Opening the door, Naruto was graced with the sight of a fuming Ino. Closing the door behind him, Naruto nervously rubbed the back of his head as he cursed. Ino is probably pissed. He had forgotten about his family's annual party that they threw every year. Usually Naruto had a pretty good memory when it came to family commitments, but he had been so excited about his new puppet that he had completely forgot. " Ino-chan... I'm so sorry I'm late but I lost track of time." Putting his arms in front of his face, since he could never be too careful when it came to an angry Ino, she's always been the volatile type.
Ino huffed angrily, "Whatever, its mom you should be worried about not me." She said as she turned around and stomped towards the backyard with Naruto following her. This party that they held every year was a special occasion between the Yamanaka, Akimichi, and Nara clan. It consisted of a big feast and several activities for the younger clan members to enjoy, while the clan heads talked politics.
Luckily he didn't miss that much only the first few games. Hopefully his mom hadn't even notice that he wasn't there. Waving hello to clan members and family friends as he passed by, Naruto didn't stop to chat with them though. He was on a the hunt for one pineapple hair shaped boy. The only way he could get through this family gathering was if his best friend was by his side. Unfortunately his search was put on pause when he ran into one of his older cousins, Fuu.
"Naruto-kun, so you're finally a big bad genin huh?", Fuu said as he wrapped an arm around the blonde. "You're not too much of a big shot yet to play a game of Ino-Shika-Cho dodgeball with your cousin are you? Its tradition after all." The older Yamanaka said as he subtly lead them towards a group of people ready to play.
Releasing a sigh, he figured finding Shikamaru could wait a couple of minutes. Besides dodge ball was one of his favorite games and Fuu wasn't the type to take no for an answer. It wasn't that bad atleast. He always beat his sister and could outlast almost all of the older kids at this game. Their version of dodgeball was slightly different than the regular version. See their version was basically a way for the older kids to pelt the younger kids with balls and passing it off as a game. Fortunately this was the last time he would be on the other side of this game, since he was now considered a full-fledged ninja.
Stepping up to death mountain as the older kids took to calling it. Naruto steeled himself for the war to come. Watching as Fuu grabbed two dodgeballs and donned a cruel expression, somehow he knew this wasn't going to be pleasant.
Dodging the first few throws relatively easy, Naruto began to get cocky. "C'mon Fuu maybe with the next throw you should actually aim to hit me." He said as he stuck out his tounge and blew a raspberry. Seeing visible veins appear in Fuu's forehead, Naruto gulped "Uh oh." he whispered.
"You're gonna regret that remark you little brat." Fuu said as he started to get serious. Usually he halfheartedly tried to hit the younger kids, since if he threw with his full power it would be overkill. "Well since you're a genin now I don't have to hold back my punches anymore."
Smirking, Fuu decided to gradually increase the speed of his pitches to make it see how well Naruto could actually dodge. He wanted to see how much Naruto's skills had grown since the last time they played, besides he was assigned to keep track of the progress of the two Yamanaka brats. Toying with the ball in his hands Fuu confidently said "You better get serious brat, because I'm not going to hold back." Throwing the ball with a bit more power than the last time to emphazise his point.
Fuu was impressed. Naruto had lasted about 25 minutes and the only reason he gotten out was because of a silly mistake. He had tripped over a root. His sister wasnt too far off behind him either. She had lasted about 19 minutes before him. Both the clan and Fuu were pleased with the steady progress the two Yamanaka brats had been showcasing lately. It was no secret that these two had quickly become the clan's hope of climbing out of anonymity.
After that last round of Ino-Shika-Cho dodgeball, the family feast was finally ready. Soon after the head Yamanaka family watched as family and friends piled out of their party and to their respective houses signifying a succesfully gathering.
*The Next Day*
Naruto was sleeping peacefully when he was awakening by cold water splasing onto his face. Now usually this wouldn't be a big deal, since his sister loved to torment him this way. But this time was different. As the water came crashing down onto him, he also felt a bucket hit him soon after. Sitting up straight he glared at his annoying sister, as he rubbed his head feeling a bump forming.
