He was tired. His body ached and he was practically running on fumes in regards to chakra. Even still he slowly dragged himself to his feet and resumed his offensive position. Kakashi had said that if everyone on the team could land at least one hit on him then he would deem them fit to take missions. So far everyone else had managed it and Maruku would be damned if they were held back because of him. Looking at his opponent he was seeing doubles but he couldn't remember if he used a clone jutsu. He watched as Kakashi rushed toward him, clearly intent on knocking him out. Thinking quickly the boy threw a brace of shuriken forcing his teacher to substitute. Making two hand signs he pointed at where he knew Kakashi would pop up and fired. "Plasma Style: Spirit Gun!" Putting all of his remaining energy into the last attack he watched as what was supposed to be a super heated bullet of plasma turned into a regular flame bullet. But it hit its mark nonetheless striking Kakashi cleanly in the left shoulder. With the objective completed Maruku allowed himself a moment of weakness as he collapsed to the floor.
Kakashi looked at his fourth student who was in a heap on the ground. The boy had taken a beating for a solid hour before he could land his hit. He rubbed his sore and slightly burnt shoulder. When Maruku demonstrated to super heat fire into plasma he was impressed to say the lease. He had never seen anything like it and all attempts to replicate the experience for himself almost all led to him setting himself on fire. He speculated it might be some type of bloodline limit. The only thing he could compare it to was storm style but the connection seemed iffy. He would have to help his student learn control of this ability or he could cause serious damage to allies. But that was later right now he had a promise to keep.
Letting the shunshin carry him, Kakashi arrived in the village for the first time in months. He strode towards the Hokage Tower and it wasn't long before he found himself face to face with the village leader.
" Hokage-sama." he bowed his head in respect."I believe my team is ready for their first c-rank mission." The hokage's face was completely neutral; it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. Kakashi watched as the hokage puffed on his pipe before opening a drawer and placing a scroll on the finely made desk.
"Deliver these documents to our border with the Sand. There have been some light skirmishes in the area so be on guard." Kakashi nodded as he took the scroll."Problems with Suna?" he inquired. The hokage nodded. "Nothing resulting in any death but their daimyo has all but abandoned their village. Their citizens are dying and they are desperate to get their hands on resources. Considering the trip there and back, I expect to see your team back in the village within a week." Nodding again he spun on his heel and walked out the building heading back into the wilderness. Back to his team.
Arriving back at their camp Kakashi saw all four of his genin asleep. He smiled slightly when they were asleep; they were rather cute. Besides they had earned the rest today, he may have been holding back a bit but they still managed to hit him. All four of them. However as much as he wanted to let them rest he had to make sure they were prepared for tomorrow's mission. He clapped twice and all four of them sprung to their feet, Naruto and Maruku in particular rubbing sleep from their eyes. Making sure all of their attention was on him he spoke.
"We have a c-rank mission tomorrow to deliver orders to the Sand border. Pack for a week and meet me at the gate at 5 tomorrow morning. Dismissed."
Maruku turned to his teammates as they all high fived. Their first mission and it was a c-rank! He was excited. Walking back to the village with his teammates he couldn't help but ponder. While he was expecting a c-rank mission eventually he would have thought it would have been the disaster that Wave was. This was just further proof that things were permanently altered now. He couldn't completely rely on his knowledge of future events, but no matter what came he would be prepared. As the village finally came into view the only thing Maruku could think about was a warm shower and a proper bed. Waving goodbye to his friends he made his way home.
Opening the door he was immediately hit with the smell of rancid food. Ignoring the awful smell he made his way deeper into the apartment doing his best not to gag. Grabbing a trash bag and pinching his nose he opened the fridge with his foot and had to swallow vomit that was threatening to come up as the smell multiplied. Quickly cleaning out the fridge and taking the trash out helps lessen the awful smell. No longer in danger of puking the boy made his way to his room and began packing. As he was packing he contemplated whether or not he should take his sealing books with him. It had been far too long since he read any new material and was out of practice. Deciding to take them with him he finished preparing. After what might have been the world's longest shower he ordered take out and went to bed.
He understood the need to wake up early. He could even appreciate those who could function so early in the morning. But Maruku was not a morning person so he was notably grumpy when it came time to meet. Naruto's loud and exuberant demeanor didn't help either. So when Sasuke offered him a jar of pickles as an early morning snack it was all he could do to not toss the thing half way across the village. Luckily Kakashi had arrived right on time.
