4- C-ranked at last!
"Oba-chan, I have to go or I'll be later than Kakashi-sensei" said a little red-head to a fussing Nara mother. She packed anything she would need in a sealing scroll: a change of clothes, extra weapons, utilities, and some food. Her little backpack was mainly for two blank scrolls and extra ink. Yoshino cried softly.
"My baby girl is going on her first big mission!" the bear hug came soon after. "Here, I made you a bento. Did you pack enough toothpaste? I love you my sweet lovely girl."
"Yes oba-chan, bye, I love you too" with a kiss, she departed from the house.
Her teammates were already at the gates. They greeted her and declined her offer to seal their packs. The morning was cool. Their sensei appeared with the first sunlight ray.
"Yo my cute students. Our mission will take us south of our border with River country where we'll deliver supplies to a hunternin team. They should meet with us in a day. Let's go team."
The four ninja hoped from tree to tree with great speed. The canopy was keeping the air cool in the early morning. But soon enough, they were met by the vast prairie of the land of Fire southwest part. Their pace went down but they made it in time. As Kakashi told them to stop, he pulsed his chakra four times. Four hunternins and a grey dog came from the ground and the bushes.
"Team 7 reporting for a supply run" said the jounin
The hunters greeted them and took the team to their camp. A blond masked man presented himself as the leader. Kakashi unsealed food ration bars and new gear, for inspection. Satisfied, the blond took a scroll from his pouch.
"Could you take that to Hokage-sama? We can't go back now because we're on a trail." At the jounin nod, he pursued "you're welcome to stay with us tonight. We'll go back on the hunt early in the morning."
"Sir could you tell me about the hunternin's life, please" asked Shino.
"An Aburame, heh? We have a lot of you in our ranks. The pay is good, but you have to be a good tracker and even better at setting ambushes. It's quite hard because you could walk on a half dozen missing-nin so at last three escape plans are mandatory in any situation. Low-ranked target often band together trying to trap us. But if you are tough enough, with trustworthy teammates, you have better chances to make it."
"Wait" said a brown-haired man looking at Naruto, "you're the Uzumaki kid, aren't you?" Team 7 tensed. "Would you have some healing balm to spare? We're running low and the stuff you make is great. The supplies I got from the Nara store are all used." They released their breath. "Don't worry, your a good kid in my book. We don't carry a lot of cash but we collected some things to trade."
An overjoyed Naruto, with a ear-to-ear smile traded two Uzumaki medical kits and a bunch of shocking tags for a little sky blue gemstone and ten kilogram of boar meat.
"In each kit" explained the teen, "you have some healing cream for light cuts and muscles aches, a wound sealing paste for the deep cuts that will work for five days. Don't take more than one blood or chakra pill every six hours. A food pill will keep you energized for two days, but you'll sleep for the same amount of time when the effects fade. Then this is a cast seal: just put it on the broken limb and add some chakra. You'll be able to move for about two days."
After dinner, the teens were sent to their sleeping bags. The ninjas parted way at sunrise. Halfway back, Kakashi used a nearby lake to teach them water-walking, as they already knew tree-climbing. Amazingly, Naruto got it first despite her tremendous chakra supply. The boys followed soon after.
"Team 7 repporting a successful mission, Hokage-sama" said the jonin as he gave the hunter's scroll to his leader.
"Here's vouchers to claim your money. Good work." smiled Sarutobi.
"Team, you have the day off. We'll meet tomorrow for another mission. Would you have an escort C-rank, please, Hokage-sama?" the sandaime looked over his files.
"Komio-san, our metal trader, is going to Iron country to bargain raw materials. It's the yearly market, the only event when that country tolerate foreigners. A genin team go as bodyguard and their sensei wait outside their borders. That their conditions. Team 7 will leave tomorrow at noon. Naruto-chan, Choji-kun, Shino-kun, I trust you with his life. You'll be able to make some purchases of your own but keep your client in sight at all time, understood?"
"Hai hokage-sama" intoned the teens.