"Naruto-Baka... wake up! I have a surprise for you!" Ino said, in a sing-song voice.
Several hours later Naruto regretted getting out of his bed. Turns out the "surprise" his sister had in store was shopping. That's not even the worse of it though. She was taking him shopping for clothes. Yuck.
Apparently she didn't like his taste in his style. What was wrong with her? he was the very definition of awesome, cool, and stylish.
Grumbling for the tenth time today he watched Ino shift through another pile of clothes trying to find the perfect look. The blond hero just couldn't comprehend the big deal about clothes, but he had enough common sense to not argue with his sister no matter how much he wanted too. With things like this it was easier for him to give him and let her have her way.
Finally she seemed satisfied with the clothes she had found and had shoved him into the nearest dressing room to try them on. Sighing to himself, he might as well get this torture over with. No reason to drag it on. Putting the clothes on Naruto gave himself a curiositive glance and appreciated what he saw. No matter what anyone said about Ino, she did know what she was talking about when it came to fashion. Now he was sporting a short sleeved black jacket with a orange mesh undershirt accompanied with black shorts and black fingerless gloves. His new wardrobe didn't stop there though. He even had a new pouch that could hold his poisons, senbon, kunai, and shuriken. He was also able to buy himself a scroll holder strapped near his upper left shoulder. He looked hot and badass. Striking a few poses in the mirror, Naruto smirked. Hopefully his crush would be just as appreciative of his brand new look.
Ino's patience was running thin, she didn't want to spend any more time painting someones fence, babysitting some snot-nosed brat, or running errands to the store for old people. She had enough! She was a ninja she wanted something more... exciting , she would even take a stupid Tora mission right about now. She just needed something to get her blood pumping and adrenaline running. It didn't have to be some prince saving mission, she was realistic afterall, the Hokage wouldn't send a genin team on that type of mission, she just needed something different thats all. With that thought in mind she walked behind Kakashi-sensei and in front of the rest of her team into the Hokage's office to pick up their next mission.
Settling into the Hokage's room the trio of genin waited to see what chore they would be forced to do today. Giving the genin and his son a soft smile Sarutobi organized the papers on his desk into a neat corner. "Well what mission do you and your genin want to tackle today Kakashi-kun?" Seeing the annoying look he gave him for the "kun", The Hokage let a small smile grace his lips. It was the little things after all. He had to get his kicks in some way doing paperwork all day long can be extremely boring.
"I have some lovely D-rank missions you can choose from. We just got a new patch early today. Now, lets see...hmmm you can either clean the basement of counselor Homaru, or you can babysit young Konohamaru-kun, but if you want something more excited you can walk the Inuzuka clan's dog. I've heard they've been quite rowdy lately."
"Well I think my team is ready for a C-rank mission. Nothing too difficult of course, maybe a delivery mission or something." Kakashi said, surprising both his team and the Hokage.
Not one to be caught with his mouth agape so to speak. "Well I'm glad you're confident in the abilities of your team, especially so soon. I have the perfect mission for you. The mission I want you to take is a pretty simple one. All you have to do is protect a bridge builder until he finishes a bridge. Your team will leave in a couple of days." Giving the group a smile he dismissed them and slowly got back to the bane of his existence...paperwork.
Ino walked home with a smile on her face she couldn't believe it! Her first C-rank mission, and she didn't even have to use her powers of persuasion to get it. It would've been embarrassing too, having to yell out and whine to get her way. What would the Hokage think of her then, but more importantly what would her teammates think of her? Some whiny little brat who would do anything to get her way? Well that description wasn't too far off.
Finally reaching her home she opened the door, said a quick "I'm home", before toeing off her sandals. She gave her mom, who was in the kitchen, a quick hug before walking to her dads office to tell him the great news. Knocking on the door twice she waited for an answer, hearing a quiet, but firm, "Come in."
She opened the door and strolled into the room. To her surprise her brother was in the office he usually was only in there when he got in trouble for a stupid prank, or for skipping school with Shikamaru and Choji. He promised to stop all the silly pranks once he became a genin, but old habits died hard she assumed.
