I LIVE! It's been awhile, and no, I have not abandoned this story! It might take me years and years, but I will finish.
Title - A Couple Millimetres
Chapter - Seven
Word Count w/o AN - 1507
Word count with AN - 1875
Summary - At last, a C-rank mission!
I've yet to get a flame or contructive criticism, but I'm sure that'll end soon enough. But let's get one thing straight, people - if you hate my writing, or my story, tell me why. And I don't just mean 'ur pl0x sux u cant rite for shit and everyone's ooc' or something. Any moron could tell me that. Tell me how to improve. I won't lie, I'll probably get pissed and disappointed, since no one likes being criticized. In the end, though, I'll have learned something and may be able to put it to good use in the future.
/rant.
There are many things that ninjas fear throughout their careers. For civilians, the first one that comes to mind is dying, of course. Another easy one would be getting captured and interrogated. If you ask a ninja of any rank, however, there is only one answer.
The greatest fear of all shinobi is having to complete a D-rank mission.
Twitch.
"Stop twitching, you look like you're about to have a seizure or something."
Twitch.
"If you twitch one more time, I swear I'm going to pound you until twitching is the only thing you can do."
…
…
Twitch.
"God dammit, Naruto! You're embarrassing us!"
Punch. Crash. Twitch.
Mercifully, the silver-haired man wearing a jounin vest had decided to do his job and stop them from creating any more people-shaped holes in the wall. He sighed.
"Now, now, Sakura, there's no need to get violent. He is your teammate, after all."
Before she could retort, he peered down into the newly-created hole and his gaze turned cold. "And you, Naruto, if you don't stop that incessant twitching, I'll make sure that you're stuck doing D-ranks for the rest of your life!"
In a heartbeat, Naruto was standing up, still as a statue.
"Hurry up and finish getting the groceries. If you do a good job, I might recommend you for a C-rank."
In half a heartbeat, there were about ten shadow clones running through the aisles. Five minutes later, the mission was completed. Naruto looked expectantly at Kakashi.
For the millionth time since he'd made the stupidest decision in his life and passed Team Seven, he sighed. "I'll see what I can do."
The hyperactive blonde whooped rather loudly, prompting shouts from nearby civilians that he paid no mind. Sakura grinned in triumph, and even Sasuke gave a little satisfactory smirk.
They wouldn't be nearly so happy if they knew what that mission would bring them.
The Sandaime peered over his desk at the three hopeful genins and the Copy Ninja.
"So…Kakashi has told me that you are ready for a C-rank mission."
Naruto met his gaze. "That's right, Old Man. We're prepared for anything and everything, so don't you dare tell us we're not ready!"
The wizened Hokage chuckled as Sakura 'gently' chided Naruto for his disrespect.
"Alright then, here is your mission," he said, though he might only have given it to them to shut them up.
It worked – he felt three pairs of eyes on him and heard silence, which was hard to come by whenever Naruto was around.
"A bridge builder by the name of Tazuna has requested our services. He is afraid of being attacked by bandits on his way home to Wave Country. Your mission is to escort him there and see that he arrives back safely."
As if on cue, a man holding a bottle of alcohol walked in. He wasn't exactly a senior citizen yet, though his hair had grayed and he was definitely past his prime. He drunkenly assessed them.
"This is it? This is my mighty squad of ninja? A bunch of kids? That short one looks like he should still be in diapers!"
Despite having his shinobi skills questioned, Sasuke sneered at Naruto for the jibe while Sakura giggled. Naruto, not noticing at first, slowly realized that he was the shortest in their group.
As soon as the fact that he had been insulted processed in his mind, he leapt at his client. "I'm going to kill you!"
He was caught by his shirt half a second later by a disinterested Kakashi.
"No killing the client, Naruto."
Said hothead was still glaring mutinously at the bridge builder, but made no further detrimental move to the mission.
Walking out through those gates was one of the most exciting moments of Naruto's short life. It signified his first mission outside the village. He was leaving its walls for the first time, and damn it felt good.
Or, it did until about ten minutes into the trek. He frowned. Nothing was happening. If this kept up, he wouldn't have a chance to show off his awesome ninja skills!
"Ninjas usually try to 'show off,'" his tenant dryly commented.
