Hey guys! I'm back after four weeks of inactivity, but before you lynch me I have a reason, seen at the end of the chapter. It just took me a long time to complete because my laptop shit on me (twice) and this was a very long chapter to write. I will do my damned best from now on to keep updates on a bi-monthly schedule. I know I said that the last chapter was the final filler, but I still need to set a few more things up, so the first half is a bit of filler, and then finally, story progression! Anyways, I'm certain you don't want to listen to my ramblings, so here goes!
Story go!
Naruto was training in a clearing. It seemed that he had taken last week's training lesson with Gai somewhat seriously. He was reading from the scrolls the man gave him.
"How to stoke your Flames of Youth, by Maito Gai..." Naruto read the title out loud, "I swear, if step one is getting into a green spandex suit, I'm burning the thing."
"A shinobi must train themselves in every domain, the main domains are, blah blah blah, already know this," Naruto said, skipping a few pages of theory.
"Here we go! Step one: training your body using weights. A good way to train your body is using weights to increase the strain on your muscles and further your youthful potential," Naruto studied the scroll, "Why do I get the feeling that Gai was screaming the whole while writing this?"
"I guess that's a good place to start, I could always use more strength! Only thing is, I don't have any weights..." Naruto glumly thought, "I'll have to improvise..."
Naruto looked around, and noticed around the clearing the many rocks strewn about.
"Now there's an idea!" thought Naruto.
And so, for the next hour, instead of doing something productive, like doing anything other than rock picking, Naruto, like an overenthusiastic three year old during Easter Sunday, was collecting rocks.
"Alright! Let's do this!" exclaimed an excited Naruto. He had strapped rocks to just about every part of his body that could support it. His arms, his legs, his head, his other head, all had one or more rocks tied to it. He had even weighed his pockets with pebbles.
He ran back to his scrolls, or rather, waddled, and looked through the contents once more.
"It says here to start of with exercises to prep your body for the katas..." he said aloud, "Let's get started!"
Naruto threw himself to the ground and began his training, going through all of the exercises he knew, pushups, situps, chin ups, up-ups, and sure enough, his
makeshift weights helped him. His rudimentary and crude rock weights somehow worked. He felt the additional strain that they exerted on his muscles.
Naruto trained for a few more hours, until he finally decided to call it a day. Unstrapping the numerous rocks tied to his body, Naruto decided to make a plan for the next few weeks.
"Alright, if I want to become stronger, I'll need to really up my training. I'll have to look into buying some weights, but that requires money... And if I want to put my idea for taijutsu into effect, I'll need even more money... Crap..." Naruto remembered his empty wallet, the result of a ramen buying spree, a bathtub, and a very nice night, "I need money..."
Naruto didn't know how he could make the cash required for him to further his youthful potential, so he brainstormed for ideas, "I got it! Missions!" Naruto exclaimed, "Only problem is, I need a team for that and I doubt Sasuke or Sakura would be thrilled by the idea of doing D-rank missions over and over..."
Naruto was struck by an idea, "Of course, Jiji never said it needed to be my team, just a team!"
He quickly gathered his stuff and ran home to get a good night's rest, because tomorrow would be a horrid day. Right before he fell asleep, he mumbled to himself, "I'm going to need a lot more tags too..."
The next day, Naruto was found in front of the Hokage Tower at 5 in the morning, patiently waiting for it to open. Patiently waiting for Naruto meant screaming from another building directly into the window for the Hokage to "Get his wrinkly, old man ass out of bed, and open up the Tower." Not a particularly smart decision, as attested by the concentrated jet of water that almost blasted him in the giggle berries and ending the possibilities of future mini-Narutos running around causing havoc all where they passed, which wasn't really a bad thing.
"What in the hell do you want with me, Naruto?" the Hokage asked, rubbing his temples. Naruto had woken him up right when he was having a wonderful dream that involved himself, his secretary and a very naughty apple. So it was understandable that he was beyond pissed.
Naruto was stood in front of his irate leader and grandfather figure, fidgeting in place, "Um, well, you see I need money and..."
"Don't you have your monthly stipend, Naruto?" the Hokage interrupted.
"Yea, about that... I might've spent it all..." Naruto mumbled.
"I don't even want to know what you spent it on..." the Hokage muttered under his breath, "Go on."
"Well, I need money, so I was thinking I could do some D-rank missions," Naruto said.
"I see no problem with that, but where is your team? You can't take missions without a team, Naruto, you should know this," the Hokage questioned the boy.
"But you only need a team right? It doesn't have to be my own, just three people?" Naruto asked.
"Correct, but you also need a sensei with you. But besides, where are you going to find a team? I doubt any of other senseis would accept you," the Hokage replied.
"Don't worry about that, jiji!" Naruto exclaimed, his hands forming into a cross sign. In a puff a smoke, the whole room was filled with clones of Naruto.
The Hokage's pipe fell out of his gaping mouth. He knew that Naruto could do the Shadow Clone no Jutsu, and he knew that Naruto had more chakra than the average jounin, but the sheer number of clones nearly surpassed himself. And to think that the boy had yet to finish growing, it sent a shiver down his spine thinking what he could accomplish in a few years. He would be a powerhouse on the battle field, an explosion wielding, volatile and slightly bat shit insane powerhouse, but a powerhouse all the same.
As the Hokage's coughing subsided, he regained his composure, "That's very impressive, Naruto," he said, which was like saying a million dollars was a small loan, "But that doesn't resolve the problem of your lack of a sensei."
"But, Jiji! I'm only taking D-rank missions, it's not like I'd be in any danger or out of the village!" Naruto complained.
"Yes, but still..." the Hokage trailed off, he had no qualms against Naruto taking the missions, but he wanted to get revenge for the rude awakening he had had. After watching his surrogate grandson squirm for a bit, he decided that enough was enough.
