22. Uzumaki Probation, Part One

Author's Notes: This chapter and the ones after are rated T+ for Tayuya's mouth. On another note, ever notice how many villain names of the anime fillers end in 'ga' and how many of THOSE end in 'iga' in this anime?

Mission Briefing Hall, One Week After Fall Of Sound

Naruto and Haku stood at attention in front of Tsunade, Karin and Tayuya standing next to them, the former fidgeting with her hands nervously while the latter had a hand on her neck gently rubbing where her curse mark had been, the skin still slightly raw after Naruto and Jiraiya had metaphorically gone to town on the thing and removed it via 'extreme seal negation' techniques. Techniques which they had used her as a guinea pig to test before doing the same to Sasuke and Anko's curse seals, much to the loyal snake summoner's joy. Of course, if it hadn't been for the skill of the medic nin in front of her then she wouldn't have even been able to use said hand at all. Tsunade studied the four shinobi in front of her for a minute before she started the mission briefing.

"Karin and Tayuya Uzumaki, this mission will determine whether or not you are capable of joining the main force of the Leaf Village's Shinobi roster or if you need more, specialized supervision." Both redheads let out miniature shivers at the end of Tsunade's statement but she ignored it as she leaned back and said "You four are heading for the Land of Greens. Your mission is protection duty for a peddler group that is passing through. You can expect bandits but not shinobi, their wares aren't anything that would warrant the interest of enemy ninja."

Naruto let out a sigh and said "Like that matters with my track record."

Tsunade smirked even as Karin glanced at her cousin in confusion and said "What do you mean Lord Naruto?"

"Okay, first off, drop the Lord already Karin, I've already told you ten times that I don't like being called that. And second, roughly eighty five percent of the C-ranked missions I've been on has had something go wrong that bumped it up to B or higher." Naruto said.

Tayuya gained a feral grin as she said "So the chances of us fighting some shit heads are actually high this mission?"

"Language Tayuya, but essentially yes." Haku said calmly.

"Moving on," Tsunade said gathering everyone's attention again as she continued "Naruto, due to this being an evaluation mission, you are to refrain from using the Slipstream or your Chakra Fog unless absolutely necessary."

Naruto nodded his understanding and soon the four were checking out of the village's main gate.

Scene Change: Tree Tops, En Route To Land of Greens

Naruto led the way, the others in a diamond formation. As the teen jumped off a tree branch with a bit more force than strictly necessary, he took the extra hang time it gave him to look over his shoulder and said "Alright ladies, I know we touched on it back in the Mission Office but it bears repeating, my luck with C rank and up missions is just plain rotten. Low level merchant escort mission or not, prepare for at least one ninja taking a shot at us, most likely high Chunnin, low Jounin. Karin, once we're five miles out keep your senses peeled for anything that seems out of place chakra reserve wise."

Karin nodded and Naruto took another jump as he continued "Tayuya, when, not if, we run into trouble I want you to hold off on using your summons unless absolutely necessary. We're testing your combat abilities on this mission, not how well you can control your summons, understood?"

Tayuya gave a put-upon sigh as she said "Yeah, I got it blondie."

Naruto nodded before he turned his full focus back forward and they continued on their way.

Scene Change: Edge of Land of Greens

Naruto came to a stop on a branch overlooking a road and pulled out a map from his pouch. A quick glance at it and then down towards a path marker below him had him nodding. Putting the map away, he looked to the other three who had stopped on their own branches behind him and said "This is the rendezvous point, Karin, any contacts?"

Karin pointed down the road and frowned as she said "Eight in close proximity, roughly ten minutes' walk that way, five adult civilian levels, one kid, two high Chunnin, with the shinobi levels staying close to one that is pretty much a raging emotional storm to my senses."

Naruto slapped a hand to his face and Haku let out a soft sigh as the blonde said "Oh great, it's one of THOSE missions."

Tayuya rose an eyebrow and said "What do you mean by that blondie?"

"Three of our past missions have had shinobi and/or samurai bodyguards acting as civilians. The person they were guarding always turned out to be more important than they tried to come off as. And for two of those, they've had someone after them." Haku explained as he did an unconscious check of his equipment in preparation for an upcoming fight.

Karin frowned and asked "Should we inform the group that we suspect some of their number may be targeted?"

Naruto shook his head and said "That would just make them all nervous without being able to do anything about it and If we protected the hypothetical target more than the others that would just defeat the purpose of them trying to go incognito, especially if the merchant group isn't aware of the deception. No, we'll play this subtle for now."

The others acknowledged his order before they all hopped down and began walking. A few minutes later, they came across the group they were to meet pushing two loaded carts and Naruto said "Greetings, we've been assigned a mission to protect a merchant's caravan, would any of you happen to be Kikusuke?"

