Chapter 10: Test of Teamwork
"ENOUGH, can't we take a c-rank? We're ready." Naruto half demanded; half whined. He'd gotten better about shouting while inside, but clearly the month of back-to-back D-rank missions had gotten to him.
"Perhaps a currier mission? That will truly allow us to test our stamina in a real-life setting? Or an escort mission? A lot of our team training has covered standard body guard missions. Kakashi-sensei, I believe that our team work is strong enough to take a c-rank mission." Sasuke agreed with Naruto. "Besides, I think it will do the team some good to be placed in real life situations. We won't know what we're good at, how our formations hold up, or what needs to be improved until put into context."
She had known of course that they would be doing D-rank mission but she hadn't realised how boring and repetitive they would be. And she also hated the way the civilian reacted to both her and Naruto. Oh, they weren't overt about it but she could see the adoring looks and preferential treatment sent her way and the hatred, anger and disgust Naruto was treated with. Sasuke had made it her mission to always be with Naruto when he went shopping or traversed the streets because the civilians refused to say anything to his face or treat him badly while she was there. The fact that Kakashi had also started loitering when they went out for team lunch or when doing a D-rank missions (instead of watching from afar) showed that he had also notice the treatment of the village.
"Well, Kakashi, do you believe your team is ready for a c-rank?" The Hokage asked their team leader with an amused smile towards Naruto.
"Meh, Team Seven requesting a C-rank escort mission." Kakashi settled on, putting his little orange book away.
"Yes," Naruto cheered.
"Thank you, sensei." Sasuke settled on with a pleased smile.
Sakura remained silent, trying to hide her unease at the decision. She didn't believe they were ready for this mission.
Sasuke knew that Sakura had made great leaps and bounds in her physical training, and she had even starting working at the hospital for two hours each day (normally from 9 till 11, so that she could do some personal training with Sasuke and Naruto, before returning in time for team training and a D-rank). Going on a mission outside the village, with the potential to face bandits, might be the final mental push Sakura needed to see the truth of what it meant to be a Kunoichi of Konoha.
"Iruka, if you could please bring Tazuna-san in?" the Hokage requested their old sensei who was sat next to him with a pile of mission scrolls.
Their old sensei nodded and left the room even if he didn't look happy about a rookie team, only a month out of the academy, going on a C-rank mission. Kakashi accepted the scroll with their mission parameters that the Hokage threw at him (Sasuke was of the opinion that the only reason they still used scrolls outside of sealing was because of their aerodynamic nature).
Iruka returned with their client. He was tall, easily six feet, which meant he was taller than anyone else in the room except for Kakashi, since the average height for a man in Konoha was five feet and nine inches, and their Hokage was only five feet eight (a fun fact which Sasuke couldn't quiet remember where she had learnt). He was a grey-haired man with glasses and a thick beard. Under the blood shod red of his eyes, Sasuke was able to make out that his eyes were a dark brown. He was wearing a sleeveless v-neck shirt with an obi, pants and a pair of sandals, all in various shades of grey and white. For some reason he had a towel wrapped around his shoulders. The most prominent thing about the man though, was the bottle of sake in his hand and the distinctive smell of alcohol on his person that would make them easily trackable.
"These are the shinobi that will be guarding me? I'm a great bridge builder, the best there has ever been, building the largest bridge ever made, to connect my home to the mainland for the first time, and these are just kids. That chibi-faced, short one doesn't even look like he could stop a strong breeze." Tazuna insulted the moment his blood shot eyes landed on the three children who stood before their sensei.
Sasuke's hand immediately shot out and very briefly touched Naruto on the shoulder in a gesture that she would take this one. Naruto didn't know how to interact with different people, no matter their stations, in a way which would represent Konoha in the best light. Sasuke was slowly teaching him about politics and social graces, but it would take time and experience for him to pick it up properly. In the meantime, they had agreed that she would be the spokesperson for their team. She was, after all, aiming to be a political ambassador alongside her role as adviser and shadow to the Hokage.