"Very well," he said, "You may take D-rank missions, and only D-rank missions. However, you still have to do missions with your own team. D-ranks are to promote teamwork between teammates and it wouldn't do for you to lag behind."
"Thanks, Jiji!" Naruto said, tackling his pseudo grandfather into a hug, "I won't let you down!"
"I'm sure you won't," he chuckled, "Now about those missions," he reached under his desk and pulled out a tower of papers.
"These are all D-rank missions," the Hokage informed Naruto.
"That is a lot of missions" Naruto whistled.
"Indeed," the Hokage smiled, "D-ranks missions are the most submitted of missions. Let's see, you have a variety of things to choose from, weed picking, shopping, baby sitting, massaging madam Momo..." he listed off the many choices available.
"Wait, massaging madam Momo? As in, the old lady who shopped for enough talcum to dry up a lake?" Naruto asked.
"Yes, why do you ask?" the Hokage replied.
"No reason," Naruto answered, remembering the voluptuous, elderly woman who was slightly too happy to see team Seven, and the way she looked at Sasuke and himself.
Naruto eventually took two dozen missions and grouped his clones into teams of three and sent them on their way.
Glancing at a clock on the wall, he noticed the time, "shit, I'm going to be late for the team meeting!" he yelled, running out of the tower, "Thanks, jiji!"
The Hokage shook his head at the boy, "What I wouldn't do for that energy again."
Team Seven were once again, assembled at Training Ground Three. Kakashi was nowhere to be seen, and Sasuke and Sakura were doing their own thing, being creepy and creepier.
"Sorry I'm late!" Naruto hollered, running into the clearing, "I was busy with something else!"
"You aren't late, sensei is, however," Sakura informed Naruto in a level tone.
"Yo!" said a voice, right on cue. Kakashi jumped down from the tree he was reading from, and landed in front of the trio.
"Alright, my group of cute little genin, today, we'll be training in taijutsu!" Kakashi said with an eye smile, "We'll see if Gai's advice was worth anything."
He had his team go through the basic katas of their style, Naruto being his main focus. The boy had so much potential, but he lacked the skill to utilize it, something Kakashi planned to correct.
Naruto's style revolved heavily around the use of his hands and legs to push back an enemy with medium powered attacks to wear them down.
As he was going through the kicking motion, Kakashi observed him.
"You're doing very well, Naruto," he commented.
"Thanks, sensei! I've been practising!" Naruto beamed.
"That's good, now do that 100 more times!" was his sensei's upbeat answer.
"Goddamn it" Naruto muttered, but continued nonetheless under the watchful eye of his teacher who would correct him if there was a flaw in his stance.
After a few more hours of training, Kakashi decided to put theory into practice.
"Gather around, my cute little genin, it's time for a spar!" he exclaimed, "Naruto, you're up first!"
As Sakura and Sasuke walked off to the edge of the clearing, Naruto and Kakashi got ready to fight.
Naruto going into his fighting stance, and Kakashi pulling out his omnipresent book.
"Hajime!" Kakashi barked, before burrowing his nose into his smut.
Naruto sprinted towards his disinterested teacher and threw a kick at his face, to get his attention. It was predictably blocked, but it fulfilled its purpose. Kakashi was momentarily distracted from his reading, and glanced at Naruto. The blond immediately capitalized on his teacher's surprise and threw a barrage of attacks at him. Kakashi was almost pushed back from the force of the assault, but soon regained his composure.
'It seems I'll have to take him seriously this time,' he thought, 'He improved marvellously. His punches actually somewhat affect me.' Kakashi remembered the first time he had spared with Naruto, who was back then unorganized and brash, but now was a bit of a challenge. 'If he continues down this road, he might be on Sasuke's level in a few months!'
Kakashi decided to test his student's limits and upped the difficulty by a bit, going on the offensive from time to time, and was delighted to find that Naruto kept up with him with little trouble.
Naruto, on the outside, seemed calm and in control, but on the inside was a whole different story, 'shit, shit, shit! I am not ready to go off against Kakashi! What the fuck am I doing?!' he thought frantically.
Kakashi took it up another notch, and saw that Naruto was starting to struggle.
'So that's his limit then,' he thought.
They continued at that pace for a while, until Kakashi decided that it was time to bring it to a close. Dodging past all of the punches thrown his way, he blurred past Naruto and crouched down in a position that was vaguely familiar.
'Where did he go?' Naruto thought, before glancing behind him and noticing his sensei who was crouched behind him with a dangerous glint in his eyes and his hands in a terrifying hand seal.
"Naruto! Did you forget Ninja lesson number one?" Kakashi asked by ramming his fingers up Naruto's innocent ass, which was a rhetorical question as it was considerably hard to forget having digits shoved up ones posterior like a child who was told he could double dip thrusting his hands into a candy bowl.
Naruto was sent flying and landed in a heap, clearly unable to continue on fighting or sitting comfortably.
Kakashi turned to his two remaining students and asked with a downright terrifying tone, "So, who's next?"
"Look, Naruto, I said I was sorry," said a clearly unapologetic Kakashi, "At least you won't have to do missions for today."
"Oh go fuck a glove," Naruto growled in return, rubbing his tender and very sore behind.
"Right!" Kakashi clapped his hands together, "Good work today, everyone! I'll see you tomorrow, same time!"
He disappeared in a swirl of leaves, leaving behind his tired students.
"God, I hate that man," Naruto muttered.
"I concur," Sakura said, agreeing for the first time with the blond.
"Hnn," Sasuke said with a lot of angry enthusiasm.
They parted ways, all headed towards their home for a good nights rest.
"I'm home!" Naruto yelled to no one in particular as he entered his apartment.
"Yo boss!" a clone popped up right next to him, his face darkened with soot, before he was unceremoniously popped out of existence by a shrieking Naruto and afoot to the groin.
