Title: The Only One That Walks Beside Me
By: Zeida and Maria (Zeida)
Rating: T
Summary: Shortly after Naruto goes into the academy, he suffers from a mental breakdown, and makes a deal with Kyuubi, resulting in a completely different world, and a completely different adventure, following a very similar timeline. AU -Possible Yaoi- Kaka, Saku, Sasu, Hina and Naru-centric
Pairings: UNDESIDED
Main Characters: Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, Hyuuga Hinata, Haruno Sakura, and Hatake Kakashi
Warnings: Possible Yaoi/Shonen ai, Possible Yuri/Shoujo ai, violence, and my first attempt at a dark-ish fic.
Disclaimer: Think about it.
Note: This chapter has a bit of skipping around. The format is similar as to the one I'm using for the Hinata interlude. Once I get past the… Fillers (Plot included!) the format will stop, and the chapter title will come into play.
I'm planning ch. 11
I'm typing ch. 6
I'm writing ch. 10
Current Pairing Status: SasuNaru 8 NaruHina 4 NaruKiba 4
(All those who say 'Yaoi' without specifing a pairing will beput in which ever one I feel like, just so you know! This will, of course only be starting now, as KibaNaru was not an option in the past)
Other Pairings: Undesided
The Poll will be open until the Chuunin exam starts, so vote; you have a bit of time :)
-:- -:- -:- -:-
Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
You fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way
Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain
You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today
-
-Pink Floyd, Time Part One
-:- -:- -:- -:-
Fallback
Sasuke sighed. The sound of metal against wood had long since driven him over the edge to insanity. Beside him, his female teammate seemed to chop the blocks into perfect quarters with ease. Naruto was getting more firewood for another batch. It made him twitch to think about it.
Apparently, they were the only Genin team who could successfully chop the firewood. He would have to ask why later of course, but for now he was simply going to have to finish the tedious, and tiring job they had been assigned. Weren't there at least 20 Genin teams?! How was it, that NONE of them could do it?
"…Sasuke-kun? Would you like me to do the chopping?" Sakura asked tentatively. He looked down at his wood, which had been sliced into what looked like a pile of sawdust. "You could help Naruto get more?"
"Sakura?" He asked, still staring down at his once-was piece of wood.
She blinked, apprehensive of what he was going to ask. "Yes, Sasuke-kun?" After the strange change in attitude during the first test, Sakura seemed to have turned back to her normal self. A whiney, annoying Fan girl with an irrational fear of a blonde fox Demon.
Well, he thought it was irrational, at least. It wasn't like he had actually killed anyone… the man… what was his name? Mizu-something was still alive; he would just have trouble using the detached limbs. And, Sasuke supposed, she wasn't whining about everything, just the really dirty jobs. But she had defiantly taken a few steps back.
"…Do you think, if we showed this to the villagers, they would decide our team wasn't cut out for firewood chopping either, and get off their lazy Asses and do it themselves?" He didn't know why he had asked that. Stress. Yes. That would have to be it. He was stressed. Hadn't he said he had been driven mad? Well, here he was, mad.
Sakura stared at him for a long moment. Just stared. Obviously, she had thought it immensely out of character for him to say as well. Odd. They seemed to be thinking along the same lines for once.
Then she giggled. It was small at first, almost inaudible, but it grew louder, until she was clutching her stomach, laughing hysterically at his not-in-the-least-bit funny comment about villager work habits.
Then, he was chuckling softly as well, laughing along with her; it was odd, what 6 days of woodcutting could do to a person. He was laughing, for what may have been the first time in over 5 years, at his own joke. With Haruno Sakura.
He had said he'd gone mad, hadn't he?
-:- -:- -:- -:-
Naruto stood there for a long moment staring at his teammates. He had expected to find something done when he got back. He had expected them to be working, at the very least. He had not expected to find both of them, laughing hysterically on the ground, for no reason whatsoever. It was baffling.
He'd gone to get the last of the wood from the mill-thing. He had hoped that they would finish before the week was over. He wanted a different mission.
"Odd, how they act when they're alone, isn't it?" Naruto turned to look at his Sensei, who had just jumped down beside him.
