A New Order : Futility
A/N : Long time, personal life, yadda yadda. You know the drill, longer Author's Note at the end.
Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto, Star Wars, or any obscure references to other owned or written material, either official or those of fandom. They are all property of associated parties.
- Uchiha Compound : Clan-Head Home -
Sasuke was furious as he prepared himself for the day ahead. Somehow, against all reason, Naruto had fared better than he had during Kakashi's bell test a couple of weeks ago. While that alone was unacceptable, what made matters worse was the fact that he and Sakura had only passed because Naruto was willing to sacrifice his Shinobi career for them. On top of that, ever since then he had slowly been establishing himself as the team leader every time they had a mission assignment.
The boy ground his teeth at the very thought and strapped a shuriken pouch to his thigh. They were probably still only going to be doing 'D' rank missions for a while, but it never hurt to be prepared. A flash of movement caught his eye and he moved with it, hoping to see what it was. The chill of disappointment ran through him when he saw his reflection in a full length mirror in the hallway leading inward from the front entrance. He could have sworn that…? No, he wasn't going there again.
Without a second glance to the cold and empty house, he pulled the door shut behind him without bothering to lock it. No-one would steal from an Uchiha after all. His breath split the cold air in a visible cloud and he rolled his shoulders to get his blood flowing. Today was unusually cool for the season, but he just couldn't make himself care. He was devoid of energy from yesterday and his sleep had been restless. Again.
He noticed that one of the stones in his garden was out of place and made a mental note to reorganize it later. One last deep breath and he was ready to meet his team at the bridge. Maybe they would be there on time today. Somehow, he doubted it.
Sakura paced back and forth nervously along the cobbled stone. Yesterday had been outright embarrassing. She hadn't contributed to the fight whatsoever; she hadn't even been good in a support role. She ran her hand through her long hair and squeezed her eyes shut tight. There was no way Sasuke would ever fall for a girl that couldn't be useful to him, and she had managed to prove that exact statement. Somehow, she needed to get stronger. For him!
The girl's thoughts were interrupted when the subject of her torment approached. Instantly her worries and doubts were set aside as she basked in the warm glow she got when he was near her.
"Good morning, Sasuke-kun!"
Sasuke made quick eye-contact to acknowledge her greeting before turning, ignoring her completely. The girl did her best not to be disappointed by the act, but the rejection still stung as it did every time she was subjected to it. With a huff of resignation, the girl resigned herself to observing the focus of her obsession with thoughts of the future echoing pleasantly through her mind.
A lone Jounin sat atop a tree branch over the heads of his young students, his eyes sliding over the words of the book in his hands without taking them in. On one hand, he was still kind of pissed off about losing what remained of his dignity to a bunch of brats. On the other though, they all showed at least some potential, specifically Sasuke and Naruto.
Whatever had happened to the boy, it was total because the person he had fought against yesterday was nothing like what the official records described. While he should have been loud, hyper, and almost incapable of showing any level of maturity, during the challenge he had proved all that incorrect. He showed the ability to keep himself level-headed, perform pretty well against a severely superior opponent, an obvious attempt to work with people he didn't like for the good of the mission, and most importantly, he refused to just sit back and watch his teammates fail.
The man sighed softly and turned the page of the book. He had arrived half an hour early to find Sakura already waiting by the bridge and staring out across the water towards the sunrise. Twenty minutes later, Sasuke got there and leaned against the tree he was sitting in without noticing him. Now, half an hour later, they were still waiting for their final member to show up.
By the time an hour had passed after she had gotten there, Sakura was starting to get really irritated. Sasuke still refused to talk to her and both of their other teammates hadn't showed up yet.
"I swear, when Naruto shows up I'm gonna-"
Her complaints were cut off by the unique sound of Naruto's speeder-bike coming from the training grounds behind them. With much more skill than he had shown the day before, Naruto piloted the bike toward them and parked it alongside the bridge.
"Sup guys? Where's Kakashi?"
"That's Kakashi-Sensei to you, Naruto."
The boy looked up into the tree the voice came from, and Sasuke did an admirable job of hiding his jump of surprise, though he did move to a different tree.
"When you teach me something, Sir."
The cyclops laughed and jumped down from the branch, pocketing his book. At the same time he pulled out three envelopes and tossed them to his young charges. They all opened the separate packages and began reading over the contents while he explained the situation to them.
"Alright, well today is our first day as an official team of Konoha, so it's an important one. I have with me three extremely important missions that come with serious repercussions should they not come to completion. Do you understand me?"
"Babysitting some kids?"
"Weeding a garden?"
"Walking some dogs... you've gotta be kidding me!"
Kakashi laughed with his visible eye curled upward in a smile.
"Well, what do you guys want to do first?"
The three gathered together to all look over the mission assignments.
"Well, walking the dogs seems simple enough. The kids will be a bit of a handful and the weeding is just going to be some outright physical labor. I suggest we get the dogs out of the way while it is still pretty cool out here and before it gets hot. By the time we are done with that, we will be able to go to the civilian's house and babysit the kids. After that it will start cooling down again and we can weed that damn garden, then we can call it quits. Any objections?"
Sasuke glared at Naruto in irritation, not only because he was setting himself up as the leader of the group, but also because it was the most appropriate solution.
"Hn."