"I assure you, Tazuna-sama, that Team Seven is more than capable of protecting you and your bridge from any threats that may present itself. Unlike civilian children of similar ages to us, we are considered adults and shinobi of Konoha and it is our duty to protect you. If you do not feel our training is enough to assure you of your safety, then you should be aware that our sensei is elite jonin Kakashi Hatake, one of the best shinobi that this village has to offer. If we are unable to protect you, then he will be able to." Sasuke spoke soothingly, watching this man. He seemed almost guilty at the fact that children had been assigned as his guard, but that seemed to settle when she mentioned their sensei. Perhaps it was not so much guilt, as it was worry? Civilians didn't typically understand that children could be just as capable soldiers and protectors as adults, especially civilians who were from outside of a shinobi village.
"Right team, meet by the gate in one hour while I go with Tazuna-san to ensure he has everything he will need." Kakashi dismissed the team.
"Hai, Sensei." The three of them said as one, bowing to their Hokage before leaving the office.
Sasuke separated from her team and headed to her house in order to pick up her pack. Her bag had a basic mission pack, including a fabric roll and rope for a tent if necessary. Then she went about stocking up her various pockets with scrolls of equipment – including excess food and weapons for more than two months encase something went wrong. It was better to be careful then to be left out in the cold. Of course, they could hunt for food, but that wasn't always possible.
Packed and ready Sasuke headed to training ground thirty-three, which was where team ten trained. Not wishing to deal with Ino, Sasuke kept herself concealed in the trees. Ino was throwing kunai at targets while Choji was working through a kata. Shikamaru was sat playing shoji with Asuma, but was keeping a close eye on his team mates at the same time.
Sasuke moved so only Shikamaru could see her through the trees and waved her hand in order to catch his attention. Shikamaru looked up, and Sasuke motioned to her pack. He nodded to show his understanding, then used hand code to ask her how long.
One month, escort mission. She signed back.
Be careful. Was all he said before turning back to the game he was playing. Asuma turned to look at who his student was talking to, but Sasuke had already taken off.
Sasuke was the first one to appear at the gates, and lent against the wall to wait for the rest of her team. Naruto arrived next, bouncing excitedly.
"I can't believe I'm finally leaving the village." Naruto admitted excitedly.
"You'll be seeing a lot of the world as a ninja. You have plenty of time." Sasuke smiled. She had also never left the village, although she knew her family had holdings outside the village that she would have to go and assess the condition off at some point – likely after she obtained the rank of Chunin.
"Hay, is sensei not here?" Sakura asked when she arrived with the group.
Sasuke narrowed her eyes very slightly when she took in the size of Sakura's backpack. It wasn't big enough to hold everything she would need, especially since Sasuke doubted she had brought any sealing scrolls in order to store her things. Naruto's pack was big enough and fully packed since Sasuke had been the one to pack it and give it to the boy a week before, going through everything he needed to ensure he was prepared for any mission. Sasuke hadn't thought to go through the same lesson with Sakura since it had been covered in class.
"Good to see you all ready." Kakashi said with a bright smile when he appeared with their slightly more sober client.
"Good to see that you can be on time, sensei." Sasuke smirked at the man who was still chronically two or three hours late to any appointed meeting time.
"Mah, missions are different." Kakashi smiled.
"Great, now let's go." Naruto said, barely containing his excitement.
They left the village, walking in a triangular formation around their client. Sasuke took point, with Sakura on Tazuna's left, Naruto on his right and Kakashi trailing in the rear.
Walking at a civilian pace was very boring, Sasuke decided only an hour after they left the village. Even Naruto's excitement at being out of the village had faded when he realised that there wasn't really much difference between the forests in the village and the forests outside of it. Sakura had been trying to keep herself entertained by engaging Tazuna in conversation about his bridge and Wave country.
