Chapter 34 – First C-Rank Mission

"Talk"

'Think'

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto sensei. So…yeah.

A/N: Thank you Asiatore for your support.

Naruto, Noriko and Tenzō had been genins for one month when Kakashi requested their first C-rank mission.

"Are you sure they are ready. Kakashi?" asked Shisui.

"They are as they can be" said Kakashi. His teams were beside themselves with excitement.

"In that case, Team 7, you are to deliver a scroll to Kazekage of Sunagakure!" ordered Shisui.

"Hait, Hokage-sama" answered them before Naruto and Noriko added "Thank you Shisui-ojisan. We will not let you down!"

"Be at the gate in two hours!" ordered Kakashi.

"Hait" answered them and Naruto added to Tenzō "Tenzō, we're eating at Ichiraku before we go, you want to join us?" seeing Tenzō's unsure face, Naruto added "We'll be there after one hour, in case you want to join" and Tenzō nodded.

Once left the building, Naruto and Noriko produced a kage bunshin each and send them for packing while they went to the hospital to inform Shizuka of their mission.

"C-rank huh, I can't believe your team got to do a C-rank mission" commented Sasuke. They met him on their way to Ichiraku and invited him to join them for lunch.

"It's just a simple basic C-rank mission" said Noriko.

"Still…it's C-rank!" groaned Sasuke.

"Maybe you can ask your sensei?" suggested Naruto.

"Hokage-sama did ask Kakashi-sensei whether we are ready or not and Kakashi-sensei we are, sort of" said Noriko.

"Sort of?" asked Sasuke.

"His full answer was we are ready as we can be" said Noriko.

"So, maybe your sensei think you are not ready?" proposed Naruto.

"Or maybe you are, but your sensei has higher standard?" suggested Noriko

Sasuke thought quietly "I think I'll ask sensei" then he turned to Naruto "I'll catch up with you and when I do, I'll do it so fast that the only thing you can do is watch my back" he smirked.

Naruto grinned at him and said "You're on"

Team 9

"Sensei, I heard that Team 7 was given their first C-rank, do you think we can get one too?" asked Sasuke.

"What? Naruto's team got to do a C-rank mission?! How can that be? Sensei, let us do C-rank mission too!" demanded Kiba and "Woof" supported by Akamaru.

"C-rank huh" Hamaki-sensei said. He had heard that Team Kakashi was on a C-rank mission, the first of the rookie teams and he figured Sasuke will asked too, since he saw them had a lunch together "Tell you what, why don't we had a mocked mission. This-" he pointed to their client's grocery bags "as a priceless item and I'll be bandits. If you guys can protect it, I'll ask Hokage-sama if he too, can give us a C-rank mission"

"OK!" said Sasuke and Kiba with determination while Sakura looked uncertain. She was not sure about the turn of events but she did not want to let her Sasuke down. Knowing that she had no choice but to give her best, Sakura nodded with determination and her Inner self was shouting "Hell yeah! We'll do our best and then, Sasuke-kun will be ours! Shannaroo!"

Kiba, Sasuke and Sakura formed a triangle around the goods when Hamaki-sensei attacked from the back with a sword but it was blocked by Sasuke using his kunai.

Seeing that Sasuke had kept Hamaki-sensei on a spot, Kiba began to attack "Shikyaku no Jutsu!" from a side. He saw that Hamaki-sensei was ready to jump when he turned and started to attack from the back. As he was about to approach Hamaki-sensei, his claws were out, ready to attack when Hamaki-sensei quickly jump upwards and somersaulted over Sasuke. Unable to stop, Kiba accidently crashed into Sasuke.

They quickly jumped up, only to see that Hamaki-sensei had his sword over Sakura's shoulder, against her neck.

They've lost.

"Why do you think you lost?" asked Hamaki-sensei.

"Because of Sakura" said Sasuke heatedly. Sakura was dejected especially when she saw the blaming, angry look that Sasuke gave her.