Ignoring the voice, he glanced at Sakura behind him. She seemed to be content to stare at Sasuke's back. Sasuke, on the other hand, was positively radiating waves on boredom. Not that he'd admit it, of course.
"Oi, oi, Sasuke! Are you bored?"
"Hn."
"What the hell's 'hn' supposed to mean?"
"Hn."
"Are you just going to keep saying that?"
"Hn."
"Geez. If you say 'hn' again it means you want to kiss Kakashi-sensei."
"…hm."
"Argh!"
Kakashi once again sighed, as they passed a 'puddle'. Between Naruto's antics and the trained ninja – not bandits, ninja – after Tazuna, this was going to be a long trip.
He had no idea.
"One down!"
The three novice ninja stared in horror as their sensei was shredded by the chain-wielding men. There was no time for terror, however, as the Demon Brothers rapidly advanced.
The two boys quickly jumped into action, dodging the chains and landing a few quick hits before the two missing-nins got seriously. Just as Naruto received a cut on his hand, Kakashi reappeared to finish them off.
After securing the attackers, he tended to Naruto.
"The cut wasn't too deep, but there was poison in his weapon. If you don't get it out of your system quickly, you could die."
Naruto looked panicked. "Oh shit oh shit oh shit!"
Sweat dropping, Kakashi added, "You can bleed it out, you know, if you really want to."
The blonde pulled out a kunai and hesitated only for a second before plunging it into his palm. He let it bleed. "I don't go back on my word! We're finishing the mission!"
"Okay, but you can still die from blood loss if you don't stop it."
That was a lie, and Kakashi knew it as soon as he looked at Naruto's wound. Or, what used to be. It sealed itself up almost instantaneously. The Kyuubi's powers were amazing, he had to admit.
"Now, I believe you have some explaining to do," he said as he turned to Tazuna. "Those weren't mere bandits, they were ninja who were specifically after you."
Tazuna looked down at his feet. "I'm sorry, I really am, but I had no choice! Wave Country used to be prosperous and wealthy, until a ruthless business man named Gato came along."
"Gato?" Kakashi interrupted, raising his one visible eyebrow.
"You've probably heard of him. He one of the richest people in the world, but he secretly sells drugs and other performs other illegal deals. Right now, he alone controls Wave's ships, and its businesses. If I were to complete the bridge that connects to the mainland, however…"
"…then you wouldn't need the ships, destroying Gato's hold," Kakashi finished.
Tazuna bowed. "I'm sorry for hiding all this from you, but Wave is poor thanks to Gato, and we couldn't afford a B-rank mission price."
He then gave them an uncharacteristically bright grin. "You can go back to the village now, if you want. My grandson will cry and mourn me, and my widowed daughter will be crushed and hate Konoha forever, but it's not a big deal!"
"…"
"We'll get you back safely."
"Thank you very much," was the smug reply.
They were nearing Wave now. After the quiet boat ride, they landed.
In a word, it was beautiful. Wave Country had an amazing landscape. Naruto ran ahead, taking in every sight before noticing a slight shaking in a bush.
"Brat!"
"I know!"
In a flash, he whipped a kunai into the unsuspecting bush, startling every except perhaps the jounin. What came out was one very startled snow rabbit.
Sighing in relief, Sakura started on him "Naruto! Stop trying to act cool!"
Naruto himself was holding the rabbit. "Aw, I'm sorry, little guy…"
Kakashi was the only one to notice the oddness in its fur's colour. His eye widened a fraction and he yelled at everyone to get down at the same time the Kyuubi urgently said "Naruto!"
A huge cleaver, larger than any normal person would be able to life, let alone wield, sliced the air where their heads were moments ago and embedded itself into a nearby tree.
Standing on top of it was a menacing figure with his arms crossed and his mouth and nose covered.
"No wonder you got this far…Copy Ninja, Sharingan Hatake Kakashi."
"Missing-nin of the Hidden Mist, former member of the Seven Swordsmen…Momochi Zabuza."
Kakashi lifted his hitai-ate.
Well, well, well. Almost a full year later, we have an update! It's short, and it's a filler. Plus I wrote it from memory, and it's been a lnog time since I read those early chapters. I personally don't like the way it came out, but here it is.