Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Ushio and Tora. Also, spoiler alert, 2020 sucks!

Chapter 9

"Oh Tora, my baby! Mommy missed you SO much!" sobbed a…large…woman as she hugged a struggling cat with a ribbon on it's ear to her…generous…chest.

Somehow, Naruto knew this was Tora's fault. And not the cat getting smothered either. The summoned tiger was among the rafters of the Hokage Tower, his feline face screaming amusement at the scene below. He'd had the same look on his face ever since Team 7 started taking on missions. Said missions had been a bit of a disappointment to Naruto, much like the Hokage Monument is a bit big. The blonde wasn't a complete idiot, he knew they wouldn't be tackling S-Ranked missions right after graduating from the Academy. (The lessons Tora forced him to sit through had explained that much.) He'd just expected the D-Rank missions to be a little less…mundane.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura had been doing what was essentially chores and community service for the last few weeks, and even the stoic Sasuke was beginning to show signs of irritation at the missions. The cat alone they had captured no less than five times this week (granted, the amount of affection it's owner was showing made it a small wonder why it kept escaping). They'd only been able to catch it as quickly as they did thanks to both Naruto and Sasuke's hunting skills. When Sakura asked both boys where they learned to hunt, Naruto just laughed awkwardly and Sasuke just blew her off.

The blonde genin swore that both his sensei and summon were getting off on this, even if the former wasn't aware of the latter's presence. Finally, after the…large…woman and her now passed out cat left, the group's attention went back to the Third Hokage and Iruka, who were tasked with handing out team assignments.

"Good job, Team 7," Iruka congratulated the silently sulking shinobi. Brining up some documents, he continued, "Now, for the next mission we have some options such as painting Mr. Miyagi's fence, moving some antique furniture for Mr. Chan and - "

"Nope! Uh-uh! No way!" Naruto exclaimed while crossing his arms in front of him. "There is no way that I'm doing another lame chore! C'mon Old Man, give us a real mission this time!"

Veins popping on his forehead, Iruka yelled, "STOP BEING SO DISRESPECTFUL, NARUTO!"

As for the others in the room, Sasuke nodded in silent agreement, Kakashi looked resigned, Sakura seemed annoyed by her teammate, whereas the Third looked a combination of exasperated and amused. Tora, meanwhile, was chuckling at his Summoner's behavior, wondering if the brat realized that by acting this way, he was basically portraying the opposite image of maturity that he wanted the adults to see him with.

"Naruto, you might not fully realize how the mission ranking system works but - " the Third began before Naruto cut him off.

"I know that we can't be doin' missions like rescuing princesses an' stuff as Genin, but give us a little credit, Old Man," Naruto huffed. "All's I'm sayin' is we're ready for something a 'little' more challenging than painting fences and chasing cats."

Internally, the adults were actually impressed that Naruto wasn't wanting to jump the gun and go straight for the jonin level missions. Sasuke and Sakura were just impressed Naruto could make what sounds like an actually decent argument instead of pouting like a spoiled toddler. Tora, still relaxing in the rafters, leaned forward in faint interest in seeing if his summoner will get his wish. Blowing out a puff of smoke from his pipe, the Third asked thoughtfully, "Well Kakashi, do you believe Team Seven is ready for their first C-Rank mission?"

Coughing into his fist in thought, Kakashi said, "Well, while they're still a bit wet behind the ears, a simple mission shouldn't be too difficult."

Sarutobi nodded as he pulled up some documents. "As it happens, we do have an escort mission available. I'll introduce you to the client," he then addressed one of the doors at the other end of the room that slid open.

The man who stumbled in was…less than impressive. An elderly man with glasses, dirty work clothes, and a liquor bottle clutched in his hand. The man looked at Team Seven through blurry eyes before turning to the Hokage and saying in a slurred voice, "Hey, what gives? I ask for bodyguards and you give me a group of brats? None of 'em look like ninja to me. Especially the shorty with the dumb face!"

"Huh? Who's the shorty with the dumb face?" Naruto wondered aloud before realizing that, while he'd gotten a bit taller over the years, he was still slightly shorter than his teammates.

A pause, and then…

"I'MMA KILL YOU!" Naruto roared as he lunged towards the drunk.

"Now, now," Kakashi chided, grabbing Naruto by the back of his shirt. "Killing the client is bad for business."

"Besides, you are a shorty with a dumb face," Tora snickered as he enjoyed the show, almost wishing he had popcorn.

"GRRRR!" Naruto growled in an almost animalistic way both for the taunts and that he couldn't reap bloody vengeance upon those who mocked him. The drunk because of his client status and Tora because the Summon could still kick his butt eight ways to Sunday while sleeping. He would have his revenge though, believe it!

