Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and I am making no profit from this story, it is only for entertainment.

Just a reminder of a few warnings attached to this story and they apply to the whole story although they won't be present in every chapter: explicit language, past abuse, disability, chronic illness, canon-typical violence, and implied sexual content. If any of these make you uncomfortable, then please read at your own discretion. If there are any more warnings you think I've missed, please let me know and I can add them.

Chapter Summary: In which the team runs a lot and Naruto loses his appetite

Chapter 10: A C-Rank, They Said. A Simple Mission, They Said

"I have excellent news."

Three groans greeted these words.

"Your definition of 'excellent' is way different than ours, Genma-sensei," Kazuya whined, sitting up from his previous position of a collapsed heap.

"Yeah, last time you said that we spent two days fishing out garbage from one of the rivers," Naruto added from his place on the ground next to Kazuya. He hadn't bothered to sit up.

"That was an excellent training opportunity to test your chakra control," Genma grinned, savouring the annoyed looks of his genin.

"We stank for days after," Hana deadpanned. "I had four showers that day alone. Four."

"And your water walking is all the better for it," Genma waved off their responses. "Now, don't you want to know what kind of C-rank you will be completing?"

Three pairs of eyes bored into their sensei.

"You've been a team for four full months now and your individual training has paid off massively. Your taijutsu and chakra control has improved and you've all learned the E rank jutsu I assigned. Hana, your clan techniques are coming along well and while your medical ninjutsu and fūinjutsu are still in the beginning stages, Kazuya and Naruto, they have improved massively over the last three months. You're ready," finished Genma, looking over his students.

Gradually, matching grins were reflected in the faces of his genin. Naruto jumped up and pumped his fist in the air.

"We're so ready, dattebayō!"

"What Aka-chan said," Kazuya added, rolling his eyes fondly.

"What's the mission?" Hana asked, pups around her at attention.

"Well, you guys were specifically requested for this mission and it's a simple one. We are to transport a metal shipment from Tetsu no Kuni back to Konoha for a shinobi supply shop run by Tenjirou. Minimal danger, however, there is always the threat of bandits so our main capacity would be as guards. It will take us a week of travel to get to Tetsu no Kuni. It will take us at least another week to make it back once I seal the shipment, but prepare for three weeks and pack some warm clothes. We will cross directly from Hi no Kuni to Tetsu no Kuni so there shouldn't be any problems with foreign shinobi but never let down your guard. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Meet at Konoha's entrance ready to go in two hours. You should be wearing either green or black clothes." Genma took at moment to stare at Nauro and Kazuya. "Dismissed."

He disappeared, leaving only leaves and a faint breeze in his wake. Each of the genin took a moment to absorb the information before Naruto slapped a hand against his face.

"Rio! Hana, do you think your mom would watch him for three weeks?"

Hana shrugged.

"Probably, but we can go ask now."

The three took off towards the Inuzuka compound.

Naruto bounced slightly in front of the gate, his backpack a comforting weight on his back. He would swear for the rest of his shinobi career that learning to craft storage seals first was the best decision he could have ever made. Kazuya stood beside him talking to Hana but Naruto couldn't focus on what they were saying.

Would Rio be okay while he was gone? It was Naruto's first time leaving the village and his brother would be alone. Not completely alone, he had Kiba and Tsume but would he really be okay without him there? He was fine during the time Naruto was in the hospital but he could visit then. This time there would be no contact until he stepped back into the village in three weeks. Maybe he wouldn't be bothered since Kashi disappeared all the time, but it was different this time, right?

"Naruto."

His head snapped to Kazuya, the older genin looking at him in concern.

"Rio will be fine," continued Kazuya, smiling gently.

A heavy sigh left Naruto's body.

"Am I that predictable?" he grinned ruefully.

"Only with Rio. The rest of the time you're the most unpredictable guy I've ever met."

Naruto was about to respond but the arrival of Genma cut him off.

"Alright Team 7, you ready?" the man smirked around his senbon.

Leading the way, he signed them all out at the Konoha guard station. Naruto looked at the empty road ahead of them and then back at his village. His first C-rank. It felt it had taken both forever and no time at all to get here. Despite how far he'd come, Naruto knew he was lacking. He was the weakest when it came to taijutsu, bookwork and ninjutsu; the only reason he had come this far was because of his friends. He also knew without his sensing ability he would never have been let into the academy in the first place.

