Hello there! (General Kenobi...)
I can't thank you all enough. 219 follows and 144 favorites? Damn! I don't mean to sound like a broken record but I was not expecting this type of support. I'm excited to give you chapter four of Make Them Proud! This was my first battle with writer's block, in the sense that I knew where I wanted the plot and chapter to go but I could not find the words. I'd start and not be happy with it and get stuck, and then eventually dive into some video games or reading another fanfic. I just caught up on Better Left Unsaid (love Kenchi's work) and then I've been playing FIFA 22, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Legends Arceus. Whoops. I'll try to be better about updating more regularly, plus I think with the story picking up from here it'll be easier to write...hopefully!
Chapter Four: Initiation
The sun was high in the sky and the great stone faces of the Hokage were basking in golden rays. Birds could be heard, their songs echoing softly near the peak of the stone monument. Seated atop one of the great stone faces, sat the blond container of the Kyuubi, his trademark orange and black jumpsuit traded in for an all back top and bottom. The young shinobi's golden hair was swaying with the breeze, his bangs sitting in front of his forehead protector. Naruto's training with Hatake Kakashi had sparked a more serious air around the young shinobi. While he was reluctant to give up his favorite color in his attire, he did accept that the outfit was perhaps a bit too bold for his line of work. He had ordered a similar outfit to his father's jonin uniform but in black, knowing it would be better suited for night operations. He modified it to include a jacket similar to his old one, and the red Uzumaki swirl still sat on his back, even more proud to wear the symbol than he had been before.
Brilliant blue eyes looked over the village, the home he has sworn his life to protect. The sight of his home served as his motivation, it strengthened his resolve and desire to improve. The new buildings and scaffolding could be seen across the entire village. The restoration of the village had begun in the center and worked its way out to the outskirts. The center of the village contained more complete structures, while the farther away you looked the more scaffolding could be seen. The only exception to this was the Hokage's tower, as the construction crews expedited that project resulting in a nearly complete copy of the original tower. The only differences were the lack of finished paint and some stray scaffolding to decorate the now functioning office building.
Deciding to focus on the task at hand, Naruto shut his eyes and felt the familiar sensation of nature. The power and energy of the trees and animals surrounded him and combined with his own. His body felt lighter yet harder, his mind sharper, and his senses augmented. His eyelids darked to a burnt orange and when his eyes opened his pupils were yellow with a horizontal bar. He took a deep breath before placing a finger to the ground and firing a pulse of his chakra into the cliff. His condensed chakra pulsed shot through the ground away from him in all directions, giving him a highly detailed mental 'image' of his surroundings. The past few hours had consisted of this exercise. Kakashi would make himself scarce and Naruto would practice using this sensory technique to find him. He could feel the trees surrounding the village, the people roaming the streets, the buildings being erected, and more. Naruto focused before locking onto the chakra signature of his silver haired sensei.
'Found you.' Naruto smirked to himself, before suddenly vanishing from the mountain without a trace or any evidence of his shunshin.
It had been a quiet morning for the last Sannin, arguably the only quiet morning since Pein's attack on the village. She had finally conquered the endless mountain of paperwork, assigned a few D rank missions to some over-eager genin, and even had time to pour a lunchtime cup of sake. All of this was ruined when Anko entered the office to give a mission report. Tsunade's face scowled, frustration brewing alongside concern. 'Maybe I should have skipped the sake, on second thought no, I'm going to fucking need it.'
"Can you repeat that for me?"
The purple haired snake mistress sighed, knowing this information was the last thing the village needed. "While I was in the Land of Grass, I saw several Iwa shinobi making their way towards our borders. Due to being in foreign land, I did not follow or engage them. I felt it was best to avoid any confrontation, you know, to avoid a war."
Tsunade took a moment to consider this information, having digested more of it now. Iwa had always harbored a grudge against Konoha since the last war. 'That old bastard Onoki still can't get over Minato decimating his army, but I'd wager all of the five great nations are on alert since Akatsuki was bold enough to attack us. I need to figure out their intentions and if they've crossed into the Land of Fire.' Dealing with the destruction of the village and rebuilding it had caused enough sleepless nights, now they were facing the risk of a great nation invading their borders? She looked down at her half empty cup of sake, knowing she would need another bottle or five by the time the day was over.