"Hn."
"I would say they're having fun, at the very least."
"Hn."
"Perhaps you should go join them?"
"Not a snowballs chance in Hell."
It was at this time, that the two stopped laughing to gasp for breath. Sakura looked up, and froze. "N-N-Narut-to…" She stuttered. Sasuke sat up as well, and color seemed to slowly rise into his pale cheeks. He turned away.
Naruto decided to ignore the incident, and continue work. It was best not to ask questions. And he really didn't want to know, anyway. "I've got the last of it." He said, and set to work without another word.
The other followed suit, without a single word. Could tomatoes speak? Well, those two certainly couldn't…
After an hour or more of work, they had finished. No one had spoken in that time, and the final batch of firewood looked very unprofessional, but they were done.
As they went back to the Hokage, all was quiet, save the cheerful Hum from their Sensei as he read his little orange book.
The Hokage's office was packed, as noon was a prime time to bring in requests, and the Villagers always had something to ask for.
"Ah, team 7, are you finished already? I expected you sometime tomorrow…" Sandaime smiled as they stepped forward. Kakashi curved his eye brightly back, and the students glared at the old man.
"Sorry, Sandaime-sama, we did not mean for you to loose any bets." Kakashi answered, taking the envelope with their paychecks from the wrinkled hand.
He coughed. "Well, is there anything else you would like then?" He didn't seem as cheerful anymore.
"Why were we told we were the only ones able to take the job?" Sasuke asked. The Hokage blinked at him.
"Ah yes, I suppose you wouldn't have been told of that, would you?" They shook their heads as Kakashi started Humming again. "Well, Gai's team has refused point blank, as has Miura's, and they can both take C-rank, team 10 is… inadequate, or so my son tells me, and team 8… team 8 has already tried."
Sakura blinked curiously. "What happened?" She asked.
The man then smiled once again, and told them of the 'attempt' by team 8.
Once he had finished, the group stared. "But… But isn't team 8 the team with Hinata and Shino?" Sakura asked. Sandaime-sama nodded. "…Wow. I didn't think they would do something like that… Not of them…"
"Neither did we, Sakura." The Hokage paused for a long moment, before adding, almost as an afterthought; "I suppose you could call yourselves the… fallback, if you will."
The team left soon after that.
The Forest
His eyebrow twitched slightly as he surveyed the area. The damage done to the house had been minimal; however, this was a bit more severe. The targets would need to be rounded up immediately. Sasuke was searching the training areas, and Sakura was asking the villagers in town if they'd been seen. But Naruto could smell them. They were in the forest. And damn, he just wanted to leave them there to wreak havoc on little woodland animals. But this was the forest where he came to meditate. And he didn't want them to be in his forest.
He activated the small intercom at his ear. "Haruno, Uchiha. I've got a location. North-east forest, just outside the walls." Sounds of agreement followed soon after.
They appeared in the next few minutes, Kakashi with them, to Naruto's great surprise.
"Make a plan before going in." Kakashi warned. "They're not your normal job. This could get dangerous."
The three nodded, and huddled for a plan.
"We need to pin-point their location." Sakura said. "We should also make sure they are all together, or if we will need to split up."
Naruto shook his head. "We don't split up. That is the first rule while we are in this forest. If they are separated, we will go after them one at a time."
Sasuke frowned. "We have a time limit. If we take too long, team 10 will get back before us, and they'll see the house."
The other two nodded. "We'll just have to hurry then, won't we?" Sakura said. She seemed more like the Sakura that had surfaced after the Bell test.
The two boys nodded, and they stood. "Alright, Naruto, You try and figure out their location by smell, while Sasuke-kun and I start making traps, we'll lead the little brats into the traps, and bring them home, clear?"
Neither could think of anything to add for the moment, and they started on their jobs.
-:- -:- -:- -:-
Sasuke sighed as he set up what had to be his tenth net in so many minutes. Sakura was setting up darts with sedatives in a tree a few trunks away. Naruto was sitting, calmly on the ground with his eyes glued shut, apparently sniffing them out. It didn't look like it to Sasuke though.
