A/N why do I continue this fic? I won't be counting this as a "main" fic project as mine, just something to relieve the tension I had from writing superbly long chapters and then…to rewrite them due to extreme suckiness. So anyways, one note is that I don't plan any pairings. Why? I like action more than pairings.
Disclaimer – Same rules apply.
Chapter 2 – MissionsUzumaki Naruto was once again, traveling throughout Water country, in his normal attire, with the sun bearing down on him; his conical hat protecting him from the glaring sunlight. He walked silently, his light footsteps not making any sound as they touched the ground.
Just as he walked past a ditch, more bandits appeared, yelling out threats and curses. Thugs and bandits ran rampant these days, and there were hardly a single stretch of a long road without someone ready to mug you. Ninja were needed just to travel between countries.
"Gimme all your-m…GEH!" the leader of the group yelled as Naruto appeared in front of him, punching him far away. He was not in the mood right now, having just worked 3 days for a damn ramen chef just to pay off his enormous bill. Never thought ramen would be so hard to clean up! Naruto thought, having washed enough dishes to last for his life.
Within a matter of seconds, all of the would-be thugs were on the ground moaning with giant bruises all over their bodies. Naruto went on his way as if nothing had happened, cheerfully whistling.
"Let's see here…ummm…" Naruto whipped out a map from out of thin air and started carefully scrutinizing it "Next town is about…ummm…3,000 miles away…Oh, that can't be right. 3 miles away, great." And so Naruto continued on his long journey alone. I'm sure they'll be clues somewhere in Water Country…I'll definitely find my family!
- - - - - - - - - - -In Konoha
"Damnit old man! You don't have to walk me to the academy! I can go on my own!" A struggling Konohamaru yelled at the short old man dressed in white robes beside him. He was Konohamaru's grandfather, Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage of Konoha.
"Haha, Konohamaru-kun, can't a grandpa see his grandson off on his first day as a genin?" the old man said with a smile on his face.
"NO DAMNIT! I'm not 6 anymore! I can walk to the academy!" Konohamaru vehemently fumed in anger as the old man laughed loudly at his angry grandson.
"Yes, you have grown quite a lot, Konohamaru-kun." The old man placed his hand on Konohamaru's head and ruffled his hair a bit. The moment the Hokage had heard the news with Mizuki and how Konohamaru had beaten him; it was safe to assume that he was shocked. Perhaps slightly more than shocked, but either way, Konohamaru beat a chuunin by himself being only a genin. He might become Hokage some time… the old man silently thought as Konohamaru berated him for ruffling his hair like he was some small child.
Finally, they arrived at the academy and Konohamaru ran off quickly, eager to get away from his grandfather, who only just laughed at the speed the young boy ran with. The Hokage sighed, as he knew his grandson would have to wait for several hours for the jounin teacher that he was assigned to…
The Sandaime turned around and went back to his own home, and briefly glimpsed the Hokage Mountain, in which all the Hokages of the village were carved on, the old man's youthful face being the third one on there. As the Sandaime looked at the fourth face on which the face of the Yondaime had been inscribed, the greatest of all Hokages and protectors of the village, the Hokage was suddenly reminded on what the last moments of the Yondaime's life was for.
Naruto-kun…I wonder how you are doing? Did I make the right choice in sending you away from the village? I hope you are well… The old man silently walked back to his office, where a mountainous pile of paperwork awaited him.
- - - - -Flashback- - - - -
"Are you sure you want to do this, Hokage-sama? My clan will most likely not accept the boy, even though I am their leader." A dark haired man dressed in a long black cloak that covered most of his body and face said. He was currently talking to a younger Sarutobi who was dressed in the usual Hokage's robes.
"Yes, I believe that you owe the Yondaime a favor? Please take care of Naruto, the council has been calling for his death." The Hokage sadly remarked.
"I see…then I will try my best to persuade my clan into accepting him. You know the consequences of this right? He will have no home just like my clan. He might even one day think of your village as an enemy depending on the circumstances."
"Yes, I understand. The life of a wanderer is a bit harsh, but I believe the boy can survive. I don't think he will hate Konoha, the blood of his parents flows in his vein."