"Don't fucking do that!" Naruto shouted.
"Sorry boss!" exclaimed a more cautious clone, "We go done with our missions. The cash is on the table."
Naruto quickly entered his kitchen and saw that, indeed, there was a stack of money on his table, waiting to be spent.
"I am loaded!" Naruto exclaimed. Each D-rank mission was worth 5 000 ryo each, and he took 20 of them... Naruto salivated at the amount of money he could make in a week.
He quickly sealed away all the money in a storage seal and went off to bed to get a head start on tomorrow.
Waking up, he went through his morning ritual of showering, brushing his teeth, getting dressed, worshipping the ramen gods with a sacrifice, the usual stuff, before heading out to town to accomplish the day's mission of getting what he needed to further his ass kicking skills. Since it was the weekend, his team was exempted from training with Kakashi, but that didn't stop Naruto from sending a few clones to fulfil a few more missions.
He set off towards the shinobi sector of Konoha, where all manner of shinobi oriented establishments were located for the entertainment and shopping needs of the village's ninja. Naruto approached one of the more known shops, the Sharpest Blade, in the hopes that the resident blacksmith might be able to help him with his requests.
As he entered the shop, a bell rung with a small tinkle and a portly man ambled out from a door behind the counter. The shop itself was nothing special, aside from all of the sharp, pointy objects lining the walls that would most definitely poke something out if one was to gander a throw at another. The man wiped some sweat from his brows and greeted Naruto with a cheery smile.
"Good morning, shinobi-san! How may I help you today?" he asked, "I am Daisuke Higurashi, local expert blacksmith."
Naruto was a bit perplexed by the man, usually when he entered a store, he'd be leaving soon after chased by a string of curse words and fresh produce or livestock depending on where he went. Chickens, he learnt, were surprisingly aerodynamic. So, naturally, after his bad experiences with shopkeepers, Naruto was just a tad bit wary.
Daisuke, curious as to what had the boy looking like he was about to be attack by flying poultry, decided to break the silence that had instilled in the shop.
"Is something the matter, my boy?" he asked.
"You're okay with me being here?" answered Naruto, cautious in case it was all just a ruse to get his guard down.
"Of course! I welcome all shinobi! Any business is good business!" was Daisuke's jovial reply.
"Well..." Naruto said, uncomfortable by the man's lack of anger and flying livestock, it was rare that there was a villager who didn't want to jam their foot down his throat, "I heard that you take custom commissions?"
"Indeed I do! Prices vary depending on the material and what exactly I am making," Daisuke put on his business voice, he was always open to new projects.
"I need you to craft me this, if it's possible," Naruto said, pulling out a scroll with blueprints on it with a small flourish, "It has to be made of a low-grade chakra metal."
Daisuke took the scroll and read the contents. After a brief inspection, he closed it with in a decisive manner, "What you propose isn't impossible, just very difficult," Daisuke answered slowly, "However, I have complete confidence in my abilities, and believe I should be able to make them in a month or so."
"Really?" Naruto perked up at the news, he wasn't expecting them for a very long time, "How much would it cost me?"
"Since it's made of chakra metal... I'll have to say 200,000 ryo."
Naruto nearly had a stroke at the sheer amount of money that was, never mind that he could make that up in a few days. It was still a shit ton of money to invest in such a small time.
"I also have an advancement of 50%, standard safeguard to make sure you have the money and all that" Daisuke informed him.
"Of course, I understand" Naruto said, handing the man another scroll, this one filled with all of the money he had made just yesterday. It pained him to part with so much, but it was necessary. Besides, if all went as planned, he'd have a bitching new weapon and so he was willing to pay so much.
"I thank you for your business, Uzumaki-san" said Daisuke after inspecting the contents of the scroll and making sure everything was there.
"No, thank you, Higurashi-san" Naruto replied, making to leave for the door. He paused for a moment, realizing something.
"Wait, you know who I am?" asked the boy.
"Of course! You are Naruto Uzumaki, Konoha's resident prankster and future Hokage, if I'm not mistaken," answered Daisuke.
Naruto left that store with more than a light wallet, he left with the knowledge that not everyone in the village despised him. It lifted his spirits somewhat.
"Now, what should I do?" Naruto asked himself aloud, he hadn't planned much for the day, visiting the blacksmith being the only foreseen action of the day. "I could be a productive and helpful shinobi today, or I could prank the shit out of someone..." Naruto's choice should have been obvious.
And so that's how Sarutobi Hiruzen was left to deal with the half dozen of people who had had caviar stuffed in some undesirable places and a new found phobia for chopsticks.
"God dammit, Naruto I thought you said you were done with the chopsticks" the Hokage muttered under his breath, rubbing his temples.
After a very productive day, Naruto once again returned to his apartment, eager to see what his clones
had brought in this time.
"I'm home!" Naruto yelled.
"Welcome back!" Naruto replied, who was a clone, and not Naruto talking to himself in a bout of insanity.
He was a perfectly sane and functioning person. If you ignore the homicidal, pyromaniac, ramen gods worshipping tendencies of his. Yep, a completely sane individual.
"So what's the day's bounty?" Naruto asked.
"We brought in about 40 000 ryo seeing as to how we didn't take as many missions," was Naruto's answer.
"I see, oh well, that's still an assload of cash compared to what I was working with before."
He decided to call it an early day, he was exhausted. Running from furious Anbu dead set on ramming sharp objects in various orifices would do that to a person.
The next morning, he had to meet up with his team once more.
"Yo!" Kakashi greeted, three hours late of course.
"You're late," Naruto stated.
"Sorry, I crossed a black cat on my way and I had to circle the village three times to counter the bad luck. And the, a particularly buxom young lady required assistance with something, and ravaged me as paym-" Kakashi informed his horrified students before being cutting off as a twitchy-eyed Naruto palmed something in his pocket. "Anyway, let's get started with today's training!"