"Anyway," the newcomer huffed as he fully entered the room. "My name is Tazuna. I'm a SUPER bridge builder from Wave Country, and you all are going to escort me back home until my bridge is completed, savvy?"

Keeping a firm hand on the fuming blonde, Kakashi gave the older man one of his "eye-smiles" and said, "Not to worry. As a C-Ranked mission, the chances of combating enemy ninja are slim, so between myself and my cute little Genin here, we'll get you back safe and sound."

While this statement would normally reassure clients, Tora's nose twitched as he detected a spike of nervousness and fear coming from the elderly bridge builder. 'Huh,' he thought, 'Looks like the 'super' bridge builder might not be 'super' honest with the other humans. Should I tell the brat…?' Tora mentally contemplated before a savage grin worked his way onto his face. 'Nah! This'll be good training for him! Besides, the worst thing that'll happen is that I'll have to reveal myself to save his skin, and we both knew it'd happen eventually. I'll just sit back and see how this plays out for now.'

Later, Team Seven met with Tazuna and an unseen Tora up at the gate, each of the ninja with a modest traveling bag set up for the trip. Before they disembarked, Naruto paused at the gate, looking at it with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. This was his first time outside the Leaf Village after all, and was the beginning of his first real ninja mission! Normally, he'd have been bouncing up and down in excitement at the prospect, but thanks to Tora's encouragement, learned that there are times and places to truly express yourself. Acting like a giant infant at the very start of the mission seemed like a poor decision, especially since he wanted to show the drunken old bridge builder who the 'shorty with the dumb face' really was. He would be the embodiment of quiet dignity and grace, and –

"Oi brat, the other's are leaving already," Tora lazily yawned from his perch upon the large gate.

"SONUVA!" Naruto yelped as he quickly hightailed it up to his teammates, nearly tripping in his rush.

Yep. Quiet dignity and grace.

Tazuna raised an unimpressed brow as Naruto came running up. "Smooth, brat. Are you sure you're really a ninja?"

"Oh, bite me," Naruto grumbled as he fell into step with the group. "Are you sure an old drunk like you is really a bridge builder?"

"That's SUPER bridge builder to you, runt," Tazuna huffed. "Seriously, why'd I have to get a team of snot nosed brats for protection? This kid looks like he couldn't protect a rabbit!"

Naruto felt his temper flare at the casual dismissal. "Hey! This 'kid' is going to be the future Hokage someday, believe it!"

Tazuna gave a chuckle. "Heh, a loudmouth like you as Hokage? I'd sooner believe that the moon will come crashing down from the sky."

Naruto looked ready to pop a blood vessel, so to prevent her teammate from actually trying to murder the client, Sakura decided to pick up the conversation. She asked the man about Wave and if it had any ninja of its own. As it turns out, Wave Country was too small of a nation to support its own hidden village, so normally had to rely on one of the other major villages for support, even if the effort was usually costly. As they talked, Naruto felt a familiar weight as Tora landed on his shoulder.

"Look alive, brat. I smell bloodlust in the air up ahead," the tiger growled in his Summoner's ear.

Naruto subtly tensed at that. While the bakemono was somewhat of a troll and would tease the blonde mercilessly, even he wouldn't mess around about potential threats in the area. Looking ahead, Naruto spot a seemingly innocent looking puddle in the middle of the road. While this wouldn't be too out of the ordinary, the fact that it hadn't rained in days was more than a bit suspicious. A quick glance at his teammates showed that both Sasuke and Kakashi were aware of the potential trap, whereas Sakura seemed ignorant of the threat. Naruto considered letting the girl know of the danger, but couldn't think of a way to warn her without tipping off whoever had set up the trap. Plus, since Kakashi seemed to be aware of the threat, he probably felt confident they could handle it if things went sour, least he have them retreat.

As they passed the puddle, Naruto's instincts suddenly screamed at him. Whipping around with kunai in hand, the blonde had just enough time to see two human figures rise up out of the 'puddle' and wrap a surprised looking Kakashi in chains. Both men were fairly short and had shaggy black hair framing Hidden Mist forehead protectors. More concerning were the gauntlets the men wore that connected the chain: each finger was sharpened and unless Naruto's nose (heightened thanks to his training sessions with Tora) was deceiving him, was coated in poison as well. There was no doubt, their attackers were enemy shinobi.

"One down," one of the assailants stated as he and his partner pulled on the chain. The barbs on the chain cut through Kakashi easily, sending him to the ground in pieces.