Despite knowing all this, Naruto couldn't help but feel proud. Even after everything with his chakra coils and struggling with things that came easy to his friends, he was here. He could do this.

He had begun to focus less on pinpointing chakra and more on range and identification; he had now memorised over ten chakra signatures and had pushed his maximum range out to a 100 metre radius although he couldn't hold it for long.

He wondered if his parents would be proud.

Naruto made a mental note to buy Gai a bowl of ramen when they got back. If it wasn't for that schedule he made for him, Naruto doubted he'd have been able to keep up as well as he had.

It was the third day and Genma-sensei had announced they were crossing the border when they packed up camp. So far the mission hadn't been too bad. They ran through the trees for most of the day, rising at dawn and only stopping at sunset, then set up camp and a watch rotation during the night. Naruto hadn't been able to sense anyone near them since they left Konoha but the closer they came to the edge of the forest, the stronger the signature he had felt only moments ago became.

As Genma-sensei halted on a wide branch, holding up a fist, his team settled near him within the foliage. Naruto tried to curb his heavy breaths, his legs trembling slightly.

"Kunai or shuriken?"

"Rice," Genma-sensei replied.

The signature Naruto sensed dropped from the branches above, a Konoha headband wrapped around his right arm.

"Papers?"

Genma handed the documents over and Naruto shot a pained grin at Kazuya, the brunet staring at him in concern.

"C-rank, huh?" the shinobi asked, raising an eyebrow at them.

He handed back the papers and walked a few steps up the trunk, turning back. His hands moved through signs that looked like jutsu but Naruto didn't recognise them. Genma-sensei nodded and held up his hand again, dropping it to point down. Naruto dropped down from the branches to stand next to Hana. Genma landed just in front of them without a sound, the documents already gone.

"Just past the tree line is Tetsu no Kuni. The country is covered in snow but we shouldn't reach it for another couple of hours. On the way back, the question will be 'yes or no?' and the reply is 'three'. Got it?"

There was a round of nods before Genma-sensei led the way onto foreign soil.

Kazuya's first impression of Tetsu no Kuni was that it was cold. Fucking cold. Like seriously, it made winter in Konoha seem like a lovely spring day and he vividly remembered freezing his ass off in his old room.

The cloak he had brought kept out the snow and wind but it was still going to take some getting used to. Especially the fact there was no trees. Kazuya had never left Konoha before so the sight of the empty horizon surrounding them was the strangest thing he had ever seen. It was one thing to read about other countries in books; it was something entirely different to actually be there. The only thing for miles was the 'Three Wolves' they were heading towards, surrounded by an uneven, white landscape.

He glanced back to see Naruto running behind him. They had had to adjust the technique slightly but their tree-walking could apparently be applied to snow, which meant they saved time trudging through it all. Still, it was the morning of the sixth day since they had left the village and Kazuya was worried about how much longer his friend could go on for.

He'd noticed in the trees but the redhead had just kept going so he'd stayed quiet. Since the hospital 'incident' in the academy, Naruto's physical condition had improved massively and the brace Tenji-san made for him was incredible. No matter how far Naruto had come though, the memory of the younger boy swamped by the stark white sheets was never far from Kazuya's thoughts.

Naruto was his first friend. They had spent two years working together to escape their shitty situations and then he got Kazuya out completely by offering him a new home. It was more than he could have ever hoped for when he joined the academy. He'd lost the single most important person in his life when his mother had died. After years of misery, he'd found Naruto and then he'd almost lost him too. No way was that going to happen again, not before the redhead had at least lived a good, relatively long life.

There was Rio to look after too, and Hana, and Tenji-san, and little Tenten, and Genma-sensei. Really, since that first class the list just kept growing and the gaping void left in his heart after his mother passed was filled piece by piece. He knew it would never really be whole, not truly. He had people to smile for now though and he needed to keep them safe. He would master medical jutsu so nothing like the 'incident' or anything else would happen under his watch again.

"I can hear you thinking, Pinku-baka."

Kazuya grinned at his friend.

"Is that so? Are we adding psychic to your sensing capabilities?"

His grin widened as he faced forwards once more, feeling Naruto's glare boring into his skull.

"I'm fine."

"And I'm delighted to hear that."

Naruto grew quiet once more and Kazuya could hear his breathing grow a bit louder. Up ahead, he saw Genma-sensei stop and turn to them.

