DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO (BUT THE FRANCHISE DOES OWN MY HEART HAHA)
An Impromptu Mission: The Runaway Carriage!
- On The Way To The Capital -
It was a sunny morning in Hi no Kuni (Land of Fire), Team 10 were on their way to the capital to meet the Daimyo. Apparently, their mission was to deliver a message from the Hokage directly to the Daimyo.
"Why didn't Hokage-jiji just send his message through a courier?" Naruto asked
"First off, why do you keep calling the Hokage 'old man'? And second, maybe this message is really important and Hokage-sama didn't want to take any risks which is why we're here" Ino offered
"Ino is right Naruto, Hokage-sama could've just sent this scroll via courier but he thinks it'll be much safer and faster if he were to assign this task to some of us" Asuma stated
"I see… And to answer your question Ino, I have been calling him "old man" for as long as I can remember" he answered
Naruto's answer didn't really satisfy Ino's question but she decided to drop the question altogether. They were getting closer to the capital due to the appearance of houses they pass by increased in frequency.
"I've never been to the capital before, what about you guys?" Naruto said
"Neither have I/I haven't been to the capital as well" Ino and Shino answered respectively.
"What about you Asuma-sensei? Have you been here before?" Naruto asked their sensei
"Oh yeah, plenty of times. I even used to live here back in the day"
"Seriously!? What was it like Asuma-sensei?" Naruto asked enthusiastically
"It was alright I guess, I used to love it here but that was a long long time ago. But now though, there's no other place I'd call home other than Konoha" Asuma said. His students were fascinated by that little tidbit of information about him. He even mused to himself that he hasn't really shared that much information about him with them, though he plans to do so in due time.
Their team kept walking at a rather brisk pace so as to not make the Daimyo wait for too long, they passed an arched sign welcoming them for their arrival at the capital. "Welcome to Shikigahara" was written on the sign, Naruto and Ino were amazed at how big the place was and kept comparing it to their village.
No matter where you look there was a shop, the number of people out and about during the day was thrice the amount compared to Konoha. They tried their best not to be swept away by the crowd as they followed Asuma in order to remain as a group. They simply used the spiral on the back of Asuma's flak jacket as a means to track him and not lose sight of their sensei since he's the one who knows the way around here. Once they were past the massive crowd, it was pretty much smooth sailing from there.
"I still do not know why there's a Daimyo and a Hokage though, I find it confusing" Naruto said
"Same… Though I think Hokage-sama reports to the Daimyo if I'm not mistaken" Ino offered
"I believe that the Daimyo still has the final say when it comes to most things and Hokage-sama is obliged to abide" Shino weighed in
"Are we right Asuma-sensei? Or are we missing something…" Naruto asked
"I'm no good with politics but I do know some stuff about it. Both Ino and Shino are right, though partly. You see… the Hokage or any Kage for that matter has a Daimyo they report to. But here's where it gets complicated, there's some sort of power struggle between the two. A Kage rules over their village meaning they have control over both civilians and shinobi that live there. But even though a Kage has that amount of power, they still have to serve the Daimyo by providing services as well as protection for their country. The Daimyo on the other hand commands thousands of samurais and civilians, but cannot interfere with how a Kage runs their village. Both individuals have power but it is unclear who holds more. But the good thing is that some time ago in the past, both Kages and Daimyos forged a mutual agreement to help each other out. The Daimyo funds us and we provide services as well as provide further protection, so it's a win-win I suppose" Asuma tried his best to explain but it seemed to further confuse Naruto
"I don't know if that helped or confused me even more Asuma-sensei…"
"Trust me Naruto, you're not the only one who's confused about politics. I don't even know why you aspire to be Hokage, if you think it's all about fighting you'd be extremely disappointed"
"What do you mean Asuma-sensei?" he asked
"What I'm saying is you're pretty much going to be dealing with politics and all that crap, add a mountain of paperwork in the mix and you've got yourself a tedious job. Notice that every time we visit the Hokage's office, you see him doing paperwork. Hokage-sama's just is being a desk jockey most of the time" Asuma pointed out
Naruto was silent, Asuma was right about what he said. He remembered seeing stacks upon stacks of paperwork on the Hokage's desk. It appears that Naruto had some sort of big realization once more, "Are you alright?" Asuma asked.
