The monotony of daily C and D rank missions had begun to settle in. Pull weeds. Clean the park. Pick up the trash. Escort a group of school children to the local fair in the village next to Konoha. The tasks had been too easy, too boring, so overwhelmingly simple that Naruto had almost forgotten the last time he had punched someone that wasn't for insulting him, or sparring with Sasuke. No, how long had it been? How long since the new hokage, how long since Orochimaru? There were so many bland missions. Naruto couldn't keep track of them, they came and went quickly and slowly and each day that they piled up, he dragged his feet to the briefing room a little bit more, got more frustrated and less willing to do any jobs other than B and A ranks. Several times he would protest in mock outrage, just to bring a little bit of much needed excitement, but it was quick and didn't stay long.
Today was one of those days, the days that drag on, don't go away when you ask them to. The alarm clock rang out its shouting tune, and Naruto smacked it the same way he had smacked it for 13 years. The first two years of his life he had spent in a foster home, but was passed around and around until he was eight, and by then he just bought his own place with the money his mother and father had left behind, which wasn't much as far as Naruto could tell. Good ol' mom and dad. Never knew them myself, he'd think.
Naruto slipped out of bed, the covers dragging around his waist and feet until he got too far and they gave up and slipped down to the floor. He took a shower, dried off, dressed, the normal things you did when you got up, got ready for work. He felt like a cow plowing a field going in circles, too tired to think, too stupid to stop.
Naruto ate his breakfast, which consisted of some ramen he found in the back of his pantry, and a glass of water and orange juice. He finished up and put the dishes in the sink. He'd clean them later. Naruto slugged over to the door, and turned to the coat rack and excrutiatingly tiny table to his right. It was like a cramped and shortened main hall of a house. Only this hall was barely three feet long.
Put on your orange coat.
Put on your black shoes.
Put on your blue head protector.
Boring. Slow, everything felt closed and distant at the same time. Naruto reached for the door knob, contemplating getting back in bed, and rebuked that thought with his dreams and promises, the only things keeping him going. Click, squeak, crack. The door opened slowly, and he stepped out into the hall way. A tenant walked by and smiled at Naruto.
"Lovely day isn't it, Naruto?" She said, happy and joyful and content. Naruto could hear a slight hint of fear in her voice. Over what?
"Yes, great day. Nice blue sky out," Responded Naruto, and he quietly closed his door and walked down the hall towards the stairs as quickly as he would allow. Naruto almost tripped on the second to last step, regained his balance, and walked down the next hallway. He went down another flight of stairs. Don't trip. He came around the last long hallway, and appeared into the lobby. It was small and had white, cracked walls, with some shoddy and scuffed flooring. A receptionist sat at the front desk, tapping a pencil on some busy work, raggled, tired, and bored. She looks how I feel.
Naruto made his way to the front doors, and once again the thoughts of just turning around and going back flashed in his head. Why am I thinking these disgusting thoughts? he asked. No one would answer him, and he couldn't answer himself. It was a rhetorical question directed at his being, the kind you felt compelled to answer but can't when you're asked it, to you or by someone else. He shook his head, and adjusted the head protector that was a bit itchy for some reason. He pledged to himself, as he did everyday to keep from losing his dreams, not to give up, keep going. No matter what the odds, no matter what it takes, I must always perservere. And with that, Naruto pushed open the door, breathed in deep, and walked about ten feet before being knocked down by the pint-sized nuisance that followed him around all the time.
"Naruto-san!" Screamed Konohamaru right into his ear. Naruto struggled out of the child's firm grip on his pants leg, got up and dusted himself off. His ear rang for a short time.
"Konohmaru, don't do that! I just washed these clothes yesterday!" Naruto berrated. But he didn't really care, and this was beginning to become very apparent in his tone of voice, and this actually worried him more than anything else. Was that pledge that he just recited to himself going to falter so quickly?
"So! You can just wash them again! Now let's go play ninja, the other guys in the squad are waiting," Konohamaru shook with anticipation. The little guy really did like playing that damn game. Ah well, what was he? Six years old? Maybe five. It's not like he had anything better to do, and it was a holiday for school children. Naruto understood. But he didn't have time to play children's games.
"I'm sorry, but I can't! I have business to attend to!" Said Naruto in his most important sounding voice.