The net he was positioning had metal weight attached to the corners to assist speed. Sasuke found a smirk coming, slowly to his face as he imagined the heavy weight hitting one of them in the head. He forced down his sadistic giggle.
He didn't know what exactly was wrong with him, but there was something. Not even a week and a half ago, he had been laughing with Sakura. Even before that, when they tried to get the stupid Nin dogs to go for a walk, he had smiled at the pink haired kunoichi's antics. And even here, he was listening to the girl's orders, as if it were normal! It was ludicrous. But that wasn't the only thing that was wrong with him.
He could tell, even before Kakashi had said it this morning, just before the mission, he had been able to tell since Naruto had started staring at him, expecting him to randomly break into peals of laughter in the middle of missions, he'd quite easily been able to tell.
He was opening up. He was becoming more cheerful, more outgoing, and almost… happy. It wasn't right, he knew. He was supposed to be the avenger, he was supposed to be nothing but a tool for that vengeance, but he wasn't. He was becoming human again, laughing, smiling; it was like he had not experienced the trauma of watching his brother murder his family. It was like…
It was like he was a child again.
As if he was just another kid who wanted to become something great, like he was just another happy person, with normal ambitions, and normal hopes, a normal life. He wasn't supposed to have a normal life, he knew. He knew that.
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said in a stage whisper. "Naruto says they're heading this way! Get into position." Sasuke stared at her for a full second, blank expression present on his face. She raised an eyebrow. He did as told, and hid in the cover of the nearby foliage.
His thoughts quickly returned to its topic, but he found nothing more to think about. He would just have to stop opening up, right?
Footsteps just reaching his ears wear headed towards them. Suddenly, a child, a long scarf tied loosely around his neck, burst for a bush, followed by his two lackeys. The boy, Konohamaru, ran straight into the trap Sasuke had made just moments before. The other two skidded to a halt; horror appearing in their eyes as they realized their leader had been so easily caught.
The girl hurled herself in another direction, only to be caught in another trap. The third, and last of the little brats stood, exactly where he had stopped, panic filling his features and he looked at both of his trapped comrades. He sniffled up the snot slowly dripping down his nose, and bowed his head.
"I- I concede." The child mumbled, and waited patiently for the three Shinobi-turned-baby-sitters to come into view. "Please let us go, we just don't want to be forced to go back to Ebisu-san again…"
The other two nodded fervently, as Sakura undid the net around the girl. Naruto gave them an odd look, and asked, "You would rather be baby-sat by us?" In a disbelieving voice.
"Well…" Konohamaru started, as Sakura began to untie his net as well. "You see," he continued slowly, drawing each word out while Sakura untied it. Sasuke twitched in annoyance. There was a long pause, as Sakura finished, but the moment the brat was free, he jumped away from them, his two friends following after. "We don't plan on going with either of you, suckers!" He stuck his tongue out at them. "See how bad you are? Tricked by a bunch of kids like, half your age!" He turned to race back into the foliage, but tripped and fell, as he made his first bound.
"Wha-" He turned back to see a sandal stepping on the trailing edge of his scarf. He looked slowly up to stare at Kakashi-Sensei.
His one visible eye curved, and he turned to his students, the other two children magically appearing in his hands. "Good work, students. Now, let's get back to the house. Asuma-Sensei will not be happy, if he sees his precious Shougi pieces scattered all over the place.
His three students nodded, sending the Jounin odd looks as he handed a child to each of them. Sasuke was very satisfied by the way his snot-nosed brat yelped every time he took a step, as he was yanking the relatively short hair atop the boy's head in the process.
A frown fitted itself onto his face, as they trooped back to town however, as he thought about the decision he had just made. Could he go through with it?
An intense look, and a deeper frown was his response.
Of course he could. He was an Avenger, and Avengers weren't normal, they weren't happy. They didn't laugh, or smile with the Kunoichi on his useless team, they avenged. And that was all.
And that was all he would do.
It wasn't that hard, after all, locking his emotions away again, after they'd resurfaced.
It wasn't that hard.
It couldn't be.
Could it?