Team Seven had a mixed view of animals. Dogs, in particular. Naruto liked them, the bigger breeds at least. They were strong, smart, loyal, and friendly. They also like him which made their current task that much easier. He had taken the leash of the Great Dane and was having no problems with him whatsoever.
Sakura saw less an animal and more a stuffed toy. An accessory to play with. She thought dogs were cute, fluffy, and fun to dress up in silly outfits. She had been overjoyed when she was offered the leash of a Pomeranian. The feeling was one-sided though, as the living fuzzball kept darting between her legs in an attempt to trip her up at every opportunity. It had also taken to barking at everything it saw, and it saw a lot of things. This irritated her teammates immensely.
Sasuke hated dogs. Once, many years ago, he had been bitten by a passing Uchiha Guard's K9 companion. From then on he had hated the things. Partly because they were loud, mean, unclean beasts, but mostly because hatred was a better alternative than fear. To an Uchiha at least. Sasuke had reluctantly accepted to walk an old Boxer that hated him as much as he hated it. In the short time of interaction they had shared, they had come to an arrangement. The dog would walk at the same pace as the others so long as Sasuke didn't try to make it do anything it didn't want to do. This angered them both, but they suffered through it for the sake of professionalism.
Kakashi was proud of his team at the end of the two hours when they not only fulfilled their mission within the allotted time, but also that the Pomeranian was alive at the end of it. The tearful goodbye between Naruto and his massive charge was a bit much, but what's a little eccentricity between ninja? He let out a little man-giggle as Miko and her girlfriend spent some quality time together. For what seemed like the millionth time he found himself wishing that the series was put to film.
- Konoha Canopy : 3rd Floor -
Team Eight wasn't having much more luck, nor as good a time as Team Seven was. Their latest assignment under Yuuhi Kurenai was to aid in Pest Elimination of a fine hotel. They had been specifically requested for this job, as a more discreet method than outright fumigation. The Hotel had a reputation to keep after all. The idea was that Hinata would use her Byakugan to locate the heaviest concentrations of cockroaches in the walls, Shino would use his Kikai destruction beetles to fight and kill them within without endangering the inhabitants of the rooms with chemicals, and Kiba would draw attention away from their work. Kurenai had disappeared shortly after the start of the mission with the excuse of having 'Jonin stuff to do', though her students suspected that she might just not like cockroaches. A thought Hinata could sympathize with immensely.
The mission had been going pretty well for the first half hour before things collapsed. Hinata had the epiphany of how much she actually hated roaches thanks to her Blood-limit. Whenever she would see one of the insects, she would squeak and squeeze her eyes shut tight. Because the Byakugan could see through walls though, this was no help. The concentration she put into squeezing her eyes shut actually caused her Dojutsu to to zoom in on what she was looking at, resulting in a close up of scratching legs and slimy carapace. Without fail, this would make her pass out, forcing Shino to search out the bug with what vague info he had managed to gleam from his spotter before she went down.
Shino's problem was much worse than Hinata's and believe it or not, more embarrassing. Instead of waging war on the Hotel's roach infestation, they had shown no interest in fighting. To make matters worse, when his companions got into a close proximity to the roaches, his communication would mysteriously end only to return a few moments later. Shino had the strange feeling that his insects were hiding something.
The only person who was doing a successful job of fulfilling their mission parameters, ironically, was Kiba. Given the lack of official supervision from a higher ranking Kunoichi (Read: Kurenai), Kiba had taken it upon himself the task of distracting not only the residents of the hotel, but also the security.
"Hey Akamaru! Catch!"
The hard plastic Frisbee sailed over the heads of those in the lobby to be neatly caught in the jaws of an overjoyed puppy.
"Nice catch, now bring it here."
With a playful bark muffled by the toy, the little white dog tore off running for the cafeteria.
"Hey! No animals allowed inside the premises!"
"Uh-oh!"
The angry shout came from a rather stout security guard who was running towards Kiba.
"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to collect your dog and leave. Both of you."
Kiba grinned cockily and pretended to look around confused.
"Um... what dog?"
If at all possible, the man became even angrier and his face flushed with red.
"What dog? That bloody..."
The man pointed to where Akamaru had been seconds before, only to see the doors leading into the kitchen swinging to and fro. Instantly the guard responded and ran to the doorway, yelling into a headset.
"We have a breach! I repeat, we have a breach! Code Mauve, Code Mauve!"
Kiba tagged along behind the burly guard, laughing and yelling encouragement to his best friend.
"Atta boy! Tell them they'll never take you alive, they hate that!"
- Konoha Canopy : Kitchen / Dining Area -
Team Ten was rather pleased with their mission assignment, though they would have happily changed a few aspects if they were given the choice. Basically, they were to help with the catering service for a party a rather prestigious Hotel was hosting. The entire dining area had been rented out by one of the richer merchant families, whose head was retiring and passing on the keys to his successor. Unfortunately, the family was firm friends with the Akimichi and Yugatori families, who together made up the majority of the cooking and catering services in Konoha. Thus, the people in charge of running the celebration were the people who lacked experience in such operations. The result? Chaos. Despite that though, each member of Team Ten was doing something they enjoyed... kinda.
Shikimaru was complaining about his duty. True, it was probably as good as he could reasonably ask for, but still. He was given the task of planning out what food to serve in what order and what amount. This made the most of his inherent ability to plan out multiple scenarios at once. Even better, he didn't even need to do anything physically laborious which was fine with him. The price came at having to explain and reexplain what should have been simple orders to the servers, who combined may have been a battle of wits for a stuffed iguana.