The tallest men of the group stepped forward and said "That would be me. I apologize, but in these times, I can't simply take your word, do you have further proof besides your headbands that you are who you say you are?"

Naruto waved him off and said "No worries, it's perfectly understandable. And our Hokage did give us this to give you." He took out a sealing scroll and unsealed its contents, tossing the small bag it contained to him. The girl with the group snatched it out of the air before he could catch it though and quickly jumped up onto the top of one of the wagons. As her grandmother chided her, the now named Momiji opened the bag and said "They're definitely from the Leaf, look!"

The girl turned around and Naruto felt Karin and Tayuya's eyes twitching at the sight of the grey jacket with the words "The Leaf Moving Service" printed on its back.

"What, the mph?!" Tayuya started only to be cut off as Haku put his hand over her mouth and said "There is a child present Tayuya, at least try to have a civil tongue around her." Tayuya grumbled under the hand for a moment before sighing with a nod causing Haku to withdraw his hand.

Naruto shook his head with a chuckle and said "You know, I really should have seen Tsunade pulling something like this, she is a quarter Uzumaki after all."

"Prankster genes run true in Lady Tsunade I gather?" Karin asked with a raised eyebrow.

"At least half true anyway." Naruto said as he made a tossing motion to Momiji and caught the jacket when she tossed it to him. Slipping it on, he made ten clones and said "Alright then, Karin, hop up on the other cart and keep your senses peeled, Haku, Tayuya, take the sides." The three shinobi gave affirmatives and moved into position as all of the clones cracked their necks side to side before situating themselves in front and behind the carts. A round of quick introductions later and the group was once more making its way down the road.

Time Skip

It was after three hours of walking when the group was resting that the first signs of the mission's expected trouble made themselves known. Momiji and Haku had just returned with a bunch of filled water skins for everyone when Momiji seemed to notice something if the way she looked back the way the group came uncertainly was anything to go by. As she quickly ran off to get a higher view point, Haku following, Naruto turned to Karin with a raised eyebrow.

Karin increased her sensory range and a moment later said "Two signatures, high genin, at the very edge of my range, moving quick about a hundred yards parallel to the road's path, ETA at current speed twenty-five minutes."

Naruto clicked his tongue before turning his head as Haku came back with Momiji on his back and drew close with the others as he softly said "Trouble behind us, there were signs of multiple large fires in the Land of Greens. And there weren't any storm fronts that way."

"Which means it was either a really bad accident or they were set on purpose." Tayuya said, an eager glint appearing in her eyes.

Naruto nodded and said "Tayuya, you're up. Take one of my clones and stop our followers. Go for capture and leave at least one of them alive for my clone to interrogate."

Tayuya gave a feral smirk as she gave her current team leader a two-fingered salute before she shot up the cliff side and back the way they came, a clone fading out of sight as it followed. As the other three shinobi went back to their original positions and the caravan began moving again, Kikusuke 'casually' positioned himself next to Naruto and said "Problems?"

Naruto side eyed him for a moment before he looked back forward and said "Possible non-friendlies are traveling along the road but not actually on it. Don't worry though, it's being handled." Naruto smirked as he continued "This IS why you guys hired us after all."

Kikusuke hesitated for the briefest of moments like he was arguing with what he should say before simply nodding and said "Very well, thank you for sharing with me." He then made his way over to his fellow covert body guard and charge and the three quickly had a whispered conversation that Naruto chose to ignore, instead looking forward and pushing the cart just a little bit harder, his clones doing the same so that the convoy picked up its pace the slightest bit.

With Tayuya And Clone

Tayuya quickly made her way through the forest, staying close to the trunks with her tree hopping in order to minimize branch shaking. Naruto's clone was currently a tree or three behind her, providing no input and instead hanging back to observe. Ten minutes into their run, Tayuya came to a stop and glanced around as she muttered "This should be far enough." She quickly shot up the tree to be closer to the top before pulling out her flute and began layering cloaking genjutsu over herself. The clone meanwhile used his creator's own impressive abilities to hide himself from both sight and hearing.

A few minutes later, Tayuya sensed her targets coming into a range she was comfortable with and brought her flute to her lips. As she began playing, she made a three layered genjutsu that seeded itself throughout the forest, and thanks to her being courteous enough to include the clone in it, he got to see what was actually going on in it.

The two enemy shinobi didn't even realize they were caught in a genjutsu when a clicking sound rang out and they were suddenly strung up in wire more thoroughly than a Christmas turkey. And the more they struggled, the more tied up they became until they couldn't even move a single digit. Tayuya smirked as she stopped playing and quickly shot into a position behind them before dropping down and slapping knockout tags on them. Naruto's clone gave a quick set of claps as he said "Nicely done Tayuya, now let's secure these two then see what they have to say."

