What Changes Chapter 3: Mission:Protect the Bridge Builder Part1, a naruto fanfic

A/N: Hey! You know what I've noticed? Whenever I go on a new website and I really like it I'll go on it everyday for half a week and then I'll get tired of it and leave it alone for a few months. Then I'll like it again...and then I'll be tired of it again. But with fanfiction I never get tired of it. I've been going on this website nonstop for over a year now and I'm still hooked on it! I guess it's because fanfiction always has new stories while other websites are just 'same-old' 'same old' Anybody else have odd obsessions with their internet access? xD

Summary: During Naruto and Sakura's final climatic battle against Sasuke something happens to send the three of them back in time. Naruto wants to use this chance to stop Sasuke from leaving. Sakura wants to rekindle the bonds they used to share. But what does Sasuke want? Team 7 bonding with SasuSaku and minor NaruHina.

Disclaimer: Do you even like these?

What Changes...

Chapter 3: Mission:Protect the bridge builder! part 1

''We have the target in sight!''

''Good, proceed as planned.''

''Okay!''

''Right!''

''Roger.''

Naruto made a jump in attempt to capture the beast, but it was too quick and ran up the tree. 'This is why I hate cats. Why couldn't it have been a dog!? They can't climb trees!' Sakura rolled her eyes. 'Quit complaining and go get it!' Naruto grumbled something about women being bossy and climbed up the tree. ''Here kitty kitty!'' he chanted, reaching an arm out to grab the(ugly)cat. The cat growled in return and backed up. Naruto crawled farther on the branch. ''Be careful Naruto! That part of the branch looks weaker!'' Sakura shouted. Sasuke stayed silent, already knowing what was going to happen. ''Come here you stupid cat so I-AHHHHHHHHH!!!'' Yeah, he fell out the tree...

The cat just jumped into Sakura's arms.

''We've captured the target.'' Sasuke said into his earpiece. ''Good job. Let's go.'' Kakashi replied. Naruto glared at the ugly beast Sakura was petting.''I'll get you...you just wait...I'll get you.'' Naruto mumbled.

''Naruto, leave the poor thing alone!''

''Yes, Sakura-chan.'' he replied, still glaring.

''Squad seven has successfully completed their mission.'' Kakashi chanted mechanically. ''Good.'' the Third replied. ''Now, I have a few other missions lined up. You could clean-''

''Noooooooo! No more cleaning anything! No more picking up trash! No more pulling weeds! And especially no more chasing after the ugliest cats in the universe!'' Sakura and Sasuke nodded in agreement. ''Hey! Tamy's not ugly!'' The old women holding said cat yelled from the corner of the room. Sasuke spoke up this time. ''Yes it is. It's the one of the ugliest things I've ever seen.'' The women huffed and left the room. Sakura and Kakashi chuckled. ''Anyway, I want a real mission! Not this baby stuff!'' Naruto continued. The other two once again nodded in agreement.

Iruka stood up in anger. ''What do you know!? Your just a genin! You have to go on easier missions to prepare you for the harder ones in the future! And never talk back to the Hokage, its disrespectful!'' Sakura smirked. ''Even if we are genin, we know about missions and the different scales they're on. As a matter of fact...I'm sure we could name the different scales if you want?'' The adults stared at Sakura with indifference, but then the Hokage gave a small laugh. ''I'll tell you what, If you three can name all of the different scales of missions, who goes on them, and what usually occurs, I'll give you a tougher mission. But everybody has to contribute.''

The three genin smirked, Sakura started, ''Well, first there are D-ranked missions. Genin go on these missions. There's basically no combat or direct danger involved in these missions, which sucks. They vary greatly in scope but include babysitting, potato digging, and searching for lost, ugly, pets. After D-ranked missions we have C-ranked ones. Chunin and under certain circumstances genin go on these missions. These missions include providing protective escorts and gathering intelligence, and involve some chance of injury to the ninja carrying out the assignment. Capturing wild animals and cleaning mines also fall under this category.'' The adults nodded to Sakura, expecting one of the smartest graduates in the academy to know that information.

