Chapter 12: First C-Rank Mission

Disclaimer: Naruto is the work of Kishimoto

A month passed by for Naruto and the rest of his team.

A whole month passed by with nothing but D-rank missions and what Kakashi likes to call 'Training'. It was nothing but 'Teamwork' exercises for the three of them! Naruto was fuming at the thought of his Sensei thought training was.

Hell and they weren't even that good at it! The Ino-Shi-Cho team, Team 10 specialised in that kind of stuff since their jutsu bloody worked well in combination! They had to work well together to succeed and Naruto bloody knew that their families were close and the three of them knew each other for a long time.

And look at Team 7 with himself, Sasuke and Sakura who Naruto was really considering to be a bitch rather than a person (No offence to anyone in the Inuzuki Clan).

Sasuke naturally didn't work well together on a team which made things difficult.

Sakura didn't work well with Naruto and tried to suck up to the Uchiha all the time.

And meanwhile there he was trying to make things work with his stress levels increasing. It was no wonder he was going to demand a C-rank mission later on since that would be the best way to get the Teme to stop brooding and possibly make Sakura wake up with a slap on what a Ninja should be.

They did 12 of those bloody missions; shouldn't that be enough for a simple C-rank mission?

Naruto could never understand how she became top of the class….

Hell of those who had just graduated as Rookie Genin, Sakura was at the bottom at the list. Even Ino who was in similar strength to her had her Clan Jutsus to back her up.

But even as Naruto pretty much ranted in his mind; he did do a fair bit in the month that he had with his training. Since Kakashi pretty much didn't teach them anything; Naruto went ahead and taught himself the Tree Climbing exercise.

It was gruesome and tiring even for him on how long it took. A full month passed by and even with clones it took that long to master it enough to bring his Chakra Control up to the average Genin now. His Chakra Control was finally at the Teme's level in terms of skill.

However once again through his readings and spiritual energy increasing as well as what seemed to be growth itself; his Chakra reserves increased to the Low Elite Jonin level making what he learn in Tree Climbing to be of the same level as before.

To describe what happened to him in imagery terms, the number of pipes on the dam that was keeping his Chakra in line increased becoming larger than before to endure more strain but at the same time the Dam itself grew larger making the strain even higher.

"Sometimes I really envy the Teme…his work doesn't cancel out for a stupid reason as his Chakra Reserves increasing too quickly."

But then he thought of all the things that he usually wouldn't be able to do if not for that. Shadow Clones were on top of his list.

"Yeah…never going to give up my ability to split into hundreds at will" he chuckled at the sheer absurdness of such a thing that could never ever happen. Shadow Clones quickly became a favourite for him long ago; years of progress have been shortened into months thanks to it.

If not for Shadow Clones then he would probably be still training to pass the Genin exam of all things.

But things relating to his Chakra reserves and control weren't the only things that happened in this month. Through reading various Taijutsu styles in the library; well the basics of them at least, Naruto had managed to find two Taijutsu styles that would be useful with his clones.

The first was called the Hidden Tiger Fist which was an extreme close combat style which focus on elbows and knees right up at the enemy.

The main premise of this style was to get so close that the enemy's own Taijutsu would suffer and their range of attacks decreased. While Naruto himself would be in great danger due to it, his Clones were perfect for this; as long as they weren't hit before they got too close.

The second style he found which he liked was called the Flying Shallow Style which was more of a mid-long range type of Taijutsu.

This style in particular focused more on the kicks and there were even flying kicks in the basics aiming to knock enemies out quickly before moving on. A swarm of Clones doing this was a frightening thing. Plus besides the long range kicks, there were ways to parry attacks before retreating.

Both styles were powerful but both styles had fatal weaknesses in them. With the Hidden Tiger Fist; he needed to get close avoiding everything else to get in especially close. This in a world with Ninjutsu in particular was hard unless you're fast enough.

Yeah…between fast and strong, a Ninja would be better if they were faster. However Naruto knew that you needed a certain level of strength against those with tough bodies. Even if he could hit them a thousand times, it would mean nothing if each punch did nothing.

Therefore Naruto needed to find the right combination between power and speed…though he preferred speed since in that path he can actually hit the Teme.

