DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO (PLEASE DON'T SUE ME KISHIMOTO, WE'RE GOOD RIGHT?)
Who/What Did This?
After setting up camp in a forest outside of Konoha, the group continued their journey to head to their client's ranch. This trip would have been much quicker if they didn't have to escort someone along the way. But alas one of them isn't a shinobi (he was but not anymore).
Hours have passed and finally, the group was already near the location of Takeo's ranch. The sun's rays were being blocked by the foliage the trees provided thus making the surroundings a tad bit cooler in terms of temperature. You could hear some birds chirping from a distance as well as winds blowing on tree branches making a rustling sound.
"We're almost there, it should be right in the distance any minute now" Takeo said to the group. They continued to walk until they arrived at a large clearing in the middle of the forest. Takeo's ranch was pretty much secluded due to the fact that it was surrounded by trees in all directions. What Takeo said about not having a fence was indeed the truth, there were no barriers at all. Not a single one could be seen, adding to the fact that the place was littered with cows.
"Welcome to my humble ranch, I'll introduce you guys to my wife" Takeo said as he lead the group into a rather modest cabin beside a river.
"Honey! I'm home, and I brought some guests with us" Takeo announced. "Welcome home dear, invite them in. I'm almost done with preparing lunch, I'm pretty sure all of you must be hungry from all the traveling" a woman's voice said.
"You bet we're hungry dattebayo!" Naruto said to which Ino hit Naruto's nape
"Ow! What the hell is that for Ino?" he asked
"Where are your manners? Seriously Naruto… We're guests here so be respectful" Ino said to him whilst rolling her eyes. Naruto then remained silent as he was still rubbing the back of his head.
"I want you guys to meet my wife, Akemi" Takeo said after which he kissed his wife and gave her the flowers he bought.
"Nice to meet you Akemi-san and thank you for having us here" Asuma said while on the other hand, his students greeted her as well.
"Nice to meet you Akemi-san/Hello Akemi-san/Hi Akemi-san!" Shino, Ino, and Naruto said respectively
"Oh the pleasure is mine, come and sit. The food is almost done" Akemi said to the group to which they headed to the dining table and sat down. Akemi then went back to handle the food whilst Asuma and Takeo continued to chat.
"You've got a nice place here, Kaneshiro-san" Asuma said
"Thank you Sarutobi-san, I take pride in it and so does my wife. This used to be an extremely small ranch but we were able to make it grow by putting in some good ol' elbow grease" Takeo said.
"You weren't kidding about the whole 'no fences' thing" Asuma retorted
"Haha yeah… I'm going to level with you Sarutobi-san. I know I didn't mention this in the job description but I would like your team to help me set up the fences. Don't worry about pay, I'll be sure to compensate for all of your troubles. Would it be alright for you guys to lend me a helping hand?" Takeo asked
Asuma was rather understanding and decided to agree to his request after all he did ask nicely and was honest right away. He also thought this would be good training for his students to work together. "We don't mind at all Kaneshiro-san, when do we start then?" he asked.
"After lunch, I'll prepare the materials to make the fence, so maybe around 4 o'clock so that your students aren't working under the hot sun" Takeo suggested.
"Sounds good, we'll get that fence up and ready in no time" Asuma replied to which Takeo smiled.
Akemi then returned with the food she prepared, apparently, she knew she had guests coming so she went out of her way to make a sizeable feast. The group then began to eat and chat about various things.
- Outside Takeo-san's Storage Shed -
"Listen up runts, I know this wasn't part of the mission details we received but I believe helping Kaneshiro-san put up the fence is the right thing to do for multiple reasons. One is that we'll finish this mission as fast as we can, I know some of you want to head back home as soon as possible. Second, is that we're compensated for our troubles so there's that, not unless you don't want extra pay. And lastly is that this could serve as a team exercise for the three of you. Am I being clear?" he asked to which they nodded in agreement.
"Okay good, let's wait for Kaneshiro-san to bring the materials needed for this fence" Asuma said
Naruto then thought of something and decided to ask him, "Uhmmm… Asuma-sensei, are we like y'know… Allowed to use jutsus?" Naruto inquired.
"I don't see the harm in that, but if and when your jutsus cause more trouble instead of aid. No more jutsus, deal?" Asuma offered and without hesitating Naruto accepted his terms and conditions.