In an attempt to distract herself from the boredom of travelling, Sasuke was channelling chakra alternatively to her nose and ears in order to enhance her senses. She had been doing this in order to acclimatise herself to the new input. She had already memorised the scents of her entire team, and had learnt Tazuna's scent while they were traveling. Now she was working on learning the smells of different floras and trees, and the different sounds that the local wildlife let loose. In time, she was hoping to be able to track the trail of any targets.
About an hour before night fell, they found a clearing to camp in for the night. Since there was no sign of rain, they all got out sleeping bags to sleep in and left their tents packed away (although Sasuke wasn't sure if Sakura and Naruto had even packed theirs since it was uncommon for genin to pack tents, and Sasuke hadn't told Naruto that a tent was part of the necessary equipment although she had ensured he had one).
"Sasuke, hunting. Naruto, traps. Sakura, prepare the camp." Kakashi issued orders before disappearing into the trees, likely to do a quick patrol.
"Hn." Sasuke fell back on the stereotypical hum that all Uchiha's used. She didn't typically use this noise, but it was easier than simple using words to state her agreement.
"Hay, you promised you wouldn't do that!" Naruto shouted at her back as she disappeared into the trees.
Sasuke just laughed and didn't say anything in response. She hadn't promised she wouldn't do that, but she said she would try not to. But sometimes, it was easier to just communicate with a sound. She was teaching Naruto and Sakura a code from Jane's life so that they could communicate in enemy territory or without anyone else knowing, which would also mean she could communicate with minimal talking when she wasn't in the mood. Sasuke had already taught the code to Shikamaru, and she knew that Kakashi was picking it up as they practised instead of being taught directly (the joys of having a genius for a sensei).
Sasuke enhanced her hearing and closed her eyes. Using only her ears, she listened to the sound of the wildlife around her and tracked her pray. In under twenty minutes she found a pack of rabbits grazing. Keeping her movements silenced and crouching in a tree, Sasuke quickly released three senbon which pierced the rabbits directly below the skull. A quick, clean kill. The other rabbits scattered and disappeared into the bush.
Jumping from her tree, Sasuke quickly and efficiently skinned and removed the organs from her kills. As she had been trained, Sasuke buried the remains. This meant that scavengers wouldn't find the organs until after they left the area, and if they were being followed it wouldn't be noticeable unless their trackers had enhanced senses like the Inuzuka clan or Kakashi sensei who had senses which were heightened from generations of his family's connection to the dog contract. Even enhancing senses with chakra wouldn't be enough to find the organs she had buried after a few hours had passed.
With her kills strung up on some string Sasuke returned to the camp, being careful of the traps that Naruto had set (and had taught her how to identify) she made it back safely.
"Sasuke, that was really quick. The fire isn't ready yet." Sakura said hastily, moving rocks around the fire pit in order to create a fire break. The fire was lit, but it was barely smoking.
"That's fine, I've got some herbs in my pack I can rub into the meat until the fire is ready." Sasuke moved to an upturned stump near her pack. "Naruto, you want to come and watch? You still don't know how to cook in the field."
"Fine," Naruto bounced over and crouched next to her to watch how she prepared the meat. Sasuke was determined to teach Naruto how to look after himself, both in the field and at home. Once a week they had cooking lessons at her place and she had promised to teach him how to look after himself in the field, even though she was most likely to be assigned cooking duties when they are together in the field.
"Sasuke, you are on second watch duty. Naruto has third. I have last watch. This night, Sakura doesn't have watch, tomorrow Naruto will have second and Sakura will have third." Kakashi rattled off.
"Does that mean you are on first and last watch?" Sasuke queried, picking up some sticks to peel and clean so they could cook the rabbits.
"I'll be taking the hardest watches until you are all used to getting up for watch." Kakashi waved off.
"Sakura, how's the fire doing?" Sasuke asked when she realised she'd run out of things to do to the meat.
"Um, it's fine. I think you can put the meat on now." Sakura said hesitantly.