"Sasuke, why did you engage me, a swordsman with a kunai?" asked Hamaki-sensei.

"Because you were attacking and I was defending" answered Sasuke.

"Correct. But you could follow that with an attack that'll allow you to use jutsu, or taijutsu, both of which are your strength. Instead, you allow your enemy to dictate the terms of fighting thus you lose"

Sasuke looked downcast.

"Kiba, you saw me about to jump, and you turned, that was a good manoeuvre. However, you cannot stop when I jumped at the last minute and as a result, you attacked your team mates"

Kiba looked ashamed and turned to Sasuke "I'm sorry, Sasuke"

"Next time, when that happen, jump. There's more room upwards"

"Hait, thank you sensei"

"Sakura, you've shown me your determination and guts, that was more than I expected from you, but you allowed yourself to be distracted at the last moment when Kiba collided with Sasuke instead of looking for me"

"I'm sorry, sensei. I will not do it again" promised Sakura. She had let Sasuke down today, and it will not be repeated, she vowed to herself.

"So, Sasuke, still think it was Sakura's fault?" asked Hamaki-sensei.

"No…I'm sorry, Sakura" said Sasuke, reluctantly.

"Now you know why I cannot ask for a C-rank mission. None of you are ready" justified Hamaki-sensei.

"Sensei" said Sakura "Why Team 7 was allowed to go on a C-rank mission? They graduated the same time with us"

"I suppose, their sensei determined that they are ready" said Hamaki-sensei "Now, I think we'd better deliver these before our client think we are stealing from him"

"Hait" answered the three of them.

Sunagakure

Gaara was walking when he heard "Gaara! Hey Gaara!" "Gaara-kun!" and he turned. To his joy, he saw Naruto and Noriko ran to him before they aimed a punch and a kick at him. His sand blocked it and they laughed. He didn't know why it was funny to them since a lot of people were terrified every time they saw his sand moves.

Ever since their first arrival, his life has gotten a little better. The day Naruto and Noriko departed to Konoha, Yashamaru (with Kazekage's permission) brought him to his siblings. It was a little awkward at the beginning and few accidents, mainly Kankurō's toys. However, under Yashamaru's gentle guidance, his relationship with Temari and Kankurō has gotten better and he learnt not to break Kankurō's toys…err puppets.

"Naruto, Noriko, what are you doing here?" asked Gaara.

"We just delivered something to Kazekage. Now we are going to our room then tomorrow, we'll return to Konoha" answered Naruto.

Kakashi was looking at the interaction while making a mental note to talk to his team about blurting out their plan in the middle of the street.

"This is our team mate, Tenzō and you know this guy, he's our sensei now. Tenzō, this is Gaara. He's our friend here in Sunagakure" introduced Noriko.

Tenzō and Gaara exchanged glances and they nodded to each other.

"Friend they say? Do they know who he is?"

"I can't believe the demon had made friend"

"Konoha must be stupid if they make friend with the demon"

Naruto and Noriko began to notice people's reaction to them and their interaction with Gaara (A/N: they didn't during their first visit). They saw Gaara's face. 'This is all too familiar' thought Naruto and Noriko. They glanced at each other then turned to Gaara "Come Gaara, I'm starving, Why don't we buy food, and eat it in our room? We've got loads to talk about"

"Yeah come on Gaara-kun. We missed you" said Noriko with a smile. Gaara smiled at her and nodded his head.

The three of them walked in front, followed by Kakashi and Tenzō.

"Sensei, these people's reactions, does that meant-"

"Maybe. But this is not the place" interrupted Kakashi in low voice.

Tenzō quietly thinking "How many are there people like Gaara, Naruto and Noriko?".

End Chapter 34

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu – Shadow Clone Technique

Gijū Ninpō: Shikyaku no Jutsu – Ninja Art of Beast Mimicry: All-Fours Jutsu