"I see… then I will take the boy right now, before the council should suspect anything." The cloaked man looked over the village that was busy rebuilding itself from the Kyuubi's attack. The pair sat silently until the cloaked man stood up and took the baby boy that was cradled in the old man's arms.
There was no goodbyes or farewells or even acknowledgement of what the man was doing; the Hokage simply looked over the village as the cloaked man and the baby in his arms disappeared from Konoha.
- - - - - - End Flashback - - - - -
The said boy that the Hokage was wondering about was currently wandering the roads around Water Country until he arrived in a certain village. This village was his main reason for coming into the Water Country, for a special scroll resided in this area. A scroll that Naruto had been looking for, for over 4 months when he learned of its existence. He had only learned of its location from the last place he traveled to. And hopefully, the scroll would reveal the information he was so desperately looking for.
As soon as he entered the village, he quickly sent up a base of operations, otherwise known as a rooftop of a hotel that he planned to break into to sleep every now and then. Now, he would begin the information gathering.
Naruto walked to the nearest pub he saw, hoping to pick up some info from the locals…
- - - - - - - -Konoha
"WHERE THE HELL IS HE?" The shrill voice of Haruno Sakura rang through the small classroom, effectively making both Sasuke and Konohamaru become deaf. They were the only genins still left in the room; their instructors had picked all the others up already. Even Iruka had to go off to prepare for another class.
"Relax, Sakura-chan, I'm sure he'll come soon." Konohamaru tried to placate Sakura but she only yelled some more. "HE'S BEEN LATE FOR AN HOUR ALREADY? IS THIS GUY REALLY A NINJA?" 2 more hours had passed and there was still no sign of their assigned Jounin instructor.
"Damnit! He'll pay for being late!" Konohamaru ran up to the front, now fully pissed off, opened the door slightly, and placed a chalkboard eraser over the small gap. "He'll pay!"
"Ha? You think that's gonna work idiot? He's a jounin!" Sakura said as Konohamaru sat down giggling. Just as she said that, a silver haired jounin walked into the room, to have the eraser fall on him.
Sakura and Konohamaru blinked before exploding in unrestrained laughter. Sasuke smiled just the slightest bit. Their instructor, who had a forehead protector over his left eye, a blue mask over his lower face and a normal jounin vest, looked peeved before saying
"My first impression of you guys…I don't like you." The jounin nonchalantly said. Sakura and Konohamaru's heads dropped on their desk "Meet me on the rooftop." The teacher disappeared with a sudden burst of wind and leaves. Team 7 looked at each other before silently filing out of the classroom towards the rooftop.
When they reached the rooftop, they found their silver-haired instructor reading a little orange book. He snapped it shut as he saw his team arrive. "Let's start with introductions. Tell me about yourself, likes and dislikes, and dreams with the future. My name is Hatake Kakashi. I like and dislike many things. My goals…are none of your business." Kakashi finished lazily, his tone being a bored one.
All we learned was his name? "My name is Sakura Haruno. I like…Sasuke! I dislike…Ino-pig and Konohamaru!" Konohamaru looked disheartened at this. "And my dream is to marry Sasuke-kun!" She squealed girlishly as all three of them sweat dropped.
"Me next!" Konohamaru declared boisterously "My name is Sarutobi Konohamaru! I dislike people who only know you for your family, Sasuke-teme, people who think they are superior, Sasuke-teme, being in my Grandfather's shadow, Ebisu-pervert, and oh did I mention Sasuke-teme?" Konohamaru looked at Sasuke, who didn't seem to hear anything while Sakura just glared at him "I like training and new techniques and playing around. My dream is to surpass my grandfather and become the greatest Hokage ever!"
He's grown in an interesting way…the Hokage's grandson huh? Interesting teams this year…any now… Kakashi turned towards Sasuke as well as the rest of the team. Konohamaru glared at him in pure hatred while Sakura's eyes gleamed with anticipation.
"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I don't have many likes or dislikes. My dream, no, my goal in life is to revive my clan and kill a man." The Uchiha said with a dark tone, giving off a bad aura.
I see…was all Kakashi said, as he lowered his eyes in sadness, in remembrance of his former subordinate who commited one of the most terrible sins. Sakura looked at Sasuke with amazement and yelled "So cool!" while Konohamaru huffed and turned away "Stop trying to act cool." was all that he said.