The Library
Sakura sighed in relief as she walked away from her team, trudging through the thick piles of snow. Things were getting more and more strained, as life went on. Their missions were one household chore after another. She hated to admit it, but she agreed with her teammates! They needed something more. They were… well, Ninja! They should be doing important things, like… getting forbidden scrolls or important medicines to other villages. Or, help rebuild a town that had gotten caught in a snow slide, or flood. Not baby sitting the Hokage's grandson. Or shoveling the streets of snow, which was the more likely thing now.
She shivered a bit, and pulled her overcoat closer to her frozen frame. Kakashi wasn't any help either! He always had something to do, never helping with the stupid ones, but always turning up, right when they made a mistake. He was even able to use bits of information against them! They knew nothing about him. He hadn't told them a single thing, not even now, months into their training.
They knew nothing! Not a single little thing about their Sensei. They were supposed to put their lives under his command, and they didn't even know if he was… an X-missing nin! Who is Hatake Kakashi? Was that even his real name? How old was he? His hair was silver! Was it naturally like that? Did it get that way from a Jutsu-gone-wrong? Was he really that old? She had no idea.
But she was going to find out.
Another shiver vibrated her body as she turned form her current path, and started down the side street. She would figure out who her Sensei was. She decided, as she stopped before the building. One last deep breathe of frozen air, and she walked in. A cheerful voice chimed as she walked into the heavenly heated building.
"Welcome to Konoha's Library and Public Records center!"
Forbidden Jutsu: Part one
Naruto stared at the hand seals within the scroll. The complex Jutsu it contained were all of high jounin level at the very least, and that last one especially… A sealing technique only a Kage could pull off or one of a Kage's level and experience.
He had been immediately drawn to the last addition to the scroll, staring at it for a long moment before his mind started working in over-drive. He knew the Kyuubi had fused with him, to some extent, but he was positive that there was still more chakra trapped behind the seal. There was no way his body would have been able to take the full of Kyuubi's power without exploding from pressure, at the very least.
And he could always use more power. But this would take time, figuring out the break-down of a seal and a way to reverse it, especially if he would be trying to take small bits off and re-apply them, not destroy the seal all together. He wasn't suicidal.
He decided, for this particular session, before he put the forbidden scroll back where he had found it, and continued on with his mediocre life, he would just focus on the other forbidden techniques that he was more likely to be able to accomplish then any other human in Konoha.
He looked back up at the first entry to the scroll: Kage Bunshin.
-:- -:- -:- -:-
Sasuke glanced over at the scroll in front of him, taking in the next set of instructions before continuing through hand seals, forcing Chakra from every tenketsu he was aware of. A slightly reddish smoke filled the clearing, as his reserves dwindled. He did not stop, however, until he was about to fall to his knees from exhaustion. At which point, he decided to take a walk to calm his nerves, and rest from his endurance training.
It was an old Uchiha family training technique, and though it was exhausting, and had no real point in battle other than to scorch an inexperienced rookie, he found it to be a good way to test his chakra reserves.
He glanced around his whereabouts; having let his feet carry him to a deserted training ground- team seven's training ground. He had decided against doing lone training in this area, as there was a chance he could run into Sakura. He didn't really care if he ran into Naruto, the blonde wasn't likely to hang around anyway, but Sakura… She seemed to have some sort of magical way of making him open up.
He needed to avoid such an influence when at all possible, in a hope that he may keep his sanity intact. And his goals- he needed to remember his goals as well.
A sudden sound from nearby caught his attention.
He turned, and looked over at the three vertically standing logs. He blinked in surprise as he realized a spiky blonde head could be seen, just visible behind the center one. Naruto. The wind blew in his face as he stared, not daring to breath, in fear that the fox would hear him. He had his plans- he had to get close to Naruto, had to figure out a way to use him for power. But the Demon was dangerous as well. he knew this. Yet, here he was, working with him, acting civilly with him. He needed to get his priorities straight.
"Uchiha-san."
The young Uchiha jumped in surprise and turned to see the very blond teammate standing behind him, looking at him in slight confusion mixed with a hint of annoyance.
"N-Naruto!"