After a while of rummaging for some tools, Takeo returned with a toolbox and opened the storage shed's door even wider to reveal fence posts, wooden planks as well as a bucket of nails.
"Well, this is everything we need to make this fence. I'm pretty sure we can at least finish a fourth of the job this afternoon. Let's start behind the cabin. All you guys have to do is board up the planks onto the fence posts I'm going to put in the ground" Takeo said to which the group understood.
"How about you show them how to dig up a hole where you can place a fence post so that we can get started" Asuma suggested, Takeo then took one shovel and demonstrated how to do it.
This went on for a while, a cycle of digging up holes, placing fence posts into the earth, nailing the wooden planks onto the posts, clones of Naruto hammering their thumbs thus causing them to dispel and whatnot. The job took around 3 hours tops and they were able to finish a fourth of it before 7 o'clock.
"Great job kids, you can now go wash up and wait for Akemi to call you all for dinner" Takeo said whilst smiling but before they left Asuma wanted to say something.
"After dinner, I'll be taking the first watch, you three decide who's going to take the second. You might as well decide who takes the first and second watch tomorrow" Asuma said after he left his students to their own devices.
"Okay, how do you guys want to settle this then?…" Ino asked
"I'm fine with any of your suggestions" Shino replied
"Okay then… What about you Naruto?… Any ideas?" she asked
"Oh, I've got a perfect one Ino hehe… We're going to settle this through Janken! (Rock-Paper-Scissors) dattebayo!" Naruto suggested. Ino just gave him a deadpan stare thinking that he was gonna give some concrete plan or something similar to how he suggested the plan they used to land a hit on Asuma before.
"Really?… Janken, of all things" Ino sighed
"What? You got a better idea?" Naruto raised his eyebrows
He was right, she didn't have a better idea to suggest which is why she sighed and decided to go along with it. Naruto grinned and asked if his teammates were ready. "You guys ready?" he said and in response, they nodded.
"JAN KEN PON!" all of them said in unison
Shino - Guu (Rock)
Ino - Guu (Rock)
Naruto - Guu (Rock)
"Crap! I should've gone Pah (Paper)" Naruto said while Ino sighed that she didn't lose right away whereas Shino, well… remained silent.
"JAN KEN PON!" they said once more altogether
Shino - Pah (Paper)
Ino - Choki (Scissors)
Naruto - Choki (Scissors)
"It appears that I will be taking the second watch tonight as I have lost" Shino stated
"It's okay Shino at least you don't get to stay up tomorrow. Anyway, you ready to lose Ino?" Naruto taunted
"Ha! As if I'm gonna lose to you Naruto. I am so gonna win this" Ino replied
"JAN KEN PON!" Ino and Naruto said at the same time
Ino - Choki (Scissors)
Naruto - Choki (Scissors)
"JAN KEN PON!"
Ino - Pah (Paper)
Naruto - Pah (Paper)
"JAN KEN PON!"
Ino - Guu (Rock)
Naruto - Guu (Rock)
"Damnit Naruto! Stop copying me and just lose already!" Ino yelled
"I'm not copying you! If anything, you must be the one who's copying me! Remember you have mind-related jutsus! So maybe you're the one who's cheating" Naruto argued
"Nu-uh!"
"Ya-huh!"
"Na-uh!"
"Ya-huh!"
"Okay enough, let's just settle this once and for all" Ino said thus breaking the never-ending cycle of bickering between the two of them. And for the very last time they played rock-paper-scissors.
"JAN KEN PON!" Ino and Naruto said aiming to end it already
Ino - Guu (Rock)
Naruto - Choki (Scissors)
"DAMNIT! I LOST…" Naruto said
"Ha! I beat you Naruto, looks like you're the first watch tomorrow" Ino said and then stuck out her tongue
"Yeah yeah… You win, I honestly thought I had you there. I was gonna psyche you into going Pah (Paper)" he explained.
"Well better luck next time Naruto" Ino sighed in a happy manner
"Kids! Dinner's ready in 10 minutes" Akemi said in a loud manner from inside the cabin
Hearing this signaled for them to come back inside and wash up before eating dinner.