Sasuke picked up where Sakura left off, ''Next are B-ranked missions. These are completed by special jonin and chunin. Missions that fall into this category are ones such as providing a protective escort, gathering intelligence on a foreign nation, and killing ninja. Generally, open battle is not expected during missions of this rank. After B-ranked missions there are A-ranked ones. Jonin and special jonin go on these missions. They involve relations between nations, these vital missions include escorting important persons and suppressing the advance of other ninja forces. These assignments almost always involve combat.'' The adults once again nodded to the boy. They expected nothing less from the Uchiha prodigy.

The Hokage sighed, ''Well it's a shame Naruto didn't contribute anything, so I guess you'll be cl-''

''Hey! Who said we were done!'' Naruto interrupted. The Hokage chuckled, ''Alright Naruto, what do you have to add?'' Naruto smirked in return.

''There are also S-ranked missions! These are awesome! The Anbu assassination unit and on rare occasions the Hokage themselves take these missions! These are highly sensitive missions, such as assassinations of important persons and transportation of classified documents that could affect, like, the entire fates of nations! Since these missions are extremely dangerous, the payment is really high too!''

Everybody but Sasuke and Sakura stared at the blond in shock. They didn't expect them to know about S-ranked missions, especially not Naruto who got the lowest scores in his class! 'Well of course we knew! We've been on these missions!' The other two nodded inwardly. The Hokage shook off his shock and smiled. ''Well a deals a deal. I guess I'll give you a C-ranked mission then. Your mission is to escort a bridge builder back to his home.''

At that moment an old man carrying a beer bottle walked into the room. He seemed to have an air that commanded respect. The genin rolled their eyes at this. ''The clients name is Tazuna'' the Hokage continued, ''You need to escort him back to the land of waves safely.''

Tazuna looked at the three kids in disgust. ''I'm supposed to trust these brats with my life!? They're just a bunch of snot-nosed kids!'' Kakashi was about to say something but three shuriken hitting the wall behind Tazuna cut him off. Tazuna froze in his place and the other adults just looked shocked. ''I don't think you should be calling the ones assigned to protect you brats.'' Sakura said menacingly, Naruto then continued, ''Especially when these brats are highly skilled ninja carrying dangerous weapons.'' Then Sasuke added, ''Think before you speak.''

Tazuna gulped and turned away from them, Kakashi smirked under his mask.

''What's TAKING them so LONG!?'' Naruto shouted pacing back and forth outside the village gates. ''Naruto shutup! You knew they'd be late!'' Sakura yelled in annoyance. Sasuke just sighed. He was sitting on the ground cross-legged with his head in his hands. ''What's wrong Sasuke-kun?'' Sakura asked in confusion to why he looked so stressed. ''I'm wondering what we're going to do with Zabuza and Haku.'' He mumbled, but they heard him. ''Oh right! I forgot about them!'' Naruto shouted, then continued, ''I think...we...shouldn't change anything.'' Sakura and Sasuke stared at him in shock. ''Why would you want them to die!? Shouldn't we be trying to save them!? Are you crazy!?'' Sakura shouted stomping around and flailing her arms.

''Well think about it...We can't save Zabuza...because we know Kakashi would just kill him anyway even if we tried to stop him. And we know we can't stop Haku from going to Zabuza's defense. So...no matter what we do...they're going to end up dying...'' Sakura looked to the ground and Sasuke just stayed quiet, thinking. After awhile he spoke up, ''We can't save Zabuza...but maybe...we can still save Haku.'' His teammates stared at him in confusion. ''I'll tell you later...Kakashi-sensei's coming'' The kids looked in the direction of the gates to see Kakashi and Tazuna walking towards them.

''Yo! Did I miss anything?''