On the bridge where they were meeting, Naruto and Sasuke stood there having a conversation. Gasp! Naruto was actually having a conversation with Sasuke?! And a civil one as well? The world was ending!

No, really Naruto was talking to Sasuke on the most common topic they knew and would not insult each other that much.

Training.

"Say have you tried weights?" asked Naruto, "I mean I've heard of people using them but they drag you down so much initially but I hear they really pay off later on."

"Hn. I heard about them as well but the small and effective ones are expensive and the ones I heard with seals on them are even more rare and expensive" Sasuke replied much to the surprise of anyone other than the two who didn't know they could speak to each other without trying to kill each other.

"So it turns down to Fuinjutsu again…" Naruto mused, "I've been thinking of trying it out. Extra explosive tags and such seems useful among the other stuff the books talks about it."

Sasuke looked at him in disbelief and said, "Dobe you and books is like you not liking Ramen."

"Hey! I do read Dattebayo!" Naruto screamed at him. Annnd so the conversation which turned to something other than training turned to a fight. However Naruto knew better and continued as if Sasuke didn't insult his intelligence.

"So have you made any progress in making sure Sakura doesn't stalk you?" Naruto asked curiously. Much to his amusement the Teme shivered when he brought it up and glared at the blonde boy asking, "Why did you have to bring it up. I found her yesterday going through my trash…"

Naruto shivered with Sasuke this time as well. Who knows what someone wanted to do with someone else's trash…with his thrown out…waste and tissues….

"Teme did you remember to burn everything that has anything of you on it? Like tissues and…pretty much anyone similar to that?" Naruto asked with caution now. While Naruto hated the Teme greatly due to getting the attention of everyone so easily, he did pity the boy with his fangirls.

Having people stalk you no matter what reason was creepy (A whole bunch of ANBU and Hinata sneezed at that moment).

Seeing Sasuke pale at Naruto mentioning it allowed him to figure out that he forgot to…and probably Sakura now had used Tissues from Sasuke. Creepy as well mind you and once again Naruto tried to remember what the reason he liked Sakura to begin with was.

She had pink hair…yeah no.

She had a bad mouth, one of the worse and yet she split between insulting anyone to swooning over the Teme in an instant. Naruto briefly wondered if she was bipolar or something.

Big forehead as well; depending on the person it might look good but with the hair. But with Sakura it would have been better if she covered it up.

Plus she wasn't fit as a Kunoichi due to the sole fact that she diets.

What kind of Ninja male or female diets?!

Even Naruto while not being the study type before the Time Loop knew that Ninjas needed around 3 times the intake compared to civilians and that was the first thing they taught them at the Academy!

Aside from some 'teachers' at the Academy sabotaging him left and right; even they wouldn't dare remove such a basic lesson away from them. And yet she and a frightening large number of Kunoichi did this.

The only exception seemed to be that girl in the corner wearing a large coat and bangs covering her eyes (For some reason Hinata felt like celebrating for Naruto recognising her in some form for some reason).

"Hn. Less disturbing conversation dobe…" The Teme said regaining his bearing after shivering in fright for a good deal of time. Naruto nodded and wanted out on the part of the conversation where Sakura may-yep not going there.

"Wonder when we'll get a C rank mission…" Naruto mused. But before Sasuke could respond a certain ink haired blob-I mean fangirl appeared to try and tackle Sasuke. Keyword: Try.

It was at that moment that Naruto felt someone hugging him while swooning out, "Saaasssuukkkeeee-kuuuun!"

Naruto swore he could kill the Teme after that. This was beyond insulting and was an act of murder.

"I'm going to kill you slowly later Teme" Naruto looked to his right where the Teme dared smirked at him saying something along the lines of 'Didn't you have a crush on her?' with his eyes.

And now was the time that Sakura would realise it was him that she was hugging not the Teme.

Yep in 1…2…3.

"NARUTO-BAKA! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Sakura shrieked to such a high volume and pitch that several windows in the village broke into tiny pieces before trying to attack him AGAIN! What was with this girl and not learning from her mistakes?

Making the 3 hand-seals needed Naruto muttered, "Substitution Jutsu" temped to replace himself with the Teme but barely didn't. Instead he used the Log. The Holy Log. The only thing worth worshipping for such a Divine being saved countless leaf Lives.

BANG!