"Good morning everyone!" Kakashi paused as Naruto,Sasuke and Sakura seemed to be stifling laughter behind Maruku's back. "We have a lot of ground to cover so let's go." Doing an about face he sped down the road and was pleased to note that his team was less than half a second behind him.
There were no breaks, no pit stops, not even any complaints as the team ran until nightfall. Kakashi stopped and turned toward his genin. "Make camp." It was a simple order but he watched as they set to doing various chores like gathering water and wood and pitching tents. He nodded at their effectiveness and set to work setting up his own tent.
Dinner was a simple affair of rabbit seasoned with wild herbs. As he ate Maruku pulled out one of his books. This one was about how to draw seals on the body. He had some ideas brewing with this particular concept that if pulled off right it could theoretically allow him to fight forever.
Sakura had noticed that her teammate was reading and eating at the same time. He had that same concentrated look on his face whenever he was thinking about something. She, like the rest of the team, had grown close so she felt comfortable asking what he was reading. She must have broke his concentration because he was slightly surprised and then a little embarrassed.
"It's about sealing techniques, or at least the theory behind them anyway."Sakura was surprised . She didn't expect that he would be trying to learn such a hard subject but then again it did make sense. Her eyes wandered over to Naruto where the boy was happily munching on his rabbit. "Can I see?" the boy shrugged and scooted over allowing her space to sit next to him. He book marked his page and flipped back to page one and they began reading together.
Kakashi watched as Maruku and Sakura read by the fire and smiled. So the boy wants to learn seals huh. "Maruku come here for a minute." Calling the boy over they walked a little away from camp.
"How come you never mentioned you wanted to learn sealing?" He watched the boy trying see if he could discern anything from his body language. The boy in question shrugged."I thought it would be more important to get control over plasma style first. Sealing is more of just a hobby." Kakashi watched the boy, he didn't seem to be lying.
"I would say it's a bit more of a hobby if you're learning to apply seals to the body. Is this because of Naruto?" He quickly realized his mistake as the boy's body language became more offensive. He held up his hand for silence."Sorry I didn't mean it like that. I know you care about him, we all do." This was the right thing to say apparently as the boy relaxed slightly. Maruku seemed to be thinking about his choice of words before he answered however.
"I need an edge sensei. Plasma style is still difficult to control after all this time and I don't feel like I'm making any progress on it. Take that away and there's nothing to distinguish me from any other ninja. Without some type of edge I'm just fodder." Kakashi looked at the boy, he seemed genuinely frustrated. He knew how to resolve this. Placing his hand on the boy's head he smiled.
"Then we'll just have to work even harder than ever before won't we? I'll teach you what I know about fuinjutsu." Maruku smiled and nodded and the two headed back to camp.
The next day was just as fast as the last as the team ran non stop towards the objective. It wasn't long before they arrived at the outpost about half a mile away from the border. Everything seemed to be in order as they watched fellow leaf ninja do various tasks. The team followed Kakashi's lead as he walked to the largest tent in the area and walked in.
Inside was a jonin looking over a map."We're here to deliver new orders." Kakashi handed the jonin the scroll he had received from the hokage. The other man inspected it for a moment before breaking the seal and read it.
"I see. Please wait just a moment as I finalize my report." The other man's voice was scratchy as if he had taken a wound to the neck that never fully healed right. Maruku watched as the man moved about the tent gathering various papers before he folded them up and put them in a non descriptive envelope. "Please deliver this to the hokage at once." Kakashi took the envelope and stored it away. Giving the man a nod he left with his team hot on his heels.
"That's it?" Naruto had voiced his question. Sensei nodded. "Not all missions are action packed. Once you get to be my age you'll appreciate these missions a bit more. But don't underestimate the importance of this mission. I have no doubt that this report is important to the village." Satisfied at the answer Naruto fell silent as they ran back to the village.
It wasn't long before the village gates came into view. Overall their little road trip had only taken about four days. Heading toward the tower for debriefing they came face to face with the village leader. Kakashi placed the envelope on the desk and the hokage quickly read through its contents while stroking his beard.
"Good work. And faster than I expected too. Report here in two days and I will give you your next mission." Taking the dismissal for what it was, everyone bowed except for Naruto who gave a little wave. The old hokage smiled a little and waved back before returning to his work.
"Good job team. Take the rest of the day off but report for training at the regular place and time." With his orders given the elite ninja vanished. Everyone followed Naruto as he lead the way to his favorite Ichiraku stand for celebration of their first mission.