I just have to put this out there: PladPajamas01, thanks so much! It's been a while since anyone's reviewed and it's things like yours that keep me writing and it really boosts my moral. You rock and hopefully when all the editing is done you'll enjoy my story even more! : )
Sasuke's voice buzzed through the wireless radio "Sasuke. I'm in point A."
"Sakura. I'm in point C."
"...Kirika ...I'm in point D."
"... Naruto. I'm in point B."
"You're slow Naruto." Kakashi's voice was muffled by static "OK, squad seven. The target has moved! Follow it!"
"Over there." Naruto whispered from behind a tree.
"What's your distance from the target?" Kakashi asked
"Five meters, just give the signal, I'm ready." Naruto responded, gripping his head set.
"I'm ready too." Sasuke nodded
"Me too."
"Can I please just summon a snake and catch the thing?" Kirika's voice was dull.
"We can't risk harming it. Hold your position." Kakashi ordered.
"Fine."
"Now!" Kakashi yelled
Naruto grabbed the cat. "I got 'em! I got 'em!" The cat hissed and writhed in Naruto's arms, scratching and clawing, most of which connected with his face.
"Can you verify the ribbon on the right ear?" Kakashi asked
"Affirmative, we have a positive ID." Sasuke confirmed
Kirika watched the cat with quiet, angry eyes as it continued to claw at him.
"Alright. Lost pet Tora captured. Mission accomplished." Kakashi nodded
"CAN'T WE GET A BETTER MISSION THEN THIS!? I HATE CATS!" Naruto yelled
"Oh, my poor little Tora. Mommy was worried about her little fuzzykinz, yes~" The daimyo's obese wife smothered her cat.
"No wonder he ran away." Sakura frowned
"Ha-ha! Stupid cat! That kitty deserves to be squashed!" Naruto laughed
Kirika let out a quick, laughing breath. A small smile on her lips, she leaned in next to Naruto. "I swear, I was this close to breaking it's neck." She didn't mind remedial tasks. But finding lost cats? That hurt her pride.
"Ditto." Naruto whispered back.
"Good work today, kids." Kirika's mother smiled after looking over Kakashi's mission report. She put the form into a folder and flipped through another bin of papers, selecting a few and piling them in her arms. "How was it?"
"Went off without a hitch." Kakashi said
Kirika liked seeing her mother at work. Missions brought her frequently to the hokages towers where Hideko worked.
"Now then." The Hokage looked over the stack of papers Hideko passed to him. "For squad seven's next mission we have several available tasks. Among them, babysitting the chief councillor's three-year old; Helping his wife to do the shopping; digging up potatos and-"
"Noooo!" Naruto wined "I wanna go on a real mission! Something challenging and exciting! Not this kid stuff! Come on old man!"
"How dare you!" Iruka yelled "You're just a brand new genin with no experience! Like everyone else you're supposed to start out with simple missions to develop your skills and prove yourself!"
"Are you serious!? Babysitting's not a mission! It's just a stupid- AH!" Kakashi hit Naruto on the back of his head, he fell hard.
"Naruto, just put a lid on it." Kakashi sighed
"Naruto." the Hokage said "It seems you do not understand the tasks you've been given. Listen, many different types of requests come into our village every day, from babysitting to assassination," he began explaining about the A, B, C, D, and S ranked missions...
Naruto leaned over and whispered to Kirika. "So I had this tempatsu ramen yesterday,"
"Yeah? Ichiraku?"
"Nah, instant. And I'm thinking miso ramen today-"
"Silence!" Sarutobi shouted.
"You're always lecturing me like you're my grandfather or something! I'm not the same little kid who use to pull pranks, I'm a ninja now! And I want a ninja mission!"
Sarutobi chuckled "Naruto wants us to know he's not a brat anymore, he's a former brat, and he wants a mission. So be it. Since you're so determined, I'll give you a C ranked mission. Hideko! Has anyone filled the mission from the man from the Land of Lightning?"
Kirika's mother flipped through her folder. She slammed the folder to the table suddenly, covered her mouth with her elbow and began coughing so violently that she doubled over.
At an instant Kirika was at her side with a hand on her back. "Mother! Are you alright!?"