And Sakura proceeded to smash said Divine Being into pieces as Naruto and Kakashi cried for such a tragedy. Wait Kakashi? When did he get here? Wondering that Naruto saw Kakashi proceeded to clap his hands snapping Sakura out of a trance before saying, "Mare Mare. No need for such violence on such the Holy Log."

Another tear appeared from his single eye as he prayed before wiping it away. The Trio with the exception of Naruto who nodded to this motion sweatdropped.

"…."

With silence between them and Kakashi finishing what he was praying he acted as if he just arrived and said, "Sorry about me being late. I was walking and this child tripped and hurt his knee resulting in me carrying the child to the hospital where there was a mugging and-"

"LIAR!" both Naruto and Sakura shouted at once. It seemed the only common thing they had with each other was calling out the lies Kakashi would spout out. They could their teacher pouting a bit of being called out on all his well thought out excuses.

"Mare mare, the road of life is quite hard to navigate through" Kakashi waved off the outburst of his students and went to say, "We're getting another mission today."

The Trio followed Kakashi in silent but in the inside they were all groaning at the fact that they were going to do another D-rank mission. Even with the use of Shadow Clones; Naruto found that said missions were extremely boring.

Plus it didn't help that since the month started; they had completed a total of 12 D-rank missions which with his Orphan funds now cut off made Naruto tighter on his budget. Much against common beliefs, Naruto was quite good with money. He had to deal with people scamming him left and right. Plus his skill to catch a good price was significantly higher than the norm due to him needing to predict how much stores will overcharge him (Or in the case of Ichiraku Ramen undercharge him).

And that was before he learnt how to read the prices.

Furthermore Naruto's patience was really tested when Kakashi refused to teach them anything other than teamwork exercises. It was due to this that Naruto simply continued his normal training without them.

'I swear if we need to do another D-rank….' Naruto mumbled in his thoughts not knowing what said outburst could cause to happen.

Entering the building with his team, Kakashi made his usual gestures and said, "Team 7 reporting for another D-rank mission."

Naruto twitched hearing that again. Oh how he wanted to hit his Sensei right now. However Naruto kept calm and endured it; he was a Ninja now and Ninjas didn't complain (Too much) about what kinds of missions that he would get.

Normally they would only get 3 missions a week but it seemed that Kakashi-sensei wanted to increase that number now.

"Ohh my cute little Tora-chan. I was so worried" the Fire Lord's wife said while snuggling the cat with extreme strength.

Inside the minds of too many in the room came the thought of, 'A little more…just a bit more…' hoping the woman would kill the creature. If there was a survey on which one was to kill between the Kyuubi and Tora, more than half the Ninja in Konoha would immediately choose the cat.

"Ghahaha! In your face stupid cat" Naruto laughed out. He especially enjoyed the pain the cat was in due to its recent actions to him.

'No wonder why it ran away..' Sakura thought seeing the cat and its owner.

Hokage-jiji proceeded to look through the pile of D-ranks and then muttered out of his pipe, "Now…Team 7's next duty is…hmm…babysitting an elder's grandson, shopping in the neighbouring village, helping with the potato digging-"

Shrieeaaak!

"Ah Tora!"

"-Or catching Tora again" the Hokage finished with the shudder of everyone else.

Oh hell no. He wasn't going to catch that damn cat EVER again. The last time they took that mission the damn demon almost scratched his face off and it was enjoying his PAIN! As such without warning and not much restraints Naruto proceeded to make his displeasure clear.

"NO NO NO to all of them!" he declared waving his arms in a cross like fashion and a face of pure irritation, "I know you have a more incredible mission for us than catching that cat! Find us a better one!"

In the minds of his team-mates came the following.

'…I agree' thought the last Uchiha.

"Geez...how annoying' thought the pink thing.

'Sigh…I thought it was about time for this…' thought the cyclops a bit surprised that Naruto was only acting this way now.

"You IDIOT!" shouted Iruka from the side of the Hokage, "You are just a rookie!"

'A rookie that can make hundreds if not a thousand copies of himself and learnt a B-rank Kinjutsu in a matter of hours' thought the Hokage not that he was going to say that aloud.

"Everyone starts off with the simple duties and works their way up!" Iruka continued.

However without hesitating Naruto shouted back, "But, but! We keep on getting the crappiest possible duties!