His response seemed to confirm the blonde's thoughts. He had been caught. Damit, he needed to reign in control of himself. The blonde raised an eyebrow.
"Did you need something?" Sasuke opened his mouth, but was interrupted before he could continue. "Go ask Haruno-san. I'm busy."
Sasuke stared at him for a long moment. Something was off about him. "What are you doing?" He asked, making absolutely sure he kept his voice level, cold, and completely devoid of any of the curiosity that he felt.
Naruto 'Hmmm'ed in response. His eyes were narrowed, as if thinking. Sasuke found himself taking an unconscious step back. His bag impacted softly against the stump behind him, and he internally groaned.
Naruto just looked at him, eyes sill narrowed before his hand darted foreword, and caught him in the shoulder. He gave an indignant squawk, and lashed out to retaliate, but the blonde jumped away, smirk forming on his face.
"Train more often, Uchiha-san." He goaded, continuing to step away from him, as he continued to puck and kick, his movements slowed from his obvious exhaustion. "You need it."
Sasuke got him, straight on, in the center of his face. He was about to give a triumphant 'Hmpf!' What the flesh seemed to disintegrate from his fist, disappearing in a cloud of smoke.
What the smoke cleared, nothing was left behind. He blinked and turned, not completely sure what was going on. He felt a deep sense of humiliation; having fallen for what he could only guess was a substitution with… something. Nothing remained in the place he had seen Naruto before the boy had snuck up on him.
"…?"
Sasuke decided that this was a result of his training fatigue coupled with the weakness he was gaining from his new attachment to his teammates.
Damit, he needed to stop this, before it was too late.
But, this was defiantly more difficult than he had initially thought.
Early Bird
Sakura stared at her blonde teammate, as she walked slowly up to him at the bridge where they always met. She felt a stinging sense of De-ja vu upon walking slowly up to him, where he was sitting and meditating on the ground. It was just like the day of the test. He was just sitting there, as calm and unguarded as if he were asleep.
"Naruto?" She asked, her voice quiet in an effort to get his attention, yet not wake him. To her surprise, he opened his eyes, but did not stir.
To her immense surprise, actually. It surprised her to the point of falling backwards, hard onto the concrete. It wasn't the fact that he was obviously still completely focused on what he was doing, or the fact that he spared her that much attention, that early in the morning, but rather the fact that his eye was staring right at her.
Glowing, shimmering, Red.
Kitty
"Are you all in position?"
Naruto landed softly on his tree branch, muttering a quiet affirmative into his communicator. Sakura did the same, moments later from his right, and Sasuke almost seconds after that to his left. He was at the top of a tree looking down at a clearing, Sasuke in the bushes, and Sakura behind another tree, all three waiting for he order.
"Target coming into range!" Kakashi warned from his side. A shadowy creature darted out of the trees, racing forward with the momentum of a dart. All three genins dived out from their hiding places, lunging for the creature.
Naruto was the one who managed to catch it, of course. Without missing a beat, Sakura rolled into a standing position, and pressed a button on her communicator. "Target detained." She reported.
Kakashi's voice crackled into each of their headpieces as the evil cat started attacking his face, obviously wanting to be as far away from him as possible. Survival instincts, probably. "Is the identity confirmed?"
A growled yes came from Naruto before the sound of a cat, screeching in pain reached the ears of everyone in the clearing, along with the man standing outside the forest. Sakura and Sasuke turned, alarmed to stare at Naruto, who was currently trying to suffocate the monster by it's windpipe.
"Naruto! Let go of the cat! We need it alive to complete the mission!" And icy stare was sent the female's way, but she did not back off. The cold looked passed from her demonic teammate, and the cat's throat was released, but he proceeded to hold it by its hind legs as compensation.
He jumped into a near-by tree, cat swaying slightly from the momentum, and turned to his two disapproving teammates. "Well then, we must get it there quickly, before it somehow dies, won't we."
He could tell by their faces, as he started jumping through the trees that they both feared for the life of the cat.
Chapter 5: Getting the Show on the Road
Sakura felt a sudden and piercing stab of guilt. She… had only pointed at him, she realized that, but that situation she had gotten her teammate into wasn't one that she would wish on anyone.