"Do you need a minute? Water?" The Hokage asked
Hideko raised a finger of her free hand until her coughing stopped. "Oh, no. I'm fine. Sorry." She cleared her throat, picked up the folder and flipped a few pages. "Um... yes, Team Daiki was deployed for it this morning."
Kirika kept a hand on her mother's shoulder. Once her composure was regained she took Kirika's hand and gave her a reassuring smile and nod that she was fine.
The Hokage returned to the matter at hand. "Very well then, the one from the Land of Waves."
Hideko gave him a questioning look. "...Yes, that's free."
"Very well. Squad Seven will be body guards on a journey."
"Sounds fun." Kirika said
"Really?" Naruto became excited. "Yes! Who are we guarding? A princess? Or some big league councilor?"
"Don't be so impatient, I'll bring him in now. Send in our visitor!"
The door opened. "What the...? a bunch of snot noses kids!?" The man was an old drunkard, he started chugging from a bottle of alcohol. "And you, the little one with the idiotic look on his face, you really expect me to believe you're a ninja?"
"Hahaha! who's the little one with the idiotic look on his face!?" Naruto laughed.
The other three stepped towards him. The order of height: Sasuke; Kirika; Sakura; Naruto.
"Hum...?" Naruto suddenly got the message. "I'll demolish you! Let me at him!" Kirika grabbed the back of his jacket to keep him in place.
"Not until after the mission." Kirika scolded
"Good luck." The man chugged more alcohol. "Ah! I am Tazuna, master bridge builder. And I must return to my country immediately. I'm building a bridge there that will change all of our lives, and I expect you to get me there safely, even if it means giving up your lives."
Hideko was at first objective to the mission the Hokage had assigned Squad Seven. Not in front of them, certainly, but once the five left to prepare. Lord Hiruzen wanted to teach Naruto a lesson by sticking him with the old drunk, which Hideko understood. She rather liked Naruto. He was the only friend Kirika had ever brought home. Not long after the first day Hideko picked Kirika up from the academy, he'd been waiting with her. He'd eaten dinner with them that night and slept over, too. Hideko didn't want to turn him away. She didn't know the boy, but she'd known his parents well.
And while knowing that he was indeed a mischievous one and understanding the Hokage's reasons for assigning him this mission, she didn't like the idea of Kirika being so far from the village... he was out there. But she was never praticurlarly skilled at arguments, and not even Kakashi's objection could sway the stubborn man. Lord Hiruzed would have his way. He assured her that her daughter would be fine and gave her the afternoon off to see Kirika to the gate... Hideko had never dared to go further. Never. Now She stood at the village gate, seeing Kirika off on her first trip outside the village in almost two years.
She hugged Kirika tightly, practically smothering her. "...and be careful."
"I will."
"Don't talk to strangers."
"I can't promise that."
"But be safe."
"I will."
"Eat properly and brush your teeth every morning and night!"
"I will, Mother!"
"And be careful about this client. He's sketchy." She whispered.
"Okay." Kirika laughed
"I love you Kirika!"
"I love you too!" Kirika wriggled out of her grasp. "Don't worry. I'll be fine."
She pulled Kirika back. "I mean it, Kirika, be careful!" She paused to cough. "You're Uncle Jaraiya said that on is first mission out of the village and he came back with crutches and two broken arms!"
"I've never met the man, but you make him sound crazy."
Kakashi put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll make sure she gets home in one piece."
She hugged Kirika close again. "Thank you Kakashi." She smiled.
Kirika smiled. "Oh yes. Thank you Kakashi."
"Of course. I wouldn't dream of letting you out of my sight."
Thiers was a constant underlying power struggle...
Hideko pulled Naruto into a hug too. "And that goes double for you, Naruto! You're more like Jaraiya than her!"
"Who-Ah! Miss H! You're smothering me!"
"I just worry so much about you two." She loosened her grip. She looked up as Sasuke. "And don't think I've forgotten about you, young man! You remember to eat properly!"
Sasuke looked away, his face pink.
"And Sakura." Hideko smiled "I hope to be seeing more of you when you get back."
"You bet." Sakura smiled back, sincere enough, but her eyes stole a lidded glance at Kirika that made it clear that venturing into Kirika's house was the last thing she wanted to do.
