Chapter 18 – D-ranks & Jutsu

It would be early in the morning when all the teams reported to the Hokage's office. Today would be the day that the teams would be getting their first missions. All five teams were waiting for the Hokage to give them their missions.

"Well then, shall we get started? I see that you are all excited for your first missions. Just don't be so surprised by how lackluster they are in the beginning." He said with a smirk. Everyone looked at him with confusion. He just handed out five missions to the jonin and they also chuckled. Everyone suddenly got nervous.

XXX

"This is BS!" Kiba shouted as he cleaned out the kennels of the Inuzuka compound. He couldn't believe that this was a mission. He was even more angry when he learned that the request from his sister. He was so going to get her back for this.

"Now, did you really think that you would be doing missions outside of the village?" Kurenai said with amusement.

"But… but… this is humiliating!" Kiba shouted. Hinata sighed at her friend and gave him a look.

"Kiba-kun, I know that i-it is embarrassing but it m-must be done." Hinata said.

"Yes, your arguing is not going to make this go any faster." Shino added. Kiba sighed and got to work. As he cleaned it out, he muttered something out.

"I bet Naruto feels the same way I do."

XXX

"This is bullshit! What kind of mission is this?!" Naruto shouted as he slammed the paint brush down. He looked at his sensei who was reading his stupid book.

"Kami, can't you just stop being loud for one day?" Sakura asked rudely.

"I don't know, can you act like a proper kunoichi because your grades don't reflect it." Naruto countered. Sakura growled at him but just ignored him to continue painting the fence. Kakashi sighed and put his book away.

"Listen Naruto, this is just the way that things are. You are just starting out and you will not be given bigger missions until you can do these missions. The more you complain, the harder it will be for you to get a better mission." Kakashi explained. Naruto scoffed but relented and grabbed the paint brush. He continued his work on the fence. As he worked, he knew that Kiba would be thinking the same way about this. However, he knew that Shikamaru and Choji wouldn't be as annoyed as them.

"I bet they are just enjoying these missions." Naruto muttered.

XXX

"This is total unacceptable!" Ino shouted as she was doing some manual work. Shikamaru and Choji just ignored her and continued to do the work. Well, Choji did the work as he was the strong one in the group. Shikamaru was doing his part, taking care of the weeds. Ino was the one who was doing the planting. She looked at Asuma who watched over them, smoking his cigarette. "How can this be a mission?"

"These missions promote teamwork. Trust me, you guys can use it." Asuma simply said. Ino just growled and went back to work. Shikamaru finished his work and went to help Ino. The truth is he didn't like this mission either but he wasn't going to say anything. He knew what Kiba and Naruto would say and he wasn't about to let them.

XXX

It would be two weeks of D-rank mission for each of the friends. Naruto and Kiba were constantly complaining but they did the work. During those two weeks, it was pretty clear who was at the top of the genin teams. Team Kurenai's teamwork was one of the best. Their mission success rate was higher than all the teams. The three worked well together and they had the fastest time on the 'Capture Tora' mission. They were well trained by Kurenai who at first mothered them but then toughen up and trained them to be ninja.

The third best was team Asuma. While they were a good team, they had some issues. The main issues were Ino's bossiness and Asuma's laid back attitude. Ino was bossy as ever due to the fact that the two boys ignored her. It really pissed her off and affected her skills. Asuma laid back attitude was a little bit of a problem. He did train them but he always took his time. While Ino was annoyed with it, Shikamaru and Choji took it just fine. Asuma took time to play shogi with Shikamaru and he would always spar with Choji, improving his skill with a staff. The two were fine with how things were.

The worst team out of the five was team Kakashi. Their teamwork was horrible. Neither of the members would work with each other. They did not like each other and were always rude. Even the simplest of teamwork exercise were a bust because of how they acted. Naruto was the one who was the most annoyed with the team and his sensei was an issue as well. He was always late, he really didn't do anything to curb the others actions and he never really trained either of them. He only kept teaching them about teamwork exercises. It got to the point that he would just skip out on training.

In all, things were just beginning for the new shinobi.

XXX

Naruto was standing with Hiruzen, Koharu and Homura. They were in a room where there were several large scrolls. Naruto was nervous about what was going on but the Hokage put his hand on his shoulder to calm him down. That's when one of the scrolls began to unroll. There were words coming through on it. One of the people in the room checked the message and walked up to the Hokage, Naruto and the elders. He looked at them and smiled.

"A successful test sir. Alpha team has just reported in from the Land of Hot Water." The man said. Then there was another person who came up to them.

"Confirmation from Beta team in the Land of Wind." The woman said. "This… this is just a work of genius." She looked at Naruto. "You have revolutionized how we do things young man. I'm sorry if I doubted this."

"Heh, heh, don't worry about it." Naruto then focused on the Hokage. The man smiled at him and they walked out of the room. They walked over to his office with the elders.

"You did a very good thing Naruto. This will help us determine on the field issues as they happen and we can plan accordingly." Hiruzen said.

"Who would have thought that my plan to get pass Iruka-sensei's eyes would help you out in such a way. Oh man, I am totally going to rub this in his face." Naruto said with a smirk.

"Despite your juvenile acts, you have done huge acts for the village. You're security measures are some of the best that I have seen. Some of our best have a hard time defeating them, especially your design for the vault here in the tower." Koharu stated.