Chouji had a problem. He was both doing what he loved and what he hated at the same time. His order was to cook. Simple enough, as his clan was renown for their culinary skill and the latent militaristic applications of such skill. The problem, was that because he was caught 'testing' the food one to many times, he had been taken off the cooking duties and instead been transferred to running Quality Control on all dishes about to leave the kitchen before it was served. The horrible part of that came with the single restriction placed on him. He couldn't eat any of it. More than one appetizer was served with the slight taste of tears that day.
Ino was somewhat conflicted on her job assignment. On one hand she had to wear a ridiculous and somewhat skimpy black and white outfit, and take orders from hungry and occasionally angry customers. On the other hand, the rich old merchants in the dining area kept tipping her, with the amounts varying on how... friendly... she acted. As a plus she got to boss around the rest of the civilian servers. All in all, it wasn't a bad gig. As long as the cash kept rolling in at least.
Asuma meanwhile, was having a great time at the party. Some of the men there were old friends of his father, and it was good to catch up with them. The food was god, the drink was better and the small band playing quietly in the corner was actually pretty decent. The girl on bass was cute as well and kept shooting him shy smiles. His interest in the young woman faded though when his true crush walked in through a side door, much to his surprise. The tall, slender woman stood proudly in her Jonin garb and signature wrappings. When her unique red eyes met his, her lips curled up into a smile and he felt himself reach for a cigarette. He smiled back at her and redirected his straying hand toward his drink. Technically Shinobi weren't supposed to drink while on a mission, but this could count as a special circumstance... probably.
"Hey Asuma, isn't that the Genjutsu specialist you like? She's pretty cute, huh?"
Asuma swatted at the elbow digging into his side and chuckled.
"Oh shut up and eat your ribs, Chouza."
The Akimichi clan head laughed in his bellowing way and reached for the stack of barbeque that had been set in front of him by a serving girl.
"Don't mind if I do. Now go to her boy, she's practically calling to you."
Asuma considered another comeback, but decided against it. His drink was finished with a quick swig and he made his way to the lone Kunoichi.
"Good afternoon, Asuma. I'm surprised to see you here."
"My Team is working in the kitchen. Besides, I'm not one to miss out on a party. What about you?"
"My Genin are on the second floor. There are uninvited guest the proprietor wants evicted. Apparently my Team was most suited for the task."
Their conversation was cut off when a familiar white puppy ran between them, tail wagging furiously.
"Stop! No pets allowed in the cafeteria!"
"He's not a pet, you Gorilla! He's my companion. There's a difference!"
Akamaru was followed closely by his owner and a gorilla in a tuxedo, both shouting at the top of their lungs. Kurenai barely had time to dodge out of the way before she was bowled over by her student, but the security guard still happened to catch her with an elbow and knock her over. Fortunately Asuma was able to catch her before she had the floor, and for a moment their faces were extremely close. The illusion mistress could feel the warmth in her cheeks as their eyes met and her heart caught in her throat as he smiled slightly, his eyes glinting with restrained laughter. The moment ended too quickly when he set her back on her feet, and she stepped backward in embarrassment.
"Um... sorry about that. Thank you for catching me."
"Heh, no problem. But wasn't that your student?"
Kurenai's eyes darkened in anger as she looked in the direction the trio had ran.
"Yes, it was. KIBA! Get back here!"
Without hesitation, the female Jonin ran after her students. Asuma laughed again and returned to his table. His portly friend had finished off his plate of barbeque, and Asuma took the opportunity to order a new drink from the waitress when she came to pick up the plate. Being a Jonin, he didn't miss the flirtatious wink coming from the direction of the band. After a quick judgment call, he threw back his drink and beckoned towards the musician with a single finger. The girl bit her lip in consideration, then whispered something to the leader of the band. Apparently she had asked for a break, because he nodded and everyone leaned back from their instruments. Asuma sat back in his chair and watched the pretty young thing's hips sway back and forth.
'Oh yeah, now this is what I call a party.'
- Konoha Daycare -
"Oh hell no."
Team Seven nodded in agreement as they listened to the shouts and screams coming from inside the building before them. The dogs had been walked and returned to their owners, and they had been eager to continue on to their second job assignment for the day. After all, who doesn't love kids? Their initial feelings had long fled, leaving behind a sense of foreboding at the arduous task ahead.
"Well...bye!"
Kakashi shot them a grin before disappearing in a familiar swirl of leaves, leaving behind an irate Sasuke and Sakura.
"Well...bye!"
The blond youth's brilliant escape was halted when his female teammate caught him by the collar on his way past.
"Oh no you don't! You aren't going anywhere until this job is done."
"Are you serious! Listen to them, those kids are crazy!"
"That doesn't matter, Naruto. We were paid to do a job, and we are going to do the damn job."
"Aw come on! It's not like we've been given a pay-check yet. It would be easy! We just tell them we got lost or something. It's not too late!"
Sasuke sighed in irritation, and knocked on his door in an attempt to drown out his teammates. When the first knock went unheard, he knocked again and was answered by a woman yelling loudly. The door opened wide to reveal a young, but exhausted woman.
"Oh, hello. How may I help you? Don't tell me you have a child you want to drop off!"
Put off by the look of panic that the woman adopted, Sakura was quick to console her.