Sasuke ignored both his teammates comments, and continued to stay silent as Kakashi began to explain life as a genin.
"Now we will have a certain…skill test tomorrow. Meet me on training ground 7, at 6-tomorrow morning. Don't be late. Oh and don't eat breakfast, you'll throw up." Kakashi lazily waved and disappeared with a puff of smoke. The newly formed genin squad looked at each other in confusion and shock before going their own separate ways.
- - - - - - - - - -
Naruto had been fruitlessly searching for any information for nearly an entire day. He went around the many shops, bars, offices, and libraries but found nothing pertaining to the scroll that he was looking for. After all, there were bound to be plenty of scrolls in this town, why would anyone notice another forgotten and unread scroll in this town? Naruto sighed and returned to the hotel he deemed his base of operations. He picked out a random window and broke in, carefully checking that no one was there.
After getting more comfortable in the room that he didn't pay for, he immediately jumped into bed. He had had a long day after all… Naruto's consciousness faded away as his eyes drooped and slowly, his past flashed before him in his dreams…
- - - - - - Dream Sequence - - - - - -
"Hey old man! Eri-chan just told me about ninja villages!" a young 6-year-old Naruto yelled, racing towards a solitary figure sitting down in a meditating position. The figure looked up to see Naruto running at him.
"Oh really? Was it interesting?" the man asked. Naruto shrugged "Sort of. But why don't we live in a village? Why are we always traveling?" The man thought mulled this over before quickly replying with "Well, I guess I'll tell you about it."
"Our clan is a powerful one, being the most skilled in taijutsu and kenjutsu, though we have no skill whatsoever in ninjutsu or genjutsu. We are the best assassins the world has to offer, specializing in silent kills rather than loud noisy elemental jutsus that ruin any chance at stealth. We are the world's best silent assassins; therefore every ninja village wants our skills and abilities. That is why we are nomadic or always traveling. If we stay in the same place, the villages come after us and try to recruit us just so they could use us and steal our skills and techniques."
"So it that bad?" Naruto asked curiously. The man laughed softly "In some ways, no but in other ways yes. If we settle down in a village, they'll steal our abilities and skills and then use us as tools. We might be ninja, but we are still human with emotions and feelings. We will not allow our children to be used as killing tools."
Naruto pouted as he thought about this "Hmmm… I don't get it at all…" The man laughed once again "I expected that Naruto. So I'll put this in simpler terms, if we settle in a village, people will try to steal all those techniques you worked so hard to learn."
Naruto looked shocked and angry "No way! Even "Shadow Step"? I spent weeks to learn that!" The man laughed once more at the young blonde's antics "Especially Shadow Step. It's one of our clan's most used techniques anyways."
Naruto looked amazed before thinking some more until he looked downcast at the ground "Ne, Old man, where did I come from? The other kids say I ain't from this clan…So where did I come from? Who is my family?"
The man looked saddened before saying "I do not know. But I'm sure you'll find out anyway. All you need to know is that your family loved you very much. You might not be from this clan, but we are a family and family stay together and care for each other."
Naruto looked up in happiness "We…we're family?" The man smiled and looked up in the sky, a mysterious look of happiness on his face.
"Yes Naruto, we're family."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - End Dream- - - - - - - - - - -
Naruto woke up with a start, as there was knocking at the door. "Hello? Is someone there? Who's there! Did you pay for this room?"
"SHIT!" Naruto yelled and jumped out the window from where he came, quickly grabbing his things on the way out. Guess I'll need a new place to sleep…
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -In Konoha
"You mean to say that the entire test…was just to test our teamwork?" a dumbstruck Konohamaru yelled out Kakashi, who nodded simply after reading his orange book. The little strength test they had turned out to be another graduation exam that would decide which teams would pass that year. Kakashi's test involved getting two bells, which was nearly impossible.
Konohamaru had charged at him once they started after Kakashi showed up 4 hours late, using Kage Bunshin as his main strategy, only to be beaten by a single punch from Kakashi who had his head buried in a small orange book. Sasuke did better but ended up with his body buried in the ground. Sakura ended up in a pit crying and muttering about "them" and how they were coming to get her.