The dinner was eaten quietly before they all turned in for the night. Sasuke set her sleeping bag up next to Tazuna since Naruto was struggling to keep his temper around the man who liked picking at them when he wasn't engaged in conversation. She also had the fasted reaction time out of the three of them in the event of a threat coming upon them in the night. Which was also why she didn't zip up her sleeping bag.
Three hours after going to bed, Sasuke forced herself awake without any assistance from Kakashi. Silently, Sasuke slid from the sleeping bag and looked around the camp looking for Kakashi. He was sat perched in a tree, looking over the camp. Since it was so dark, he didn't have his normal book out.
Sasuke climbed the tree and sat next to her sensei.
"You still have thirty minutes," Kakashi commented, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.
"If I sleep for another thirty minutes, you'll have to wake me up." Sasuke answered simple before changing the subject. "I've been trying to teach myself tracking, enhancing my sight and hearing."
"I've noticed. I'll have my dogs help you when you get back to the village by setting up a search routine. Can you channel chakra to your ears and nose at the same time?" Kakashi asked.
"I can't fully enhance my hearing while enhancing my nose yet. I'm working on improving my chakra control until I can do both to my full capability." Sasuke answered simple.
"Do you wish to be a tracker, instead of a forward combat team?" Kakashi asked seriously.
"My ultimate goal is to be the ambassador to the Hokage, after working within the ANBU sector and reaching minimum of captain. Working with Naruto makes me a forward combat combatant, but alone I will likely be classified as mid to long rang fighter. I live by the opinion that just being good at combat isn't good enough. I wish to improve my intelligence and information gathering skills, and my tracking ability." Sasuke explained.
"What about your eyes?" Kakashi asked bluntly. This was the first time he'd made an illusion to the fact that Sasuke hadn't activated her Sharingan yet, despite the amount of trauma she had gone through.
Sasuke stared off into the darkness for a long moment. She had hidden all knowledge of the fact that she had activated her Sharingan since it was just a tool for her to add to her arsenal and she didn't want any more attention from the civilians or the council. Especially after she had started uncovering the paperwork in her clan compound, and the secret compartment that Shisui had on his investigations into the organisation known as Root. Without the protection of the Hokage that the rank of Genin gave her, she didn't feel comfortable revealing that she had activated her eyes. But now, she had been under the supervision of Kakashi for more than a month now and she knew that the man was someone that she could trust, and that he would do everything within his considerable skill set and power to protect her.
"Are you maintaining your A-rank ability or improving your physical levels enough to be re-classed as an S-ranked threat?" Sasuke asked in turn instead of answering his question.
Kakashi was powerful as an A-rank ninja, but over the last year he'd been taking less high-level missions (it was on record that he had been taking A rank mission before he became their instructor, which means he wasn't being tested at the level of S-rank like he was in ANBU which means he had slipped. The fact that he had been relying more on the eye then she was comfortable with, wasn't very reassuring either).
"Why?" Kakashi narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"Because of all the people left in the village, only you and Shikaku Nara have the qualifications to be Hokage, but at A-rank you don't have the physical strength to be a Kage even though you have the potential. The Shondaime Hokage has already retired once, he can't keep the hat forever. Tsunade hasn't been seen in the village since the third war due to her emotional trauma and with Jiraiya's spy network he can't afford to remain in the village until he takes on an apprentice who can take over." Sasuke explained some of her reasoning.
Sasuke had wanted to bring up their sensei's training since they were first assigned to him, but she hadn't known how to. Kakashi's question was as good an opening as any. Her questioning his current level implied that she didn't think he was at the physical or political strength where she felt that she could safely reveal knowledge about her Sharingan. He could, of course, take that hint to mean that she had in fact activate her family's doujitsu, or he could take it to mean that she knew something about her families eyes she wasn't comfortable sharing yet. Taking advantage of the opportunity to mention their villages obvious weakness (a change in leadership was always viewed as a time when they were tested by the other villages) just meant she was able to bring multiple things to her sensei's attention and he could then take that how he wished and act accordingly.