"Did you notice them or anything on your way back?"
"Negative, Hokage-sama. We did not encounter any evidence, but we also did not search for them. I felt it best to come straight here to report it." Anko replied.
Tsunade nodded, knowing that she'd have to send a team to investigate this issue. "You're dismissed, Anko." Anko took her leave and left Tsunade alone in the office. She knew that the situation was tricky, if Iwa sent a squad to gather intel on Konoha's defenses and they were allowed to return without any confrontation, she would be effectively inviting the old Tsuchikage to invade. On the other hand, if they captured or killed the squad it could be seen as an act of war. The blonde reviewed the information carefully before thinking about a certain young man and his silver haired sensei.
"Shizune, I need you to send for Kakashi and Naruto." Tsunade told her assistant, before adding, "And get me more sake."
Naruto and Kakashi had just taken a break before planning on getting lunch, both men sitting in the shade in the latest training ground that Kakashi had hidden in.
"You're getting better with that technique Naruto, it's gotten hard to lose you for more than a minute or so now." Kakashi eye-smiled before continuing, "Not to mention, you've made considerable progress with your shunshin."
"Thanks Kakashi-sensei! Of course it helps having an army to practice with" Naruto replied, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. The young blonde's growth was exponential due to his unique ability to spam Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.
"Regardless, it's your hard work that's fueling your improvement. I'd wager you're close to Minato-sensei's level in terms of covering your movement and your speed. Then again, sensei transitioned to the Hiraishin so he didn't continue training his shunshin…"
"That's the next step." Naruto interrupted. "I started trying to make the seal last night but it's so confusing. Dad knew his shit, huh?" Naruto said, the pride evident in his voice. He still needed to pinch himself at times, who would have thought his childhood hero would turn out to be his father.
'There were a lot of coincidences I guess. My birthday being the same day of the Kyuubi's attack, the fact I look just like him, Ero-Sennin taking an interest in me, and of course Kakashi-sensei being my sensei. If my life was one of the mangas people read, I'm sure everyone would have guessed it.'
"You're already working on the seal? I'm impressed, Naruto. Though, I am sure I don't need to warn you about the dangers of space time ninjutsu, do I?" Kakashi questioned.
"I haven't even started trying it yet, don't worry so much." Naruto replied, "but I'll be sure to test it on clones. I do that for all of my sealing formulas."
Naruto and Kakashi were pulled from their conversation when they heard a familiar voice call out to them.
"Naruto! Kakashi!"
Shizune ran up to the pair, surprisingly her iconic pet left behind in the Hokage's office. The kunoichi's black eyes stole a glance at the older shinobi. Kakashi did not seem to notice, either a credit to his poker face or his blissful unawareness.
"Shizune? What's up?" Naruto questioned, it was odd to see the Hokage's aid away from the office.
"Tsunade-sama asked me to find you. She has a mission for you both." Shizune explained.
"Personally? That's unusual." Kakahi replied. Most knew it was standard protocol for an ANBU to retrieve the shinobi the Hokage would summon.
"Yeah Shizune, that's weird. How come Tsunade-bachan sent you personally? She's never sent you to find me before." Naruto asked, with a curious look.
Shizune's face flushed, red building up on her cheeks."Oh you know! Hard to find good help!" She stammered quickly and waved her hands frantically, not wanting to discuss the true reason behind it. 'Shut. Up. Naruto. When did you become observant?'
"Makes sense, everyone is crazy busy." Naruto seemed to accept the reasoning, "Let's go Kakashi-sensei, maybe it's time to test what we've been working on!"
"Hai. Let's see what Tsunade-sama has for us." Kakashi replied as the three began to walk to the Tower.
"So Kakashi, how have you been?" Shizune asked with a smile, "Has Naruto given you any problems?"
"Hey! I resent that!"
"No, he's still my cute little genin even if he's getting as strong as me nowadays. How's the new Hokage's office treating you and Tsunade-sama?"
Shizune chuckled at Kakashi's comment about Naruto and smiled. "The new office is perfect, just like the old one with just a bit nicer furniture." She brushed her hair behind her ear before continuing "Tsunade-sama is as busy as ever but you'd never know it with how much she drinks. I swear she has sake hidden everywhere possible in that office..."