''YOUR LATE!'' The energetic ones of the team shouted in unison. Kakashi sweatdropped. ''Well you see..this guy needed help resurfacing his roof so I-''

''LIAR!!!'' They interrupted. Kakashi shrugged it off. ''So, are we ready to go?''

''YOU BET! Mission: Protect the bridge builder is underway!'' Naruto shouted, pumping his fist into the air. Sakura smacked him on the head for yelling in her ear

And with that, they started their journey to the land of waves!

I was going to end it here but I thought that would be cruel. xD

They'd been walking for a long while and Sakura could tell that Tazuna was getting tired. She fell back a little so she could walk side by side with him. ''Are you okay Tazuna?'' she asked, even though she knew what his answer would be. ''I'm fine.'' he replied gruffly. Sakura shook her head and went back to walk with her boys. (yeah that's right! Her boys! xD) 'I think we should ask Kakashi-sensei if we can stop for a bit you guys.'

'Why, Sakura-chan? You tired?'

'No, but Tazuna looks like he's about to pass out!'

The two boys looked behind them to see Tazuna breathing hard and dragging his feet. 'I'll ask him.' Sasuke volunteered, and walked up to their teacher. ''Kakashi-sensei.'' Said teacher looked over to his student. ''I think we should stop for a few minutes.''

''Why? Are you three tired?'' Sasuke shook his head and looked behind him. Kakashi followed his gaze to see Tazuna hyperventilating and looking like he was about to fall to the ground. Kakashi sighed and called out, ''Five minute break!''

Tazuna looked relieved as he went to rest on a nearby boulder next to Kakashi. The three genin gathered in a circle on the ground not to far away from the adults. 'So...should I ask Kakashi-sensei about the ninja in the mist like I did last time?' Sasuke shook his head. 'No. That took up too much time before. I think we should plan what were going to do when the demon brothers show up.'

'Aww! But Teme! That's not fun! Why don't we just attack them and finish them quickly? We already know that we're stronger than them!' Sakura answered for Sasuke. 'You idiot! We can't do that because Kakashi-sensei would become suspicious! If we dispose of them too quickly he might find it strange because were only genin and the demon brothers are chunin!' Naruto folded his arms and grumbled to himself. Sakura's eyebrow twitched. 'Well, since you want to act that way you can protect Tazuna while me and Sasuke-kun fight!' Naruto just kept grumbling to himself while Sakura and Sasuke came up with their plan.

After a few minutes they began moving again. Sakura spotted the puddle out of the corner of her eye and looked over to her two teammates who nodded in confirmation that they saw it to. After they walked five feet past the puddle the water started to swish around dramatically. Suddenly, the demon brothers shot out of the water. Tazuna jumped in surprise. Kakashi stayed back as Sasuke and Sakura walked to the front of the group and took fighting stances. Naruto grumbled and went to protect Tazuna.

After a few minutes of mindlessly dodging the blade-ridden chains that shot out of the demon brother's claws Sakura started to get restless. She noticed that they kept looking at Tazuna anxiously, she just hoped Kakashi noticed too. 'You ready, Sasuke-kun?'

'Hn' She had already learned to read his sounds a long time ago, so she knew he was saying 'Yes'.

As the chains shot out for Sasuke he dodged them by jumping into the air. He landed directly behind them and knocked their heads together, causing them to go into a slight daze. Sakura took this chance to run in between to two demon brothers and took a claw in each hand. All was silent until you could hear the sickening echo of 'Crack' 'Crack' 'Crack' until the claws shattered into tiny pieces. The brothers stared at Sakura as if she wasn't human.

''H-how did you do that? That metal was supposed to be indestructible!'' Sakura scoffed, ''Indestructible? I've had a harder time tearing paper towels apart!'' She kicked them into a tree and Sasuke tied them to the trunk. Then Naruto walked up to Sasuke and poked him in the chest. ''I could of done that! All you did was knock there heads together and tie them to a tree! It's not fair! I wanted to fight too!'' Naruto kept ranting without realizing that Sasuke had already walked away and went to stand next to Sakura and Kakashi.