That woman had been hugging her poor pet, squeezing the poor thing to death, when she had her attention perked by Sasuke and Kakashi going over to collect the team's pay. She had only asked who had found her precious 'Tora' for her. Naruto didn't seem ready to take credit for it, so she decided to do the decent thing, and inform her that it was Naruto.
But she didn't trust herself to accidentally say 'torture' instead of 'found', so she pointed. Naruto threw her a look of distain, which, to her relief, did not frighten her in the least, before the gargantuan women pounced.
The tart had engulfed Naruto in mere moments, and Sakura had found herself at a loss for what to do.
This was the Fire lord's wife, after all. She was pretty high up in social standards. She couldn't just demand the elephant of a woman to get the hell off her teammate if she knew what was good for her. Sasuke-kun wasn't here to back her up. She could get her license revoked.
She didn't know if the women had the power to do that, but she wasn't about to offer the chance to find out.
Sasuke-kun slouched over to her, and handed her her cut of the profits. "Where's Naruto?" He asked off-handedly. Sakura frowned at the new formality he seemed to be using in his voice. It bothered her.
She did it again, she pointed. Sasuke turned to look, but saw no sign of the blonde and turned back. "…Where?" He asked, confusion entering his voice, though she could tell he was struggling to keep it neutral, if not cold.
"Under Lady fire." She muttered, pointing again. She was genuinely put off by his attitude as of late. He was opening up before, she could tell. She had managed to laugh with him, on that embarrassing day near the end of autumn. But, as the snow melted from the ground, she found herself being drawn away from, and as spring slowly began to turn towards summer, he had started acting like this- making a conscious effort to stay away from her.
It hurt.
Sasuke-kun was staring at the women now too, though. The voice was almost non-existent, but she caught it. The shock and complete bewilderment he seemed to express as he spoke put her a bit more at ease, though. "…Aren't you going to save him?"
She stared back at him for an equally long moment, before slowly nodding. "Yeah… I probably should, shouldn't I?"
She stepped up to the Fire lord's wife, after a small huff of annoyance from the-bastard-that-Sasuke-kun-had-re-become, and touched her shoulder gently. "Excuse me, Obaa-sama, Could you please let go of my teammate?"
-:- -:- -:- -:-
Naruto almost felt sorry for the Damn cat.
Almost.
He could still feel the healing cat scratches itching into his nose. But that didn't stop him from sympathizing with the vile thing. He understood perfectly why the thing ran away so many times, and why no one was willing to take the mission. It wasn't because of the cat, it was because of the thing's owner.
He could feel his own killing intent radiating off of him. He wanted to obliterate the fat women from this plane of existence (and any others).
He was about to strike, ready for the kill, when the women got off of him.
He blinked, wobbling slightly as he stared in unshielded surprise at the pink haired Kunoichi who had saved him. That was.. needless to say, unexpected.
"Are you okay, Naruto?" The girl asked him, genuine worry present in her voice. Naruto took a step away from her. She was acting out of character. And not the tough, almost bearable different that came over her in situation where the group needed more competent leader than they had available, but a kind, unafraid kind of 'different'.
"Fine." He said shortly, not sure how to handle such an odd new mood swing.
"Sakura, Naruto, come here." Kakashi called happily to them. The both of them turned to see the man standing before the Hokage, obviously ready for a new mission. Uchiha was standing slightly further back, looking slightly weary of the idea. Naruto, taking this as an opportunity to get away from Sakura, went over, and stood beside his cockatoo-headed teammate. His eyes were faced foreword, on the Sandaime who was reading off the different jobs available to them as Haruno stepped on Uchiha-s other side.
"Let me see…" The old Hokage muttered. " I think… yes, you could go Garden in town for one of the Merchants, or Sagawa needs his chicken coop re-built.
Naruto, at this point felt a strong desire to complain about just how boring these tasks were, and ask for a real mission, when a certain member of his team made their own disapproval know.
"
The blonde turned to look at the one who had yelled, surprise written across his, and everyone around him's faces.