"Oh no, ma'am. We're the Genin team you hired."
The look on the woman's face disappeared, and she smiled bright, if a little tiredly.
"Thank heavens. I've been so busy watching over the children, I haven't had the opportunity to go to the market and buy some things. Now there are quite a number of parents who dropped off their kids so they could attend some party or something over at one of the fancy hotels. Seems like almost two clans worth of kids in there! Of course, I don't think you will have any problem with them."
The entire time the woman was speaking, she was hurrying around inside the entrance room, gathering things together. In less than a minute she had gotten everything together, swung her purse onto her shoulder, and taken off at almost a dead run.
"Thanks again! I'll be back later."
Naruto and Sasuke watched as she faded into the distance and shared an identical look.
"I don't think she's coming back."
For the first time in a long time, Sasuke could think of no reason to disagree with him.
- ? -
"Okay, do you guys know what to do?"
The small group of soldiers looked at their fearless leader in serious admiration. The second in command stood at attention and saluted.
"Yes, Sir. Me and one other are to sneak around behind their lines. You and the others are going to provide a distraction to allow us to enter unnoticed. Once there, we are to steal the target and attempt to escape their base in the same way we entered."
"And if you are spotted?"
"We are to proceed directly to the target. If at all possible, we are to alert the main force that we have been compromised, but the target remains top priority. Afterward we are to fight our way out by any means possible."
"Excellent." The entire group dropped to the ground as their position was the target of another barrage, courtesy of the enemy. "Any questions before we begin?"
"Sir... if we charge directly into their lines... won't there be casualties?"
The general dropped to one knee and looked his troops in the eye, one by one.
"Yes. Yes it does." As their eyes dropped, he could see their resolve starting to falter. "But that is no reason to fear. Remember, you aren't alone. To your left and right are you brothers. Are your sisters. They will stand by you in the face of anything you come across. Together we will stand strong, and as one we will be victorious. Trust in each other, and I can guarantee that today will be one that is remembered."
One by one, each of the young men and women before him sat straighter, to take heart in their commander's strong words.
"Together, we will take the fight to the enemy, and we will make them remember us for years to come! Now who's with me!"
As one, the gathered group stood and cheered loudly, their faith in their leader fully restored and bolstered. They would do what needed to be done, regardless of the cost. Such was their faith in him. Their general saw this, and hoped that their faith was not ill-placed.
"Sergeant, select your second and inform me when you are ready to move out. The rest of you, divide into your teams and prepare for the assault. I want everyone ready for war, and I want it five minutes ago."
"Yes, Sir!"
The sergeant looked around at his fellow soldiers. Some women, mostly men. Some older than him and many a little younger. As he thought about everything he knew about each of them, he tried to come to a decision on who's abilities would best supplement his own, and help him complete their mission. The lives of many depended on them. They had to succeed. They had to! Under his inspection, he ruled out many of the soldiers under his command, until he finally laid eyes on a girl with bright orange hair, tied up into an eccentric design.
"You, you're with me. The rest of you, go help the boss. We can't let him down!"
The girl grinned and shot to her feet, flexing.
"Alright, finally some action!"
"Do you think you can handle this? It's going to be tou-"
"Are you kidding me? C'mon, let's go already!"
The sarge nodded. For better of for worse, he had made his decision. It was time to go. Their general noticed that they were ready to depart, and he made sure to catch them.
"Listen up. I don't think there is anyone else in this room I would trust more to do this. I'm not going to lie, it's not going to be easy, but I have faith in you. Both of you. Now we are going to do what we can to distract the main force for as long as we can. The enemy are dug in and heavily fortified. It's... it's going to be a massacre. Do what you need to do, and get out as soon as you can. I don't like having to do this. Everyone out here are counting on you, do you understand me?"
The two nodded solemnly and resolved to do everything they could to save their brothers and sisters. Their sacrifice would not be in vain.
"The have heavy guards in the North and East passageways, but the West is lightly guarded. That would be your best bet. Get in and get out, no heroics. I don't want to have to give your medals to your families."
"Yes, Sir. You can count on us."
"Yeah, I know. Now go, before they start to suspect something. The assault will begin soon, and I want you ready to infiltrate their perimeter as soon as it does."
His two soldiers took off in the direction he had indicated, and he watched their backs for a moment, wishing them luck. He had no time to waste though, and he turned back to the remainder of his men. Time to plan the charge. They would do their duty, the rest was up to them.
"Alright guys, let's go raise some hell!"
"HOORAH!"
- ? -
The duo's trip was made in silence. There didn't have the energy to waste on idle chatter. They had a job to do, and it was going to require everything they had and maybe a little more. The battle field was a small urban setting. A single building held the conflict that raged between the tyrannous inhabitants and the guerrilla resistant. Outgunned, outmaneuvered, and outnumbered, the resistance was at a severe disadvantage. The only hope the fighters had of victory was to have control of both relics. Only then would they be able to claim dominance once and for all. The relic they sought was heavily defended behind their lines, behind solid defenses of their strongest warriors. Surely, this entire operation was a suicide mission.
Their steady progress came to an end when they saw the first of the enemy patrols. Coming out of a utility room was a pair of guards. Fortunately they were distracted with talking to each other, and the two rebels had time to dart into doorway along the hallway.
"What do we do, Sarge? They're blocking the only way past."