Sakura screamed at the sudden attack and death of their sensei. In a move that was too fast for the untrained eye to follow, the duo assassins moved in a flanking position behind Naruto, claws poised to strike. However, when their attack landed, "Naruto" disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Before the ninjas could register that they had only attacked a Shadow Clone, Naruto was behind one of them and put the man into a chokehold. Before the Mist ninja could move his arms to try and dislodge the boy, another Naruto popped out of the ground before transforming into a tiger midair and clamping its jaws around the man's armored wrist. While the gauntlet prevented the man's arm from being shredded, the force of the bite effectively pinned the man in place as another Naruto Shadow Clone jumped out from behind the main Naruto and grabbed his other arm, holding a kunai aimed at his ribs.

The other attacker tsked as he saw his brother get immobilized. Detaching the chain from his gauntlet, he focused his attention on their main target so he could then go help his fellow assassin. Sakura quickly jumped in front of Tazuna in a defensive stance as she saw the enemy ninja target him. Fortunately, Sasuke was able to intercept the man he could reach the less experienced Genin. Sasuke kicked the man's gauntlet to the side while at the same time throwing two shuriken at the man's shoulders. Hissing in pain as the metal stars sunk into his flesh, the remaining assassin decided he needed to fall back and regroup with his associates before trying again. Clearly, the ninja the bridge builder hired were less green than they'd thought.

The man turned, only to get a lariat by the still very much alive Kakashi, who held the other assailant under his arms after taking him off of Naruto's hands. Surprised by her sensei's apparent survival, Sakura looked to see where the Jonin had apparently been killed at, only to find bits of log on the ground. It had been revealed that Kakashi had used a simple Substitution Jutsu to escape, and had used the opportunity to see if he could find out who the apparent assassins' target really was.

"Good job though, team," Kakashi said with an eye-smile. "Naruto, Sasuke, commendable work holding these two off. And Sakura, it was quick thinking protecting the client like that. Now," at this, Kakashi's tone became more serious as he eyed a suddenly nervous looking bridge builder. "I think you have some explaining to do, eh Tazuna?"

After tying the two Mist Ninja up, Kakashi revealed that the two were known as the Demon Brothers, a pair of rouge Chunin from the Hidden Mist Village. He then explained that having enemy ninja was outside the parameters of a simple C-Rank mission (the most dangerous threats involved would involve bandits), and was closer to a B-Rank or higher. With only a bit of pressure, Tazuna quickly caved as to why he had ninja after him.

About a year ago, Wave Country fell into the sights of a man named Gatou. While publicly known as a wealthy shipping magnate, Gatou's main business is dealing in smuggling illegal merchandise while using different ninjas and gangs as his enforcers. He had basically seized control of Wave's shipping industry, and in turn holds a monopoly over all business in Wave. The only competition he had left was the bridge that Tazuna was building, which was why he now had Gatou's hired muscle after him. Because of the country's poverty, however, Tazuna was unable to file for a higher! ranked mission class.

"So if you quit the mission now…I'll definitely be killed," Tazuna concluded solemnly. He then gained a slightly mischievous glint in his eyes as he continued, "But, no need to worry about it! After all, if I die it'll only cause my cute little grandson to cry for a few days! Not to mention my daughter will hold a grudge against the Leaf Village for the rest of her life! Not to mention that the people of Wave will continue to suffer under Gatou's thumb until the country withers and dies! But don't worry, it won't be your fault at all!"

Team Seven all gained deadpan expressions at the obvious guilt trip, whereas Tora was laughing his furry butt off. "Heh, I might just end up liking this old drunk after all!" the bakemono chortled.

Resigned to the fact that they were in this mission for the long haul, Kakashi reluctantly agreed to carry on the mission. Sending a note back to the Leaf via a quickly summoned dog (to which Tora growled at in annoyance) in order to have someone pick up the still tied up Demon Brothers, the group continued on its way. Eventually they reached the seaside where a small fishing boat was waiting to take them to Wave. The owner of the boat told them (specifically Naruto) that they'll need to be careful in their approach in order to avoid detection from any of Gatou's men.

As they slowly made their way across the water, Naruto had a quiet conversation with Tora near the back of the boat and out of hearing range of the others. "So brat, is this enough 'excitement' for you?" Tora asked with a Cheshire smile.

"I know you're mocking me, but I'm actually excited for this! A big mission on my first time out of the village! Rescuing a country from a corrupt businessman! Fighting off enemy ninjas! The only thing missing is a princess and I'll have crossed off most of my bucket list before I'm even in my teens!" Naruto then bit back a yelp as the tiger dope-slapped him. "The hell?!" he hissed.

"Don't get cocky, brat. Things are undoubtedly going to get harder from this point on," Tora growled in a surprisingly serious voice.

Naruto held back from scoffing aloud as he snapped back, "In case you didn't notice yah dumb cat, I handled myself just fine against those Chunin!"