"Yeah!" Naruto yelled "Alright! This is the first time I've ever left the village! I'm at traveler now, Believe it!" naruto said excitedly
"Are you done with your love fest? Am I supposed trust my life to this runt? he's a joke!" Tazuna complained
Kakashi chuckled "He's with me, and I'm a jonin, don't worry."
"Hey! Never insult a ninja, it's a big mistake! and I'm one of the greatest ninja ever! Someday I'll be hokage and you'll look up too me. My name's Naruto Uzumaki! Remember it!" Naruto barked
He took another swing from his sake bottle. "Hokage are powerful and wise, you are puny and brainless. The day you become hokage I'll spread wings and fly."
"Ugh! Shut up! I'm willing to do anything to become hokage! I'll do whatever it takes!" he yelled "Then everyone will have to admit I'm the top ninja! Including you!"
"You can become hokage ten times over but to me you'll still be nobody."
"I'm gonna make you pay for that!" He yelled. Kirika grabbed his jacket.
"Naruto, what did I tell you about killing the client before we complete the mission?" She sighed "Just calm down."
Naruto turned his head to the side "Humph, fine."
Tazuna looked Kirika over. "Eh... you're a funny looking one."
"I get that."
"..." His eyes widened and he backed up a bit. "No way! You can't be!"
Naruto looked at Kirika curiously.
Fancy that. He recognized her. Well, Kirika was somewhat infamous in the underworld. Her very existence seemed to make for gossip. A smile touched her lips.
"Can't I?" Kirika's eyes flickered up towards a tree a ninja, no, two were hiding.
Her focus was broken by more of her mothers coughs, less violent than in the Hokage's tower.
Kakashi put one hand on Kirika's shoulder and his other on Naruto's and marched them off. "Come on now, we better get going."
"Oh! Wait!" Hideko called. She held a paper bag. "I made you all lunch. It's rice balls, don't forget to eat!" She waved as they left. Kirika waved back and did a double take. She frowned and supressed worry in her gut and told herself she had not seen a red splotch on the elbow where her mother had covered her mouth...
The first little while went smoothly. Sakura asked about the Land of Wave's military; Kakashi explained its state affairs. Kirika had no interest in the Land of Waves, considering Orochimaru had abandoned it. The ninja were still tailing them.
Kakashi started explaining about the importance of the five kage.
"Ah! Then lord hokage's really important!" Sakura said excitedly
"Hey!" Kakashi snapped "You all just doubted lord hokage, didn't you! That's what you were thinking!" Sakura and Naruto shook there heads nervously.
Kakashi patted Sakura's head "Well there are no ninja battles on a C ranked mission, so you can relax." he assured
"Then were not gonna run into any foreign enemy ninja or anything like that." Sakura said
"Hahaha, not likely." Kakashi laughed
Kirika eyed Tazuna curiously, she didn't miss how he tensed.
Two hours passed. The two ninja were still tailing close behind.
"Hey, Kira. Do you have your sword?" Naruto asked
"Katana." She corrected. "My particular katana is a snake sword."
"Yeah, yeah. Do you have it?"
"Yup."
"Where?"
"In my stomach."
"What!? How?"
"How do you think?"
Naruto made a face, but soon grew bold again. "Can I hold it?"
"Not a chance." She grinned
Naruto pouted.
Sakura and Sasuke trailed behind them, Sakura was attempting to flirt with Sasuke, despite his lack of interested.
Kakashi and Tazuna were in the back.
"Hey Kakashi." Tazuka tried to keep his voice low.
"Hum, yeah?" he said
"That one." he said, motioning to Kirika. "Is she really that man's child?"
"Yeah." Kakashi made his voice as quite as possible. "Try not to talk about it, the others don't know." Tazuna nodded.
Kirika held back a small smile. She took it as flattery.
Sasuke walked quicker, cutting Naruto off from Kirika. "What are that talking about? Is your dad rogue or something?" His voice was an odd mixture of boredom and curiosity... perhaps it wasn't boredom, but his voice was monotone.
Kakashi looked tiredly over them, he shot Kirika a curt and inconspicuous shake of the head.
As if she would tell Sasuke about Orochimaru just because he asked.
Kirika caught the gesture from the corner of her eye without so much as the flicker of her pupils, and smiled at Sasuke. "You can make up your own story about that. The real one's none of your business." She glanced at Naruto and Sakura too, knowing that they were curious too. "But hey, guess right and win a prize."