"We're almost there so instead of stopping to make camp, we're going to keep going. We should be there by tomorrow morning," he dictated loudly as the three genin huddled around him. "Do you remember your academy lessons on Tetsu no Kuni?"

Kazuya could feel the misery coming from his friends without even needing to look at them.

"They have samurai, not shinobi, right?" he spoke up, pulling his cloak tighter around him. "Shinobi aren't supposed to do anything in Tetsu no Kuni 'cause we don't have any pull here."

"Correct. We're only here to get that shipment on behalf of a Konoha merchant so I'm going to tell you guys now: do not do anything to insult the samurai, don't get involved in anything and don't do anything outside of the mission parameters. We go in, get a night of sleep, pick up the package and we leave. Got it?"

Kazuya joined the round of nods before they set off again. He slotted in behind Naruto, keeping his friend in front as they continued towards their destination.

Naruto dragged himself out the warmth of the inn, closing his eyes as the cold slammed into him.

They had managed to make it to the village in the early hours of that morning and Naruto didn't think he'd ever cherished a night's sleep more in his life. Genma-sensei had shot out a quick 'meet in front of the inn at dawn' before Naruto had closed his eyes, dead to the world until he'd felt the shaking from Hana a few hours later.

He was happy that they'd had the chance to go on C-rank but so far it had been very different than he thought it would be. Running around the village didn't prepare him for a whole week of travelling and that was without taking the climate into consideration. He imagined missions outside the village to involve fighting, dashing rescues, destroying the landscape with powerful jutsu. Like in the stories his parents told him back then about their missions. Now he thought about it, they must have travelled like this to get to those exciting parts but he was struggling to adjust to even this much. He knew it would get easier with time and more missions but for now, the misery weighed him down as he plonked himself beside Kazuya, shivering.

"Genma-sensei left earlier to get the stuff," Hana told him as she sat with her pups in her lap.

Kazuya shot looks at the passing samurai.

"I know he said to pack warm clothes before we left but somehow I don't think he considered that we live in the land of Fire," the brunet grumbled. "This is worse than our winters have ever been."

"He probably did, but there's not exactly much he could do," Hana sighed, her hands shoved in her armpits. "We'll warm back up when we start running."

Naruto didn't bother holding back his groan at the thought of doing this all again, but in the opposite direction. On the bright side, they'd be running towards warmth and ramen. His head snapped up as he felt Genma-sensei come into range. Kazuya noticed and stood, brushing off the excess snow. Naruto and Hana joined him, bouncing in place. Their sensei came into view shortly after, unbothered by the snow swirling around him and senbon firmly in place.

"Didn't cause any trouble while I was away?" he grinned.

"Too cold to cause trouble," muttered Kazuya under his breath, securing his bag.

"Are all C-ranks like this?" Naruto piped up.

Genma-sensei shrugged before beckoning them to follow him out of the village.

"Most are pick-up or delivery. Sometimes it might be guarding missions for clients as they travel between countries."

"So it's mostly running from place to place?"

"Pretty much," Genma-sensei nodded. "It's good practice for higher level missions, since all missions require travelling to one extent or another. Difference is with the higher level ones is that you have to actually carry out objectives that require skill and stamina after the travelling part."

Naruto turned this over in his head as Genma-sensei handed their papers to the samurai guards at the village gates. It made sense and at least with the next C-rank, they would know what to expect. He should still probably ask Gai for a stricter training menu though.

They were allowed through the gates and their pace began to pick back up.

A few days later, Team 7 had left the snow behind and was coming up to the Samurai bridges. Built of blue stone over a steep drop, it was large and sturdy and Naruto couldn't help but admire it. As he peered into the short distance to get a better look, something flickered at the edge of his chakra sense. His steps slowed as he focussed on the signature that had appeared on the other side of the bridge.

"Genma-sensei?" he called as weaker signatures joined the first.

His team stopped and backtracked to join him. Kazuya started to look around, recognising whatever was showing on his face.

"Naruto?" Genma-sensei prompted after a moment.

"There's someone on the other side of the bridge. They've got a bunch of others with them."

Genma's stance straightened as he took the senbon out of his mouth.

"Can you sense how many? How are they moving?"

"Ten. They aren't moving. It's like they're waiting for something."

"An ambush," Genma-sensei nodded. "Probably bandits. They're common on C-ranks and it's their favoured tactic."