He had them workout for an hour or so before calling out for them.
"We'll stop early today," Kakashi informed them and was met with the groans of relief from the three genin, "However, we still have to do a mission, and so I've taken the liberty of choosing one for you!"
'This can't end well,' Naruto thought, something mirrored by his two teammates.
"Your exciting mission for the day is... Cleaning up the sewers! Sounds thrilling, doesn't it!"
Naruto said some rather unkind things about Kakashi's mother involving a carrot and a horse cart.
One thing about Konoha's sewers, or any sewers for that matter, is that they are not the most pleasant of things to smell, and even less so to wade in. So naturally, Naruto and his merry band of genin were having a miserable day. The smell was overwhelming, it was like walking around in a river, except that the water was piss, and the fish were shit. It smelt like what the socks of a teenaged boy would smell like after several weeks of illicit "activities".
Now what Kakashi meant by cleaning wasn't tidying up the sewers of trash, it's a sewer, it's meant to be fucking disgusting. No, what he meant by that was the extermination of the rats that inhabited the place. Now, normally, rats are small and cuddly things, if domesticated, but this was a ninja village, so normal can go get fucked right in the ass. Rather, these rats were 2 feet long and looked like they'd go straight for the jugular if one even tried to hug them.
This was the first mission where Team Seven were in any form of danger, amorous advances of madam Momo aside, and they wanted to be ready for anything. The thing is, it's a tad hard trying to concentrate on anything when the splendid smell of shit constantly assaulted your nostrils. Naruto was trying vainly to keep his breakfast of instant ramen down, Sakura was currently hurling hers, and Sasuke, while he looked to be unaffected, was clearly uncomfortable with the situation. Kakashi was indifferent, he had a filter installed in his mask so he couldn't care less. He was walking on the walls, reading his book.
Rats are territorial animals, and those little fuckers can jump. So, it was to be expected that when a 2 and a half foot long rat suddenly lunged at Naruto like a long gone family member, he lost his shit in all of the other shit that was the sewer.
The shriek was glorious.
Right before the rat could gnaw on Naruto's neck, a kunai entered its skull with a resounding 'thunk'.
The rabid animal landed in a heap right on Naruto. Extricating himself from the corpse, Naruto turned to Sasuke, who had thrown the weapon.
"You should be more careful, dobe," he said.
"Yeah, yeah, thanks and fuck you," Naruto muttered in reply.
"I see you've found our enemy!" Kakashi happily interjected, "Your mission is to exterminate all of the rats found in these sewers, you have until the end of the day!"
"Well shit," Naruto exclaimed, and he wasn't talking about where they were located.
Once they knew what they were up against, Team Seven did remarkably well, Naruto and Sasuke being the long range fighters, throwing kunai and shuriken from afar while Sakura used her newfound Taijutu knowledge to beat the ever loving shit out of any who got too close. It was gruelling work and Naruto swore he would never defecate ever again.
After killing off an especially tenacious rat that just wouldn't die, Naruto had had enough. Spotting a cluster of rats some ways away, he took out a slip of paper and a kunai.
"I've had enough of this mcfuckery!" he yelled before slinging the kunai armed with an explosive tag.
Kakashi sharply looked up from his book, startled by his student's screaming. It took only a moment to assess what had happened, and it scared the fuck out of him.
"Naruto! No!" he yelled, but it was too late, the deed had been done.
Now, one might wonder what Kakashi was worried about, and the answer is simple. The air in sewers is composed of many gases, methane and hydrogen sulfide being some of them. Now, the thing about these gases is that they are highly explosive, and so, what would happen if one idiot was to throw something that would fucking explode in this scenario? A big fucking explosion that's what, and that's exactly what happened. The tag, while only D-rank in power, still caused a small spark that ignited the gases, and shit hit the fan, quite literally.
Kakashi had mere moments to react before the fireball was upon them. He flashed next to his students, his hands blitzing through a series of signs.
"Doton release: Earth Dome no Jutsu!" he exclaimed before slamming his hands to the ground. A dome of earth erected itself around the quartet, sealing them in complete darkness. They could only feel the shaking of the earth around them as the explosion waged on for a few more minutes before completely dissipating.
Above ground, nothing was out of the ordinary, aside from a slight shaking of the ground, as the sewers were located pretty deep in the ground, in case of situations such as these and to deter invaders. When manholes were involved, however, it was a completely different ballgame. That day was known as the day when manhole covers flew to goddamn space.
After deeming that the danger had passed, Kakashi released his jutsu.
"Naruto, what in the hell were you thinking?!" he yelled in an uncharacteristic anger, "You could've killed us all!"
"I didn't know that that would happen!" Naruto answered, "I just wanted to startle the rats!"
Kakashi looked at Naruto for a moment, breathing heavily, before letting his anger extinguish. It was obvious that Naruto didn't mean to try and blow them all to smithereens, and that he just didn't think before acting.
After Kakashi calmed himself sufficiently to not strangle his blond student, he addressed him.
"While you might not have known that that would happen, you still almost killed us. As punishment, you are to help the Hokage with his paperwork for the next week."
Naruto nodded his head, it was a fair sanction for what he had done.
The grey haired man quickly reverted to his usual eccentric self.
"Now, I do believe we can call this mission a success! All rats have been exterminated," he said clapping his hands together.
Indeed, all of the rodents had been burnt to a crisp in the fireball.
And so, Team Seven reported in another triumphant mission looking worse for wear. Kakashi handed Naruto over to the Hokage, informing him of what had happened and of his punishment.
The Hokage happily embraced Naruto, dumping a pile of papers onto his lap, before running out saying something about "Finally being free and having to find that masseuse."