"I guess we don't have much of a choice. We can't sneak past them, and I highly doubt that they are just going to leave their post for no reason. We are going to need some kind of a distraction so we can take them out without too much of a fight."
The girl's eyes twinkled for a second before she smiled.
"I've got an idea. OW! My leg!"
The boy stared at her with wide eyes, fearfully.
"What are you doing!" His voice was a harsh whisper as he tried to be quiet. "You're going to get us caught!"
"Relax, I know what I'm doing. Now give me your scarf."
He clutched the fabric tightly and glared at her with suspicion.
"Why do you want my scarf?"
"We need it to tie these guys up. Hurry, because here they come."
The Sergeant refused stubbornly until he could hear the voices of the two guards right around the corner.
"Fine, but I want it back!"
"Relax, you big baby! Now get ready to knock your guy out."
Not ten seconds after she said that, the two men turned around the corner.
"Hey, who's their!"
"Come out with your hands- gurk!"
The first man dropped from a quick chop to the neck while the boy had swung his guy around until he collided with the wall. Hard. When they were both unconscious, the girl made quick work of subduing them with the extra long scarf, tying them back to back with their hands entwined in the middle.
"You know, I'm not sure which worries me worse. The fact that you knocked him out that fast, or that you tied them up that fast."
The girl flipped her hair flirtatiously and winked at her male counterpart.
"Let's focus on the job at hand lover-boy. Besides, that's why you brought me along. Right?"
"Yeah, sure. How far do we still have to go?"
"Well, according to the map the boss showed us there are still two smaller rooms before we reach the main room with the relic inside it."
"Alright, lets go then."
They took off again in a flash, leaving two unconscious figures on the ground, moaning softly.
- Front Lines -
"Status Report!"
"We're getting pounded, Sir! How much ammo could they possibly have?"
The General and one of his subordinates ducked down as yet another barrage pounded against their hastily erected defenses.
"We've got to get that artillery down! Take two men and circle left, I'll go right and see what I can do."
"Yes, Sir! You and you, you're with me. Let's go!"
The three young men waited for the next round to hit before charging out from behind their defenses and towards the enemy's fortress, hoping to knock out their supply lines. The General took their example and did the same on the opposite side, leaving the remnants of their main force to hunker down in defense and counter-attack as well as they could. Sadly they lacked anything with any decent range, and were limited to what they could throw in retaliation.
The General locked his eyes on the one enemy soldier firing towards his allies, and charged toward him with all his might. Before he had even managed to clear a third of the distance between them, the soldier noticed his approach and turned to focus his fire on his position. With an astounding show of agility he dodged and weaved between every projectile fired in his direction, making it look effortless.
Finally, his suicidal charge payed off and he leaped over the barricade and used a flurry of the Force to make the gunner in question collapse on the ground, writhing in... laughter?
"Ha ha hah... No -hehehe- No fair! No powers!"
Ignoring the boy on the ground laughing, he looked to the gunner's counterpart in anticipation. Was it possible? Did the other team... yes! They did it! The three young men that had charged their left flank stood victoriously on the position that had only just been pounding against his men. Now their progress was unimpeded. Victory was theirs!
"We've got them on the ropes now men! CHARGE!"
A mighty battle roar answered his declaration, and the men and women that remained able and willing to fight charged the final defenses of their enemy, en masse.
- ? -
The small strike team had successfully penetrated the rank and file soldiers with some measure of stealth, and were currently standing just outside of the room that held the relic they sought. Unfortunately the relic was not unguarded, and they duo easily counted fifteen heads of those standing between them and their target.
"Well damn! How are we supposed to steal the relic with all those guys in the way?"
The girl put on a show of thinking it over before shrugging.
"We could just charge in, fight them, take the relic, and get out?"
Her suggestion was met with a dead-panned look, making her pout.
"Well fine, if you don't think you can handle it, I guess we will need a distraction."
"What could possibly distract them all at the same time?"
The main entrance to the room burst open as a tired looking messenger stuck his head through the doorway.
"Guys! They got through! Come on, we need to stop them from getting inside!"
The mad scramble that resulted was a rush of them all trying to grab makeshift weapons and meet their foes in open battle. Finally, guard duty was over! Time for some action. Within thirty seconds the last of the guardsmen left the room and the two shared a look of shock.
"Well...that'll do it, I guess."
"Yeah, I know right? Whatever. Let's just grab the damn thing and get out of here."
With a wide grin on each of their faces, they grabbed the book and ran straight through the front door, whooping in happiness. By the time they got outside, the majority of the enemy had been routed and were together in a large group, at the head of which stood their proud General.
"Sir! We did it! We got the relic."
"I see that, good job Konohamaru, Moegi."
"Thanks, Boss!"
Naruto smiled happily at the two beaming children. The entire exercise had started off as a game of hide and seek, and had somehow escalated into a war between two groups of the children at the Daycare center. He still wasn't sure how it had happened!
"So, what have we learned here?" He turned to include all of the children in the question, not just two of his favorites. "Anyone?"
There were a couple of nervous coughs before one hand rose.
"Yes? Udon."
"Numbers don't matter in war?"
"Okay, and why is that?"
"Um, because strategy is more important?"
Naruto grinned at the answer. Udon was the third of his favorite trio, and usually hung out with Konohamaru and Moegi. While Konohamaru was obviously the leader, and Moegi the femme fatale of the group, Udon was the brains behind most of their schemes. He wasn't surprised in the least that he was the one to learn the main lesson behind the exercise.