Whack.

"Be quiet you" Kakashi said with a sigh as the Hokage fiddled with his pipe looking at the blonde and some old memories which he should not dwell on. The man figured it would be best to explain some things about missions even though they should have been explained back in the Academy.

"Naruto! It seems I have to explain to you what these duties are all about" the Hokage puffed on his pipe, "Everyday the village receives numerous requests from babysitting to assassination. Each request is written down on these lists and divided into an A, B, C, D ranking based on difficulty."

'Though there is an S rank rating but it will a very long time before any of these kids will get to that point' The Hokage paused before continuing, "The village is also divided based on skill starting with me to the Jonins, Chunins and Genins. There missions are therefore handed by us at the top to ninjas based on their abilities. If the duty is completed successfully then we receive payment from the client. You guys recently became Genin; D-rank missions are perfect for you."

The Hokage turned to see that they weren't paying attention at all and instead was listening to Naruto who was sitting on the floor cross legged.

Naruto started counting, "Last night I had pork Ramen, so Miso sounds good for…"

"LISTEN TO ME!" The Hokage roared with an eyebrow twitching rapidly.

"I-I apologise" Kakashi shuttered out rubbing the back of his head nervously at the Hokage. He was SO getting yelled at later for his student's actions.

"Geez…all you do is give lectures like that" Naruto complained, "But you know what? I'm not the trouble-making brat you still think I am! I got way stronger and I'm a hell of lot more calmer than before" Especially since he had over half a year in this Time Loop thing; something like that was so long ago to him.

"Then why did you have another outburst?" Iruka sighed.

"Because of those stupid D-rank missions! Who wants to catch Tora who claws at your face?! There are other, better missions for anyone than that."

Naruto pouted as Iruka stared in some shock before smiling and the Hokage seemed to smile as well looking at Naruto. It would be good to show him how the real world worked more than he did before.

"Ok" he decided getting the attention of everyone in the room, "If you want it that much then I'll give you a C-rank mission"

'Hehe…he used to only be able to express himself through pranks'

"It's a protection mission of a certain individual."

Naruto was now excited. Finally! Out with the D-rank in with the C-rank missions!

"Who?! Who?! A feudal lord?! A Princess?!"

The Hokage chuckled at Naruto, "Calm down, I'm about to introduce him. Hey will you come in now?" he asked as the door slid open revealing the smell of alcohol and an old man wearing fisherman clothes.

"What's this? They are all a bunch of super brats" the man said making another sip from his bottle, "Especially the shortest one with the super stupid looking face. Are you really a ninja yet? Hey?" he called out to the team.

"Haha…who's the shortest one with the stupid face?" Naruto asked looking at both Sasuke and Sakura….whom were both taller than him which meant…

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Naruto took out a Kunai and charged him a firm grip from Kakashi made sure that he didn't even take a step to the bastard before Kakashi sighed, "What's the point of killing the person we're supposed to protect you idiot?!"

Ignoring the antics of the team hired to protect him, the man with the knot-tie on his forehead said, "I am the super expert bridge builder Tazuna. I expect you to provide me super protection until I get back to my country and complete the bridge."

"Let's go!" Naruto cheered at the gates of the village which his team and client watching.

"What are you so excited about Naruto-baka" Sakura asked rubbing her poor ears. Naruto was too loud for her and Sasuke-kun.

"Cause I've never left the village before!" Naruto continued to act this way looking at the already new scenes though it wasn't of a late of trying.

Somehow there were too many things in the way for him to even try to leave.

Tazuna pointed at Naruto, "Hey! Am I really going to be safe with this brat?"

Kakashi eye smiled, "Haha, well I am a Jonin so don't worry" to Tazuna while he watched as Naruto paused hearing what the client said about him. He was a bit happy that Naruto didn't respond to the taunting at least.

"Hey old man!" Annnd that happiness was gone, "Don't mess with ninjas! We're incredible." Normally he would say HE was incredible but with a lot of evaluation of himself and his peers he was really only a Genin who maybe can beat Chunins.

"I'll agree when I see it especially from a brat like you" the man said before sipping again from his bottle, "Though if a brat like you counts as an ninja then maybe the lot of you aren't that great. Even if you become Hokage as well."