Naruto passed the week in a routine of training, missions and helping the Hokage, with nothing of importance happening.
Aside from one incident. It was late one night, when Naruto has his most brilliant of ideas, that he was struck with a thought.
'Throwing kunai and shuriken is great and all, but what if I want to throw or move something heavier?' was his train of thought. And so, after a few hours of brainstorming, he had his answer.
He quickly jotted down some notes before getting to work. What could go wrong?
Everything. Everything could go wrong. He learnt that when a boulder the size of his apartment came hurtling towards him at mach 10 speeds.
He had gone back to his usual clearing at Training Ground Three to test out his new seal. It had taken him some time to make, but in the end, he prevailed. It was an explosive tag, one that he had modified to fit his needs. He had added a Direction Control Component and a Containment Component to the seal. The Containment Component was to, well, contain the force of the explosion in a set radius. The Direction Control, as the name would suggest, controlled the direction in which the energy was liberated. His end product was a seal that would stick to an object and emit an explosion that would launch the object at a high velocity. The back end would be a bit singed, but it did its work.
A bit too well for that matter. Naruto, being the knucklehead that he was, decided to slap on the seal to a boulder, just to see how effective it was at moving objects. The answer was very fucking effective. He barely had time to dodge the speeding rock before it plowed through some trees and dug a 4 feet deep trench. Perhaps using an A-rank tag for the seal wasn't the brightest of moves, but damn if it didn't fill its purpose.
Naruto, satisfied with the results, decided to call it a night, and retired to his quarters to rest from his near death by geological landscape.
That was all of the excitement for Naruto's otherwise uneventful week.
And so a week passed, and Team Seven were once more gathered in front of the Hokage, awaiting a mission assignment.
The Hokage rubbed his chin, inspecting his scroll, "Hm, yes..." he said, "Team Seven, your mission for the day is weeding madam Chou's garden."
After weeks of physical torture and soul crushing missions, Naruto had enough and he snapped.
"I refuse to do another D-rank mission! If I have to look at another weed, I swear I'm burning down a field!" he yelled, slamming his fist on the table. His teammates nodded their heads in agreement. While they might not have been as vocal as Naruto, they too were tired of doing D-ranks.
"Naruto! Remember who you are talking to!" barked Iruka from the Hokage's side, "This is the Hokage, and he will decide whether you are ready to take on a C-rank mission!"
"It's quite alright, Iruka-san," the Hokage waved off the man, "I was expecting this for a while now. I'm quite surprised he lasted so long," he said with a chuckle.
"While I do have the jurisdiction to decide if a team is ready, it's really the sensei's call," he continued, turning his gaze to Kakashi.
Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke looked at their sensei with hopeful eyes. Kakashi sweated a bit under their unnerving gazes, "I believe that Team Seven is more than ready for their first C-rank mission. Their shinobi skills have reached appropriate levels and they have completed the require 40 D-ranks," he said.
"Very well, Kakashi-san," the Hokage said, "Since your sensei is in agreement, Team Seven will be doing their first C-rank." He rummaged through some more scrolls before pulling out one.
"This one should do," he opened the scroll and read it, "Team Seven, your mission will consist of..."
"What is it, what is it? Saving a princess? Stopping a revolution?" Naruto asked excitedly.
"Escorting the bridge builder Tazuna to his village in the Land of Waves," the Hokage finished, "You have one month to accomplish the mission. Tazuna-san! Please come in."
At the Hokage's call, a tall man with a grey beard entered the room. In his hands he held a bottle of sake of which he took a swig before looking at Team Seven with a cynical eye.
"This is my escort? A half blind shinobi and his three kids?" he asked, "And what about shorty over there? Is he even of age to be a shinobi?" he pointed to Naruto.
"I assure you, Tazuna-san, my team is perfectly capable of assuring your safety, and I am an elite shinobi of the village, I can handle anything thrown my way," Kakashi informed the man, a bit irritated to be brushed off so quickly.
"And who the fuck are you calling short?! I'll cut your fucking shins!" yelled a furious Naruto, lunging at the man before being stopped by his sensei.
"Now, now, Naruto. While he may have insulted you, it wouldn't bode well for the village's reputation if you injured one of its clients, so please refrain from maiming Tazuna-san," chided Kakashi, nose reburied into his book.
"I feel totally safe," muttered Tazuna, "Protected by a pirate and a psychopathic midget..."
The Hokage cleared his throat, getting the attention of everyone, "Team Seven, you are to leave in three days, prepare your equipment accordingly. Dismissed!"
The genin quickly dispersed to get ready for their first mission outside of the village, while Kakashi went off to visit a brothel, presumably, and Tazuna went to go further acquaint himself with Konoha's many bars.
Naruto retired to his apartment, he wanted to make sure he wouldn't forget anything.
"I'll need to stock up on food, bring some clothing, my sleeping bag, my tent," he listed off, "Can't forget the kunai and shuriken, and restock my seals..." he looked at a nearby scroll, that had the word "Seals" written on it.
"I wonder if I'm going to have enough explosive tags for the mission... This is a C-rank mission, so you never know what could happen, and D-rank explosive tags might not suffice..." Naruto thought for a moment before smacking his hands together, "I got it! Kakashi said I couldn't use higher grade explosive tags, but he never said I couldn't make them! Naruto, you genius!"
"But I'm going to need a lot more than just a few explosive tags... I'm going to need to mass produce them...My clones! I'll just use my clones as slave labour!" Naruto exclaimed. He formed a cross sign with his hands, and 50 clones poofed into existence.
"Alright, boys! You know what to do! You two, pack our bags, while you, go buy as much Chakra Paper as you can!" Naruto ordered. The clones quickly rushed around to fulfil their duties.
"This is going to be a busy three days!" he exclaimed with a grin.