Sasuke glared at her. She was screwing with him.
Naruto put his elbow on her shoulder, his nocked hers lightly. "You're dad was an enemy spy! He infiltrated the Leaf on a sabotage mission, but fell in love with your mom and gave it up. They married and had you, but then an assassin from his village tried to take him out for turning traitor. That's when your mom found out he was a spy and turned him in, thinking their relationship was a sham. Facing criminal charges and unable to return to his own village, he ran away with you, his only remaining family. You spent your life running from the law, until you were five, and he a bounty hunter finally caught him. He died in the fight but you were able to escape. Without anywhere to go, you wandered aimlessly through the woods where you were found and raised by wolves- No! Snakes! Until Leaf ninja found you by chance!"
"...How'd you know?"
"Wait, Really!?"
"No way. Really?" Sakura asked, skeptically.
"What can I say? He reads me like a book." Kirika chuckled. "Ever wondered why I took that snap at you first day?"
Sakura bristled.
"Haha! Eat it Sasuke! Kira, you owe me a prize! Come on, let me see your sword!"
"I will give you lessons once we make camp."
"Alright!"
Sasuke opened and closed his mouth. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "That. Cannot. Be true."
"Naruto had it down to the last detail... Well, it was a poorly placed paper bomb that did him in, not a bounty hunter, the clumsy fool." Kirika smiled like a madman. Like she'd made a hilarious joke only she was in on. She eyed Sasuke; gaze as critical and piercing as ever, amused over his dissatisfaction. "Let's change the topic. If we talk about my dead family I may break down and cry."
That made Sasuke glare harder.
"What? No time for a girl's tears? Why, I may cry harder at your indifference."
"Don't screw with me."
Kirika waved her hand. "Fine. Fine. But do try not to be so cold. How do you expect to make friends otherwise? Not to mention finding a girlfriend."
Sasuke scoffed.
"I have been wondering, can you use your sharingan yet?"
"That's none of your business."
"Fair enough. You hypocrite."
"Don't let her under your skin, Sasuke." Kakashi sighed. "Petty games for a petty child."
Kirika laughed.
Kakashi slid his arms in the space between them and opened them to push Sasuke and Kirika away from one another. "And you can both can mind your own business."
They passed a puddle. The two ninja were hidden inside it.
When they were a few meters away from the puddle, the ninja leaped out of the puddle and caught Kakashi with a chain that was attached to there gloves. "Do It!" they pulled on there joined chain and shredded Kakashi to ribbons. Kirika raised an eyebrow and watched without moving.
"Ka-Kakashi sensei!" Naruto yelled
The ninja appeared behind him. "Now it's your turn."
The whipped there chains at Naruto, but lucky for him, Sasuke jumped into the air and pinned there chain into a tree. He landed on the there armored gloves and, using the gloves for a hand-hold, kicked them both square in the faces.
They disconnected there chain and rand for Sakura and Tazuna. So the bridge builder is their target.
"I've got to stop them! I've got to stop them!" Sakura yelled. She put herself in front of Tazuna. "Stay behind me!"
The ninja lunged at her. Kirika grinned and pointed her arms out. snakes ejected both of her sleeves and wrapped themselves around the attackers, stopping them dead in there tracks. They dug there fangs into any possible area they could on the enemy ninja's body. The attackers cried out in pain. It was at that moment that Kakashi grabbed them.
"Hi. Kirika, Call back your snakes, please." he said.
"You let go of them. I'm saving us rope." She sighed "They were so weak..."
"Huh?" Naruto stammered "But he was...! What?" Naruto looked back at the spot where Kakashi was 'killed', but all that was there was scattered logs. "Kakashi sensei... used the replacement justu?"
"Naruto, sorry I didn't help you right away. I didn't think you'd get hurt... I just didn't think you'd freeze up like that." Kakashi apologized "Good job Sasuke, very smooth. You too Sakura."
Kirika didn't miss how he chose not to praise her. She snickered.
"Hey." Sasuke called to Naruto
"Y-Yeah!?"
"You're not hurt are you? Scaredy cat." Sasuke mocked
"GRRR! SASUKE!" Naruto yelled, about to charge.