"Thanks for that and I'm sorry about that guy's hand." Naruto said with a sheepish grin.

"His wounds will heal fine. Do you have any other ideas?" Homura asked.

"I think that will be enough for today. Naruto's mind needs to rest for now. If you have any requests for him, I will set it up so that you can speak with him. I will be there as well." Hiruzen said. The other two nodded and went on with their business. Hiruzen once again smiled at the blond and decided to treat him to some ramen as a reward.

XXX

The sound of two staffs hitting against each other was heard in the backyard of Choji's home. The young genin was currently engaged with his father in a staff battle. Shikamaru was there but his attention was on a scroll that he was reading. His attention was interrupted by an 'oomph'. He looked up to see Choji on the ground. Choza helped his son up to his feet. Dusting him off, Choza smirked at his son.

"You've gotten better son. Master Do has really done his job well. Would you like to continue your lessons with him? I know that your schedule is getting hectic with you doing missions now. I can take over if you want?" Choza offered.

"Thanks dad but I'm okay for now. Besides, Master Do is a great teacher and is very patient with me. I'm okay for now." Choji said. He then turned to his best friend. "Hey Shikamaru, what are you working on?"

"It's a new barrier jutsu that Naruto gave to me on the down low. My mother caught my dad and threatened him so bad that he couldn't help me anymore." Shikamaru explained. Choza laughed when he heard that.

"Your mother, as do most women, have the ultimate key when it comes to controlling men. It is something that every man needs no matter how troublesome it can be." Seeing the confused looks on their faces, Choza waved it off. "You'll learn when you are older. Anyway, what type of barrier are you learning?"

"It's a much stronger version of the Perimeter Barrier Jutsu called the Capture and Arrest Jutsu. If I learn this, it can open up some strategies for us." Shikamaru said. The two nodded at him and went back to their spar.

XXX

Kiba was doing something that was a new thing for him, reading. He was doing this and it really hurt his mind. The reason for reading was that he wanted to add something to his Tunneling Fang. The idea came up when he was improving the power of his jutsu in front of his teammates. They were impressed with the ability when Hinata mentioned adding an element to the jutsu. Kiba thought about that and thought it would be cool to learn something unique. However, he was having a hard time figuring it out.

"Wow, now this is a sight to see." Kiba turned to see his sister.

"What do you want?" Kiba asked sourly.

"Oh come on, you're still not sour about what happened are you? I pranked you and you got me back. Although, you had to get Naruto involved in this and he will pay for what he did." Hana said with a growl. Kiba just smirked at that. He didn't know how Naruto did it but he had a laugh and Hana got more suiters than ever. Even their mother was happy about it.

"Oh come on, you're still sour about that?" Kiba asked mockingly. Hana just narrowed her eyes before turning to the text he was reading. She looked at it and was curious about what he was learning. She figured it out instantly.

"You're trying to add an element to your Tunneling Fang?" Hana asked.

"Yeah, Hinata mentioned it and I thought that it would be cool to have something unique." Kiba answered.

"Sorry to burst your bubble Kiba but someone in the clan has already accomplished that." Hana said.

"What? Who?" Kiba asked.

"Elder Hamon is the only person I know who can do it but it took him years to master. You can ask but you know that you need permission from the council to see any of the elders." Hana said.

"Oh man, that sucks." Kiba said with a whine. Hana felt a little sorry for him and decided to give him some advice.

"Well, maybe you can do a collaboration jutsu. If you learn a jutsu that covers any part of your body and then do the Tunneling Fang, it might work." She said. Kiba sat there in thought and admitted that was a good idea.

"Yeah, that could work. Thanks a lot sis." Kiba said. Hana smiled at her brother.

XXX

A buzzing wind was heard through the air. It flew until it hit a stone. There was an explosion and two people waited until the smoke cleared. When it did, the younger of the two was not amused.

"Ah man, I thought it would work this time." He said with a pout.

"Don't pout Naruto, it was better than last week. There is more damage than before. You can't expect this jutsu to be ready in only a week." The older man said.

"Yeah, yeah, but you can't deny that it would be an awesome jutsu Iruka-sensei." Naruto said with a grin.

"Well, it might be powerful but it is anything but awesome." Iruka said.

"What do you mean?!" Naruto exclaimed. "When I tweak it a little, it will cut through anything!"

"Yes and that is a positive. However, it takes too many hand seals to create and there is the accuracy issue. Unless you can guide the jutsu after you launch it, you rate of success is probably 30%. I'm not saying that it isn't a powerful jutsu but for you to use it, it will have to be when your opponent is not expecting it." Iruka said.

"Way to bring down my buzz." Naruto said with a pout. Iruka just chuckled at him. Unknown to either one, a third person was watching this from a far. His eyes narrowed as he saw the potential of this jutsu. He noticed how Naruto would come to the team meetings a little winded. He decided to follow him and saw that he was using Kakashi's lateness as a way to train. He had to keep his distance because he was always with either Iruka or that scar faced jonin.

Seeing that they were leaving now, Sasuke decided to leave. He would get to the bottom of Naruto's new found abilities when he wasn't surrounded by others.

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Authors' Notes

This is more of a filler arc than anything. I just wanted to get it out of the way before I did any C-rank mission in this story. Hopeful, I could knock each mission in one chapter but I make no promises. Anyway, I hope that you enjoy the new chapter.