Taking a seat "Sorry to interrupt Dad, but I needed to tell you that I'll be leaving the village for about a month. I can't tell you all the details, but I'm taking on a C-rank mission with my team."
Beaming at his daughter Inoichi preened with pride, but was interruped by his second favorite child as of late.
"WHAT!? YOUR TEAM GOT A C-RANK MISSION BEFORE MINE!? HOW DARE GRAMPS GIVE ONE TO YOU BEFORE ME!" Naruto jumped up and shouted.
"Don't be too jealous, its only natural I would get one before you. Even the Hokage can see that I'm way more talented than you." Ino said cockily, as she flipped her hair.
Before a fight could break out between the siblings Inoichi intervened, "Now, I'm sure the Hokage will give your team a C-rank mission in due time Naruto-kun. I'm very proud of both of you. Once im finished talking to Naruto I'll help you pack accordingly for your first big mission, princess. Don't think I forgot about what you did Naruto." He said as his proud smile turned into a glower as he shifted his attention back to his child.
Hugging her father she turned to leave the room, but being Konoha's resident gossip princess she couldn't help but wonder what Naruto did to make their dad so angry. She prided herself on being the gossip princess(her mom holding the unofficial title gossip queen), but she wasn't stupid. She knew better than to stick her nose where it didn't belong when it came to clan business. It was a Yamanaka rule that things said in the clans heads' office were to stay private, besides her dad could sense her before she even got close enough to hear the gossip.
Waiting for his daughter to close the door Inoichi turned to his other child and spoke in a harsh tone. "So you decided to learn a forbidden Yamanaka clan jutsu without my permission and thought you could get away with that? And then to add ontop of that you decided to dip into the clans funds to buy the equipment needed to perform said jutsu? Naruto swore he could feel the room's temperature drop "While I can't do anything about you learning this technique, I forbid you from practicing it without my supervision and you can only use it in dire situations until you have my approval. Is that crystal clear son?" Inoichi said leaning forward.
Nodding his head furiously, Naruto had never seen his dad so angry before. "I swear Dad you have my word!"
"Good your dismissed." As Naruto began to leave the room he continued.
"Oh one more thing, I want you to pay back what you took from the clan coffers and until you pay it back in full your grounded until further notice. Barring team training and missions of course."
When the door closed behind him, Naruto released a sigh. That could've gone way worse considering he got off relatively easy and he knew he was going to be on thin ice for a very long time. "Well I guess its time to be on my very best behavior for a while." He muttered to himself as he headed towards his room.
Kakashi was waiting for his team and the client, some bridge builder from the Land of the Waves. Seeing his group of little brats walking towards the gate, he quickly stashed his icha icha paradise book away. He rather not listen to one of Ino's rant about his favorite novel again.
"I'm glad your all here on time, now im going to tell you now that you should'nt get your hopes up. This is going to be a fairly simple C-rank mission with a low probability of any danger. At best we might encounter some bandits, but besides that we should be fine. Now all thats left is waiting for our client to show up."
Tazuna was nervous, today was the day he would make the trek back to his country. He knew Gato and his hired help was going to be after him and it scared the shit out of him. Hopefully the Hokage supplied him with the cream of the crop of ninja he had available for the price he paid. He only had enough money for a C-rank mission and he hoped it would be enough to survive to see his bridge built. Taking another swig from his flask, he turned the corner to the gate to greet this escorts.
"Thats it!? These three brats are supposed to my escorts? These kids are barely old enough to go to school much less be ninja and shouldn't you be playing with dolls or something blondie?" Tazuna said with distain pointing a finger at Ino.
Before Ino could fly of the handle, Kakashi intervened. "Now I assure you that each one of my brats are fully capable of handling the dangers of a C-rank mission. Anything outside of their league I'm fully equipped to handle so theres no need to be worried. Unless theres something we need to know about?"
Coughing a bit at the last statement, Tazuna took another sip of his drink and shook his head. "Whatever as long as they can protect me I don't care." and walked out of the village gates and towards his inevitable death.
Author's Note: Hope yall like this chapter, let me know what you think in the comment sections :) - Luv, Xabu