Shikamaru had been trying to have the same conversation with Asuma, but hadn't much success. Jane didn't know a lot about what could happen, but she did know that they were going to be facing some very high-level threats. Sasuke and Shikamaru had both deduced that they needed a new Hokage who could deal with the issues they could both see present in the village – including the holes in their village security. The Hyuuga incident for example, should have never happened, and the consequence especially shouldn't have been as they were.
"You spend too much time around Nara." Kakashi decided. "You have watch for two and a half hours, then wake up Naruto. I'll take over from Naruto at half four." And without answering any of her questions, Kakashi left the tree and settled for four hours of missions' sleep.
The next three days and nights went in the same way as their first. Sasuke had taken to engaging Naruto in theoretical chakra conversations and chakra control activities in order to distract the boy since he was starting to get very restless with the pace and monotony. During their time together, Sasuke had discovered that Naruto picked up theory best when he was physically active. Sakura would chime in every now and then since her theoretical knowledge was very good, but the majority of her attention remained on Tazuna. Kakashi continued walking at the back of the group, reading from his orange book.
Sasuke had retaken her position at the front of the group, with Naruto and Sakura on either side. Naruto was trying to get a senbon to stand on its end using only chakra, while Sakura was rotating a senbon on her own and trying to get another to stand on end (the next step in the exercises, it isn't truly mastered until you can balance a senbon on each figure and rotate it). They were about six hours from the boarder to wave (or rather the crossing point).
They'd just come around a corner in the road when Sasuke noticed a puddle in the middle of the road. It hadn't rained in fire country in near eight days, which means there is no reason for a puddle to be in the middle of the road. Further to that, the puddle practically screamed with chakra to her senses. Sasuke was so used to trying to identify the ANBU of her village that she'd gotten quite good at sensing suppressed chakra signatures (of course, she still couldn't identify an ANBU who was completely suppressing their signal which they didn't typically do when in the village unless they were on an intel gathering mission or otherwise guarding specific targets).
Sasuke put her hand behind her back so it was visible to all her team members, and not the puddle. Fortunately, Konoha's sign was designed to be adapted for one hand use, or even just the twitch of the fingers.
Chakra signals. Puddle. 50metres. Two, chunin level.
Kakashi coughed once in acknowledgment as Sakura and Naruto both stiffened and moved closer to the client. Sasuke slowed her pace by half a step so that there was less space between her and the client. Kakashi in contrast fell back half a step to put some space between himself and the client.
There were three potential targets available, Sasuke (as the last Uchiha), Kakashi (because of his high bounty) or their client. If they wanted Sasuke, they would attack from the front, if they wanted Kakashi they would pop up between Kakashi and the group, but if they wanted Tazuna they would appear behind Kakashi. Appearing at the front meant they would be able to get Sasuke, theoretically, before Kakashi could react, if they appeared at the very back then they would be taking out the biggest threat first. If they were Chunin as their chakra suggested, then they wouldn't be able to take on Kakashi on their own, but they should be able to take on three inexperienced genin – if that genin wasn't her team. Appearing between Kakashi and the group in order to take down Kakashi for his bounty would allow them to attack in such a way as to capture him alive (due to the Sharingan) or with minimal damage to the body. It would also allow them to escape quicker, before the group of genin could react, if their target was indeed the elder man.
Sasuke passed over the puddle without any problem; as did Naruto, who had shifted the client so that he didn't pass directly over the puddle. Finally, sensei passed over the puddle.
Kakashi took perhaps three steps before there was a sudden chakra surge behind them. Sasuke and Naruto span as one, in time to see two sets of chains wrap around sensei's body and pull him apart. Between one blink and the next, Sasuke had dispelled Kakashi's genjitsu so that she could see he had used substitution to get out of harms way.