Naruto shifted on his feet and checked his weapons pouch, Kazuya and Hana doing the same.

"It's good that we got early warning. I want to leave this mostly to you, to get some real combat experience. I'll step in if any of you need help but you have to be prepared to do what's necessary."

Genma-sensei met each of their eyes separately, the message clear in his gaze. Naruto knew he'd have to kill at some point but now the moment was here he wasn't sure how he felt about it.

"Bandits don't usually use chakra so you should have no issues," he continued. "I'll follow behind you on the bridge. Hana, you'll be at the front since you are the strongest in practical combat. Kazuya, you'll follow her and Naruto, keep your teammates up-to-date on the enemy's numbers and position. Okay?"

The three shot out a quick 'yes, sir' as they got into position. Naruto breathed deeply as he watched Kazuya follow Hana towards the bridge. He could hear his heart in his ears as if it had jumped into his throat. He'd trained for this. He could do this. They'd be fine.

Hana took her first step on the bridge, her hackles raised to match her dogs. Naruto watched Kazuya shift his kunai in his pouch, palming one of his own. The chakra signatures he felt barely moved as they reached the middle of the bridge and Naruto focussed on the biggest. It felt so different than the others, almost like Genma-sensei's.

Something clicked as the chakra signature shot forward.

"IT'S A SHINOBI!" he screamed as a ball of fire shot towards Hana.

Hana desperately threw herself to the side and the ball struck where she had stood. No attack followed and Naruto's gaze was drawn to the man at the end of the bridge. He stood tall, with short green hair obscuring his eyes. He wore a blue and orange jacket that clashed with the wooded background and he'd folded his arms. A headband with a scored out arrow was wrapped around his left arm and Naruto had no idea which village that was meant to be.

"A little genin team from Konoha, huh?" the man spoke. "Picking up some goodies from the samurai, were we?"

Naruto felt the other signatures approach the bridge and the other bandits came into view through the tree line. He felt Genma-sensei pass him, going to stand in front of Hana.

"Suika, missing-nin of Takigakure. B-rank in the bingo book," he stated, as Hana scrambled back to stand beside Kazuya.

The man's face twisted into a smirk, his black eyes becoming visible as he tilted his head.

"Now this doesn't have to get ugly," he sneered. "Hand over whatever you got from the samurai and any coin on you and we'll let you go on your merry way."

"Naruto, is he the only shinobi?" Genma-sensei asked, keeping is eyes on the missing-nin.

"Yeah."

Naruto tried not to flinch at the sharp look from Suika.

"A sensor?" he mused. "Don't get many of them nowadays."

"I'll handle him. You guys get the rest," Genma-sensei ordered, his hands already flipping through rapid seals.

As he unleashed a wave of water, pushing Suika off the bridge and away from the trees, he shot forward, following the jutsu with several thrown kunai. Naruto tore his gaze from his sensei and he ran with his teammates towards the tree line.

"What? Are they letting babies do their missions now?" he overheard as they drew close.

At the corner of his vision, he saw Kazuya embed a shuriken in the neck of one of the bandits. He felt a flicker to his left and ducked beneath the swing of a bandit's dagger, planting his kunai deep into the woman's thigh and feeling the muscle give way. As she dropped to one knee gripping the limb, Naruto yanked the weapon back out and plunged it into her eye. There was less resistance than there had been in her leg. Her scream was cut off; the blood spraying Naruto's face as he desperately pulled it out once again.

He heard a man's roar behind and barely dove to the side quick enough to avoid the blade of an axe. Naruto stared up into the bearded man's snarl, his beady eyes bright with rage. His heart almost beat out of chest and he fumbled through the seals as the axe came down once again, swapping with the woman's corpse. He swallowed heavily when her guts stuck to the axe as the man prepared for another swing at him. He flung a shuriken, grimacing as it missed the neck and stuck into the man's shoulder.

He swore heavily as another bandit came at him from the side, wielding a rusty katana. Naruto held his breath and ducked between his legs, using his bloody kunai to slash upwards. The bandit howled and dropped the katana to grip the wound.

Naruto took his chance.

He shoved his bloody kunai back into his pouch and grabbed the katana, needing both hands to get a firm grip. The axe guy was still trying to get a good swing in and as Naruto got the katana stuck in the back of the other bandit's neck, the axe left a shallow cut on his right side as he barely moved away in time. He abandoned the weapon and rolled away, trying to ignore the sharp pain at the movement.