-:- -:- -:- -:-
Sakura had walked over there with little hope in her mind for an interesting end to the day. She would almost say she wanted to go home with out another pointless mission, but she knew she couldn't. The rest of the team needed to take a mission, right? Both Naruto and Sasuke-kun were living alone. They would need any and all money they could manage, right?
But this stuff was just so boring. She would rather be at home, doing chores for her family, or even, god forbid, at Ino 's flower shop, helping out like she used to, than doing this.
"Hmm… Let's see…" Hokage-sama said in his tired old voice. Must not complain. She repeated this to herself. Must not complain. Must not complain. "I think… yes, you could go Garden in town for one of the Merchants, or" Must. Not. MUST. NOT. "Sagawa needs his chicken coop re-built." Must not complain. Mustnot complain. Mustnotcomplain. Mustnotcomplain. MUSTNOTCOMPLAIN. "Ah, the Hisagi have a bit of a rat infestation as well. Or, would you prefer to have a job cleaning the-"
She couldn't take it anymore. She needed to let some of the frustration she felt out. Needed to say exactly what was on her mind.
"AAAAARRRRGGGGGGG!" She screeched, causing everyone in the general area to turn their attention towards her. She didn't care, however. "I don't care about stupid villager's problems!" She yelled. The Hokage looked taken aback by her statement. So did her teammates. "I want an interesting mission! A GOOD mission! One where we can actually be NINJA instead of... of.. the Village's private maid!"
"Now Sakura…" The kage said, his voice calming, almost soothing, but she would have none of it. "Think about what you are-"
"I know what I'm saying! I want something more than that! That's what I'm saying! Give us a good mission, please?"
The Old man was quiet for a long moment, before asking, "What do you know about the mission ranking system in this village?"
Sakura snorted at this. "There are four different types of mission levels, in a standard mission spectrum, A, B, C, and D. A is the highest, meant only for Jounin, B is for Jounin and Upper Chuunin, C is for Chuunin, and Genin, and D is for Genin only." She listed off her encyclopedic knowledge of the subject without stopping for breath, glaring at the Sandaime, as if daring him to challenge this knowledge.
"There are also Anbu, who take mission in a class even higher than A, labeled S, which mostly deals with assassinations of other powerful Shinobi, or high-risk covert operations." Sakura blinked and turned to Naruto, who had added that little tid-bit to the argument/Discussion, showing, in the process, just where his allegiances lay.
"Yes, well-" The man had no time to finish, as her other teammate added,
"And there are also Nuke-nin, and Hunter nin, who spend all of their time seeking out and killing ninja who have betrayed the village, so they can't do any damage, or fall into the wrong hands." Sasuke-kun added, as well. Sakura felt her strength swell at the support her teammates were giving her.
She turned back to Sandaime.
"Erm, yes, well lets just work in the realm that Sakura gave us to work with, alright, Naruto, Sasuke?" The two boys 'Hn'ed in exact unison, and the man coughed before continuing. "Sakura, according to what you have said, you, as inexperienced Genin, wouldn't you think D rank is all you are currently capable of doing-"
"Kakashi Sensei was doing them as a Genin." Sakura pointed out, surprising everyone, even the masked Jounin himself, who had been staying quiet to let his students decided the outcome.
"Yes, well Kakashi was a special case-"
"He graduated from the Academy at five he was taking C ranked missions right away!" The Sandaime stared at her for along moment, before opening his mouth o retort, but Sakura cut him off before he could even start this time. "He became a Chuunin at SIX! And then a jounin at thirteen! We're twelve! We can take a simple C ranked mission! Pick the easiest one you can find, even! But at least give us the chanced to prove ourselves before you star spouting your 'I don't believe you are ready' Speech, please?" She was gasping for breath now, her heart pounding in her skull from the adrenaline she could feel pumping through her.
Hokage-sama seemed to sigh in defeat at that. "…I suppose one C-rank couldn't hurt…" He muttered, before unrolling the scroll With 'C' printed on it in red.
"Ah, I've found the perfect one. How would you all like to escort someone across Fire country?"