"That's right! While numbers are important, they aren't everything in a fight. In a lot of cases quality will beat quantity in a realistic fight. You guys got that?"
The gathered group of children nodded at their esteemed General, and even those on the 'enemy' side nodded begrudgingly. When Naruto had told them to separate into two groups with three on one side to every one on the other, those in the bigger group had assumed that they would have it in the bag. Until Naruto had told them he was going to be playing on the other side of course.
"You are a great teacher, Boss! You should totally teach at the Academy! It would be way more fun than listening to those boring teachers go on and on and on and- ow!"
The boy's rambling was cut off with a swift punch to the shoulder from Moegi.
"Konohamaru! You should be more respectful to the teachers at the academy! Where do you think the boss learned everything he knows?"
Naruto didn't exactly feel the need to point out that he didn't learn anything of use form the academy. No point in ruining their education after all.
"Alright guys, the next thing I think we should do is to-"
"Naruto! What is going on in here? This place is a mess! We only left for a few minutes to get snacks and we come back to see the entire building trashed! What did you do? Wage WAR!"
Naruto turned to see the enraged face of Sakura, and he rubbed his neck sheepishly.
"Well you see, what happened was-"
His excellent defense that he had made up on the spot was cut off by Konohamaru, who stood between his idol and the banshee yelling at him proudly.
"Hey! You can't yell at the boss, you old hag! He was teaching us how to be Ninjas, and it was awesome."
The blond broke out in a cold sweat at the boy's declaration, and was quick to intervene before Sakura could inflict massive bodily harm on the poor lad.
"Sakura wait, he didn't mean it like that. No! You can't just attack hi- Dammit!"
Connecting to the Force, Naruto reached out with the ability known as 'Slow' and numbed out a few important nerves in his teammates body. Specifically those associated with the progression of time.
"! Iiiiii'mmmmmmmm goonnnnnaaaaaa kiiiilllllll himmmmmmm!"
All sounds in the room stopped as they heard Sakura speak in super-slo-mo, before every person in the room rolled over in laughter. Even Sasuke smirked a little before hiding it behind his mask of emotionless-ness. Naruto, meanwhile, had started laughing as well.
"Oh man, I didn't know it affected the speech centers as well! That's freaking awesome!"
The laughter in the room from all the children only rose in enthusiasm as Sakura tried to charge at Naruto, her face distorting in rage. Sadly, the terror effect was effectively canceled out by the number of ridiculous faces the action caused. Before he knew it, Naruto was surrounded by children begging for him to use the same thing on them so they could 'talk real slow' as well.
"OH MY GOD! What happened in here! WHO'S GOING TO CLEAN THIS MESS UP!"
Instantly, all laughter stopped and everyone in the room turned in fear to look at their previous caretaker, who had chosen to return at that exact moment. The look of rage on her face far surpassed that of Sakura's, which had slowly shifted into that of fear, providing another silly face which only garnered a nervous chuckle or two.
"Um, you see, what happened was this. These guys..."
Naruto turned to look at the mass of children standing behind him, only to find every hand pointing at him with a single finger.
"...You guys suck."
- Konoha Canopy : Main Lobby -
Kurenai stood over her student and his puppy, glaring at the two of them, though Akamaru's pitiful whining wasn't making it easy to stay mad.
"Would you mind explaining to me why you thought it was a good idea to instigate a massive chase between yourselves and the entire security staff of this hotel?"
Kiba shrugged and scuffed his sandal along the carpet, unsure of what to say. Sure, the chase was Akamaru's idea, but he wasn't about to sell out his best friend. Even if it wasto his extremely attractive but scary Sensei.
"I don't know, you said to distract them and draw their attention away from Hinata and Shino. So I did."
Kurenai rubbed the bridge of her nose in exasperation.
"Yes, I did. But you know I meant the civilians, not the staff. They all knew why we were here. Why would we need to keep them away from us?"
"How was I supposed to know he worked there?"
"Maybe because he was wearing suit with the hotel's logo and a NAMETAG ON IT!"
"What if he had been a civilian who had knocked out one of the security guards and stolen his suit and I.D?"
The woman gave him a stunned look.
"Why would you think that?"
"Well, Shino said to be ready for anything, and-"
Kurenai rubbed her palm against her face again. Of course. Shino had told him that. They had been... butting heads?... since Day One. Kiba would try to assert himself as team leader, and Shino would give him just enough misinformation for the dog-boy to make a complete ass of himself. Whenever he did, Kurenai would get onto him about it, and without fail Shino would be... close...
"Shino, get out here. Right now." Silence. "I know you're there."
The boy in question stepped out from around the corner, tall coat and sunglasses hiding his face as per usual.
"Okay, first of all why would you tell Kiba that a civilian might knock out one of the guards, steal his uniform, and masquerade as one of the staff. Second, why are you here and not at your post with Hinata? You have a job to do."
"You see Sensei, I told Kiba such because it is a possibility. I thought that we should be prepared for any eventuality, as we were taught in the Academy. I was simply utilizing our training to the fullest extent. I am here, because... we might have a problem."
"Well of course you were taught that, but that doesn't mean you should use everything you were taught on a D-Rank for crying out... wait a second. Where are your bugs?"
