Naruto groaned as he rolled out of bed. Every part of his body was aching, which was really saying something when he recovered from injuries far faster than most people. Anko had really put him through the wringer with their training last night, in exchange for helping with Hinata's situation. They were always happy to lend a hand, but not without exacting a price. Something along the lines of being a busy Tokujo who had places to be, and Naruto needing to make things 'worth their while'. He didn't mind though, Anko always trained him well. They didn't hold back or underestimate him, and they were able to point out weaknesses in his form and help him get better at controlling his small arsenal of jutsu.
His training with Hinata had been called off for today, so after going through the motions of getting ready for his day, Naruto set off towards Training Ground 3 to meet with his team. He had decided to forgo transformation today, happy with a more boyish look - complimented by some winged eyeliner, of course.
Kakashi was running late as usual, so Naruto filled the time by working through a long series of careful stretches to help his sore muscles. Sasuke joined in at some point, whereas Sakura opted to sit on the side and pretend not to watch. Naruto still hadn't figured out what her deal was at this point, and he was pretty much ready to give up trying. Besides, he had more important plans for the team meeting today.
When Kakashi arrived half an hour late, Naruto vaulted upright and pointed an accusatory finger at the man. "How much longer are you gonna make us keep doing these boring errands? We're ready for a real mission now, believe it!"
"Mah, I think I can be the judge of that," Kakashi responded dismissively. But if he thought he would get away with that, he was dead wrong.
"Naruto's right, sensei," Sasuke added in. "These D-Ranks are a waste of our time, and you're hardly giving us any real training. How are we supposed to get stronger if we don't get some real experience?"
"Yeah, what he said! If you make us do any more dumb errands, I'm going on strike!" Naruto shouted, shaking his fist. He really couldn't take any more of this, or he might have to become a missing-nin just to shake the boredom.
"Hmmm, what about you, Sakura?" Kakashi turned to face the girl, perhaps hoping that she would disagree with her teammates.
"If… If I'm being honest, the D-Ranks are getting kind of boring, sensei," Sakura admitted, much to Kakashi's apparent chagrin.
After a couple weeks of having the exact same conversation with Kakashi, he finally gave in. "Mah, I guess we can find an easy C-Rank for you."
Team 7 stood in the Mission Assignment Hall, waiting impatiently while Kakashi spoke with one of the chunin working at the desk. Naruto was glaring at the back of Kakashi's head the whole time. He didn't care if Kakashi knew or not, he just wanted the physical actualisation of his frustration and spite. Kakashi had been practically useless as a sensei so far, and Naruto was upset. How the hell was he supposed to become a proper ninja without decent training from a jonin? He needed expert guidance over his techniques, and someone who would give actually helpful feedback on field missions. He needed someone who would take him seriously, and it appeared that Kakashi was seriously lacking in that department.
Even the drunkard who was leaning against the side of the wall was snickering at Naruto. The man was probably there to hire a team for some mission or another. He probably saw a bunch of kids and didn't realise how young ninjas started, thought it was funny that 'kids' would be hanging around here. Naruto chuckled to himself at the thought of Team 7 getting assigned to whatever mission the drunkard was here for. He wouldn't underestimate them for long if that were the case. That sure would be fun.
At the very least, they were going to go on a real mission next, and they could maybe actually learn something new from their sensei. Plus, it would be good for Sakura; Naruto was almost certain she was still puzzling over that one question he had asked her during the bell test. Better for her to experience what it really means to be a ninja now, while there's a jonin sensei to keep her alive, and decide whether or not to pursue this life.
After several more minutes of hushed discussion between Kakashi and one of the desk chunin, Team 7's sensei finally returned with a small scroll in hand. "Pack your bags for two week's journey, pups. Make sure you're fully equipped with whatever gear you need too. We're going to Wave Country."
Naruto had only been outside of the village a couple times so far, on academy field trips to nearby villages, but he hadn't gotten to see much of the world yet. Seeing the world wasn't one of his motives to be a ninja, but it was certainly an added bonus. At least, the sights were just a bonus. No, there was a different reason Naruto wanted to travel far and wide. Naruto loved his garden, and he enjoyed learning all about the different plants he could grow to use as poisons. The ones for healing were cool too, especially if they were handy in producing antidotes. And there was a limit to what plants he could access from within the village. Travelling around would allow him to find all sorts of different plants, bring them back and grow them in his ever-expanding garden. He really needed to find a way to secure it better, but that could be a problem for later.
With the single hour Team 7 had been given to prepare, Naruto knew he had to be quick with the errands he needed to run. His first stop was to Training Ground 43, where Naruto quickly scrawled a message to Hinata, to let him know not to expect the blonde at morning training sessions for a while.