"I think you broke him Asuma-sensei…" Ino said
"Naruto… Naruto… Are you alright?…" Asuma patted Naruto's shoulder but he didn't respond
"Shino, put one of your bugs in his jacket" Asuma ordered Shino
Shino did as he was told and placed one of his bugs inside Naruto's jacket. Naruto felt something moving inside of his clothes and it felt creepy, he was pulled out of his thoughts and back to reality.
"WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT FOR?!" he yelled
"You wouldn't respond so I asked Shino to put a bug inside your jacket" Asuma returned
"It seemed like you had an epiphany regarding the truth about the Hokage's job" Shino said
"I just haven't thought of it that way I guess…" Naruto replied
"Don't worry about that right now, you've got plenty of time to decide what you want to pursue in life. You've got your whole life ahead of you. If you want to continue pursuing being the Hokage in the future, we'll be sure to support you no matter what. If not then we'll still be here to help you when you need it" Asuma offered.
His sensei's words were soothing and assuring which helped him recover from Asuma's truth bomb earlier. Their conversation was cut short when Asuma stopped in his tracks, they were in front of a massive door which was guarded by two samurais.
- Inside the Castle -
Asuma walked forward to enter but was stopped by the two samurais, "Halt! State your name and business with the Daimyo" one of the men said. Asuma sighed and didn't bother to speak and instead showed the sash that was on his waist. The samurais were quick to realize who Asuma was, they opened the door and stood aside for them to enter. "Come on runts, this way" he said to his students.
Shino, Ino, and Naruto followed suit, this was the very first time they have set foot inside of a castle. Naruto remained well-behaved for he knew if he were to goof around, he'll surely receive an earful from Ino. Everywhere they looked there was something that screamed the words, "rich", "wealthy", "grand", and "fancy".
They entered a room and saw a man wearing a kimono made with what looked like some of the finest silk in the land. The man took notice of Asuma's arrival. "Asuma! My boy! It's so good to see you, have you returned to rejoin my ranks?" the man said.
Asuma chuckled and answered the man's question, "Unfortunately no, I have not returned to rejoin the guardians. And yes it has been a long time Nakazawa-sama" he replied
"Oh pish posh, I told you to call me Hiroyuki a long time ago"
"I must've forgotten. Hiroyuki-sama, these are my students by the way. Kids introduce yourselves"
"I am Yamanaka Ino, it's an honor to meet you in person Nakazawa-sama"
"I am Aburame Shino, thank you for having us Nakazawa-sama"
"The name's Uzumaki Naruto and I've got to say, your castle is amazing Nakazawa-sama" Naruto said with confidence. Ino rolled her eyes at Naruto's antics and on other hand, the Daimyo chuckled.
The Daimyo was rather amused at Naruto's bravado, for out of the three of them he was the only one to be himself yet remain tactful. "I see you have taken students Asuma, I am sure they would turn out to be great shinobi. Anyway, what brought upon your visit here to the capital Asuma?" the Daimyo asked.
"We are here to deliver a message from the Hokage, he asked to directly send it to you for it is of the utmost importance" Asuma explained.
"Is that all?" the Daimyo further asked
"I believe so Hiroyuki-sama for the Hokage didn't order us to do anything else" Asuma replied
"I see, well how have you been Asuma? It's been so long since the last time we talked my boy!" the Daimyo said
"I'm doing good actually Hiroyuki-sama, thank you for asking. What about you though?" Asuma returned the question
"Oh, you know… Meetings here and meetings there, add a ton of paperwork as well. But despite all of that, I'm doing fine as well"
"I'm glad to hear that Hiroyuki-sama, what about your family though?"