-:- -:- -:- -:-
Sasuke gulped as the Hokage said these words. A sense of foreboding (or was it excitement?) ran up his spine, and her found himself turning to Kakashi, as if expecting him to suddenly deny all the achievements Sakura had spoken of, and inform them they needed to get to chopping firewood or something stupid like that. He surprised the last of the Uchiha, however.
"That sounds like a marvelous idea, Hokage-sama!" The silver haired jounin said with glee. He was obviously enjoying the show he had just been given.
The Hokage nodded. "Yes… Well, Call in the customer then, will you?" He said, turning to Iruka who was sitting beside his, completely stunned. "Iruka?" He asked. The young man blinked.
"Err- yes, sorry, Hokage-sama!"
The nervous Chuunin scurried out of the room to get whomever it was they were escorting. He turned to Sakura the moment the door was closed. "Err- Sakura, that was.. um…" She shook her head, a sad smile present on her face as she turned to him.
She looked suddenly very tired. "I thought you were trying to scare me away, Sasuke-kun?" She asked levelly, and he winced internally, about to apologize, when a voice muttered in the back of his head 'Weren't you, though?'. He just blushed and turned away instead.
It was not long before the door very slowly opened, and a large muscular hairy arm came into view. The arm was attaché to a man who, in Sasuke's professional opinion smelled of alcohol. He was looking at the three of them, discontent obvious in his eyes.
"This is what you're giving me for protection?" He demanded, "They don't even look like ninja they're just kids!" The man complained gruffly, waving an almost empty bottle at them as he spoke.
"Now now, I assure you, Tazuna san-" The Hokage started, but the man just barreled on, as if he hadn't even heard the old man speak.
"Especially the short one!" He accused, pointing wobbly at the three of them. The bottle moved too much in his unsteady hand to tell whom he was pointing at.
Sasuke looked to his right, then his left. Sakura did the same. Naruto didn't seem to bother. His eyes just narrowed.
"Oh, come now, Tazuna-san, you shouldn't-" The Hokage began again, but a pissed blond Demon interrupted him, just as Sasuke identified Sakura as about two centimeters taller than him.
"You are very cocky for someone who does not belong to my Village." He said coldly, examining his sharp fingernails in a bored gesture as he spoke. "I have no reason to protect you if I do not wish It.." He continued, and Tazuna flinched slightly. Sasuke winced at the deadly calm voice. If this guy wasn't careful… "…No reason not to kill you where you stand." He added coolly.
Naruto then looked up at the poor man, his eyes glowing a deep crimson.
The old man muttered something incoherent under his breath, but was unable to make an intelligible response.
Kakashi sighed, and put a calming hand on his blonde haired charge's shoulder. "Naruto." He said sternly, "No threatening, maiming, or killing the customer."
If the atmosphere wasn't so tense, Sasuke could have laughed.
Naruto however, who's eyes, to both Sasuke, and Tazuna it seemed as well' great relief, had turned back to their icy blue color, seemed to take one look around, before storming out of the room past Tazuna without another word. Sakura was next to leave, giving the man a quick apologetic bow to the obviously cowed man, and then quickly making her escape.
"I'll leave it to you to tell your teammates to be ready within the hour to set off for Wave country, alright, Sasuke?" Kakashi said cheerfully, before making his own, much flashier exit.
As the smoke cleared, Sasuke stared at the old man. The old man stared back with apprehension obvious in his eyes. The Uchiha rolled his black orbs, and exited the room.
His first C rank mission, and the job as an idiot. Lovely.
-:- -:- -:- -:-
Thank you all who have rviewed yet again, and as always, I'm sorry for the delay! I stayed up extra late to finish this, so I hope it's ok!
So, the start of the Wave arc has finally arived. I, like many other authers, can't stand NOT to have this bit in. Plus, Haku is important. Also, the winner of my little 'dare' last Chapter is Shenri, who will get a fic writen for them (A oneshot) about Itachi, and Uchiha sibling role-reversal, in a sense.
(I'm still having a few issues, but I'm going to try and get it BETA'd. Keiti-burii? Can you still do it? I've had a bit of a file problem, and I can't find any responses from you.(Sorry!)
Ok! VOTE and REVIEW!