Kakashi put a hand on each of there heads and smiled at them under his mask. ''Good job. You two handled that very efficiently.'' Sasuke nodded and glared at the offending body part protruding his personal air bubble. Sakura just giggled and gave Kakashi a smile. Naruto grumbled about stupid teammates taking all the glory. Now...they had to get down to business.

''Kakashi-sensei, why did those ninja's attack us, anyway?'' Sakura asked in mock confusion. Kakashi looked at the brothers tied to the tree and then over to Tazuna, narrowing his eyes. ''I'd also like to know that.'' He replied as he walked over to Tazuna and Naruto, The other two following after him. ''Hey! What was the big idea with letting those kids do all the dirty work? And...w-why are you staring at me like that?'' Tazuna asked, somewhat fidgety.

''I hung back because I knew they could handle it, but also for another reason....I wanted to see if the demon were coming against us, ninja attacking ninja, or if they wanted you, the bridge builder. And it seems...that they kept trying to get to you.'' Tazuna broke out into a cold sweat as everybody's gaze was on him. He then sighed in defeat.

''I guess I have no choice but to tell you...-No! I want to tell you. You see, although the land of waves lacks natural resources, mangrove trees flourish in the waterways that run throughout the island, and vistas are beautiful and calm. Also, because this country has few conflicts with the neighboring nations, it also has the distinction of not having a hidden ninja village. But this vulnerability has allowed the nefarious Gato to amass wealth, power and influence. Our land is a land of breathtaking beauty, with clear rivers and lush foliage. But on the inside, because of Gato's tyrannical rule, it is now led to suffering and despair...'' Sakura looked near to tears after hearing the story.(Even though it was for the second time)

Naruto looked like he was ready to punch something and Sasuke just looked indifferent. Although, on the inside he was seething as well. Kakashi and Tazuna said some stuff but the kids weren't really listening until Kakashi announced, ''Our job was to protect you from robbers and highway men. This mission would have to be B-rank at best. We are now beyond the scope of this mission.''

'It's not as dramatic when he says that for the second time...' they all thought in unison. ''But Kakashi-sensei! We can handle it! Heck, we could handle an S-rank mission!'' Sasuke and Sakura rolled there eyes. Yeah...that was convincing...

Kakashi stared at the blond as if he just suggested they jump of a cliff. ''No. you are genin and are not fit for this mission. Were going back.'' Sakura and Naruto inwardly panicked. If they went back now Tazuna would die, Inari would forever remain a person in deep depression and...and...'And I won't get a bridge named after me!' Sakura felt like smacking him for that telepathic comment. ''B-but Kakashi-sensei-''

''No buts. Were turning back, now.'' Sakura and Naruto looked crestfallen while Sasuke scowled. ''No.''

Kakashi turned his head to the Uchiha. ''Are you defying me?'' Sasuke shrugged, ''I guess so. We can't just leave him to get killed. Besides, Naruto wasn't kidding when he said we could handle S-ranked missions. We aren't exactly your average genin.'' Sasuke turned around to walk over and stood next to Tazuna. Naruto quickly followed. Sakura was about to go with them until Kakashi grabbed her wrist. ''I'm surprised at you Sakura. I would expect this from Naruto...and even Sasuke, but you've always been a stickler for the rules. Are you really going to defy me?'' Sakura stared at him for a moment and looked over at her teammates and Tazuna. All three were giving her looks of expectation. As was Kakashi.