The tension in the air was palpable. The relaxed and playful mood died the moment Shizune escorted Kakashi and Naruto into the Hokage's office. The military leader of Konoha flipped a switch, and was all business no play.
"This mission and intel is of the utmost importance. Naruto, this will be your first S rank mission. We received a report that Iwa sent a squad towards our borders. Our relationship with Iwa has been tenuous at best. We have reason to believe that they planned on spying on us to gauge our military might. We can safely assume the rest of the great nations and beyond have heard rumors of the attack. Your mission is to patrol the border near Grass Country and search for any Iwa squads returning back to their village through Kusa. Kakashi, you're in charge. Should you find any shinobi in our lands, you have authority and the autonomy to decide if capture or elimination is best."
"Understood, Hokage-sama." Kakashi answered. The silver haired jonin knew what this mission meant, he had seen the horrors of war when he was twelve. Naruto on the other hand only had his most recent battle with Pein, which did not result in Naruto killing the man. As if reading his mind, Tsunade spoke up.
"Naruto, this mission could result or lead to a war. I know you asked for this but, are you sure you're ready?" Tsunade asked, the concern painted across her face. Her brown eyes had been studying Naruto's body language to see if he would show any signs of regret or apprehension, but Kakashi intervened before the boy could answer.
"He's ready. I've worked him hard, and he's met every challenge. I have the utmost faith in his abilities." Kakashi took a moment to look at Naruto and smile proudly. "He's his father's son."
Naruto was momentarily speechless. He knew he was close to the former ANBU captain and his jonin sensei, but such a ringing endorsement moved him. Any self doubt he had or question in his abilities seemed to melt away.
"I'll take your word for it, Kakashi." Tsunade replied. "This mission is to be carried out under ANBU protocols. Kakashi, you'll be assuming your old call sign of Inu. Naruto, you'll be assigned the call sign of Mokin for the duration of the mission. We're taking this call sign out of retirement for you."
"Retirement?" Naruto questioned. He had assumed Tsunade would have assigned him some sort of toad mask or even a fox one.
"Yes, this was your father's ANBU call sign. Kakashi here told me you have the mask already." Tsunade informed him with a smile.
"Hai, I'll wear it with pride." Naruto beamed at the thought of returning the owl mask to prominence. He remembered how much he was protected by an ANBU wearing a dog mask when he was younger. 'Wait a minute, Inu?'
"Kakashi-sensei? Were you Inu when I was younger?"
"Yes. I was still an active member of the ANBU when you were settling into your apartment. Sarutobi-sama often assigned me to watch over you when I was not out of the village."
"No shit. Small world, huh?" Naruto said with a quiet laugh.
"You're welcome." Kakashi replied with his infamous eye-smile. "I'll meet you outside the gates in two hours, and here, this scroll has an ANBU uniform sealed in it."
"Good luck, report back immediately once you've patrolled and handled any potential threats." The blonde Hokage said with a smile.
Ino Yamanaka was having a good day.
The sun was shining, she just collected her pay from her last mission, and she was on her way to lunch with her long time rival and friend. She was dressed in a purple sleeveless turtleneck, similar to her genin days, with white shorts on. Sakura was dressed in her typical red top and pink shorts. Since this was a social call, she opted to not bring her kunai holsters or wrap her thigh in bindings.
"So Ino-pig, what's the plan for today?"
"Well Forehead, I'm going to live by my favorite phrase."
"And that would be?" Sakura asked.
"Treat yo self." Ino replied with a grin. "We are going to dango, maybe hit the shopping district, and to cap it off I plan on a nice long soak at the hot springs."
"Oh! I've needed to replace my weapons pouch for a while. Could we stop by Ten-ten's-"
"Sakura." Ino interrupted. "I'm talking better than that. Not a work purchase. Treat. Yo. Self."
"There's this new book I've wanted to read…" Sakura said with her hand to her chin. "It's the newest medical volume…"
"Nope!" Ino exclaimed with her arms making an 'X'. "That's still work. Treat yo self! Be selfish!"
"I could use a new bathrobe, I've always wanted one of those fancy silk ones that people have their names embroidered on." Sakura confessed with a slightly dreamy look in her eyes.