It was quite interesting.
After that, Konohamaru ended up tied to a log because he tried to steal his lunch, which was lying right on a forgotten rock. Kakashi warned Sakura and Sasuke not to feed him, but they did anyway, to which Kakashi appeared and told them they passed and left a single bit of advice before he disappeared.
"Those that don't follow the rules are trash, but those that abandon their friends are worse than trash. Don't forget that, as you are now a team from this day forward."
Konohamaru sighed as he walked to his favorite stand, the Ichiraku Ramen stand. That little test sure was annoying…and that Kakashi's fingers ended up in a place that they really shouldn't be. Konohamaru still had trouble sitting down…needless to say, the so-called future Hokage would never speak of this again.
"Stupid Kakashi-sensei…" Konohamaru muttered darkly, "Ah well, missions start tomorrow, guess I gotta sleep early…It's gonna be exciting!" Konohamaru cheerfully jumped up and started running eagerly toward his home.
--The Next Day--
"Your first mission as a new genin of the village of Konoha will be…" the Hokage paused deliberately for effect. Konohamaru was about to die from the anticipation…
"Will be to clean the toilets at a local motel."
"EHHHHHHHHHH????"
- - - - - - - - - - -In a town in Water Country 2 months after Konohamaru's first mission
"So, do you know anything about this scroll?" Naruto asked a man at a restaurant; after he explained what the scroll's contents were about. The man paused before saying "No, but I think I know where you need to look. I heard that there was an extensive scroll library somewhere in Wave Country, if you want to look. Some old guy traveled around the world, collecting scrolls and ended up settling down in Wave Country after he got old. I think your scroll might be there. But I hear that Wave's been taken over by some guy. Gatou I think it was? Anyways, kinda dangerous if you go over there, might need to hire some bodyguards. Also, Gatou probably took all the scrolls, so it might be a tad hard to get the scrolls."
"Wave Country? Got it! Thanks old man!" Naruto grinned, "I've been looking for the scroll for a while! Owe ya one!"
"Yeah yeah, kid, you said you would treat me to lunch so…" the man laughed as he called for the bill "It's about…what the…where did…" the blonde kid that was just sitting there had just disappeared.
"Sir, that'll be 1500 yen."
"T-t-that…that…BRAT! I'LL KILL HIM!" The man screamed as Naruto was already out of the town chuckling.
"Guess that's one more town I'll never go back to. So Wave Country eh?" Naruto lowered his conical straw hat over his eyes before continuing on his face.
This is it…I'll definitely find out who my family are…and where you are, father.
- - - - - - In Konoha
"GIVE US A BETTER MISSION ALREADY GRAMPS!" Konohamaru yelled at the Hokage who was straightening out his papers. Kakashi stood behind him, clearly embarrassed while Sasuke looked away and Sakura glared at Konohamaru, but seemed to agree slightly.
Stupid idiot, yelling at Hokage-sama like that…even if he is his grandson…But I see his point, I'm tired of chasing after that DAMNED CAT! Inner Sakura fumed while she tried to plead her case as well "Yeah, Our missions aren't fit for genin!"
Kakashi sighed and said, "You guys are still genin and only graduated recently, plus you're inexperienced. You gotta work your way up from D-rank missions before you get the higher ones."
"What Kakashi said is true…" the Hokage started "But I believe this team is one of the better skilled genin squads this year. All right, I'll grant you a C-Rank mission as long as you don't complain about any more D-ranked missions in the future!" Konohamaru jumped up with glee yelling, "Don't worry gramps! You won't regret this!"
The Hokage chuckled and said "Your missions is to escort a certain bridge builder back to his home. You won't encounter any other nins since this is a C-ranked, but you might run into a few bandits. Can you do this?" All three genins vehemently nodded.
"Very well, then you will escort Tazuna-san to his home."
"Where is his home?"
"Wave Country."
TBC
A/N that's it for now. I'm trying to focus on bringing Naruto into this fic, which I'll do next chapter. So that's it for now. Please review and stuff like that…not that I write for the reviews, but it sure as hell is an ego booster.
More about Naruto's past later. Shadow Step is irrelevant at this point in time.