Chapter One - The First Step

So, you passed your test.

Yup.

All it took was purposefully failing the test and tricking Mizuki into having us take the Forbidden Scroll, to which we copied and began using the jutsu that are written within.

Correct again.

To which we are then credited with defeating and capturing the traitorous Chunin, being paid for a B-rank mission for our accomplishment, to which we met Ibiki Morino and the very sexy and flirtatious Anko Mitarashi when he was handed over.

I remember I was there. Naruto chuckled again as he brushed his teeth.

Other than us finding the first of your future wives, we got ourselves connected with Konoha's Intelligence branch to which we can work at part-time under said future wife.

Naruto rolled his eyes as he rinsed his mouth, taking a moment to spit into the sink. Yes, yes, harem is growing and we have friends in high places. You done?

Almost, Kyuubi chuckled as he continued, and now, while being a Genin for a few months under Kakashi Hatake, a student of your father, today is the day you and Sasuke decided that you want a C-rank out of the village for better experience. Of which, you will most definitely kill for the first time and actually be seen as responsible and mature enough to operate as true shinobi.

Naruto waited a few moments.

I am done so you may answer.

Yes, all of that is true.

Naruto shook his head in amusement and finished getting dressed. He wore a black tank top over a short-sleeve mesh undershirt, black flexible, heat-resistant pants and black sandals. A very simple outfit as it prevented him from standing out any more than he already did now that the whole village found out that he was the son of the Yondaime Hokage. He hated how none of them even acknowledged his mother, who was definitely on par if not better than Minato. Even his seals were only as good as they were because she helped him refine them so he literally didn't tear himself apart using his famed Flying Thunder God Technique.

Another helpful consequence of his revelation was that he was able to be moved into his parent's home that they had locked up prior or shortly before their death trying to contain Kurama. After a bit of dusting and cleaning, he was able to make it livable and had spent much of his time looking over the books and scrolls his mother and father had kept from their career. He especially loved the Uzumaki fuinjutsu, something he has been able to master after he did what the book suggested and tattooed them to his body so that it was easier to use in combat. Good thing about Seal Ink is that when applied to the body, it disappears whenever it is not being used.

With all of his training, and sudden spike in skill with ninjutsu and fuinjutsu, he was very confident in his abilities as a shinobi and was ready for the moment the Chunin Exams came around in three months.

Grabbing his large scroll of seals and equipment, Naruto checked to make sure he had everything before opening his front door to leave but before he could do so he was confronted by a familiar baby blue whirlpool mask.

"Uzumaki-sama," the man kneeled before him and pulled out a scroll and a picture. "These are what my team and I found."

Naruto took the objects and glanced over the scroll before pocketing it and looking at the picture. It was taken from someone who was hiding, if the way the picture was taken was any indication, and there were only two individuals seen inside. One is a man with dark hair, wearing a scientist's labcoat but anything was hard to see as his back was to the camera. The other, however, is the one who caught his attention; with red hair and dark eyes, it was the red swirl that was on her purple shirt that was slightly obscured by the man she was talking to.

"Where was this taken?"

"I do not know the name of the island but it is patrolled by Fire civilians and a small group of Konoha shinobi."

Naruto nodded and pocketed the photo, he knew where he could find out. "Thank you, continue in your search. I want you to also check in with Team Alpha and find out their progress. I will most likely not be in the village for a month or two so you will have to wait to inform me until then."

"As you order, Uzumaki-sama," the man bowed once more before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

Continuing on his way, he tried to think about where he left his trail of thoughts before he was interrupted. Oh, right, his team.

That was a bad time when he found out he was teamed up with Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno. Nothing against the Uchiha, but Naruto just did not like his lone wolf attitude and his condescending grunting whenever someone else tried to talk to him or tell him what he should do. Sakura, well, she was weak, she had no actual desire to be a kunoichi, and the only reason she stuck with the Academy was because of her obsession with the last Uchiha. That, and her father would be damned if she didn't become a kunoichi. He loved and praised the ninja profession, and has countlessly confessed that if he was ever needed he would rejoin the shinobi force and even give his life for his village.