"Oh them? They just left moments ago, you must've missed them. They're on their way to visit family and all, what about you? How's your fa-" the Daimyo was cut off out of nowhere when suddenly the door slammed open revealing one of the Daimyo's servants, "NAKAZAWA-SAMA! NAKAZAWA-SAMA!" the woman yelled
"KUMIKO-SAN?! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?! AND WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?!" the Daimyo asked in a rather confused and shocked tone
She was covered in dirt and grime, and her head, as well as her nose, were bleeding. The Daimyo's servant was panting like crazy but as soon as she caught her breath, she finally spilled the beans to the Daimyo. "It's Lady Mitsuko and Lady Kaori! They've been kidnapped!" she reported.
The Daimyo's eyes widened after hearing what his advisor had to say, "WHAT?! HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!" he asked
"Our carriage was intercepted by bandits, they killed the coachmen and guards with them. Thankfully I escaped, I ran as fast as I could to tell you what happened Nakazawa-sama" she told him.
Hearing this news made the Daimyo lose balance, for his legs turned into jelly for a moment. Luckily Asuma was able to catch him to prevent him from falling.
"I got you Hiroyuki-sama, sit down for a second. Don't worry, my team and I are on it. We'll be sure to rescue them, just wait for us here" Asuma told the Daimyo.
"Kumiko-san, where is the carriage heading?" he asked her
"The carriage is headed to Kawa no Kuni (Land of Rivers)" she answered
"Alright then, call for someone to take care of the Daimyo and get yourself patched up as well. We'll be going now" he said to her to which she nodded
"Listen up runts, new mission. Our goal is to rescue the Daimyo's family, any questions?" he asked
None of his students had any questions at all for they already knew what they had to do. Team 10 then departed and quickly pursued the runaway carriage for they had some ass to kick.
- Somewhere In The Forest -
"LET GO OF US YOU SAVAGES!" the Daimyo's wife yelled
"PLEASE DON'T HURT US!" Mitsuko exclaimed
"SHUT THE FUCK UP! BOTH OF YOU! I'M SICK OF YOU SCREAMING IN MY EAR! IF YOU DON'T STOP FUCKING SCREAMING, I SWEAR TO KAMI I'LL FUCKING KILL BOTH OF YOU!" the man yelled. This seemed to silence both of them due to fear of being killed.
The man then bound their wrists in order to stifle their movement. And if that wasn't enough, the man also tied up their legs and gagged them. "KOSUKE! ARE YOU DONE TYING THEM UP?!" another man yelled from outside the carriage, "YEAH YEAH, I'M DONE SO SHUT YOUR TRAP WILL YOU SATORU?! MY EARS ALREADY BLEEDING FROM THESE TWO BITCHES" he exclaimed as he exited the carriage while it was moving. "Keep an eye on these two will ya?" he said to one of his buddies inside the carriage, the man nodded in response.
"What now?" Satoru asked
"We stash them in our hideout in Kawa no Kuni (Land of Rivers) for a couple of days, we send a ransom note to the Daimyo, he pays us money and we escape with the dough. After that, we're pretty much golden. Early retirement baby!" Kosuke said in a cheery tone.
"Well let's not get too ahead of ourselves, we haven't even finished the job yet" Satoru replied
"Whatever… What's the worse that could happen? It's not like the Daimyo could send out a mission request that fast" he retorted
As soon as he finished his sentence some shurikens embedded themselves near them. They turned their attention to where the projectiles originated from, there they saw Team 10 jumping from tree branch to tree branch.
"You and your big mouth, you just had to ask didn't you?" he said in a disappointed tone.
"GUYS! WE HAVE COMPANY!" their third conspirator said
"No shit Gorou, we didn't notice... Well, don't just stand there! Fucking shoot them!"
Satoru then turned his attention back to Kosuke and asked him what he should do, "What now?!" he asked
"Turn right! There's an old bridge over a huge chasm, we should be able to get there. And once we cross the bridge, we cut the ropes and we're as good as free" Kosuke said to Satoru, Satoru did as he was told. The carriage then went on the path to the right.
Meanwhile, Gorou kept shooting his bow at Team 10 but none of his arrows were able to hit them. Not only was he an incompetent archer, but Team 10 could also easily dodge and/or deflect projectiles coming their way. As time went on, Team 10 was finally able to catch up to them.
