Shortly after Team 7's advancement to genin, they were assigned to their first mission together. Naruto was excited, Sasuke was somewhat curious, Sakura had no feelings, and Kakashi felt slightly reminiscent.
"Team 7, you are officially assigned to your first mission,"
Naruto was bouncing on his toes, eyes screaming excitement. He will find out soon enough that it is not what he expected.
"Which is to find the lost cat, Tora."
"Find a cat?!" Naruto's jaw drops.
"Yes, it belongs to the fire daimyo's wife. You must retrieve it and return here."
Naruto and Sasuke had a completely deadpanned look by the time they found Tora. Kakashi had each given them earpieces to communicate with each other.
"Are you all there?"
"Sakura, point A. 10 meters from the target."
"Sasuke at point B. 10 meters. I am ready."
A little bit of shuffling is heard in Naruto's direction.
"...Naruto at point C. I am ready to go."
"Naruto, you are slow. Get the target...NOW!"
Sakura captures the target. Tora instinctively was closer in her radius since they have history.
"Can you confirm that it is the target?"
Sasuke responds to his call.
"Yeah. It's the cat."
"Come back to the base."
She takes a carton of milk and a bowl out of her weapons pouch. She opens the carton and pours the milk out of it. Tora drinks it while Sakura's teammates look at her questionably.
"Cats like milk," she shrugs.
They return to the Hokage Tower with Tora in hand. When they get there, the fire daimyo's wife grabs her cat and squishes it to death.
"Oh Tora! I missed you so much!"
After the cuddlefest is over, Naruto cuts his eyes at the Hokage. He shouts,
"Are you serious? Catching a cat? What do you think we are, A JOKE?!"
Hiruzen chuckles at the kid's outburst. Iruka sends a disproving look to Naruto.
"Naruto, stop being disrespectful! You just became a genin. Genin don't go on dangerous missions to avoid getting injured. For now, you have to stick to these whether you like it or not."
The Hokage interjects, "Actually, I was thinking about trying something new." Iruka just gawks at him.
An old man stumbles into the room, "These little brats are protecting me? What a joke."
"WHAT DID YOU SAY, OLD MAN?"
At the Gates of Konoha
The genin of Team 7 wait (im)patiently for their teacher to arrive. Naruto and their client, Tazuna, are going at it over something nonsensical. Sakura and Sasuke play cards after tuning out the noise. They both place down a card, which is the same number: 5. Annoyed, they groan after declaring war for the 4th time.
"Your dealing is shitty," says Sasuke.
"It's not my fault that you wanted to reshuffle your cards. You saw me shuffle them already," retorts Sakura.
Finally, Kakashi treads up to his team. The males glare as he leisurely approaches them.
"Sorry, a rabbit was stuck in a vent so I had to-"
"WHO CARES?" barks Naruto.
"And to think that you were such a nice person. I'm ashamed of you, Naruto," Kakashi says feigning hurt.
"Can we go already?" Tazuna rolls his eyes. Then, the group sets off on a long trip.
Naruto and Sasuke admire the landscape outside of Konoha. The leaves fall to the ground and the wind whispers gently. Naruto starts to talk to Tazuna, despite their recent bickering.
"What is it like in your town? I bet there are lots of people and fish and boats!" Naruto fantasizes of the foreign place.
"Actually, it's nothing like that," Tazuna hesitates, "we are running out of food and can't really move anywhere else."
Sakura is confused for a second, then it clicks. She shares a skeptical glance with Kakashi, then they look back at Tazuna. She remembers the economic turmoil that had been set off in the Land of Waves earlier on. She was only a child back then when her family visited so her memory was hazy of the event. Before her thoughts would stray further, her inner self pulls her in.
'Sakura, be careful. Don't you recall what happened?'
'Yes. Waves got monopolized by Gato and went bankrupt.'
'No, you buffoon. With our family!'
'Wha-'
Sakura lurches into reality when she hears Kakashi shout. Two dangerous looking shinobi slice him in half with metal gauntlets. Wasting no time, she jumps in front of Tazuna and looks around him. Sasuke restrains the enemies and turns to check on the client. Sakura faces her other teammate to see him shell-shocked. She strides over to him immediately when she notices a wound on his hand. Kakashi's voice reaches her ears once again.
"Sasuke, good job."
Naruto grits his teeth at the praise of his rival. Sasuke smirks at him.
"Scaredy-cat."
"Enou-," Sakura starts but is interrupted by Naruto lifting a kunai. It slams down into his wound, sending blood squirting out and onto her.
"I promise that I won't leave you guys alone. I REFUSE! DATTEBAYO!"
Sakura reaches into her pack for gauze, peroxide, and bandages; she doesn't want to waste any chakra in case there is more trouble ahead. Listening to Kakashi's interrogation, the kunoichi tends to Naruto's hand. The boy winces as she drops liquid onto the wound, but stays steady to avoid further ridicule from Sasuke.
"I am building a bridge to stop Gato from further corrupting our land. But he won't have it; he is using shinobi to prevent us from rebelling. Please don't leave us to die," Tazuna pleads.
"Do you understand the danger that you put my team in? They have just left the Academy and are not prepared for this type of mission. You said it was C-rank, but there are missing-nin coming after your head. Since you lied, we have no obligation to help you. Now my team has a choice: stay or go," Kakashi explicates.
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura eye one another in an attempt to reach a conclusion. In finality, they nod. Kakashi half-expected the bunch to continue on, considering how off the wall they are.
"You are lucky that they are brave," Kakashi threatens. Tazuna shrinks under his glare and turns away.
The team regroups in a diamond formation: Kakashi in the front, Sasuke and Naruto flanking Tazuna's sides, and Sakura following behind. More cautious, Sakura slips back into the conversation with herself while maintaining attention in the real world.
'What were you saying?'
'Our clan used to trade with Gato. We went to the final deal when Kizashi cut off the agreement. Gato wanted too much from us: art, money, even people.'
'Now I remember. Kizashi demanded that he return everything, and Gato was scared of losing his other trade deals. He ended up giving everything back. That is what provoked him to monopolize the Land of Waves.'
'But he wouldn't stop bugging Kizashi.'
'For what?'
'For us.'
'…'
'Do not do any extra shit. If he figures out who we are, then we are fucked.'
Sakura severs the connection between herself. Examining the scene, she gazes all around. Her thoughts put her on edge, and she readies herself for a serious conflict. The grip on her kunai tightens. Sakura's eyes dart toward the bushes that Naruto just threw his weapon at. Prepared to fight, she swirls the kunai in her hand expecting a shinobi, but nothing appears. She admonishes Naruto for scaring the group and they tread forward.
Once again, Naruto slings his weapon only for a snow bunny to hop out, eyes wide in fear. He apologizes to the creature jittery while Kakashi notices something off. It is not winter, so why is the rabbit white? Realization occurs as he screams, "DUCK!" A gigantic sword flies past them, nearly chopping all of their heads off. An intimidating shinobi jumps onto the tree-bound sword and analyzes the crew.