"What were his final words? Mother never told me them." Yamo looked up at him.
"It was a rallying cry for the Shinobi. He called for them to keep fighting." Kakashi half lied.
"What did her father do to hold the Nine tailed fox back?" Sakura asked.
"Sheer, brutal strength. He wasn't a ninja, but he inspired many ninja to this day." Kakashi said.
"I wish I had the chance to meet him." Yamo said. "Mama loved till the day..."
Kakashi turned towards and patted Yamo on the head. "Keep your head up, I'm sure you are making them proud."
Chapter 5: First Missions
Yamo laid low in the bushes, he beath not disturbing the leaves that hung in front of her eyes, muscles tensed to pounce as her teammates circled around their target. They were on one of their first missions. Sakura flanked the target to the right as Naruto closed in from the center as Yamo circled left to cut off the route of escape.
"Eyes on the target." Yamo said into the handheld radio as her legs tensed as her silent foot falls carried her through the forest.
"I'm in position." Sakura confirmed her side.
Yamo glanced at the target, significantly smaller, a ribbon around their right ear.
"Now!" The three of them leaped into action. Sakura appeared behind the target and Naruto infront of the target, the two boxing them in should they try to run, and lastly Yamo blitzed the target between them, grabbing the creature by the back of the neck and lifting it at arms length as the cat hissed and swiped at her.
"Kakashi sensei, we have the target." Sakura relayed over the comms.
Team seven stood in the Hokage's office as the wife of the Fire Daimyo held onto the screaming animal as it desperately tried to escape again. "Oh you little cutie." She was in her own world.
Hiruzen spoke up, "Kakashi, you seem quite satisfied with this team." The third Hokage said as he went through paperwork. Iruka sensei working along side him as he went through his own stack of paper work.
"Yes, they are rather capable." Kakashi said.
"Hey old man! Can we have more then errands for missions?" Yamo interrupted only for Sakura to elbow her in the side. "I thought being a ninja meant fighting."
"I agree with her, how am I meant to be the next Hokage if all I do is look for lost pets." Naruto complained.
"Don't be rude you are only rookies, you can only do D rank missions right now." Iruka said.
"Yamamoto, Naruto you are only Genin." Hiruzen started to explain. "You only qualify for rank D and C missions, and you only started a few... They aren't even listening."
Naruto had sat on the ground and started to mumble to himself about ramen, while Yamo had walked up to Hiruzen's desk and was looking through the stack of papers for a mission that would involve fighting.
"Lord Third, I think that the dullness that comes with domestic missions is getting to them. May I suggest that a C-rank mission wouldn't hurt, they can handle themselves and I'll be there at all times." Kakashi said.
"In that case, send in our visitor." Hiruzen said to his assistant as he held up as mission paper while taking sheets out of Yamo's hands.
The door to the office opened to a bearded man with a straw hat and glasses in his hand he held a bottle of sake. "You got to be kidding me, these snot nosed brats, I asked for shinobi."
"This is the client, a bridge builder from the land of waves. Tazuna." Hiruzen said as he slapped Yamo's hands away from another stack of papers.
"A girl, a half pint brat and... a monkey?" Tazuna said as he took a swig from his sake.
"Half pint brat?" Naruto yelled as Kakashi pulled Yamo away from the desk, a mission paper stuffed in her back pocket. Out of the three Sakura was the tallest then Naruto and lastly Yamo. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki and I'm going to be the next Hokage!"
"Hokage? You'll be lucky to be a garbage man." Tazuna retorted.
"I'm Kakashi, the leader of team seven. We will make sure you get to your home." He smiled behind his mask. "We'll make the preparations to travel to the land of waves post haste."
"Before you go, Yamo, return that mission request." Iruka said as he held out his hand.
Yamo sighed and removed the paper, a picture of a missing ninja from the hidden mist. His face hidden by a mask of bandages and a massive sword on his back.
Four of them stood outside Konoha, Sakura and Naruto shouldered travel packs, pacing back and forth as they were annoyed by two different things, Naruto by Tazuna's comments putting him down and Sakura was by the missing presence of a black haired ninja. Kakashi leaned against a tree reading his book.
"Where is the monkey brat?" Tazuna asked as Kakashi stopped Naruto from attacking the man.
"Sorry I'm late." Yamo said as she landed in a tree, on her right arm she wore a single cracked brown bracer and on her left hip a katana with a red wrapped hilt. A sack thrown over her shoulder. "I had to grab some gear."
"Come on, let's go!" Naruto yelled up.
"You really went to eat first!" Sakura accused her teammate.
Yamo only shrugged as they started the long journey to the land of waves. On this trip the three genin would argue, laugh and smile.
One day they walked in file, Yamo took the lead as she juggled around a dozen Kunai. "She would make a better circus performer then a ninja." Tazuna remarked as the five of them passed a puddle on the side of the road. Yamo and Kakashi only gave it a quick glance.
Yamo spun on her heal walking backwards putting her kunai away, "You think that's impressive, I can take it up a notch." She said as she made a series of hand signs before pointing her fingers up in the air firing two small colored bolts of fire from her finger tips. "Firework Jutsu." She smiled as a green a blue burst of fire sparks exploded just a few feet above them.
In that moment a man with a large metal arm attacked Kakashi from the forest and a second emerged from the puddle the group had passed. The two of them attacked the jounin with chains firing from the contraptions on their arms. Before any could act they rip the chains back, tearing the image of the ninja apart.
They then moved onto their next target, the closest to them, Naruto. One lashed out at Naruto cutting the blonde boy on the hand as he blocked. The other fired his chain at Sakura and Tazuna.
There was a flashed of sparks and clash of steel on steel. Yamo had appeared infront of Naruto holding the chain of one of the assailants in her left hand, the one that had attacked Sakura and Tazuna. In her right she blocked the gauntlet with her blade.
Gone was the care free look that often held her face, now was one of battle lust. "Ninja... from the hidden Mist..." She said with a joy. "Now we can fight." She shoved her blade against the gauntlet forcing the attacker back before hauling on the chain ripping the ninja towards her away from Sakura and Tazuna. She let go the chain and grabbed her sword with both hands and swung upwards. There was spray of blood as she cut deep into the man's chest.
She spun on her heel blocking the chain from the first attacker. The two of them closed in on her, the clang of metal on metal filling the woods that closed in on the road.
Yamo blocked on chain only for the other to wrap around it and rip it out of her hands as the closed in on her. She jumped up and split kicked them both in the head giving her space as the stumbled back. Her tail uncurled from her waist taking a kunai from her pack.
"A tail! Your..." One of them said shocked.
"Brother, it can't be the Monster. He died years ago, she must be of the same clan." The one to the right of the road said as he clutched his chest, blood dripping from the wound.
"Right." The first one said... before a kunai appeared in his chest. Yamo was on one knee as Kakashi held the wounded brother in a head lock.
"Yamo." Kakashi said. "You didn't have too do that." He said as the brother with the kunai embedded fell over unmoving, blood pouring from their mouth and chest staining the road red.
Yamo didn't say anything as she calmly ripped the kunai from the body. "We only needed one." She said as she sheathed her sword before turning to Naruto, "Are you okay Naruto?" She asked as she walked towards him looking at the bloody back of his hand.
"First I have some questions for Tazuna." Kakashi said as he tied up and dressed the wound on the shinobi, "Afterall, were those ninja here for us ninja, or the good bridge builder?"
Here is the next chapter.