Three days later, Team Seven gathered at Konoha's main gate. The main gates were of spectacular size, almost as big as the walls that bordered it. Some say that the gate was to discourage invaders and impress potential costumers, while others say that Konoha was compensating for something.
Sakura and Sasuke were already there, waiting for their client, their sensei and their other teammate, all of whom were almost late.
Kakashi shunshined next to them, startling the two genin who hadn't been expecting him for a few more hours.
"Sorry I'm late!" yelled a running Naruto, "I got caught up with something!" That something being calculating how much ramen he would need for the trip.
"Holy shit, Kakashi-sensei! You're on time!" exclaimed Naruto upon seeing his perpetually late sensei at a meeting without any delay.
"I am never late for important missions," stated Kakashi, still reading his book.
"This is an important mission?" asked Sakura, "I thought it was only a C-rank."
"It's important to you because it's your first C-rank mission," Kakashi replied, "This'll be the first time you go out of the village, away from its protection."
"Oh."
"I hope you have all packed accordingly? We''ll be gone for a month, a good part of it being in the wild," Kakashi asked.
He was met with a chorus of 'yeses' as Sakura and Sasuke showed him their bags, packed to the brim with clothing, weapons and food.
He nodded approvingly, "And what about you, Naruto? I can't help but notice you don't have a bag with you."
"No need for bags, Kakashi-sensei! All my stuff is sealed in these two scrolls!" Naruto answered, shrugging off the two bulky scrolls on his back, imaginatively named 'Things' and 'Things That Go Boom'.
"I see," Kakashi said, "Are you certain you have everything you need in there?" He was dubious that the boy could fit all that he needed in those two scrolls, as big as they were.
"Of course, food, clothing, tent, livestock, I'm ready for anything!" came the exuberant reply, "And plus, it's much lighter than a pack!"
At this, his teammates gave envious glances at the scrolls, their own packs weighing more than a baby cow.
"Well, if you say so..." Kakashi said "Now where is that client of ours?
It would be another half hour before Tazuna would appear, clutching his head, "Sorry I'm late," he said, "I have this massive hangover."
"It isn't good to keep shinobi waiting, Tazuna-san," Kakashi answered, "Now let's get going, we're already behind schedule."
"Heartless bastard," Tazuna muttered.
"Tell me about it," Naruto whispered back.
"What was that, Naruto?" Kakashi asked in a sweet voice.
"N-nothing!" Naruto answered.
"I could've sworn you just volunteered to carry everyone's bags for the next hour! How thoughtful of you!" he exclaimed, "Sakura, Sasuke! Naruto here has graciously offered to carry your bags for an hour or so! Isn't that nice of him?"
The speed it took for them to dump both bags onto the poor boy was alarming, they practically slammed them onto his back with an insincere "Thanks!"
'Fucking assjerk,' Naruto thought, 'I'll get back at you, and I know just how to!'
"YOSH, KAKASHI-SENSEI! THANK YOU FOR FURTHERING MY FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH BY GIVING ME THIS TASK AS TRAINING TO ALLOW MY YOUTH TO FLOURISH!" he hollered.
"Naruto, wha-" Kakashi asked, turning around before being stopped dead in his tracks.
Naruto, it seemed, had donned an apparel that he wished he'd never have to see his students in, the green jumpsuit of Might Guy. He had henged himself a magnificent pair of eyebrows that wriggled furiously and gave himself a bowl cut of legendary proportions. When Naruto said he had prepared for anything, he meant anything.
"YOSH, KAKASHI-SENSEI! I WILL NOT FAIL THIS YOUTHFUL TRAINING OR I SHALL RUN ALL THE WAY TO THE LAND OF WAVES AND BACK USING ONLY MY TONGUE!" the bastard love child of Naruto and Lee said.
"Naruto, stop!" Kakashi pleaded.
Naruto decided to bring it up a notch by summoning two clones into existence, whom quickly henged into Guy and Lee, in their monobrowed magnificence.
"LEE! NARUTO!" yelled clone-Guy.
"GUY-SENSEI! NARUTO!" hollered clone-Lee.
"GUY-SENSEI! LEE!" screamed Naruto.
They all lunged together into a manly and youthful embrace, complete with sunset, clashing waves and dolphins, before being unceremoniously popped by a terrified looking Kakashi.
"Naruto, don't ever do that to me again," he stammered, clearly traumatized.
"THERE'S THAT HIP ATTITUDE!" Naruto bellowed, striking up his good guy pose, "KAKASHI-SENSEI! I SHALL FURTHER MY YOUTH TO LEVELS UNKNOWN!"
After yelling this, Naruto ran off in front of the group, with the two clones of Guy and Lee by his side, yelling "youthful" encouragement.
"That boy is a strange one..." Tazuna said, mostly to himself.
Kakashi answered with only a twitching eye.
After his hour was up, Naruto fell back with the group. Kakashi and Sakura were talking with Tazuna, something about how different Lands have different shinobi systems. Naruto didn't really listen.
As they walked, they passed a puddle, noticed only by Kakashi, who fell behind. Once they were a distance away, two figures emerged from the body of water.
In an instant, Kakashi was wrapped in chains before being torn to shreds. A shriek echoed through the forest's air, or rather, two did. Naruto would forever deny any knowledge of screaming like a tea kettle when Kakashi got taken down.
"One down, four to go," the duo said in unison, before landing and sprinting towards Naruto, who had fallen to the ground and was a closest to them.
The two shinobi were known as the Demon Brothers, Gozu and Meizu, missing-nin of Kirigakure. Clad in grey clothing, they held between them a long chain lined with blades supported by the clawed gauntlets they wore.
They ran towards Naruto, the chain aimed straight for his neck, but were interrupted when a kunai lodged itself into a link, pinning it to the ground, courtesy of Sasuke. They were forced to release the chain from their gauntlets.