''Yes.'' she replied bluntly, trying to wrench her arm away, but Kakashi tightened his hold. ''If any of you continue on I will have you three dropped from the program permanently.'' Kakashi said threateningly. Naruto and Sasuke shrugged with indifference. Sakura would have shrugged...but she was focused on getting her wrist out of Kakashi's grasp. She then looked up at him angrily. ''Let go. Your hurting me, Kakashi-sensei.'' At this, Naruto and Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

Kakashi then realized something. Naruto and Sasuke would never leave without Sakura...He started walking away, dragging Sakura with him. 'I swear to gawd if I didn't love this man like a father I would kill him!' Sakura was basically seething at being used as bate to get the boys to follow. She knew they wouldn't just leave without her, nor would they attack Kakashi, since he was somewhat a father figure to all of them. The boys looked back at Tazuna who motioned for them to follow their teacher. They complied, reluctantly, a dangerous aura surrounding the two of them. Tazuna looked crestfallen as he turned to keep walking to his village.

'That's it!' Sakura had had enough! ''Get the hell off me.'' she said dangerously. Sasuke and Naruto stared at her in shock. ''Or what?'' Kakashi replied without even looking back. ''Or I'll make you.'' Kakashi didn't even respond to the threat and kept walking. Naruto and Sasuke stopped and stepped beck from them. The kunoichi's aura was currently more dangerous then their own...and they didn't want to be caught in a cross fire.

Sakura took hold of Kakashi's wrist tightly. ''This is your last chance Kakashi-sensei.'' He ignored her. Her grip on his wrist tightened until a sickening 'CRACK' was heard. Kakashi immediate dropped her wrist to nurse his broken one. Sakura jumped back a few feet to stand next to her teammates. They all looked nervously at their sensei. Kakashi didn't do anything at first...but then he walked over to the three of them.

'SMACK' Naruto fell to the ground.

'SMACK' Sakura fell on top of Naruto.

'SMACK' Sasuke stumbled a bit, but stayed standing.

''Don't you ever disobey me.'' he said glaring at his students who were rubbing their red cheeks. (Dang...when Kakashi gets mad...he gets MAD!)Sakura was the first to recover from the hit and stood up, glaring just as hard. ''You know what...I'm kinda shocked. You told us not too long ago...that those who break the rules are scum...but those who don't help their friends are even worse than scum! Personally, I consider Tazuna-san a friend.'' Kakashi stared at her for a few seconds.

''We should really go find Tazuna before he runs into more trouble.'' Sasuke reminded them, thinking about Zabuza. Sasuke helped Naruto off the ground and they started to walk away. Sakura hesitated, and walked back over to her sensei who refused to show any expression. She took a hold of his broken wrist and healed it. ''Sorry...but we have to do this to prove something to ourselves. But...we'd really like it if you came with us.''

Kakashi stared at her for a bit longer before nodding in agreement, but wondering how she learned to heal. Sakura flashed him a smile as she mentally cheered. She felt Kakashi ruffle her hair and looked up to see he was smiling under his mask. They then hurried to catch up to Naruto and Sasuke, who had stopped a few feet away to wait for them. When they caught up, the two boys nervously glanced at Kakashi. ''I'm proud of you three. I was never going to leave the bridge builder...I just wanted to see how much you were willing to defy me! So...now I get to give you a punishment when we get back to the village!'' The three genin stared at him, deadpanned.

Naruto was the first to break out of this stupor. ''H-hey! If you were just faking...then...why did you smack us so hard! I mean, I think you brock a bone!'' Kakashi chuckled. ''Oh that? That was payback for throwing paint at me, spraying me with perfume, jabbing me in the ass, and burning that awesome book.'' The three of them stared at Kakashi before turning to look for Tazuna, grumbling about payback.

Luckily they found Tazuna a short distance ahead.(Thankfully safe and sound) and continued on with there mission. Sasuke couldn't shake the feeling that somebody was following them, and he had a pretty good idea who....

A/N: That's all for chapter three! I hope you liked it.

My favorite part was when they were trying to capture the cat! xD

Subaki's fav. part:

A/N: Anyway...thanks for taking time out of your day to read this chapter! I appreciate it!

Review plz! It keeps me motivated!

Arigatou!

Ja ne!

Subaki no Yumo