"Like what, pulling weeds out of a field? C'mon, you don't need to do that stuff, come play with us!" Naruto flustered. Was the boy really watching him that intensely that he even spied on him while he was doing some menial labor? Konohamaru really didn't have anything better to do.
"Hey, it's all part of becoming hokage! I gotta do this stuff champ, otherwise I won't be head ninja!" Naruto boasted sarcastically, but the sarcasm was only in his mind. Even though these lame chores were part of becoming hokage, he didn't want them to be.
"Psh, whatever! I never heard of any great ninja or hokage that did menial labor!" Oh, please, Naruto thought. I never paid attention in class, and even I know that you have to do these lame chores before you can get to the good stuff. The problem was that he had been doing these meaningless missions for almost a year and a half, and had only gotten...maybe one or two B and A rank missions.
"That's because those stories aren't interesting, Konohmaru! Now go back to your friends, I'm already late for work!" Naruto knew he wasn't actually late. But the kid didn't know that, now did he?
"Fine, party pooper!" Konohmaru stuck his tongue out and made a raspberry, then ran off down the street, kicking up small clouds of dust. It never failed, did it? He knew it was a Friday! Naruto wouldn't be off until Sunday. He'd play with him then.
Naruto walked and jumped across some rooftops, while looking down at the streets to observe the people. They were all walking, some of the younger ones running as fast as their legs would carry them to the local park or arcade or whatever activity they planned to do. Some of the ones that walked slower were weighed down by baskets and bags. They were probably doing chores for their family, and it wasn't just the children. Everyone was doing these chores, these annoying little jobs that everyone hates but that which they needed to do. And Naruto couldn't stand these much longer, the sheer helplessness to combat them. They ruled everyone's life, it seemed. Even the most esteemed ninja like Kakashi had to do them.
Naruto looked away from the streets, and sighed with annoyance. This was what made him so agitated. The pattern of everything that happened in his life, eveything between the Chuunin exam and the two A rank missions he had gotten, all of it was a pattern. But the thing he feared was that the pattern might bleed its way to his tougher missions, if the council ever got the guts to start giving him only B and A rank missions. Would being in so much danger eventually get old as well? Would trying so hard to just stay alive and get the objectives complete wear thin in its consistency? Naruto dreaded the thought. Shake the fears and unfound worries from your head.
Naruto reached the building about ten minutes later. By then it was 8:45, he estimated. Naruto jumped off the last building's roof and walked across the street to the briefing house. It was a stout and wide building with blue shingles, and was about two stories tall, with brilliant white walls, one decorated with the Konoha Village symbol, and the words 'headquarters' written above it. There was a stone pathway and a tiny pond next to the entrance. There were large gold fish in the water, and would smim merrily around each other. And every time Naruto came to the Briefings and Missions building, they'd always do this. They'd always go in a circle. Like Oxen tending a field.
Naruto entered the lobby of the headquarters, which was surprisingly like his apartment complex. But the walls weren't cracked and the floor board, it didn't squeak and wasn't scuffed. The room was larger, but the architecture was quite the same. The receptionist was a Chuunin, about twenty four years old. He looked excited to be there. Naruto wondered briefly when he became a Chuunin. He'd never asked him.
"Oy, Naruto. Another day, another mission, ey? Have fun," The man said, writing down on some papers. He checked his watch, continued to write whatever it was he was writing down.
"'Ave a good day, Naruto-kun!" The man gave a cheery smile at Naruto, and it was returned with a large, strained grin.
"You too," and with that the conversation was over. A lot of Naruto's conversations were short and pointless, but made for a nice void in all the silence. He made his way down the left hall, and took a right down another. There were a lot of halls, and the funny thing was that they all leaded, except for a few, to the middle of the building where the briefing room was. Whoever designed this building must be one psycho freak to make everyone walk so far and get lost so easily when they're trying to find a room besides the one in the middle.
After about ten minutes of walking, no running, Naruto came upon the briefing room. It was a large room, meant to fit a lot of people. At one end (opposite the door way) was a long table where the top ninja and the Hokage gave the missions for the day. There was nice maple flooring in there, unlike the rest of the building which had oak.