As he scrambled to stand, the axe bandit dropped to his knees with a roar and Naruto could see Kazuya extracting his kunai from the man's heels. Naruto leapt forward, yelling as he shoved the kunai deep into his neck. He let go, leaving the weapon to stick out of the bandit as he slumped to the ground with a quite gurgle. He could sense no more around him as he scanned the bodies scattered around him. Kazuya was wiping off his kunai as Hana checked over the pups.

Naruto's mind raced as his gaze swept over the bandits. All dead. He did that. He killed at least three of them. He did this.

A sharp yell cut into his downward spiral as his eyes snapped over to where he could now only feel one chakra signature. Genma-sensei stood above the missing-nin, the edges of his clothes singed and the earth around him disturbed and uneven.

"Any injuries?" he called out, turning to face his genin.

"Yeah," Kazuya answered, holding a bleeding arm.

"Okay, Naruto can you sense anyone else around?"

Naruto shook his head; he couldn't trust that he'd keep his stomach down if he spoke.

"Go and wait just beyond the tree line. I'll join you once I've dealt with this."

Naruto nodded but didn't move, going back to stare at the bodies. He felt hand on his shoulder and a fluffy nose on his cheek. He wasn't sure when he'd sat down. He let Hana help him up and they limped into the trees.

They'd travelled a short distance away from the bridge once Genma-sensei joined them, but they couldn't go far. Naruto had lost the battle with his stomach somewhere along the way. As they sat around the small fire, wounds treated, the genin couldn't bring themselves to speak.

"You guys did well."

Naruto didn't look at his sensei, only staring at his hands.

"My first kill happened when I was a genin, too."

This brought Naruto's eyes up.

"It was my third mission outside the village. We had to bring supplies to the border and this was around the time of the Third Shinobi War, so everyone was on high alert," his sensei smiled sadly. "Some bandits thought we would be easy targets and so they tried to get our cargo. Most of them weren't that old either. The first one I killed looked only a couple of years older than me."

Naruto's throat closed up.

"Death is a way of life for us," Genma continued quietly. "It's you or them; that choice isn't easy but you have to keep in mind why you became a shinobi in the first place."

Rio's face flashed through Naruto's head, his smile bright and eyes sparkling. Would he kill for his brother? His friends? His gut said yes; without hesitation. Naruto straightened up, wiping his face and looking at the blood mixed in with the tears.

"At the end of the day, you are protecting something. You need to remember what that is; what is worth another person's life to you?"

"My family," Hana whispered.

"My home," Kazuya added.

"My brother."

Genma smiled.

"Good, remember that and you'll be fine."

Naruto nodded and accepted the bread handed to him, pausing before taking a bite. It sank slowly to his stomach but it stayed there.

The genin dragged their feet towards the Inuzuka compound after their visit to the hospital.

Naruto didn't think he would ever be so happy to see the village gates in his lifetime. Once they had reported to the mission assignment desk, Genma had firmly guided them to the hospital. Turned out facing a B-rank missing-nin bumped up the difficulty from a C to a B-rank. Naruto wasn't sure it really counted, since their jounin sensei was the one to actually deal with him while they just had the bandits. The extra pay couldn't hurt though.

They also hadn't looked like they had lived through a B-rank mission, having washed off the evidence of the fight on their way back to Konoha. Apparently they still looked bad enough to draw some pitying stares from the adults they ran into in the village.

It had been a quiet journey as each of the genin had sorted through their feelings. What Genma-sensei had said had struck a chord but Naruto didn't think he'd ever get comfortable taking someone else's life. Maybe that was a good thing.

The sounds from the compound reached their ears and Naruto searched for that familiar chakra signature, trying not to crumple as he locked onto it. Finally, the inside of the compound came into view and Naruto spotted the flash of blond within the brown.

"Rio!"

The blond head turned to him and after an excited 'Nii-san', Naruto dropped to his knees, hugging his brother tightly. He could feel the warmth from Rio's small body, his hands gripping Naruto' black shirt. He could feel Kazuya shuffling beside him as Hana shot towards her mother. Naruto reached a hand out and dragged Kazuya into the hug. As he sat there, warm and surrounded by friends with his brother in his arms, Naruto understood what Genma-sensei had been trying to say.

This is what he wanted to protect.

This was worth killing for.

This was worth dying for.

Thanks for reading!