"Gozu!" yelled Meizu, "handle get the bridge builder while I deal with this one!"
Gozu veered towards Tazuna, gauntlet aimed for his throat, but was intercepted by Sasuke, who engaged him in a fierce Taijutsu battle.
Meizu, meanwhile, focused his attention on Naruto, who had recovered somewhat and was back on his feet.
"Sakura! Guard Tazuna while me and Sasuke fight these guys!" he yelled.
Sakura, who previously looked petrified, nodded resolutely and stood in front of the bridge builder to shield him with her body.
Meizu didn't let Naruto continue talking and lunged for him, claws outstretched to grab him. Naruto retaliated with a swift kick to the sternum that unbalanced his opponent, but his hand was still cut by the sharp blades.
Sasuke had already dispatched his opponent, surprising him with a powerful fire jutsu, and was running to assist his teammate.
Naruto and Meizu continued exchanging blows, until Meizu gained the upper hand, a clawed finger headed straight for his eye. Sasuke wouldn't make it in time. Right before Naruto's eye was popped like an extraordinarly moist balloon, Meizu was grabbed by the collar and thrown to the ground.
"Now, now. While I appreciate you for testing my genin's battle prowess, it wouldn't do for them to die on their first real mission, now would it?" tsked a very much alive Kakashi.
"Kakashi! You're alive!" exclaimed Naruto and Sakura, Sasuke merely grunting.
"Did you really think such low-level opponents would be able to best me?" Kakashi asked with an eye smile before turning serious, "Gozu and Meizu, also known as the Demon Brothers. Missing-nin of C-rank level and wanted by several villages, dead or alive." He bound the two with some rope that Naruto handed him.
Kakashi had dragged the brothers to a tree and had tied them to it. Before he went off to interrogate the brothers, he addressed his team, "You all did splendid today, you held your own against opponents at a much higher skill level than you, even you Sakura. While you might not have done much, you still didn't panic and run away. You stayed to complete the mission and support your teammates. I can that I am proud of you all."
The trio blushed at the unexpected compliments, well Sasuke merely looked away.
"Naruto, how about we take a look at that cut on your hand?" asked Kakshi.
"No way! This here is a battle injury! I'll get a bad ass scar! Chicks love scars!" Naruto exclaimed.
"I'm glad to hear it, but I'll have you know that the Demon Brothers coat their gauntlets in a poison," Kakashi informed his student with an eye smile.
"Really?! Shit, shit, shit! How do I cure it?!" Naruto frantically asked.
"It's a weak poison, so draining the wound of blood should suffice, you only need to cut-" Kakashi told his student, but was interrupted by said student stabbing a kunai into his hand without any hesitation.
"Like this?" Naruto hopefully inquired.
"Yes, but you only needed to make a small cut, Naruto. You're now more in danger of blood loss than anything else," Kakashi answered, but even as he said that, he could see that the wound was slowly healing. 'Incredible,' he thought, 'To think he has such a quick healing factor.'
"Everything all right, Kakashi-sensei?"
"Yes, yes. You should be fine in a couple of minutes."
"But you were just spewing a moment ago some bullshit about blood loss!" yelled Naruto.
"You'll be fine. A little bit of lost blood never killed anyone," reassured Kakashi.
"Now, I want you to answer some questions, and I want you to answer them truthfully, else we're going to have some trouble," Kakashi said.
"Fuck you," spat Meizu.
"Very well..." Kakashi sighed and got up, not before slapping the other brother to rouse him, "Naruto! I need your help with something!"
"Yes, sensei?" asked a curious Naruto, wondering how he could be of help in this situation.
"You remember what you did to me this morning? Well I want you to do that to these two gentlemen, if you will," Kakashi told him.
"Alright..." shrugged Naruto, summoning two clones and henging them into the Dynamic Duo.
With screams of "LEE!" and "GAI!" the two embraced each other in close proximity to the brothers, their crotches, in fact, were mere inches away from their faces.
The Demon Brother's resolve lasted all of 2 seconds. It helped that Kakashi was adding to the effect by casting a subtle genjutsu on the siblings, making them thing that the two bowl cut monstrosities were actually in the buff and currently smacking them with various "appendages".
"We'll talk, we'll talk! Just make it stop!" they yelled, understandably horrified and slightly traumatized.
"Glad to hear it," Kakashi said with a smile, "Naruto, thank you for your help, you're dismissed."
"No problem, sensei!" Naruto exclaimed before running back to his teammates and Tazuna.
"Now tell me, who were you after?"
After a while, Kakashi emerged from the forest where he had dragged the brothers with a grim look on his face.
"Tazuna," he said in a no non-sense voice, "We need to talk."
Tazuna quickly stood up, looking panicked.
"Would you care to tell me why exactly you failed to tell me that C-rank missing-nin were after your head?"
"Shinobi-san, it was the only way I could-" Tazuna stammered.
"C-rank missing-nin, Tazuna," Kakashi growled, "On a C-ranked mission, where the norm are bandits and the occasional D-rank missing-nin. My genin could've been killed. I have every right to abandon the mission and leave you here"
"I- I- I'm sorry..." Tazuna said dejectedly, hanging his head low in shame, "There was just no other way! I desperately needed an escort to the Land of Waves to free it from the tyrant that rules it!"
"Tyrant?" Sakura asked, "Isn't the Land of Waves governed by a council?"
"It was, until a man by the name of Gato took control of everything," Tazuna replied.
"Wait, Gato? As in the man at the head of Gato Company? The richest man in the world?" asked Kakashi.
"That's him. He uses his 'honest' Company as a front to disguise all of the shady and illegal deals he makes. That's how he made his fortune, not by shipping, but by smuggling and blackmail," Tazuna informed them, "And now he has total control over the Land of Waves. The whole island lives in poverty and crime runs rampant in the streets."