Asuma jumped from the tree branch he was on and so did Naruto as he followed his sensei onto the carriage. Both sensei and student landed on top of the roof, Gorou then stopped shooting his bow and swung it at Naruto. Naruto easily dodged Gorou's attack, he countered it with his own punch which made Gorou fall off the carriage as a result.
The other two bandits who were hanging on the side of the carriage then climbed up on top to fight the two. Space was rather tight making things a bit difficult for Asuma and Naruto to fight back. They couldn't use any ninjutsu at all. For Naruto, there simply wasn't enough space to place his clones. As for Asuma, he couldn't risk using any jutsus for it might put them in more harm. This only left one option for both of them, which is to rely on taijutsu and weapons alone.
Asuma channeled chakra into his trench knives and entered his fighting stance. One bandit swung his tanto at him but Asuma easily blocked it with his weapon. Asuma quickly disarmed the man, delivered a series of quick hooks, and finished it with an uppercut causing the man to be knocked off the carriage.
Meanwhile, Naruto was fighting another bandit, as he was about to lunge at him, the carriage drove over a piece of rock causing him to lose balance which made him fall on his butt. The bandit took this opportunity to stab Naruto with his blade. In response to this Naruto rolled on his belly to avoid being pierced by it. The blade penetrated the roof of the carriage, embedding itself into it.
Both Lady Mitsuko and Lady Kaori yelled when out of nowhere, a blade appeared between their heads. Thankfully neither hostage got hit, "STOP STABBING THE ROOF YOU MORON! YOU MIGHT KILL OUR HOSTAGES!" the man inside the carriage yelled. Naruto realized that continuing this was unwise. But before he decided to get up, an idea hit him.
When he rolled to the side and the blade pierced the roof, both the Daimyo's wife and daughter screamed. And if memory serves him right, there should be seats on the other end as well. Naruto quickly got up and went to the other end of the roof, he pretended to lose balance and fall on his butt once more. The bandit quickly made his way over to Naruto once again and repeated what he did before. His weapon embedded itself again into the roof, "DIDN'T YOU HEAR ME?! I SAID STOP STABBING THE R-" the man's yell was cut off at the same time Naruto dodged his foe's second attempt at stabbing him. His plan worked, he used his enemy's attacks to eliminate the other bandit inside the carriage. While Naruto was still laying on top of the roof, Kosuke was about to swing his tanto at him.
But in the nick of time, Ino was able to land the Kanashibari no Jutsu (Temporary Paralysis Technique) on Kosuke thus preventing him from harming Naruto. Naruto got back up on his feet and punched him in the face, Kosuke gritted his teeth as he cocked his fist to punch Naruto back. But before he could retaliate, the road took a sharp turn. Satoru immediately steered the horses to the left to avoid falling off a cliff, the horses then quickly steered to the left. But the speed and weight of the carriage caused it to almost tip over. Both wheels on the left side lifted off the ground while the carriage itself was partially leaning off the ledge. Both Lady Mitsuko and Lady Kaori screamed while Naruto was sliding off the roof, he quickly remembered to use his Nebaiken Style.
Naruto quickly applied chakra to his palms making him stick to the roof thus avoiding certain death. Kosuke and Satoru weren't lucky for they fell off the vehicle and off the ledge. For Asuma this was no big deal, he simply turned around and applied chakra on the bottom of his feet making him stick.
"ASUMA-SENSEI!" Naruto yelled
"Don't worry kid I got this, hang on!" he told Naruto as he cast a wind jutsu. "Futon: Reppusho (Wind Release: Gale Palm)" Asuma said as a powerful gust of wind was released from his palms thus stabilizing the carriage. Asuma quickly sat on the driver's seat to control the vehicle.
Naruto sighed and wiped off a bead of sweat on his forehead thinking that it was finally over. But he was largely mistaken as he saw that they were heading to a giant chasm, Kosuke's claim of there being a bridge over the chasm was partly true. There WAS a bridge but not anymore, all that was left where its remnants for the bridge has seen better days.