- The Next Day -
"For the last time! The plank isn't straight Naruto!" Ino yelled
"Oh come on! How should I know that it's not straight? I can't see the entire plank from here and it's not like I'm not trying…" Naruto argued to which Ino sighed
"Just… Raise the left side of the plank a tiny bit" Ino said. Naruto did as he was told
"No! The other left! My left!" Ino exclaimed
"You weren't specific! This would be much easier if I had my clones" Naruto replied.
"Oh yeah? Well, your clones just caused a mess earlier by scaring off some of Kaneshiro-san's cows. Luckily Asuma-sensei was able to wrangle them in time, and you agreed to his conditions that if and when our jutsus cause more trouble than help. No more jutsus, so just do what I said" Ino groaned
Naruto sighed then raised the side Ino was referring to but he raised it a bit too much, "ARGHHH! YOU RAISED IT TOO MUCH!" Ino yelled
"You know what?! Let's swap, I do the nailing and hammering, and you hold the plank. It seems that you can do a much better job than I can" Naruto protested. Ino didn't hesitate to switch places with Naruto.
"Is the plank straight now?" he asked
"Yeah yeah… Just nail the damn thing down, this is heavy" Ino groaned
"Be patient jeez, I'll show you how a real pro nails down wooden planks" Naruto said as he was about to hammer down the nail. He wanted to prove to Ino that he's a pro at this by hammering down the nail in one hit, but instead of hitting the head of the nail he missed and hit his thumb instead. "AHHHHH! SCREW THIS PLANK AND HAMMER!" Naruto yelled which then led to more bickering between them.
From a distance, Asuma and Takeo were doing their own thing whilst hearing of the two blondes arguing in the background. "Are you sure they're gonna be alright Sarutobi-san?" Takeo asked.
"Oh them? Yeah, they'll be fine. It's just the way they are most of the time" Asuma replied, Takeo nodded
"I believe we're almost done here with the fences, we already did three-fourths of the job. Again, I can't thank all of you enough for the help" Takeo retorted.
"No worries Kaneshiro-san, it's what we do" he offered.
Team 10 (and Asuma) have been working nonstop the entire day, they have started working at around 7 o'clock in the morning. And worked up until noon before lunch.
"I think this is good for now, your students can take a break and wash up so that we can all eat lunch in the cabin. I'll handle some other stuff, but if you need something I'll be at the barn or you can ask my wife for help" he offered to which Asuma nodded. Takeo then left and went to the barn leaving Asuma alone.
'Now that the fence is almost finished, I think we can finally start our investigation about the missing cows' he thought to himself. He then decided to call them to discuss some stuff with the three of them.
"Oi! Shino! Ino! Naruto! Get your asses over here, team meeting" Asuma called out to them.
After a while his students came to him and asked what was up, "You called for us Asuma-sensei?" Ino asked.
"Since we're about 75% done with this whole fence thing I believe we can begin our investigation about this whole missing cow fiasco. I'm going to talk to Kaneshiro-san if we can use some time later to scout the area and gather information. We're going to form two-man cells, Shino, you're coming with me, your sensory abilities would come in handy. Ino and Naruto, you two go together. Watch over Naruto for me Ino, will ya?" Asuma said and Ino nodded
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!" Naruto complained, "It's nothing Naruto, don't worry about it. Anyway, any questions?" he said
"If and when we find something peculiar what do we do?" Naruto asked
"Since you asked, make a clone and send that clone to me, As for the original Naruto, stay with Ino in the area where you found it. If that is all, go freshen up cause it's almost lunchtime" Asuma ordered.
- After Working On The Fence: 4:30 PM -
"Found anything yet?…" Ino asked
"Nope… What about you?" he returned
"Nothing as well *sigh*, y'know… I'm starting to think it's a predator that's been taking the cows. What do you think Naruto?" she asked
"Hmmm… Maybe but let's keep looking. It's hard to tell what's been causing the cows to disappear" he replied.
"Ughhh… What in Kami's name is that odor, it smells awful! Naruto! Did you step on manure?" Ino asked
"If I did step on one you would've smelled it constantly" he argued
"Well, whatever that smell is… It's terrible"
"Since you can smell something maybe you can put that nose to use. I heard that pigs possess a great sense of smell, maybe that's why Sakura-chan calls you Ino-pig" Naruto teased
"Ha ha, very funny Naruto" Ino said sarcastically to which Naruto chuckled in response. They then resumed searching for clues but as he was walking Naruto suddenly tripped on something.