"….!" Naruto tried to contain his rage. He really didn't care about those who insulted him, he long grown out of caring about those kinds of people. However this person not only insulted himself; he insulted Iruka and Hokage-jiji as well.

He could not forgive that.

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

Kakashi had to hold Naruto back again from killing the client though to him it was quite useful to know what ticked the blonde boy so things don't get out of hand so easier later on. However Kakashi's instincts were on high alert.

The C-rank curse was still ever present in Konoha where Genin teams' first C-rank ALWAYS seems to being them in deep danger to a certain extent.

Hell he heard that Gai's first C-rank caused his team to meet the 7 Swordsmen of the Mist of all people and if not for Might Duy they would be dead. The man using the 8 Gates allowed him to slay 3 of the 7 resulting ultimately in his death as a result.

he didn't want to know what could've happened if Might Duy didn't get there in time.

He himself with Minato-sensei and his decreased team met and had to face Iwa-nin in a patrol mission as well. Hopefully this mission would only include bandits and MAYBE a Chunin enemy at best.

But looking at Naruto he especially hoped that was the case since Kakashi felt that his team wasn't ready yet for that kind of danger. Kakashi sighed, his job as an Elite Jonin was to protect the younglings in this mission no matter what.

And he would protect them even if it cost him his life. That was something he swore when he became their Jonin-sensei.

Even if it meant the Client would die first.

Some hours passed with Sakura trying to chat up Sasuke, with Sasuke trying to ignore Sakura and Naruto taking into the new sights as much as he could. Kakashi was still somehow waling perfectly with the orange book in his nose and Tazuna was still drinking while walking.

It was then that Sakura finally giving up on asking Sasuke for a date for now spoke up to Tazuna, "Umm…Tazuna-san?"

"What?" the man looked at her.

"You're from the Wave Country right?" Sakura asked.

"What about it?" The man really wanted more to drink but was running out. He didn't want to stay sober for the rest of the trip.

"Umm…Kakashi-sensei" This time she asked her Sensei, "Do they have Ninjas I that country too?"

Kakashi shook his head, "No, not in the Wave County. But…in most other counties the culture and customs may be different but hidden villages exist and so do Ninjas. To the many countries of the continent, the existence of a Shinobi village means military power. This is how they hold and maintain advantages over each other."

The group nodded, this made sense.

"But it's not that the villages rule the country, they merely stand equality with the country's government though there are other factors as well which I may talk about later. A small island county like the Wave Country doesn't receive much interference from the larger countries and may not need a Shinobi village."

'So larger countries generally need more military force which means more Ninjas?' Naruto thought.

"In the Fire, Water, Lightning, Wind and Earth countries they have the Leaf, Mist, Cloud, Sand and Stone Village respectively which are also the first and largest Shinobi villages and are thus called the 5 Great Shinobi Villages. Furthermore ruling over these villages are called 'Kages' which is a custom that usually only stands for these villages though there are other smaller countries whose leader take up the 'Kage' name as well though are not as well known."

"And these leaders are called?" Sakura asked interested though Naruto was a bit bored since he knew all of this already. Though Naruto frowned since Sakura was the top Kunoichi and she didn't know this…and he was sure this was in their history section in the Academy…or did they not teach about the other Kages at all?

'Bias teaching it is then…or did they sabotage the others' learning as well for me' Naruto thought bitterly. Restricting him was one thing but dragging other people was a whole other can of worms.

"The Five Kages are known as the Hokage, Mizukage, Raikage, Kazekage and Tsuchikage and they each reign over the thousands of Ninjas in the world each holding the title of strongest in their own villages" Kakashi finished seeing the uncertain looks of his students.

Naruto thought back when he used his 'Sexy Jutsu' to take out the old man…and that really didn't leave a good impression of the old man. Though Naruto knew that one time when the old man was angry…and it was so much worse than the mobs.

"Wow Hokage-same is the best!" Sakura cheerfully said in a fake tone even to him and the client it seemed.

"You guys just doubted Hokage-sama didn't you?" Kakashi suddenly said getting a react from ALL of his students at once. However he simply patted Sakura's head and said, "But don't worry. There won't be any ninja combat in a C-rank mission" which reassured Sakura as she looked at her Sensei, "Then we won't come in contact with foreign ninjas?"