Naruto entered the room, and standing in a corner was Kakashi and Sasuke. Where was Sakura? She was supposed to be here. Maybe she was late. Like me, maybe. No, that couldn't be; Naruto had grown accustomed to the emotions on the faces of his peers and teachers. They weren't pissed that he was late, because he wasn't. They must be waiting their turn, because there were other squads in there. More importantly, why was Kakashi-sensei with them today? The team usually does missions on our own now.
Naruto went up to the two. "Hey guys. Where's Sakura?" Was the first thing out of his lips. Kakashi answered first.
"Hey, Naruto. Sakura's real sick today. She's come down with that flu that's been going around. Tsunade should be tending to her sometime this afternoon, but until then she's hospitalized." Naruto gave a soft gasp. He didn't like to see Sakura in pain, much less hear about something like this that made him completely helpless to give assistance.
"Oh man, is she alright?" Naruto choked. Some flem must've gotten into his throat. He hoped he wasn't coming down with the same thing Sakura got.
"She's going to be fine. It's a relatively mild flu, not like the one that happened about thirty years ago," Sasuke said, and lifted his back up a bit off the wall. Well, that was good. But Naruto had never even heard of this disease.
"Was it a plague?" Naruto queried.
Kakashi rubbed his chin. "It was. I remember it, vaguely. I think, maybe twenty people died. I dunno. I can't remmber most of it, but it's all in the annals. You should check those out some time, if you actually believe in the library, Naruto," It made Naruto twitch his eyebrows in small frustration.
"I know what a Library is, sensei, I've been in them bef-" Naruto was cut off by the sound of the Hokage's voice echoing out in the room.
"Team Kakashi, please report to the table, we have your assignment for the day!" Naruto perked up. The day? Oh good, perhaps it wouldn't be menial labor. Perhaps they'll actually get to do something interesting for once. He hoped. The three made their way to the table, and stood about six feet from it. The normal length to receive missions.
"Okay. I'm aware that Sakura is out on sick leave for today, so it's just you three. As you two know, in the event of a team member's absence, the leader will fill in the postion. That one's for you, Naruto," Naruto made a face at the hokage. "That being said, I suppose I'll give you a relatively easy mission, since I know you two aren't as used to working with Kakashi..." Tsunade fumbled around with the various papers that were strewn across the desk. The delegates around her watched with intensity at her hand motions. Naruto squirmed with annoyance at the thought of getting another weed pulling 'mission'.
"Alright, here we are. There's a small packet of houses up on the eastern side of Stone mountain, who have been complaining of bat and other rodent problems. They want you to investigate the caves and kill the nests of the creatures." Naruto groaned outloud. This was pathetic! Outrageous! Two whole weeks and nothing more than a C- rank mission!
"So we're playing exterminator today, are we?!" Naruto said with a flair of arrogance that took the hokage by surprise. She should be used to his usual sarcastic remarks, but the feeling of the authority of being Hokage was setting in, and this kind of blatant disrespect for her wasn't coming as often as it used to.
"Well, in a manner of speaking, yes," She was really taken aback by that, Naruto thought. Then he thought to continue his rant. The obligatory jump of excitement for the day.
"Why don't you ever give us better missions than this?! You know I can handle them, so can Sasuke and Sensei, even Sakura, but you don't! Why? Don't you trust us? Are you afraid that I'll just fuck it all up, no matter what it is, is that it?! " Naruto imagined his words like a whip, stinging and snatching the breath from Grandma Tsunade's lungs.
"Naruto, you are way out of line!" Kakashi said, glaring and actually raising his voice a bit higher than he usually does when Naruto backtalks his elders. .
"It's fine, Kakashi. I'll just make it more interesting for him, since that's what he probably wants," Naruto's disposition changed a bit. Good, this could be it! He'll finally be able to put some well deserved enlightenment into these bland missions...
"Naruto, you are not allowed to use any ninjutsu of any kind for the duration of the mission. I'll have Kakashi and Sasuke keep a close watch on you, and if you screw up once you're suspended from the team for the next five months. Also, no weapons of any kind are allowed except for your knife." He couldn't believe it. He looked at both Sasuke and Kakashi for some kind of joking expression. None. Naruto's jaw, along with Sasuke's and Kakashi's, fell to the proverbial floor. It was completely unlike her to do something like this! Oh wait, yes it was. She did this a lot, though nothing this severe. This in itself was the excitement of the day, and Naruto did not like it one bit.