Their teacher, however, was very good at keeping them together and not at each other's throats constantly. Kakashi Hatake, the last of the Hatake clan and with no apparent interest to find a woman to continue the line ever since the death of his teammate Rin Nohara died. He was very skilled, scary if Naruto was to be honest with himself, but it was no surprise as the man had learned under Minato during the Third Shinobi World War. On top of that, the man was also Anbu at some point and was even the mentor of Itami Uchiha before the woman went rogue and killed her clan.

Overall, he could complain all he wanted but he realized that he got off lucky in the way of his team. He got an experienced sensei that would be able to teach them quite a lot, and his teammates at least showed potential to not be entirely terrible. It just took a while for him to get along with the Uchiha, but they found a kind of brotherly rivalry in their training and he would have to be ignorant if he denied that it was working.

Sighing from his thoughts, he caught sight of his team and that their sensei was also just arriving - still reading his book but that was also to be expected. When they made it, he got an annoyed glance from Sasuke and an amused one from his sensei.

"I see you are learning very well," Kakashi smiled as he spoke to the blonde.

"Gotta pick up something from our time together, otherwise it may look like you're not doing your job," Naruto chuckled as he looked at the amused stare of the Jonin. "Anyway, we agreed that today we will be getting our first C-rank and I wanted to make sure I had everything."

And that we got a bit more sleep in instead of waiting for his lazy ass.

Too true.

"Well, come my little Genin, let's get our first C-rank as Team Kakashi."

"We never agreed to that name," both Naruto and Sasuke told the man at the same time, briefly sharing a look before continuing there walk to the mission office.

"Yeah," Sakura wanted to pitch in and, truthfully, that's all she could manage.

"Fine, how about 'Team Kakashi-sama Is So Fabulous and His Genin Will Serve As Pack-Mules If They Argue With Him Again'." Kakashi glanced back at his students as he opened the door, his eye smiling at them. "That sounds better right?"

"The first one was better," was all Naruto answered as he entered the room and looked to see Hiruzen inside. "Hello, Oji-sama."

"Hello, Naruto-kun, Team Seven," Hiruzen smiled as he looked at the team. "D-rank, again?"

"Actually," Naruto spoke up, interrupting the old man, "we had agreed that we are ready for a C-rank outside of the village."

"I see," Hiruzen sat back as he took a few drags of his pipe. "Do you agree with him, Kakashi-san?"

"I do, Hokage-sama," Kakashi nodded his head without looking up from his perverted book.

Hiruzen nodded his head and moved around a few scrolls before finding one. "I have just the right one. Escort mission to Nami no Kuni, a small area to the south of Hi no Kuni. You will be protecting Tazuna, a bridge builder, as he finishes his bridge into the mainland. You should expect bandits."

"And where is our lovely client?"

Hiruzen pushed a button on a small receiver and leaned near it, "Hiei, please contact Tazuno-san and let him know he is to meet with his escort team in the south entrance in half an hour."

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

Kakashi nodded and turned to his students. "You heard Hokage-sama, we are to be at the south entrance in twenty minutes so go get prepared and finish up all that you need before we leave."

Naruto was the first to leave and he made his walk for the Intelligence Division where he was going to see if he can find out more about the woman in the picture.

Naruto opened the door to the Intelligence Division and looked around to see the many Chunin and Jonin that are working diligently in their tasks. He avoided those in rush so that he couldn't be accused of being in the way and approached the main desk with a single Jonin working on papers. "Hello, I am here to see Ibiki Morino, please."

"Name," the woman asked without looking up.

"Naruto Uzumaki, Genin," he answered, causing the woman to stop and look up at him.

"Pleasure to meet you, Uzumaki-san," she rummaged through a few papers before finding one she was looking for. "Morino-san should have finished an interrogation a few minutes ago and should be in his office. Do you know where it is?"

"Yes," Naruto nodded and left in the direction of the man's office.

It took a bit with how busy the Division was but he finally made it there soon enough. He gave a few knocks and waited a second before he could hear a gruff "enter!"

As he did so, he found the man sitting at his desk while looking over a few papers and reports from many Intelligence agents across the Elemental Nations. He had his bandana to the side, revealing the rest of the gruesome scars he received when captured by enemies. "Good afternoon, Morino-san."

"Ah, Naruto-san," the man greeted, setting the paper he was reading on his desk. "What brings you here?"

"I need help finding someone and I assumed that you would know how," Naruto pulled out the picture in his pouch and showed it to the man as he spoke. "I am looking for the red-haired woman in the picture."