After that, Naruto took the direct rooftop route up to his garden, where he collected clippings of several plants that might come in handy if they had to fight anyone beyond ordinary bandits. There were also some mixtures prepared inside his apartment that he collected, each paired with antidotes - which meant that he had to leave behind some that he didn't have the supplies to make antidotes for.
After organising all of his poisons, Naruto collected up his other various supplies and packed almost two weeks' worth of clothing, and he'd have to wash some of it when he had the chance. Anything that wasn't needed on short notice got packed into the one sealing scroll he had been able to afford with his measly financial support from the village, and anything needed for combat was sorted to the tops of his various pouches.
He looked longingly at his prized orange jacket, but shook his head as he picked out a black one instead. He'd known this was coming, and stealth was far more important than style - even if everyone else said his sense of style was 'wrong'. Once he'd thrown the jacket on over his shoulders, he was ready.
When he arrived at the village gates, only Sasuke was there so far. Naruto strolled up to the boy, waving as he approached. "You ready for this?"
"Hn," Sasuke grunted in response. His confident smirk was far more telling, though, and Naruto grinned back at his friend. No, friend wasn't the right word. Not yet, anyway.
One thing that Naruto had learned about Sasuke since they started spending time together on the same team was that he spoke when he had something to say, but was otherwise pretty quiet. He wasn't exactly closed off, but he also didn't let people in easily. Naruto thought he was slowly starting to make some progress there, but didn't want to push it. He knew the story - one day Sasuke had come home to see his entire family dead, by his beloved brother's hand. Since then, he had been alone. Just like Naruto had. And from what Naruto had gathered, Sasuke didn't have people like Anko or Iruka checking in on him.
It wasn't fair. Therefore, Naruto had decided to be there for him.
"So what do you think the odds are that something will go wrong on this mission? I reckon maybe one in four," Naruto said, offering a conversation he thought could be interesting. And if Sasuke didn't bite, he'd stop trying for now.
"One in two," Sasuke stated in response.
Naruto smiled. "Oh? How come?"
And then Sasuke laughed. It was short and dry, but a laugh all the same. Naruto decided that it sounded nice.
"Even without factoring in spies alerting outside forces to the two of us departing the safety of the village, we're travelling to another country on an escort mission. So, one in two."
"Fair enough," Naruto shrugged. "Well, it'd be cool if I get to use one of my fancier poisons, and get some more field experience."
Sasuke shot Naruto a questioning look when he said the word 'more', but the blonde just smirked and shrugged it off - just in time for Kakashi to arrive. And he wasn't alone. By his side was none other than the drunkard from the mission assignment hall. It took everything Naruto had to stop himself from absolutely cackling.
"This? This is your team?" The drunkard grumbled as soon as Kakashi got close enough to point out Naruto and Sasuke. "I come to a ninja village for help, and I get given a couple of kids?"
"Actually there's another one who's not here yet," Kakashi supplied healthily, wearing that stupid eye crinkly grin that he put on whenever he was messing with someone - which was most of the time. "Besides, this is what you get for how much you can pay."
"Tch, fine," the man relented, and found a bench to sit at while they waited for Sakura to arrive.
In the few short minutes leading up to Sakura's arrival, Naruto made sure to send a few innocent smiles their client's way - he had worked hard to get here, to the real starting line of his ninja career. And it felt insulting to just be disregarded and underestimated by clients after all that - so he wanted to rub it in. He would play along with the man's expectations, and then when trouble arrived, he would prove the man wrong.
Sakura strolled up with an eager look on her face. She carried a backpack that was stuffed a little too heavily, and wore clothes that were very obviously ironed out so that she would look as presentable as possible. She was dressed in her usual reds, not anything suitable for camouflage at all. Naruto deemed her overexcited and under-prepared. His suspicions were right - she still didn't understand well enough what it meant to be a ninja. Well, perhaps she would learn on this mission, or maybe the next. Naruto just hoped that her misguided outlook didn't cost her life.
With the whole team now assembled, Kakashi finally introduced the client to them - his name was Tazuna, and he was a bridge builder from a small fishing village in Wave Country. He had hired Team 7 to escort him back home where he could finish working on a bridge that would connect Wave with Fire, and improve the trading relationships of the two countries. And with that information, Naruto was starting to agree with Sasuke's odds on the mission going wrong. Sounded like Tazuna was pretty important, even if he seemed like a simple drunkard at first glance.
Naruto got carried away with those thoughts as he followed his team out of the village gates. What was Tazuna doing in Konoha? Why did he travel all the way with such little money to spend hiring guards? Why did he even need to hire guards? Perhaps someone wanted him dead so the bridge couldn't be built? Naruto didn't know much about Wave's politics - or any politics for that matter, but the idea of someone wanting to intervene with trade relationships wasn't a far-fetched one. The best thing he could do was stay watchful as they travelled, which he should be doing anyway. If Naruto started asking questions, Kakashi might decide this mission was too much for Team 7 and turn them right back around through the village gates, when they finally had a chance to do something real.