"Now that's better!" Ino happily approved, Kami knows her pink haired friend needed to learn how to unwind at times. "Clothes are a great way to splurge." Ino said, gesturing to a familiar blonde haired genin walking towards them, "look at Naruto, even he changed up his wardrobe."
Both Ino and Sakura had to do a double take before Ino put their thoughts into words.
"Wait Naruto? Is that you? Without any orange on?" Ino asked incredulously.
Naruto was headed back towards his apartment and his path intersected with the two kunoichi. He was wearing his new black jacket which was slightly unzipped, partially showing his mesh undershirt. His pants were a matching black with a kunai holster on his right thigh with some bindings around his ankles. At the sudden Ino's sudden outburst regarding his outfit, Naruto rubbed his head in a bit of embarrassment.
"Yeah, it's still me." He said, "does it look bad?"
"Naruto, you actually look mature!" Sakura said, "What brought this on? I remember you saying something along the lines of I'd have to knock you unconscious to change you out of anything orange…"
"Well, it's still my favorite color but I wanted to take my mission attire more seriously. I don't want to be a bright bullseye for the Akatsuki, right?" Naruto said with his usual infectious grin.
"Color me shocked, Naruto. You look sharp." Ino teased, "Maybe Forehead will finally take you up on a date."
"Shut up Ino-pig, leave him alone. You know Naruto and I are just friends." Sakura replied hotly.
"I'm just reading Sakura. Besides, why would he want to ask you out when I'm right here. He's not blind after all." Ino said with a playful tone and a wink.
"Oh shut up." Sakura said with a sarcastic tone, putting an end to that conversation. "So Naruto, what are you up to?"
"Just heading home to pack for a short mission." Naruto said, not wanting to divulge too many details of his first S ranked assignment.
"Wait, you're going on a mission without Forehead here?" Ino said, her curiosity piqued, "What kind of mission?"
"A standard border patrol I guess, I asked ba-chan for something quick to make some more money." Naruto cooly said, trying to deflect the conversation a bit.
"Ah, saving up for something nice?" Ino said, "That's what I'm doing today. Dango, shopping, and hot springs. What does the new 'hero of the leaf' do to treat himself?"
"Ramen. Lots and lots of ramen." Naruto said without any hesitation.
Sakura laughed at her teammate's response. "You should have been able to guess that Ino. Naruto practically lives at Ichiraku's."
"Yeah, that was a dumb question." Ino said with a disappointed sigh. Secretly she had been hoping to get a little bit of information about what made her fellow blonde tick. She had told Sakura that she'd give Naruto a chance if he ever seemed interested, and damn it all if Ino wasn't at least a little curious to learn more about the biggest knucklehead of their graduating class all those years ago.
"I'm an open book! Though, I do like the Hokage monument at sunrise and sunset, but that's not really buying anything. Oh well, I have to run. My stuff isn't going to pack itself!" Naruto said before running off towards his apartment, he didn't want to be late for his first big assignment with Kakashi.
"That was smooth Ino, trying to see what Naruto liked. Too bad for you he's got a one track mind." Sakura chided.
"Worth a shot, here I thought he had grown up but he's still got his quirks." Ino said with a soft smile. It was kind of endearing that one of the most dangerous shinobi of their age group had maintained a lot of his innocent charm. "He is certainly stronger, but honestly he wouldn't be Naruto if he wasn't still a kid at heart."
On top of one of the towers near the village gates, Kakashi stood at attention in his old ANBU attire. His black sleeveless bodysuit covered by the standard gray vest. A short tanto hung across his back, and his red ANBU tattoo was exposed on his left shoulder, while his forearms donned black arm sleeves. The porcelain dog mask covered his face, and his silver gravity defying hair swayed in the light breeze.
"Ready to move out?" He asked his newly arrived partner.
Naruto arrived in a similar outfit to Kakashi, however his black bodysuit had long sleeves and covered his shoulders.
"Yes, Inu." Naruto replied from behind his owl mask. "How come my uniform is different?"
"Since you're not an official member of the ANBU, you don't have the tattoo. We have stock of these long sleeve versions to hide our temporary or probationary members." Kakashi replied, as he and Naruto began hopping out of the village from tree to tree. "Are you familiar with the border we are going to?"