"Naruto, form C." Sasuke snapped before charging the demon-brothers, throwing a senbon at the chain which was sent after her. The senbon caught the chain between two links and pinned it to a tree. Before the demon brother she had pinned could disengaged his gauntlet, she was upon him. A powerful kick to the chest to destabilised him followed by a blow to the neck to knock him out. Before she could secure her opponent, Sasuke was forced to dodge an attack at her back. Naruto hadn't moved to engage the enemy with her, instead he was stood wide-eyed and frozen between the opponent and the client.
With the element of surprise lost, and the fact that this demon brother still had his chain, meant that she was out classed in this fight. This guy was probably mid to high chunin level and with the poison he was rumoured to use Sasuke had to be very careful. Using a kunai to deflect the chain as best she could, Sasuke engaged her enemy in taijutsu – using her 'testing' form to see how good this man was. His stance was solid and seemed to be designed for strong hits, not speed. Once she knew how he fought, she sifted tactics and went on attack – stricking hard and fast at several key point which paralysed muscle. Taking out first his leg, then his arm before targeting the chest twice with blows that stopped the heart.
With the man down Sasuke stepped back in order assess the surroundings. Kakashi appeared and was now tying up the first one she had taken down. Naruto was still stood, frozen in the place she had left him. Sakura was stood with the client, but she hadn't moved into a fighting stance or got out a weapon. It seemed both of her team mates had frozen upon first contact with a hostile despite the forewarning.
"Kakashi-sensei, you're okay." Sakura said in relief.
"He's dead." Sasuke informed Kakashi when he went to tie up the other one.
"You okay?" Kakashi questioned.
"I'm fine." Sasuke responded, taking one last glance at the body before she moved to her team mates.
"Sasuke… I…" Naruto started.
"You froze." Sasuke finished for him. "Leaving me without support against an enemy with more experience and training then me."
"Sasuke, I…" Naruto tried to say something again, but Sasuke interrupted.
"Don't apologise. Do better." Sasuke gripped his shoulder tightly for a moment. "And when we get back to the village, we train our formations until your response to a command is instinctive."
"Right." Naruto glanced at the ground guiltily. "You okay?"
"I'm unharmed." Sasuke promised, turning to Kakashi who had been observing their conversation. He nodded once to show his approval of how she had handled the situation. "Now what sensei?"
"Now Tazuna-san tells us why ninjas are after him?" Kakashi focused his attention completely on Tazuna who shifted uncomfortably.
"Why… why do you think they were after me?" Tazuna tried to shift the blame from himself.
"I didn't engage the enemy shinobi for two reasons: one, I wanted to see how my team would do when facing enemy shinobi, and two, I wanted to know their target. And you want to know what I figured out; their target was you. You payed for a c-rank escort and protection mission, meaning no enemy shinobi. You're in breach of contract. Explain to me why we shouldn't just turn around and return to Konoha now?" Kakashi demanded.
"We will be able to cash in the bounty for the demon brothers. As c-rank missing-nin from Kiri they have a bounty of 20,00ryo for each of them. More than makes up for the loss of contract." Sasuke tagged on here, making it clear that money wouldn't be an issue for Konoha and their team if they left – he'd already been paid in the bounty.
"Look, I'm sorry I lied but I didn't know he would send ninja after me, not for certain anyway!" Tazuna suddenly exclaimed, before exploding with a series of word vomiting.
Apparently, without the notice of the various intelligence assets the village had spread through the land, and intelligence missions, wave country had fallen to a tyrant – a well known trader at that. Gato Shipping was the largest shipping company currently known, with trade with the majority of Hidden villages. Gato, and his thugs, had taken control of Wave and prevented them from reaching outside of their boarders for help. He was draining the land and its people dry, killing anyone who thought to stand in his way – including Tazuna's son in law. Tazuna himself was building a bridge to connect Wave with Fire country so that they could start up trade and get help. But, Gato had been sending his thugs after him recently and so he needed the protection of ninja's. So, he had snuck out of Wave with the last of the people's money in order to higher ninja. But he only had enough for a C-rank mission.