Being the lead Genjutsu specialist in the village, Kurenai had trained herself to be able to pick up even the slightest of details around her so she could tell when she was under an illusion as early as possible. Because of this, she had noticed something off about Shino.
Shino always had bugs on him. When he was eating, training, and she was willing to bet even when he was sleeping. Not just under his skin, but crawling in view as well. He made sure to keep it discreet when he was out in public, but that didn't mean they weren't still there. They were just harder to see. Right now though, there were none. And it was a little disturbing. If they weren't on him, where were they? The boy only slid his glasses up his nose and back into their usual place, showing no emotion whatsoever, despite his predicament. His father would be proud... kind of.
"I told you we had a problem."
"Oh God."
"Kurenai-Sensei!"
The adult woman's only female student came charging towards her, full speed from one of the side hallways. Despite her running and the exertion she was under, she was still paler than usual. Surprising really, she didn't think that was possible.
"What's wrong!"
"T-t-the b-bugs!"
With that, the girl collapsed into a heap on the floor, turning a rather disconcerting shade of green.
"I would suggest we run now."
"What are you talking about Shino?"
"You see. My Kikai..." Despite not wanting to admit such an embarrassing fault on his part, Shino felt it was important that his Sensei know the extent of the situation they were in. "They didn't want to fight the 'intruders'."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I think... they became friends with the hotel's cockroaches."
"And why is that so much of a problem?"
"Because the roaches didn't want to leave the hotel. In fact, they want to conquer it and rule it as their home and main hive. They attempted to talk my Kikai into helping them."
Kurenai's apprehension grew as a strange scratching sound could be heard coming from the hallway Hinata had just come from.
"From what I have been able to gather, they were rather convincing."
As she watched, the walls of the hallway began to waver and darken. With a handsign and a rush of Chakra Kurenai tried to disrupt and dispel the Genjutsu, to no avail.
"What is that? Shino?"
She turned to see Hinata, Shino, and Akamaru fleeing in the opposite direction, leaving only herself and Kiba, who had a bewildered look of confusion.
"Uh, Sensei?... I think we should leave now."
"Yeah, that seems like a-uh, a good idea."
The two turned away from the insectoid monstrosity and fled towards the dining area in an attempt to evacuate the area before things got even more out of hand.
- Hokage Tower : Private Office -
Sarutobi sighed as he looked over the two teams and various personnel standing in front of him. Two completely separate missions, both ended pretty close to disaster. One resulted in an outraged Daycare caretaker and the other in an... outraged Hotel manager.
"Okay, can you explain once more what happened with Team Seven?"
"They trashed my business is what happened!"
Sarutobi turned to Kakashi and his three students, two of whom were apologetic and Naruto, of course, who was proud of his work.
"Is this true?"
Kakashi put away his book to give a perfect explanation as to the actions of his team, regardless of the fact that he wasn't present, but Naruto cut him off.
"Our mission was to aid in the Daycare center by keeping the children occupied and happy until their parents or guardians came to pick them up, right?"
"Well, essentially yes, but..."
"And did anyone ask said children if they were happy or not?"
"Well, no, but..."
"Exactly. We completed the mission assignment, within the parameters set. And pretty well too, if you ask me."
"Still, you trashed my building! The entire thing is a war zone."
Naruto just shrugged a little.
"Hey, you hire Ninjas you gotta be prepared for a little collateral damage."
Sarutobi laughed at that declaration, and nodded a little.
"He has a point there. You never said anything about collateral damage when you paid for the mission. Team Seven completed the mission, I don't know what more you want me to do. I will however assign a clean up detail for another Team for you if you want. It will count as a D-Rank, but it will be on the house."
The woman was clearly not satisfied, but nodded and left the room huffily. The Hokage watched her leave, then turned back to Team Seven for the last time.
"Well, I believe your team still has time to complete one last mission, don't they, Kakashi?"
"Hai, Hokage-sama. We'll get right on it."
"Very well, dismissed."
The four left the room, with Naruto muttering a quiet 'Who's we?'.
When the door clicked shut behind them, Sarutobi turned to the remaining team. After a quick rummage, he drew his pipe from a drawer on his desk and lit it up with a low level Katon.
"Okay, why don't you run me through the story again. The cockroaches, started attacking people?"
"Pretty much, yes Hokage-sama."
Sarutobi inhaled sharply and sighed outward. This was going to be good.
- Konoha Resident Home -
"Make sure not to pull out the flowering ones."
"Yes, Sensei."
"And you have to get them by the roots, or they will just grow back."
"Yes, Sensei."
"If you use your-..."
"You know, if you wanted you could come help us out with this, since you know so much about what we're doing."
"Meh, you guys look like you have it taken care of."
"Uh-huh, I thought so."
"Sakura, stop pestering our fearless leader, will ya? You're making it hard to concentrate."
The pink haired girl spun to face him, focusing her frustration on him.
"Oh? And what are you concentrating on? The wit of inanimate objects?"
Naruto mumbled something quietly, never opening his eyes.
"What was that?"
"I said their life force, actually."
"Both of you, shut up."
Sakura had to actively bite her tongue before she snapped at Sasuke. It wouldn't do to anger him after all.
"Right, sorry Sasuke-kun."