"Hm," Ibiki hummed in thought as he inspected the given photo. "Do you know where it was taken?"

"I only know it was on some kind of research island."

The man nodded and set it down, writing a few notes. "I can ask around the other Divisions and see if they recognize it, it is clearly under our jurisdiction from what I can see of the scientist, but I do not know what it is. I will contact you as soon as I have an answer or not."

"Thank you, Morino-san, but I will be out of the village on a C-rank for a month or two and won't be back until then."

The man nodded. "That will be fine, I will see you then."

Naruto bowed in appreciation before leaving the office. Checking a clock on the wall, he saw he had at least ten minutes before he was due to be at the entrance. It wouldn't hurt to be too early, at least it would give him a chance to look at the scroll that he was given.

"Kitsune-chan!"

Naruto turned to see Anko jump and embrace him in a suffocation-by-boobs hug that left him struggling to breathe. "A-Anko! Can't breathe!"

The woman grinned as she pulled away from him, pouting slightly when he gave an exaggerated deep breath. "Aw, come on! I wear a mesh shirt for a reason!"

Naruto gave a light glare at the woman but was nonetheless amused by her antics. "If you're going to kill me with your feminine body, at least make it enjoyable as I go."

Anko gave a devious smirk and leaned on him so he was pressed against the wall, ignoring all of the looks that passerby shinobi were giving them, and lowered so that she could breathe in his ear. "Is that an invitation?"

"It always had been, but you missed the chance since I am going on a mission out of the village and will not be back for a month in the least." Naruto enjoyed the frustrated groan and pout from the Jonin. "But when I come back, feel free to make it a game."

Her eyes lit up as soon as he said that. "You sure you want me to give me that much power? You won't be able to say no when you give me that freedom."

Naruto chuckled as he decided to tease the woman and gave a long lick across her cheek before quickly slipping from her reach with a laugh. "I think I'll enjoy it, Anko-chan!"

Hehehe, you're a devious one, kit.

Of course I am. And what makes it better is that she will only be able to think about that lick and the freedom I just gave her.

The next two months are gonna drive her crazy.

Ohhhhh yeah!

As Naruto arrived at the South Gate, he looked at his watch to see that there was still a few minutes of silence before the rest of his team would start arriving. Sitting down near the entrance but away from others so that they won't snoop on him, he pulled out the scroll and looked around before opening it. What he found inside was a list of names and places, but it was some of the surnames that told him what it was.

"Nagato Uzumaki, Amegakure. Karin Uzumaki, Kusagakure. Yumiko Xu, Kusagakure. Ryouichi Fukui, Iwagakure. Shichirou Katou, Kirigakure." Naruto stopped reading as he glanced up to see Sakura closing in on his spot from down the street.

It's a list of names of surviving Uzumaki members or retainers. Naruto silently contemplated this newfound information as he stood up to see Sasuke and Sakura arriving, as well as Kakashi walking down the street with an older-looking man with glasses.

"Team," Kakashi gained the attention of his students, "this is Tazuna, our client."

"What's with the children, I thought I paid for ninjas, not babies!"

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the man's shout and couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed, even if he can understand his reasons for how he acted. He did not like being called a child. "Hey, we are more than enough to protect you on a C-rank mission, old man. It's not like we're going to face other shinobi villages or anything like that."

Kakashi held up his hands to prevent a fight between one of his students and their client, "maa, maa, let's not argue with each other. Come, we have a long walk to Nami and I'd prefer we get you there as soon as possible."

While everyone nodded and began their journey for Nami no Kuni, Naruto thought back to the scroll that is in his pouch. I should see about getting missions to these nations and see if I can find them. Hopefully, they're willing to rebuild Uzushiogakure as well or that's going to be a problem.

jmg1988: When it comes up, you'll see the reasons and the story behind why it happened. It won't be addressed immediately, as Naruto isn't concerned about past consequences such as that currently.

SvWJan: Do not worry, all will be explained eventually.

jonahtapper1228: In the case of a WMD like Naruto, who is the only one currently able to house the Kyuubi, it is imperative you don't make it feel threatened. That was a lesson many villages, such as Kumo and Iwa, had to learn the hard way. However, there are forces that will seek to control or manipulate him but that's to find out later.