"But why does he want you?" questioned Sakura.
"Because I'm the only one who can break that hold. Before he came along, I was tasked with building a bridge that would connect the island to the mainland. It would of made the Land of Wave prosper, but Gato didn't want that. He wanted to have a monopoly over the island via his shipping company, so he set a bounty on my head," said Tazuna.
"And you fled to Konohagakure to ask for protection," finished Kakashi.
"Correct," affirmed Tazuna, "But I didn't have enough money to pay for a B or A-rank mission, and so I had to lie you."
"You know that Konohagakure doesn't just take money as payment, right?" asked Kakashi, "We would've been glad to take a Priority Trading contract or beneficial trading prices as payment, once the bridge was finished."
Tazuna only hung his head lower in shame.
Kakashi sighed, "You heard what the man had to say, but in the end it's not up to me to decide. What do you guys think we should do? It's too late to call for backup, we're in too deep, so we're left with two options. Abandon Tazuna and return to the village, or aid him."
Seeing the empathic glances sent his way, Tazuna started to sob, "Oh, my poor daughter, she'll be left with no grandfather, no one to help her tend to her only child," he said in between heaving sobs, "Oh, Tsunami! How cruel it is for me to have to leave you so soon, but I won't make it far without help!"
"I say we help him," Naruto said, serious for once, "It's not like we weren't expecting danger, and besides, it's like you said, we're in too deep to call for backup."
His statement was met with nods from both of his teammates.
"Are you guys certain?" Kakashi asked, "We'll be facing most definitely an A-rank opponent. I can't guarantee your survival."
"Uncertain survival is what makes up the shinobi career, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto said, "I think we're ready for this, besides you have me on the team! What could go wrong?"
"If you guys are all in agreement, I guess I have no choice but to accept," Kakashi said with a sigh, "Tazuna, we have come to a conclusion. We'll help you."
The previously sobbing man did a complete 180, a huge smile now gracing his face and tears of joy sparkling in his eyes, "You will?!"
"Yes, on the condition that when the bridge is complete, Konahagakure gets a Priority Trading contract, and you must follow my every order. I can't have you dying on me before you pay up," Kakashi said.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Tazuna thanked them profusely, hugging each and every one of them.
"Now, let's get going. I want to cover as much ground as possible today," exclaimed Kakashi.
"Kakashi-sensei, what did you do to the Demon Brothers?" asked Sakura.
"I knocked them out, Konohagakure will come by to pick them up in a few days." Normally, he'd kill them, no use in leaving potential threats alive to come pester him in the future, but he rather not traumatize his young genin so early into their shinobi career. No better for them to do it themselves and have him there to comfort them.
"Enough questions, we have a lot of road to cover!"
Team Seven and Tazuna travelled for a few days, encountering little problems before ending up in in front of a large body of water.
"I have a friend who should be here, if he didn't chicken out," Tazuna said, whistling out a secret code that was soon answered, "There he is, let's go."
The quintet clambered into the small barge. Mist shrouded the lake that surrounded the island, masking their presence. Once they go too close for the barge to continue using its engine, the boatman turned it off and started rowing.
Something huge pierced through the mist, looming over the small boat.
"Holy shit, it's huge!" was the well-spoken exclamation of Naruto.
"Naruto, hush, we don't want to be heard," Kakashi admonished his student, but still admired the architecture of the bridge, "You did a fine job on it, Tazuna."
"Thank you, it's the fruit of the blood, sweat and tears of me and my team."
The rest of the ride continued on in silence.
They debarked a while later, Tazuna wishing his friend a safe travel. They continued walking before Naruto suddenly threw a kunai at a bush with a loud yell of "There!"
"Naruto, what the hell were you thinking?! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" yelled Sakura, and Tazuna, who was clutching his chest, was prone to agree.
"There's something in that bush," he answered.
She stormed off towards to a shrubbery before pulling out a white rabbit.
"Look at what you did to the poor thing, you scared it half to death!"
"Eheh, sorry Sakura, I could've sworn there was someone there," Naruto apologized.
Kakashi wasn't listening to their conversation, he was more interested in the terrified bunny, or rather it's colour.
'White fur... In the middle of the summer...Something's wrong,' he thought before his eyes widened.
"Duck!" he yelled, knocking Sakura and Tazuna to the ground.
"I swear, if this is another joke about my hair, I will..." growled Sasuke.
"No, DUCK!" Kakashi repeated, dragging both boys to the ground mere milliseconds before a big ass blade spun over their heads sinking in deep into a nearby tree.
On the glorified meat cleaver stood a tall, shirtless man. He cut an imposing figure, standing on the handle of his blade, staring down at the group under him.
"Zabuza Momochi, Demon of the Hidden Mist. High end A-rank missing-nin of Kirigakure, wanted for the unsuccessful assassination of Kirigakure's Mizukage," Kakashi said, more to inform his students than for his own benefit.
"Well, fuck."
And done! Holy fucking shit, that was a long chapter, nearly 9k words! I am really sorry for the long delay, but a ton of things came up. The main part was that this story just hit 50 followers, and while that may not seem significant, I wanted this chapter to be something special. And so I wrote, and rewrote this chapter several times, fine tuning and tweaking. I didn't have much time either, what with school and shit, and to top it all off, my fucking laptop shit out on me not once, but twice! Piece of shit. Anyways. Story progression, yay! I don't know what I'll do with Zabuza and Haku, but I'll just wing it. I decided not to give Naruto a bloodline, but he'll get something much better! I want to thank everyone of you who've read, followed, favourited, reviewed this story, I can safely say this is my most popular on this site (never mind the fact that it's the only one) I really cant say how much this all means to be. Thank you to all the new and regular people who enjoy this story! Author, out!