"Wha-what?! How could yo- I mean, that's the whole point of being a ninja is to use your skills!" Naruto wailed, knowing that he had lost this battle. He wondered how many more battles he was going to lose.
"Yes, use your skills. And not just Ninjutsu and weapons. You use your deductive reasoning, Naruto! Use your common sense! And trying to go against the hokage without some kind of collateral damage, is not using the aforementioned ideals." She winked at Naruto, and he couldn't help but just revel at her cunning. Sasuke shook his head in pity for Naruto's lack of...grey matter.
"You are dismissed. Kakashi, I'd like to see your team back by about Sunday. There's a lot of caves, as you should already know." Kakashi gave a salute, as did Sasuke, but Naruto did not. This was not going to stand! He wanted something interesting, but not like this!
"Are you really going to make me go through with this, Grandma-Tsunade?" Some of the elders made twisted expressions at Naruto. They were very displeased.
"Do you want to stay in this organization, Naruto?"
"Of course I do, that's why I'm standing here."
"Then you'll obey whatever your seniors and upper officials have to say, even if you disagree with it. You can't always have your own way, Naruto."
"You let Sasuke get off scotch free! Haven't you ever heard of fair and square?!"
"Sasuke didn't do anything to earn this handicap. He does his job, not to mention well, and doesn't screw up or get lost in his own thoughts all the time."
"That's bullshit, I've saved him hundreds of times-"
"After almost getting killed yourself and with no regard to anyone else, if my sources are correct," Tsuande glanced at Sasuke, who gave a slight smirk.
"This is stupid! Couldn't you give me a better handicap than this?! What if it somehow jeapordizes the mission?!"
"It won't, Naruto. I told you that you were allowed to use your knife. It's not that hard to catch a rat and kill it."
"It is when it's pitch black in the caves."
"They're mining caves. There will be lights."
"Not in the dark places." Tsuande blinked, and gave Naruto a very hard look. This boy was starting to scare her, but not out of fear of getting attacked; out of fear that he would do something stupid any minute and get himself hurt.
"Dismissed, Naruto." Naruto showed his teeth to her, a sign of his inner demon's aggression. It sent shivers down Tsuande's spine. He gave a quick salute and walked out, shoulders slouched but tense.
The three walked out of the briefing room, Naruto the first one out. The other elders let out small sighs of relief. But Tsunade couldn't get the shaking feeling that Naruto was being unusually hostile today, and wasn't about to take him off of her sights. She wouldn't let her breath go that easily.
"Naruto, you never cease to amaze me just how brain-dead you can be," Sasuke said, shoving his hands into his pockets.
"Shove it up your ass, Sasuke. I'm just tired of all these boring missions," Naruto groaned, trying to recover from Sasuke's insult.
"They're necessary, you know. Just because they're boring to you doesn't mean they're boring to the other team members," Said Kakashi.
"Sensei, you hate them too. I saw that look on your face when she gave the handicap to me," Naruto looked up at his teacher's face with a criticizing glare. Kakashi responded with a light hearted shrug.
"Not to mention that if we don't hold up on our end of the deal of keeping you from killing these little infections any other way than knifing them to death, we could get suspended too. Thanks for the bonus, Naruto," Naruto sneered at Sasuke.
"She never said that. Besides, what she doesn't know won't hurt her," Naruto made his rebuttal, and Sasuke even thought about letting Naruto cheat this one time.
"No one's going to cheat on this handicap, because I'm going to be watching the both of you," Kakashi put his hands on the shoulders of the boys, and gave them a smile underneath his permanent ninja mask.
Sasuke raised a placid eyebrow. "Why do you have to watch me? I'm not the one that's got himself screwed." Kakashi let out a small laugh and let go of the boys' shoulders.
"It's because I had a talk with the Hokage beforehand. We knew Naruto-kun was going to blow up in her face like that again, so we came up with the handicap. I was faking it the entire time, being surprised. I thought you'd notice, Sasuke." Naruto contemplated attempting to thwack Kakashi in the head, he was so furious at this treachery to handicap his mission. But he knew that if he tried, that would just have himself in more trouble, and Naruto just didn't want that right now.
"That still doesn't answer my question of why you're going to watch both of us," said Sasuke, who was suddenly at the side of Kakashi. Naruto was up ahead. He wanted to be through with this mission as soon as possible, and therefore not paying attention to his team mates constituted as a good idea.