"Of course not hahahaha" Kakashi laughed at the thought of such a thing. Those kinds of missions were B-rank and higher for a reason. But Kakashi caught the look of guilt on Tazuna's face as they walked pass a puddle.

'A puddle in a place that didn't rain for days…' Kakashi thought taking a glance and ignoring it to see how his students fared. It seemed the C-rank curse struck true again.

Naruto was at ease when all of a sudden chains wrapped around Kakashi before two Ninjas with 4 wavy lines on their headbands seemed to have ripped Kakashi apart so easily.

"One down."

"KYYYYAAAAAAAAAAA!" Sakura screamed loudly at the scene while Naruto shouted, "Kakashi-sensei!"

Then he heard a voice behind him saying, "Two down" before the chains came to him as well.

If it was months ago, then Naruto would've froze in place in fear. But with so much training and the fact that he could repeat this with the Time Loops; Naruto wasn't afraid.

Naruto rolled out of the way before Sasuke with his Top Genin skills threw a Shuriken trapping the chain into a tree and then a Kunai to stop it from getting loose.

Landing on the large claws of those two Ninjas he kicked them both at the same time backwards but caused the chains to break from the large claw things.

Not wanting to be outdone, Naruto took out a Kunai and created two clones, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" making both of them head towards one of the two enemies just when the other one charged at the Client Tazuna.

"KYAAAAA!" Sakura screamed again not even moving to guard the client and instead running away towards Sasuke in the mist of the chaos.

'What is that stupid girl doing?!' Naruto screamed in his head about to use the Substitution Jutsu to save the client when…

STAB!

Tazuna died immediately with a claw in his chest.

Checkpoint 3: Loop 1 End (Total Loops: 54)

A/N:

Well when things can go bad, it will most likely go bad and more.

There are some slight changes from in this series can compared to Canon. The main part is that Naruto is different, but not different enough that most of his reactions can make someone as loudmouthed as him to turned into a silent brooder.

Second is how Sakura reacted. In Canon she immediately jumped in to protect Tazuna which was admittedly brave for her. Here, seeing Naruto and Sasuke's slowly 'blooming' relationship and Naruto's lack of eternal support for her, her mindset is already different from Canon.

Basically in Canon Sakura was brave because she had the support of at least Naruto who she at that point still considered dead-last ironically. Here, no support from Naruto, no need to be brave, oh! No Naruto to annoy her in capturing Sasuke's heart!

And that down spirals to Sakura being fundamentally different from what she could've been due to the little things. Naruto could've been a very different person if not for Iruka with the incident with Mizuki, same with Sasuke in how Itachi chose to make him want to kill him later on.

In all, this is just another mark against Sakura in this series.

Honestly I believe Sakura just protected Tazuna in Canon was more of the line of 'No one else can protect him, I have I do it!' in a terrified voice in her head seeing that Naruto struggling and Sasuke too far away. Here, Naruto was perfectly fine and was already reacting to deal with it...which meant he could deal with it instead of her.

Seem far-fetch?

You have...say a child in front of a moving...truck about to crash into the child. YOU are the closest to the child but there is already another person rushing in for the save.

Do you also rush in to also try and save the child or stand there leaving said person, obviously willing to risk their lives to do the work?

You'll be surprised at how many choose the latter if they didn't have to.

As for Kakashi?

He a) Is observing his team b) Cares more about his team than a client and c) Said Client was lying and endangering his team.

Notice how Kakashi in Canon only moved to save Naruto than to save Tazuna when attacked despite that he also did so to 'determine' who the target was.

Sakura is an unknown to the Ninja world as a former civilian so no worries there.

No one knows about Naruto since his very existence to the rest of the world was kept a secret. Konoha made sure his secrets were kept well to outsiders at least.

And Sasuke was just a vague maybe since he was the Last Uchiha in Konoha and people sent to them would be a lot stronger than mere Chunin and more likely Hunter-nin than that.

Last was Kakashi and no one save Jonin would dare attack him like that without a death wish or was too stupid.

So really, did Kakashi really not know Tazuna was the target? Of course not but it was likely he was anyway since he was the Client anyway. He could've beat them down easily and used Sharingan to spill their secrets that way.

I'm honestly leaning towards Kakashi just giving his team 'Live Combat Training' to see how they react then anything else he said.