So he stayed quiet.
Naruto didn't utter a single word for hours while they walked along one of the main westbound roads. But he was only one of the team's usual chatterboxes, and Sakura was performing that role perfectly well. She was exceedingly curious about the knowledge Tazuna could provide about bridges - Sakura had always been academically minded and ready to learn all sorts of new things, so this was hardly surprising. While Tazuna talked on and on with Sakura about bridge design and engineering to pass the time, Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi idly listened, or dwelled in each of their own heads.
Until Naruto noticed the puddle.
It hadn't rained in days.
Sakura only barely noticed the way both Naruto and Kakashi's postures shifted. And then she saw the puddle, and realised that it hadn't rained in quite a while, so there was definitely something off about that. But she didn't fully get what that meant for their immediate safety until she saw her sensei get torn to pieces. Right in front of her.
And she had no idea what to do. Kakashi was supposed to be strong - she had heard talk that he was one of the strongest in the village. If that were true, how could she hope to do anything against the enemies who had launched themselves so suddenly out of the water? She wanted to run. But her legs didn't take her anywhere. And it wasn't fear that prevented her escape. No, it was Tazuna. If she just left, this man would die, just like her short-lived sensei. At the very least, she had to try and protect him. So she pulled out a kunai and planted herself firmly in front of the bridge builder, and watched as carefully as she could.
She didn't understand why Naruto and Sasuke weren't frightened. They stood their ground confidently when the two enemy shinobi tried to get past them. They weren't afraid, and they were holding their own… somehow? But how was that even possible, when Kakashi had been taken out instantly?
Unless… unless Kakashi hadn't actually died. Unless he had faked the whole thing. But why? Surely he could have just taken on the enemy shinobi, and kept them safe. There was only one reason Sakura could think of, and it was that her sensei was trying to test the three genin and see how they would handle the situation. She relaxed her grip, knowing that everything would probably be fine.
That was a mistake.
A stray shuriken struck against her kunai, bounced off and cut a small line into her shoulder. It stung, but it wasn't anything Sakura couldn't handle. She ignored it, and re-adjusted her grip so that it wouldn't happen again. Naruto had already pinned one of the enemy shinobi to the ground, and Sasuke was protecting his back with a ball of fire aimed at the other enemy.
A few moments later, the entire fight was over. That couldn't have been more than half a minute all up, and Sakura had done nothing other than block a shuriken that might have been meant for Tazuna, whilst Naruto and Sasuke did all of the fighting. If she hadn't been holding up a kunai, she could have died.
She could have died.
It was all because she let her guard down. She misjudged the situation once and thought they were in far more danger than they actually were, and then misjudged it again by assuming the danger was much lesser. Sakura had fucked up.
Oh, I'm having a panic attack, Sakura realised, becoming aware of her strained breathing and the sense that her chest was being crushed inwards. The feeling of absolute powerlessness, the racing of her heart, and her body going out of control. So she did what she had been taught in the academy. Observe the environment around her, put names to objects she could see. Count her breaths, make them measured and longer, until her breathing was normal again.
It took her a while to get herself back together again, and if she was being honest? She had no idea what happened after the fight was over. All she knew was that this was a real mission, and she was vastly under-prepared.
Kakashi looked at his three genin, appraising their current mental states through any changes he could see in their behaviour. Sakura was shaking, having had her first near death experience when she froze up in combat against the enemies. She wasn't even trying to pretend she was okay, but she was taking steadying breaths and methodically passing her eyes around the area, likely identifying objects in her surroundings as a grounding technique. She wasn't okay, but she would be.
Sasuke appeared guarded - he had done exceptionally well in combat, protected himself and his teammates, but he acted as though he didn't believe it was over. A little bit of wariness was good in a ninja, but too much led to paranoia. If Kakashi ended up keeping the brats, he would have to teach Sasuke how to toe that line safely without losing himself to his worries.
And Naruto… If Kakashi didn't know any better, he would assume that this wasn't Naruto's first experience of do-or-die combat. Kakashi would assume he had been in far more dangerous situations than this, and was already accustomed to it. Except… Kakashi didn't know better. For all he knew, Naruto had already experienced all that and more. Because Kakashi had run away from knowing Naruto, from being a part of his life sooner. In another life, Naruto could have been Kakashi's little sibling. But Minato and Kushina were dead. Obito was dead. Rin was dead. So many others were dead. As Team 7's sensei, he could make amends, and it was reassuring to see how well Naruto could handle himself. Maybe this one would live. Maybe.
Kakashi turned to his students once the two attackers were securely tied up. "This is your trial by fire."