"I think I meant that as more of a joke. Really, I just want you to watch Naruto closely. Don't help him out, even if he asks for it,"
"Like I would anyways. Why are we doing this to him? He's just being his old hyper-active self. It's not like it's doing anyone any harm," Kakashi was surprised at how much Sasuke was talking recently. It seemed he would make better conversation when Sakura wasn't around or when Naruto was out of earshot, or attention-shot.
"It's not so much to teach him a lesson, Sasuke. The Hokage has great faith in him, and she wants to test him," Kakashi then added, "But don't tell Naruto that. Then he'll wise up and realize we've been doing this to him for the past few months."
Sasuke was truly amazed, and maybe even a bit jealous, of the ammount of attention Naruto was garnering from the new Hokage. What happened on the journey to get her and bring her to Konoha? Sure, Naruto had his moments, but he was just too boisterous, too overbearing to be a great ninja. The fact that he got into the Chuunin class was purely coincedential. Hyuuga Neji was an easy and untrained opponent in Sasuke's opinion; hardly a match for anyone.
But Naruto must've done something to get such attention and be tested so much like this! Not even Sasuke had this much attention, and he graduated from the school valedictorian. It simply made no sense, to have such a low-class, bottom of the barrel ninja be so appreciated in the elder's eyes like this. But even Sasuke registered that there was simply nothing he could do except try harder for the attention and reverence of his seniors, and more importantly, beat Naruto at anything he does.
The three reached the outside of the building, and Kakashi told the two to go home and pack a clean pair of clothes and meet at the village gates in an hour. Kakashi then fled off to do whatever he needed to do; probably packing as well. This mission was going to be pretty long, but if they hurried they might be able to get home by Saturday night; this is only if they can find the creature's nesting grounds in the caves, though.
Naruto and Sasuke made a small exchange of 'see you in a bit' statements and rushed off to their houses. Naruto moved a bit slower than Sasuke, and didn't reach his apartment complex for nearly fifteen minutes. Am I really that tired of these missions? Couldn't I put a bit more effort into what I'm doing?
Naruto shook his head as he fumbled the key into the lock on the door. The door squeaked open, and the smell of home rushed into Naruto's nostrils. He loved this apartment, no matter how messy it may be, no matter how run down it was. The floor creaked and squealed, the walls were cracked and some even had holes in them from when Naruto had punched them after hours of training, or anger of anything that got him that riled up. The water pressure didn't function properly all the time, but was good enough. The kitchen space was cramped and there was barely enough room for the tiny refrigerator, oven and pantry, along with one set of cabinets that were yellowed from the gas stove. The bed was actually pretty alright, comfy and broken in. But that did not suffice for the shoddy shag carpeting in the small bedroom. But it was still home, or at least the closest thing Naruto had to it.
He went into the aforementioned bedroom and got out a clean pair of green khakis and a black t-shirt. Since Naruto knew he was restricted from using any ninjustu or weapons, he didn't think he'd have to pack ninja specific wear. He also grabbed a small sleeping mat and a blanket. He assumed that he wouldn't be getting to sleep in someone's house.
Naruto grabbed a worn blue backpack from the corner of the room and stuffed the clothes and boxers into it, and zipped that pocket up; he unzipped another, and placed a water bottle from the kitchen in it, and a bag of hard candy and some cup-ramen in there as well. he strapped the mat to a small chain on the top of the bag, and secured it with a piece of rope. Zip, chink, lift.
Naruto flung the bag over his shoulder, walked out of the bedroom, and placed it on the kitchen table. The kitchen table was about eight feet from the bed room. He still had about twenty minutes before he had to make his way to the city gates, so Naruto took this time to do some cardio-vascular exercises. About fifty sit-ups, twenty push-ups, and a few others that he did every day. Usually he did more of them, but Naruto was pressed for time by then. He grabbed his bag off of the table and made his way for the door. Again, he thought- maybe I shouldn't go through this door. What's one missed mission? I could always say I've come down with the flu, like Sakura. But even Naruto knew that he'd never let himself back down from a challenge. This might even be fun.
AN: I will update as the reviews come, and I'll also continuously update each chapter and fix some errors or places where there should be more detail or dialogue, etc. or fixing grammatical errors. Cheers, everyone!