"NARUTO!" Kakashi yelled "Stand still! Those ninja have poison in there claws, we need to take it out of you quickly. You have to open your wound and remove it, it's in your blood so don't move around. That spreads the poison." He looked to Tazuma. "By the way, mister Tazuna?"
"Huh? Yeah, what!?"
"We need to talk. They're chunin from the village hidden in the mist, " Kakashi said, motioning at the ninja who has attacked us. "there specialty is relentless attack, they keep fighting no matter what the sacrifice."
Kirika tisked. They sure kept fighting. They were still tangled in the snakes.
"H-how did you know about our ambush?" one of them asked
"A puddle? on a clear day? When it hasn't rained in weeks? Please."
The snakes slithered out from Kirika's arms, detaching themselves from her. They remained restraining the ninja as she walked to the grass at the side of the road and started picking through it.
"In that case, why'd you leave it to the genin to do the fighting?" Tazuna asked
"Well, I could have taken them out quickly, but then I'd have learned nothing. I needed to know who there target was and what they were after."
"Hm? what are you getting at?" Tazuna asked
"I wanted to know if they were after us: ninja attacking ninja, or you: the master bridge builder. When you put in your request, you asked for stranded protection from robbers and highway men. You didn't say there were ninja looking for you. If we knew this, it would be a B rank mission or higher. Our task was simply to get you to your destination and protect you while you finish building your bridge. If we knew we would be fielding attacks from enemy ninja we could have stacked it and charged you for a B ranked mission. Apparently you have your reasons, but lying to us is out of the question. We are now beyond the scope of this mission."
"We're genin, this missions to advanced for our level of training, we should go back. And I really think we need to treat Naruto's wound and get the poison out as soon as possible. Back in out village we can take him to a doctor." Sakura said
"Hmm, Naruto's hand could become a problem. I guess we should go back to the village." Kakashi said thoughtfully.
"I agree. Most genin are liable to die on missions of this level." Kirika nodded
Most. Kakashi caught that.
Naruto pulled a kunai and plunged it into his hand to dig the poison out. "Why am I so different? Why am I always, ugh!"
"Naruto! stop that! what are you doing?" Sakura gasped
"Uh! I won't ever back down again, and let someone else rescue me!" Naruto proclaimed "Upon this wound, Bridge builder, I will finish this mission and protect you with this kunai knife! A real ninja never gives up and neither do I, you guys don't need to worry about me any more, I'll be just fine! Now let's go!"
"Uh... Naruto... that was really cool how you took the poison out and all, but if you lose any more blood, you're going to die." Kakashi said
Naruto started shivering and panicking. "Uh... good idea to stop the bleeding now. Seriously." Kakashi said
"NO! NO! NO! I'm to young for it to all end like this!"
"Naruto! Shut up!" Kirika ordered. "Apply pressure to the wound to stop the bleeding! I'm working on a medicine right now! So be calm!"
"Naruto! you've got a self abusive personality!" Sakura scolded "It's called masochism!"
Kirika couldn't help but smile at that. She went back to preparing a healing solution for Naruto. Ground up the herbs, plants and roots that she'd started digging up when Kakashi talked to tazuna. She put them into her mouth and chewed it. When it was as mushy as it would get she spat the pulp into her hand. "Okay." She called "Naruto, let me see the wound."
Naruto gave her his shaky hand. She cleaned the blood off of his skin and pulled out a scalpel—a momentum of the of experimentation in the Sound Village—and positioned it above the injury.
"Wait! What are you doing!? I though I wasn't superposed to loose more blood!"
"You won't bleed badly as long as you stay still. You're in good hands." He took a shaky breath and nodded. Kirika sliced an opening his skin about an inch away from the wound and quickly inserted some of the paste. He winced and let out a whine but held still. She rubbed more on the skin around and on the wound and wrapped it in gauze. "Alright. That should do it."
"Eww! Was that in your mouth!? Gross!" Naruto gagged, flexing his hand. "O-oh! Wow! That really works... I don't feel anything! My hand's totally numb!"
"That's a good sign."
"Thanks Kira!" Naruto sighed in relief. "So I'm gonna live, right?"
"No, that only eases the passing."
"H-hey! You're kidding, right...? Right!?"