"You got lucky, brat!" Tora practically roared back, startling the blonde. "If you had two braincells to rub together, you'd realize those two were the bottom of the barrel in terms of Chunin. Hell, they were barely stronger than that grey haired wuss of a former teacher you had. And both times they severely underestimated you, thinking you'd be greener than grass. That won't always be the case, brat. No doubt once this Gatou character realizes that his initial assassination failed, he'll keep sending more and more skilled fighters until the bridge builder is dead.

"And that's not just about this mission either," Tora continued as his silver eyes narrowed. "You've said enough times that you wish to be your village's strongest ninja, the Hokage, correct? Well the more famous you are, the stronger the opponents you'll face. Never forget brat, that even the strongest predator can become the prey if it gets too cocky."

The seriousness of the bakemono's lecture kept Naruto in contemplative silence the rest of the trip, while the tiger himself decided to take a nap on the boat's stern. After they landed and the boatman wished them luck, the group then set out on a foggy path. Naruto, heading his Summon's warning about more dangerous opponents coming, kept his senses sharp. A quick glance at his teammates showed that Sasuke, while keeping his look of cool indifference, was equally ready for a possible enemy attack. While he couldn't see most of his sensei's face, Naruto was sure Kakashi was even more alert then either of the boys. And Sakura was looking around with a slightly nervous expression on her face, which wasn't much better than Tazuna's own nervous look.

Remembering how the girl was the last to react during the previous ambush, Naruto silently resolved himself to helping the pinkette with her training at some point when their lives weren't in danger. While his crush on the girl had been all but beaten out of him by Tora, Naruto did care for the girl who seemed out of her depth during this mission. His inner musings were interrupted when his ears picked up the faintest of rustlings in the bushes ahead. Acting quickly, he threw a shuriken towards the noise, hoping to flush whoever it was out.

When nothing showed up after a couple seconds, Sakura brained the blonde over the back of his head yelling, "What the heck, Naruto?! You almost gave me a heart attack!"

Clutching the goose egg growing on his skull, Naruto grunted out, "B-but I heard something!"

Sasuke, walking up to the bushes Naruto assaulted, pulled back the leaves to reveal an unconscious white rabbit at the base of a tree, the shuriken from earlier stuck in the bark above its head. While Naruto was a bit less sentimental towards small wild animals after hunting them for so long, he did feel a decent amount of guilt for nearly scalping a defenseless rabbit. As he went to go check on the bunny though, Naruto noticed something strange. He'd seen enough rabbits during his time in the woods training to know that a rabbit's fur would only be this color in the winter, and yet it was currently in the summer months. Which meant…

"Everyone down!" Kakashi yelled suddenly, tackling Tazuna to the ground. Thinking quickly, Naruto tackled Sakura at the same time Sasuke also ducked. They'd barely made it, as a whirling object passed directly over where their heads had been. Hearing a thunk, Naruto spared a glance up and could barely suppress the gulp in his throat as he saw a sword as big as him lodged deeply into the tree behind where they had been standing. A blur of motion later, and a man was standing on the hilt of the sword. Immediately, all of the danger senses that Naruto had picked up over the years started screaming. It wasn't just the man's appearance that set him on edge, but the ominous feeling of bloodlust he seemed to project around himself.

While his face was largely covered by bandages, the man's eyes had a cold look in them like one would give a cockroach. His short spikey hair did nothing to hide his Hidden Mist forehead protector, and he wore no shirt to cover his muscular body. There was no doubt that this man was an experienced killer, someone who was Jonin in rank at least. Tora's words from earlier echoing in his head, Naruto braced himself for one of the toughest fights in his young life.

Tora, meanwhile, was perched up in a tree a little ways away from the new arrival. The bakemono's face was unusually serious as he, like his Summoner, could detect the bloodlust this man carried. 'Now, show me brat. Show me it wasn't just a fluke that allowed you to Summon me. Show me that you're worth calling yourself my Summoner,' Tora thought, preparing himself to see just what Naruto was truly capable of after all this time.

AN: Sorry this is about three years overdue. I've learned my lesson about going on "hiatus". Honestly, to those who've stuck by after all this time, major kudos to you all and the only thing I can say is sorry for taking so long. Anything else I say will just be an excuse, so just sorry for being a lazy bum. I want to do better, and hopefully I will in 2021. I'm already working on some of my other stories, so hopefully this momentary burst of inspiration will last long enough to give you guys a reason to think I'm not a complete inconsiderate jerk.

Anyway, Merry Christmas (x4) and Happy New Year (x4) to you all. And a Happy Birthday to my friend Dimension Distorter, who's never given up on me and has helped encourage me to keep writing.