The three Genin were all in the front yard of an elderly man clearing it of weeds. It would have been simple enough for Sasuke to use his fireball technique, but not only were they instructed to kill onlythe weeds and not... everything else, but Kakashi had also forbidden them from using any techniques. Jutsu or otherwise. Still, Naruto figured he must have only meant techniques that would actually aid them in completing the mission by removing the weeds from the garden.
While what he was doing couldn't technically be considered a technique, he was still careful to make sure that Kakashi didn't catch him doing it. By opening his connection to the Force, he was able to sense the life of each of the plants. With enough concentration, he could also identify the various plants and weeds from each other without confusing them. Definitely helps with pulling the right plants when they looked so similar.
Sure the sun was out and there was barely any breeze, but the work was simple enough and pretty relaxing in its own way. Before they knew it the work was done, and Kakashi gathered them up to take them to the Hokage's office to turn in the reports and pick up their payment.
The Hokage had a look of exhaustion about him as he looked over their mission reports to make sure everything was in order before signing off on them.
"Alright, everything looks in order, so if you take these down to the secretary, she will get you your pay."
"Thank you, Hokage-sama."
Kakashi bowed and was about to leave when Naruto piped up yet again.
"Hey Old Man, any idea on what missions we will be getting tomorrow?"
Sarutobi smiled fondly at the nickname and made a show of shuffling through his papers.
"Well, I have some more manual labor missions, and it would seem that Tora has escaped once again."
"Oh no, there is no way we are going to go after that damn cat again. I'm not making any promises that I'm not going to kill it the next time I see it."
While Sakura looked at him disapprovingly, both Sasuke and surprisingly Kakashi nodded with him.
"In that case, all I have left is a escort mission, but I doubt you would be too interested in a boring C-Rank mission. It's a long term one as well, so you would be gone for quite a while. A couple of weeks at least."
Both Naruto and Sakura's jaws dropped at that, and Sasuke's eyes lit up.
"What do you think Kakashi, is your team ready to handle something like this?"
"Hmm..."
His students glared at him while he thought it over, and his smile threatened to tear his mask.
"Yes, Hokage-sama. I think they are ready."
"Yes!"
"Alright, finally!"
"Hn."
"In that case, I will have the client sent in now so you can speak with him yourselves." He pressed a button on his desk and the intercom sparked to life. "Matsuri, send Tazuna in will you?"
"Now Hokage-sama? He is currently rather... inebriated."
"Yes, I'm sure it will be of no issue."
"Of course, right away."
Barely a minute later the doorway opened to reveal a tall, stout man who emitted the rather distinct aroma of alcohol. Sakura gagged as he walked past her, and Naruto coughed into his hand.
"Dang man, what'd you do? Fall into a bathtub full of sake?"
"Hey! Shut up short-round! I'm here about some Ninja team, so get off my back."
"Tazuna-san, I would like to introduce your escorts. Team Seven, this is Tazuna. He is a bridge builder from Nami no Kuni"
"Surprise."
The middle aged man paled at the statement, and examined his guards for the first time. The pink haired girl looked rather defenseless, the raven haired boy gave off an air of untested professionalism, and he just had a weird feeling about the blond one. At least the tall guy with the mask looked dependable.
"You guys are my escort?"
"Yup!" Naruto grinned.
"...I'm going to die."
Kakashi eased over to the man and patted his shoulder sympathetically, never taking his eyes off of his novel.
"Don't worry, that's what we're here for. To keep you safe while you do... whatever it is that you do."
For some reason that didn't bring the client much comfort, though Kakashi seemed blissfully unaware of that fact.
"Okay Team, this guy looks like he hasn't see the crack of noon in a couple of decades."
"Hey!"
"So we are going to leave tomorrow afternoon. I want you lot packed up and ready to travel no later than two, okay?"
"Hai!"
"Hn."
"Sure thing, that should give me enough time to wrap stuff up."
"Remember, we are going to be gone for a while, so pack heavy. You are receiving payment for three D-Ranks today, plus whatever you have saved since we started. I suggest you use that money wisely. I'll see you guys tomorrow."
With a swirl of leaves the masked man was gone, leaving two elders and three young Ninja.
"You heard the scarecrow. I'll see you guys tomorrow afternoon. Later."
A wink was all they caught from their smiling blond companion before he took a running leap out of the open window. This time no one batted an eyebrow, except for Tazuna.
"You know, I really wish Naruto would use the door like a civilized person."
"What the hell! The kid just jumped out the window!"
"Yes, he does seem to enjoy doing that."
"But-but, we came up like, ten stories to get up here!"
The blank look he received from everyone left in the room told him they were unimpressed, and he just shook his head and left, muttering about freakin' Ninjas. The two remaining team members shared a look before leaving to go to their separate estates, though Sakura did so rather reluctantly.
A/N : I thank you all for your patience. This chapter took much longer for me to write than I had originally planned (Stupid filler crap). Anyway, I had warned you all that the consistent posts would only last for so long, and as you no doubt were able to figure out that time period has ran out. From here on the chapters will be irregularly placed, though the more interesting the chapter the faster it will come out. I'm not going to bitch and complain about the lack of reviews because I'm not one of those people. Actually, about 45 reviews in only 6 chapters. I'm impressed, especially since all but one were positive.
As for the fic itself, from now on things will start to take a separate course. You can already see the changes that have occurred and from now on they will only become more and more drastic. I'm a huge fan of the Butterfly Effect after all. Stick around, next chapter the wave arc begins.
Stay Frosty
- Nikolai