ichiraku!" came Naruto's near instantaneous reply. Sakura giggled a bit and Sasuke let out a groan.
"Sure, why not? I haven't had that in a while anyway," Kakashi said with a shrug. Sasuke let out a sigh as team seven started walking back towards the main area of the village.
"Honestly, Naruto it's a wonder you don't just rent a room from Teuchi, considering how often your there," he said. "Keep it up and your going to turn into a bowl of ramen."
"Oh, come on, Sasuke he's not THAT bad about it," Sakura said.
"Don't encourage him, Sakura. He's going to have high cholesterol by the time he's twenty at this rate."
"Hey, you know if I wanted to be nagged to death, Sasuke I'd go out and get a girlfriend," Naruto griped, folding his arms behind his head. Sasuke raised an eyebrow and Sakura glanced at Naruto from the corner of her eye, making him smirk.
"Well, Sakura is right there so it wouldn't be all that hard to do, right?" Kakashi mentally sighed as Naruto and Sakura, now both red faced bickered back and forth with Sasuke all the way to the ramen stand. His annoyance only grew after he saw the amount of the bill that he'd racked up with Naruto's four extra-large bowls of miso pork ramen. On that day, he concluded one of two possibilities. If the bickering didn't drive him into an early grave, not having any money for groceries damn sure would.
-1 week later-
As it turned out, Kakashi's patience wasn't the only thing to be tested as team seven eased their way into doing the basic work that most teams got. Everything from picking crops to chasing around run-away house pets. Well to be more specific, it was one particular cat. By the third time they'd had to find it in their first week, Naruto was starting to wonder if the lady who owned it was letting it go on purpose just to try and cause some trouble throughout the village and bother the shinobi corps. Of course, the one time he'd tried to broach the subject, he'd been 'persuaded' by a hard smack to the head by Kakashi to drop it. The owner was married to a lord of the land, and it might not look that good to have one of their ninjas mouth off to her about her pet owner skills, or lack thereof. After a week of several tedious jobs a day, Naruto was crawling out of his skin wanting something, anything just a little bit more challenging. Now all he had to do was bring it up politely and calmly…. or at the very least that was his intent when they convened to get their next round of missions from Hiruzen and the rest of the mission council. He honestly wanted to not sound like a brat, but when he heard the available jobs were everything from mundane things like gathering potatoes, stocking a convenience store, or helping some older residents' shop. That was it!
"NO! No, no, no I absolutely refuse!" Naruto snapped, making an 'X' with both his arms. Kakashi rolled his eye, Sasuke facepalmed and Sakura sighed. They'd heard Naruto loudly griping more and more the last couple days, but they hadn't expected he'd lose it like this. Hiruzen for his part had to suppress a chuckle and keep his face neutral. He had anticipated that Naruto was beginning to grow weary of basic genin work, but there was little he could do. According to village laws, the highest possible rank of mission team seven was even eligible for was C rank. A little more of an exciting possibility, but he couldn't give one to Naruto day one or anything. Forget the danger, he would be accused of outright favoritism.
"Naruto, would you at least TRY to act your age?" Sasuke asked, somewhat exasperated with his friend
"Yeah, you're not exactly helping our case here," Sakura said grabbing onto his shoulder. Kakashi sighed and stepped forward, hands in his pockets, his one visible eye sending a silent apology for Naruto's outburst, though one wasn't really needed.
"Lord Hokage, may I speak freely?" Kakashi asked. Hiruzen gave him a nod. "I understand we had to go through this initial small time job process, but…I actually am of the belief that they might be ready for a slight bump up. These genin are more skilled than I initially had anticipated. If you have any C rank work that is more on the lower end scale of difficulty, I'd welcome the opportunity to see if my belief is correct. And if you need my word that I am certain of this course, I give it to you as their sensei and as a jounin of the leaf." Naruto looked over at Kakashi with a small grin on his face. He was glad that their sensei was on their side on this one. If he had to chase one more stray animal or dig up one more garden, he was going to break something over someone's head.
Hiruzen studied the teams' expressions thoughtfully for a moment before nodding. "Very well. As it so happens, we DID receive a mission request that might fit into the parameters you've provide, Kakashi. Iruka, the scroll please," he said taking it from the man. Unrolling it he read from it after taking a second to clear his throat. "A small town in the Land of Waves has requested shinobi protection as their master bridge builder works to finish the bridge that will connect them properly to the mainland. According to the report, they've been struggling with bandits and highwaymen attacking their convoys of supplies and its severely impacting construction times. The bridge builder himself is currently in the village, having met with the carpenter's division to try and arrange for some extra help. As you may well imagine, if their willing to attack people just gathering supplies, they'd likely jump at the opportunity to try and ransom off the leader of the operation itself if word got to them that he was open as a target. You will escort him home and ensure he finishes the bridge." He couldn't help but smile slightly at the elated look on Naruto's face. "Well, my boy? Is this more to your liking?" Naruto nodded vigorously as Kakashi was handed the scroll and the meetup location.
Naruto had wanted to try and get a big meal in before they met up with their client, but Kakashi had been adamant that if they were going to be on the road for an extended period, then this would be a great opportunity to accustom themselves to not having access to home cooked meals. That was the excuse he gave anyway, but Sasuke and Sakura suspected that it was more of a monetary concern than anything, though neither wanted to say it. So, after a few minutes of complaining, Sakura promised that she would pack the meals they'd eat and that seemed to satisfy Naruto, much to Sasuke and Kakashi's relief. They met up just outside the village gate where they met Tazuna. He was an older man, his hair turning grey in a few places, but he carried himself like a man that knew what he was worth, at least to his people in the Land of Waves, and they hadn't been talking five minutes before Naruto had already wanted to wring his neck for mouthing off to Sakura. As the group set off, all but one of them thinking that this was a standard mission, far down the road a powerful force determined to see them fail was already mobilizing.
Annnd we are off to the Land of Waves! It was always one of my favorite early arcs, and I've got some fun stuff planned for it. So, some fun news, I've opened a spotify account and made my first little playlist for this fic. Think of it as an unofficial fanfic soundtrack lol. If anyone wants it, feel free to ask in your review and I'll send it your way. Speaking of that, please do me a solid and leave a review if your liking it the story. I'll keep this chapters coming if you guys keep showing support.
Till then, fellow readers
-Elise