Three days later, the genin, Komio and his wagon were put under the guard of the Iron country's samurai as Kakashi stayed in Fire country soil. Snow was everywhere. Finally they made it to the market town. They rented two rooms at the inn. Shino would place some sentry in the client's because of his bugs awareness and Naruto placed monitoring seals on the wall, ceiling, floor, door and windows. As much as the outside was cold, the inn was perfectly heated. The teens would share the night guard.
Komio, was scary: the old shark was able to get at last ten per cent of any price. He was little, a bit on the chubby side, with a short silver beard and, a blue bucket hat, a simple kimono and a long coat. To the genin...he was a fucking bastard: he rambled that today's kids didn't have any respect for their elders or that they were too weak to be ninja. They took it in stride. As he took his afternoon nap under Shino's guard, Naruto and Chouji looked around the stalls. The red-head purchased a long staff made of chakra conductive metal ending in a diamond shape. It was really light. Choji bought some chakra metal that he would need to make his clan armor.
"Young missy, would you like to see our goods?" asked a black-haired, fur wearing woman. The children approached her stall. "I have the finest silk and the sturdier chakra conductive strings in all the elemental country. Feel its softness! White, royal or sky blue, emerald-green, as black as a moonless night, pink, yellow or as red as your pretty hairs, I have a lot of choice. Moreover it's as tough and durable as leather, maybe even more perfect for young ninja such as you. Please, try to tear it, I put my reputation on the table!"
Indeed, the silk was soft as fur and too tough to tear. Naruto got rolls of red, black and white silk and a dozen strings rolls.
That night, she volunteered to fetch the team's dinner, as their client ordered from the expensive room-service. She exited a ramen parlor with her take out when she saw a white-haired boy in his late teens, maybe about 17 years old. He didn't seem to mind the cold as he was only wearing a light lavender, loose-fitting, long-sleeved, opened kimono top, black pants cut off around mid-calf and a purple rope belt. She was fascinated by the two red dots on his forehead, his pale skin and green eyes. She blinked and he was gone, just like a dream. She jumped in fright as a hand landed on her shoulder. She turned on her heels then froze in front of the emotionless green-eyed glare.
"Why did you stare at me" asked the toneless boy. Naruto blushed as red as her hairs.
"I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean to." she stammered. He glared some more before walking pass her.
"W-wait!" she half-shouted "ano, my name is Uzumaki Naruto...May I have yours, please?" He stared back to her eyes, then to her forehead protector.
"Kaguya Kimimaro" he walked away.
They met back with a relieved Kakashi, at the border. One hour on the road, bandits assaulted them. Choji crushed them with the Nikudan Sensha, Shino sent a wave of kikaichu to feast on them and Naruto pelted them with shurikens or used her taijutsu if they were near the wagon. After being dismissed of the Hokage office, a visibly upset Naruto ran to her home. Even Yoshino couldn't break her mood. After the girl showered, the Nara woman dragged her to dinner.
"I'm sorry oba-chan, it's just...I discovered that I wasn't a very good fighter. How can I protect anyone if I can't use what I know?" she cried. Shikaku took her hand to lead her under the porch. He sat and put her in his lap.
"When we took you in, two years ago, you though you were weak. You asked me to make you strong. Do you remember? I told you that I didn't know anybody stronger that you, and I still think it, Naru-chan. Please, what happened on your mission?"
"I...everything was fine. W-we were on the way back. Bandit tried to attack the wagon. We dispatched them but I was restricted to Shurikens, Kage bunshins and taijutsu. My other skills take time to use. What if, next time, ninja attack us? Shinobi are way faster!" she snuggled in his arms. Shikaku sighed.
"You have a lot of skills: taijutsu, kinjutsu, fuinjutsu, shurikenjutsu. Clan specialise in certain aspect to use it to maximum efficiency. You used Kage bunshin to train in different ninja arts. But when they disperse, there is only one of you. Maybe it's time to hone a single skill for now." The red-head froze. Yes, when the Kage bunshins disperse, she gain all their skills, so...That's it! She put a big kiss on the Nara lips.
"I love you ojisan! You're the best!" she yelled as she ran to her room. She came back downstairs, kissed Shikamaru and Yoshino, then...ran back to her room, leaving three incredulous people. She knew what to do, but for tonight...she jumped on her bed and was asleep before her head touched the pillow.