Tayuya nodded and dragged the two unconscious shinobi over to a pair of the more sturdy looking tree trunks and the clone helped her secure them properly before he took the tag off of one of the nin and removed his face mask before slapping him awake. The man groaned before opening his eyes only to jerk backwards as he saw the face of evil grinning at him. The clone's grin expanded just the slightest bit in order to look just that bit more demented as he said "You and I are going to have such an interesting conversation." As the clone began pulling out a sealing scroll and unsealing a set of various tools, the man couldn't help but whimper in fear.

Time Skip: Two Hours Later

The sun was just beginning to touch the horizon when Tayuya and Naruto's clone rejoined the rest of the group, Tayuya transferring the look she had been giving the clone to the one who she assumed to be the original given which position he was in. Karin noticed and as Tayuya retook her own position leaned down from her spot on the cart and asked "What is it?"

Tayuya shuddered and turned haunted eyes to her fellow redhead and said "I have seen things that cannot be unseen."

Karin scoffed and said "Come on, it couldn't have been that bad, I know Naruto's a Jounnin, but it's not like he's a member of the T&I Division."

Tayuya shuddered and said "You didn't see what his clone did with a couple of sporks and a lemon."

Karin blinked once as she tried to work out what would involve a pair of eating utensils and a piece of citrus only to be drawn out of that contemplation when the Original Naruto finished going over his clone's memories and called out "Let's take a quick break everyone."

There were mutters of accent from the peddlers and at the next wide section of the road the clones pulled the carts off the main path while the civilians all took the chance to take off their shoes and massage their feet along with having a quick dinner. The Leaf Shinobi meanwhile gathered around the original Naruto who in turn had his bingo book open to a specific section, a set of sealing tags on the ground ensuring their discussion wouldn't reach the others.

Glancing at his teammates, he said "Alright ladies and gentleman, we're dealing with a small rogue shinobi group lead by three brothers called, surprise, surprise, the Criminal Brothers. They are led by this man, Renga." He turned the book to the others allowing them to see a brown hair and eyed man with three purple triangles painted on his face with one going down his forehead and the other two going inwards on his cheek. Naruto kept the book facing them as he said "Going by the psycho profile our Village's head shrinks have put together for him, this guy's a real piece of work, believing everyone including parent and brother are simply tools to further his own cause. He's got a basic grasp of kenjutsu but his main technique is condensing water molecules into incredibly clear ice that he uses as lenses. These lenses can be used both for long range spying and amplifying sun light into highly powerful attacks. And no, there's nothing to suggest that he's a member of your clan given his brothers can't do the same Haku."

Haku nodded with a small amount of relief and said "Naruto, I know this mission is meant to judge our two new teammates' performance, but I would greatly appreciate it if I may deal with this man."

Naruto considered his partner for a moment before nodding and said "If he shows up then he's all yours." Haku nodded his thanks and Naruto flipped to the next page allowing the other three to see an overweight man with fair skin, dark grey eyes, and two long thick eyebrows. He had two dark red stripes on each side his face with curved tips and long dull black shoulder-length hair with two large chin-length pieces of his hair on the left and right sides of his face.

"This is Jiga, the middle brother, and according to his psyche profile a rather arrogant son of a bitch who believes that his abilities makes him more powerful than anyone else. Apparently, ever since he was a child he's been ingesting iron which coupled with his natural Lightning type elemental nature allows him to control ferrous metals via magnetism. He uses said magnetism in order to rip metallic ore out of the ground along with enhancing his kusarigama. It's believed that he can also use magnetism to affect the electrical impulses our brains use to control our body's movements so be extremely careful if you wind up in close combat with him."

Karin adjusted her glasses with a frown and said "Interesting. I assume that this too isn't a blood line limit, which means he shouldn't be able to have his magnetism on all the time. If we can work out what the time limit is then we should be able to put him down."

"Putting down an arrogant fat ass? I'm certainly in." Tayuya said with a savage grin, clearly wishing she could have done the same with her former Sound Four partner who was the same way.

Naruto gave her a flat look before he once more flipped the page showing a man that had purple cheek length hair with yellow eyes and two light blue teardrops on his cheeks along with a light blue triangular marking under his chin as he said "Finally we have the youngest brother, Ruiga. This guy's a bit of a sadist, using his high-water manipulation skills to trap his opponents in water that he draws out of the ground and plant life and then summoning various carnivorous fish inside the water and allowing them to go to town on the poor bastard. He's also rather proficient with a pair of heavy duty tonfa that double as dowsing rods."

Karin once more frowned as she said "Naruto, if the Leaf village has all of this intel on our enemies, then why haven't they done anything about them yet?"