Asuma quickly hit the brakes causing the carriage to decrease in speed. The brakes were causing so much friction on the wheels to the point where the carriage's wheels began to emit smoke.
"ASUMA-SENSEI! NARUTO!" Ino yelled from afar
The ledge was coming really close despite the vehicle gradually slowing down. It went to a complete stop but the leftover forward momentum caused the wheels to keep moving ever so slightly causing the front of the carriage to hang off the ledge.
"Okay listen to me carefully Naruto, we need to get off of this carriage carefully and get Lady Mitsuko and Lady Kaori out of here. Understood?" Asuma said and Naruto nodded.
Both of them got off the carriage carefully so as to not make it fall into the chasm, "Lady Kaori, this is Asuma. Can you hear me?" he asked through the window. She nodded but could not speak audibly for she was gagged.
"I want you two to sit still while we set you free" Asuma ordered as he broke the glass on both sides as carefully as he could. He didn't want to risk the carriage moving any further as well as injure them with shards of glass. Once he successfully opened the window and cleared the holes of glass, he then told both of them to slowly but surely get up and go through the hole.
It was more difficult due to them being restrained, he would've entered the carriage and freed them himself but it was far too risky. As both of them made their way through the hole, the carriage creaked and shook. "Shino, use your bugs to push back the carriage" he ordered his student which Shino did without any hesitation.
"Hijutsu: Mushiheki (Hidden Jutsu: Insect Wall)" said Shino after which a swarm of kikaichus emerged from Shino's sleeves. It then formed into a wall to prevent the carriage from falling.
Since Lady Kaori was seated on the left side of the carriage, she had to exit through the left hole and Lady Mikotsu through the right.
Once Lady Kaori's torso was out, Asuma was able to get her out of the carriage easily. Now all that was left was Lady Mikotsu, Asuma told her the same thing. She made her way through the hole but suddenly the ground started to make crumbling sounds, more of the ledge was now cracked. This frightened Lady Mikotsu causing her to freeze up, "I can't… I'm scared" she said in a muffled though slightly audible manner.
"Don't worry Lady Mikotsu, we will get you out of there. We promise, there is nothing to be afraid of" Asuma reassured her. This was able to comfort her causing her to be able to move again. But as soon as she took her first step, the ledge began to break causing the carriage to completely fall. "MOTHER!" she yelled to Lady Kaori, "MIKOTSU!" she yelled to her daughter.
Shino quickly ordered more of his bugs to lift the carriage but his swarm wasn't strong enough. Naruto quickly made his move as he jumped after the carriage that was about to fall. "Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! (Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu)" Naruto yelled and out of nowhere 50 copies of Naruto emerged out of thin air. They quickly formed a chain and grabbed onto the original's legs so that he can grab onto the carriage.
Naruto was successful and was able to hang on to its wheel. Asuma quickly went to get Lady Mikotsu out of the carriage using chakra control to stick to the chasm's wall and jumped his way onto the carriage. And in one swift motion, Asuma entered the vehicle, grabbed Lady Mikotsu out of there, and jumped back to solid ground. Luckily escape with her before the wheel broke off and the entire carriage plummeted into the ravine. Naruto's clones pulled him out of there thus returning him to the ground. And Shino recalled his bugs back to him.
Once they were saved Team 10 returned them to the capital to be reunited with the Daimyo. The Daimyo was in tears for he was overjoyed that his family was safe, he couldn't thank them enough. He paid them with a large sum of money as a reward even though Asuma insisted that it wasn't necessary. The Daimyo gave them the money regardless as he told them that their service was greatly appreciated and that no amount of money would be enough to repay them.
(A/N: On second thought, I decided to release this chapter right now as a way to make up for the time I didn't upload so yeah, this means I can allow myself more time to write the other chapters haha. Nebaiken really coming in handy aye? HAHAHA it'll become more useful in future chapters so yea. Also, this will be on Naruto's track record and so far he made a rather good impression when he first met the Daimyo, hope it pays off soon right? Anyway that's all, thanks for the continued support and cheers! ^^)