"I did some traveling near Kusa when I was training with Ero-sennin." Naruto replied, "We didn't stay long, and he always wanted to keep moving. Guess he didn't want Iwa to see me."
"That same reason is probably why Tsunade-sama ordered this to be carried out under the ANBU protocols. If an Iwa shinobi spots you, your mask protects your identity. Though, they probably hate all blondes at this point" Kakashi said with a hint of humor in his voice. "But more importantly, we are going to travel north to the border of Taki and work our way west from there. We'll set up camp tonight near Taki."
"Hai, Inu."
The two ninja traveled for hours before setting their camp. The night was clear and surprisingly warm, so Kakashi had opted to not light a fire. The two ate their rations, and reviewed the plan again, which was to get some sleep for a few hours each and then continue their patrol. Kakashi took the first watch while Naruto slept. After what seemed like not enough time at all, Kakashi woke Naruto up for his shift.
Naruto now sat perched in a tree on a large branch, his legs crossed and eyes closed behind his mask. His senses were expanded far around the camp as natural energy was flowing through him. He could feel there were no chakra signatures around for approximately a mile in every direction.
'Senjutsu certainly makes keeping watch easier. It doesn't matter how dark it is if I'm able to sense all around us.' Naruto thought to himself. 'I've gotten better. It only took me a minute to activate Sage Mode.'
Naruto sat in the same spot for about an hour. He listened to the crickets chirping, the leaves rustling with the evening breeze, and continued taking in the natural energy. 'This has been a quiet- wait.' Naruto focused on the five chakra signatures that entered his sensory range. 'They're moving northwest, towards Kusa.'
Naruto jumped out of the tree and back to the camp. He approached his sensei "Inu, we have company."
Kakashi woke and was alert within moments. "Where, Mokin?"
Naruto focused for a moment before replying, "About half a mile to the west, heading northwest."
Kakashi narrowed his eyes behind his mask. "Let's move. That would put them on a course to Iwa directly from Konoha."
The pair began tree hopping in the direction Naruto felt the chakra signatures traveling.
"How long until we cross paths?" Kakashi asked.
"About five minutes at this pace."
Kakashi paused in thought before slightly changing his direction. "We are going to head more north in order to ambush them. If they're heading towards the borders of Taki and Kusa, they'll likely stop for a break before crossing between the two countries."
Naruto nodded as Kakashi gave him the order. "It'll take a few extra minutes to overtake them, what's the plan once we do?"
"We'll observe to see who's running around our country without permission, and go from there."
Naruto's heart was pounding. He had been in many battles. Most of them ended up with him in dire situations, but it was always just him or his immediate team in danger. Tsunade's words echoed in his mind 'This mission could result or lead to a war'. Would that really be the case? Whatever occurred in the next hour would determine if there was a war. That type of pressure was getting to Naruto, and before he even registered it, Kakashi held up the hand sign for stop.
'They're coming.'
"How long?" Kakashi asked.
"One minute. They're slowing down." Naruto replied. He picked up on Kakashi's tone instantly. It was all business now. No wasted movement, no wasted words. Naruto sighed, trying to calm his nerves.
"Mokin, you're ready."
Naruto's eyes widened behind his mask before his breath and nerves calmed down. 'He could tell. Of course he could.' Suddenly, five shinobi landed in the clearing out in front of them. They donned dark red uniforms with tan vests, the standard uniform for Iwa shinobi. One of them, a man with a scar across his nose and black long hair, appeared to be giving orders. The other four seemed to be attentive before two broke from the group towards a small pond.
"Mokin, we're downwind so they won't smell or hear us right now. They're route suggests they're on a reconnaissance mission and are returning to Iwa to report back."
"Okay, so what's the plan?"
"We're going to eliminate them."
Naruto felt his heart rate elevate again, but quickly composed himself. He knew this was a possibility and had been training for this. Kakashi deemed him ready, and he for damn sure was not going to fail this mission.
"Hai, sensei."
Kakashi was proud of Naruto for settling in so quickly, but it was time to act. They likely could overwhelm the five Iwa shinobi, but that would drag out and be more dangerous than keeping things quiet.