"Ahhh DAMNIT!, What the heck did I trip on?" Naruto said whilst rubbing his knee. He then saw what he found which shocked him.
"Uhhh… Ino, you might want to check this out?" he said. This caught her attention making her come over to him
"What is it? Found something?"
"If that's what I think it is then yes..." he said whilst staring the it
Ino was shocked as well finding a mangled corpse of a cow. It was ravaged beyond repair, heck the corpse doesn't even resemble a cow anymore. Its leg was jutting out of a rather large bush concealing almost all of the corpse, inside the bush were all the innards and guts of the poor thing. This was serious that's for sure, and so Naruto did as he was told. He made a clone of himself and ordered it to go and fetch Asuma.
- Moments Later -
"Hmmm… This is rather peculiar, why would bandits want to kill something they aimed to steal. Isn't it much better for them to get as many cows as they can?" Shino weighed in.
Before regrouping with Naruto and Ino, Shino and Asuma were able to find a camp nearby due to there being a used campfire and some litter here and there indicating someone was there.
Asuma then took a closer look at the corpse and noticed that its leg was broken. 'They must've left this one behind as to not slow them down since its leg was broken, leaving it alone to fend for itself. Which explains why there's a mangled corpse here, predator eats prey it's as simple as that' Asuma thought to himself.
"Could have been both" Asuma interjected
"What do you mean by both Asuma-sensei?" Ino asked
"Look at its leg or used to be its leg, notice anything odd?" he said
"It's broken"
"Exactly, this would just slow them down and risk them being caught. So they did the most logical thing for them to do, leave it behind. Lone prey in the woods equals corpse or in this case a mangled one" Asuma explained.
"So I'm guessing we'll be more worried about the bandits than the predators since we're almost finished building the fences, right?" Naruto offered
"Spot on kid" Asuma said, 'Good thinking Naruto' he thought to himself.
"Since you're up for guard duty tonight I suggest you make clones and scatter them throughout the ranch. I'll ask Kaneshiro-san if he's alright with using some cows as bait by placing them out in the open, but not too far. From there, let's see if the bandits will bite" Asuma said and Naruto was pretty much on board.
- The 2nd Floor Of Takeo's Barn: 9:30 PM -
"Nice spot you got here Naruto, open space and it also smells like crap here. Good choice" Ino teased.
"Ha ha, very funny Ino. Asuma-sensei told me to stand guard here since this is a rather good vantage point, I've got a clear view of the cows that are outside. And laugh all you want now but later you'll be sitting here for hours once your up to do guard duty" Naruto replied
"Well by then, all the bad odor will stick on you" she teased once more. Naruto stuck out his tongue in response, "Relax, I'm just kidding. Anyway, I'll retire for the night Naruto. Just wake me up when it's my turn, goodnight" she said
"Alright then, goodnight Ino" he returned to which she nodded as she went down to the first floor and left the barn leaving Naruto alone with the cows and their piles of manure.
- Near The Ranch (Unknown Location): 1:45 PM -
"Looks like the owner is onto us brother" a man said
"Yeah no shit, I can definitely see the new fence around the ranch"
"What do we do then?"
"Same thing as well always do, take the cows silently. But this will probably be the last time we can steal from this ranch without any issues" he replied
"Should we wait for our elder brother?"
"Obviously, you know how that motherfucker is. Always a stick in the mud and a stickler to his rules. He can be such a dick sometimes ya know?"
"Shhhh… What if he hears you?"
"Ahhh… Fuck him, don't care bout' that bastard. All I want is to make money, now shut your yap and go get him" he said to which his younger brother did as he was told to.
(A/N: Chapter 5 is done whooo! Looks like trouble is coming haha, I hope you guys are still enjoying the story so far. I am really enjoying writing this fanfic haha, It's quite nice, and also thank you so much for the 5 reviews I got, it's nice to know that people out there enjoy my work. So shoutout to atengawchok and bhanupratap88037 for your responses. They are highly appreciated, also thanks for correcting me on the chapter when I wrote the team placements. Apparently, I wrote Dhouji's name twice haha whoops. Anyway that is all, thanks for stopping by and cheers^^)