Naruto gave a disgusted scoff as he flipped the book back around to look at Ruiga's picture again and said "Politics, what else? These three's agenda never crossed the Leaf's before so why should the higher ups be bothered with what they do? Honestly, if I could, I'd go on a cross-continental trip and start taking out as many missing nin as I could track down, but noooo, that would upset all of the other Shinobi Countries. God, I hate politics." Naruto capped off his statement by putting his bingo book up and massaging his forehead for a moment. All four of them felt one of their charges leaving and Naruto groaned as he said "And now we've got one of our hidden body guards going lone ninja on us. Karin, Tayuya, go catch up with him and make sure he doesn't die on us."

"On it." The two said before taking off in blurs of red as they booked it, a clone once more following them. Naruto spared just a moment to track their course before he gave the other two members of the convoy hiding who they really were a flat look before sighing and going back to his cart pushing position. He was beginning to get really tired of all of the twists and turns C ranks gave him. Give him a straight forward A or S rank mission any day of the week over these convoluted C ranks.

With Tayuya And Karin

As the two trailed Kikusuke, keeping him in sight but not trying to catch up just yet, Karin touched her left finger to the palm of her right hand and a seal faded into existence. Seeing Tayuya giving her a raised eyebrow, she shrugged and said "Just a precaution."

Tayuya rolled her eyes and said "Fine, be all cryptic then." Nodding ahead of her at their charge, she said "Think he knows we're behind him?"

"I'll be very disappointed in his skills if he doesn't. His chakra's not showing any signs that he's paying us any attention though." Karin said with a frown. Tayuya let out a snort at that but said nothing further and the two-remained silent as they continued their shadowing. They also hung back when their charge made first contact with Ruiga, Tayuya rather unimpressed with his jutsu.

"Shurikens made out of fucking flowers, are you kidding me?" She asked with a ticking eyebrow.

"They are rather unconventional." Karin agreed as she watched the 'fight'. The two barely flinched at the explosion that Kikusuke used against their opponent and the dome of water that protected Ruiga only earned a raised eyebrow from the two. As Ruiga pointed his tonfas at Kikusuke and water began rising from the ground Karin tensed and said "Tayuya, if you'll provide cover."

"Yeah, yeah, just don't make me have to save your ass too often." Tayuya said with a smirk as she pulled out her flute and prepared to play.

There was no time to say anything further as by that time enough water had surrounded Kikusuke and Ruiga all but cackled as he said "Well it's been fun, but it's feeding time." The water surged forward and surrounded Kikusuke in a dome of water. Or at least, it covered someone who was standing where he had been. Ruiga had only enough time to widen his eyes at the sight of the redhead that had seamlessly Replaced Kikusuke before all of the water rushed inwards towards her right hand, the water disappearing in seconds before a completely dry Karin adjusted her glasses with her left hand and said "And just what were you planning on summoning to feed just now, Ruiga of the Criminal Brothers?"

Ruiga took a hesitant step back as he said "You know who I am?"

"Indeed, my village has a not so little amount of intel on you and your brothers." Karin said before she was suddenly right next to Ruiga, his left Tonfa dropping to the ground with a clatter where she used to be and senbon needles already in his shoulders forcing his arms to go limp and drop the other tonfa. She spun around him and wrapped her left arm around his torso and put her right hand over his mouth as she calmly said "You look like you could use a drink."

Ruiga only had long enough for his eyes to widen before the seal on her palm glowed and released all of the water into his mouth and down his air way, the water pressure easily pulping his lungs. He let out a strangled gurgle as he fell to his knees when Karin released him before toppling over to his side. Karin looked down at him impassively for a moment before letting out a slight full body shudder at what she just did. She was drawn from gazing at her kill though when Tayuya dropped down out of the tree line with Kikusuke warily following and said "Damn girl, I didn't know you had it in you to be so brutal."

"His skill set required that I be as efficient as possible." Karin said before she turned her gaze onto Kikusuke and said "I believe that if you are going to leave our protection so recklessly then you and your two companions owe us an explanation." Kikusuke let out a small swallow as he saw the in his mind, very dangerous teenager give him a cold look. This was not going to be a fun conversation.

END

And that's the first episode of this four-episode mini arc done. I chose to do a filler arc because just having Naruto be rented out to the Mist rebels and taking down YET ANOTHER enemy village would just be repetitive. So instead we get to see how the Leaf Village's new Uzumaki kunoichi are brought into the fold. That said, when I first chose this arc over the Star village arc, I failed to take into account how, 'choppy' this would feel while writing it, but all I can say is that I worked with what I had. Also, I do believe that if you have the proper intel then the basics can be all you need to take out an over specialized opponent, so no bashing Karin's 'fight' please.

One last thing, please check out the Marching poll I've got on my profile, the results will play a major role in how that story progresses.