"Mokin, how would you proceed?"
Naruto took a moment to survey the area and the clearing again, and put his palm to the branch he was on and sent out a small pulse of senjutsu chakra.
'Okay. Five targets, two have isolated themselves from the group. The other three are within earshot of each other. If we move quickly, we could take out the two at the same time before they get back.'
A few more moments went by in silence before Naruto began suggesting a plan.
"Start by taking out the two who removed themselves from the group. Take them out together, and then get back to cover. The leader should send one or two of the others to check what is taking so long and we can strike the rest down while they're confused." Naruto explained his plan, and waited while Kakashi digested it.
"I like it, good work."
The two silently moved towards the two Iwa shinobi, and took up positions elevated in the trees behind them.
"What do you think Onoki-sama will think of the intelligence we gathered?" One of the Iwa shinobi asked.
"He'll probably order some sort of attack or something, Konoha has been untouched for far too long. I bet they've gotten weak."
'That confirms it, they've been spying on us.' Naruto thought to himself, 'Kakashi-sensei was right, we need to take them out.'
With a silent hand signal, Kakashi motioned for them to strike. Naruto burst from the trees and jammed a tri-pronged kunai through his target's throat. Blood spewed forward, but the only sound was a muffled gurgle and then a soft thud as the body hit the forest floor. Naruto looked over and Kakashi had gone for a similar strategy except he sliced his target's throat open with his tanto.
"Bodies in the water." Kakashi ordered sternly.
Both men quickly grabbed the bodies and put them in the small pond and pushed them into the middle of the body of water. The darkness would hide the floating corpses for now. They returned to their elevated position in the trees when they noticed one more Iwa shinobi heading towards the pond. Kakashi gave Naruto the hand sign to wait, while he eliminated the new threat. Kakashi waited for the new shinobi to reach the tree he was hiding in. Once his target was below him, Kakashi silently jumped from the tree and stabbed the man in the gut. Kakashi held his hand over the man's mouth to cover any scream or noise, before pushing the kunai deeper. The man's eyes widened in pain and shock, before they lost their focus and Kakashi laid the body down.
Naruto extended his senses and felt the final two members of the Iwa squad split up. He leapt down to Kakashi, "Inu, one target is about 60 meters east and the other stayed at the clearing."
"Take the one that moved since you'll be able to track his location easier. I'll take the one that stayed behind."
Naruto nodded and leapt into the trees. He carefully worked his way towards his mark, his heart racing and his mind not having caught up to his body. The Iwa shinobi was walking around, searching for his teammates. This was the squad leader, slightly older and seemingly more experienced. Naruto readied the tanto and jumped down, expecting to get the drop on the man but Naruto's use of the stock ANBU sword was not as skillful as Kakashi's earlier. The man spun around and blocked Naruto's attempted stab with a kunai.
'Fuck, I shouldn't have used the sword. I'm not used to it."
"Fuck you, tree hugger." The Iwa captain snarled before reaching for another kunai and throwing it at Naruto's throat. The blonde twisted his body to avoid the knife before wordlessly forming a rasengan in his right hand and thrusting it into the other man's throat. With an aggressive crunch accompanied by a spray of blood, the spiraling maelstrom of chakra crushed and destroyed the man's throat, killing him instantly. Naruto shut his eyes and checked on Kakashi's chakra signature and confirmed that Kakashi had disposed of the final Iwa shinobi. Naruto opened his eyes and looked down at his hands and clothes. He had smatterings of blood on his gray vest and probably had more on his black bodysuit but couldn't tell in the darkness. His right hand was stained crimson and the distinct metallic smell of blood invaded his nostrils. Naruto's breath quickened, the reality of what had occurred finally sinking in. The blonde fell to his knees, and vomited onto the damp grass.
There it is! I hope you enjoyed it. My first fight scene, granted it was less bombastic and more stealthy. Please review! It really does help motivate me, and I like hearing your thought! Checking on the reviews, follow counts, and favorites really gave me the motivation to sit down and grind this out. Thank you and I truly hope you enjoy it!
-No Trace
P.S. Now that I am caught up on Better Left Unsaid, what are some of your favorite Naruto X Ino, Naruto x Temari, and Naruto x Sakura fics?