Chapter 11: bandits

After traveling for a few days the squad of genin, plus their sensei arrive at their destination, about thirty minutes away from their targets.

"Ok my youthful students, soon we'll be close to the bandits, do you all remember the plan?" Gai asks them.

They all nod and get prepped to attack. Gai hangs back In Case things get rough, while Tenten finds a spot high above to attack from a distance.

Naruto and Lee get in their positions, waiting for the signal.

"Targets spotted." Tenten communicates with them. She pulls out several shuriken and throws them, striking down three bandits, and wounding two more.

Seizing the opportunity, Naruto and Lee rush in, with Naruto using his Hiding like a mole jutsu to pop up behind a bandit , striking the bandit in their neck, dropping him like a sack of potatoes.

Lee rushes in, and jumps, trying to do a flying kick, however the bandit reacts in time, blocking the kick. Lee flips back and throws a few hard punches, and kicks the bandit into the air.

Tenten quickly throws two kunai at the airborne bandit, striking him down. The bandits work in tandem, trying to overwhelm the two grounded genin. Thinking quickly, Naruto creates three shadow clones to help even out the odds somewhat.

Naruto and his clones each pull out the swords they're carrying and start slashing at the bandits, easily cutting them down like butter.

After a few more minutes of fighting Lee knocks the last one out, ending the fight. Noticing the end, Gai makes himself known, smiling wide at his students.

"You've all done really well, especially you Lee, you still have room to grow but you're making great progress." Gai says proudly.

"Gai sensei, thank you! I will train five times as hard and continue to improve!" Lee exclaims.

"That's the spirit of youth Lee! When we get back I'll begin taking your training up a few notches." Gai says hugging his student.

"Gai sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai sensei!"

As they begin hugging, Naruto and Tenten unfortunately notice a beach appear behind them. The two cringe in horror, wishing they were seeing literally anything else.

"Ughh, I think I'm gonna puke." Tenten comments, disturbed and feeling queasy at the site. "Same." Naruto says, agreeing with her.

Wanting this to end fast, Naruto speaks up. "Gai sensei, shouldn't we head back to the village now that we're done?" He asks his sensei.

"Yes, very true young Naruto." Gai says, seemingly ending whatever was occurring. "If we make haste we can get back in no time." Gai says instantly departing. The three genin scramble off after him.

A few days later the Genin arrives back to Konoha, and report to the Hokage.

"Team 9, I see you've returned from your mission, how did it go?" The Hokage asks them.

Gai goes to speak first. "Yes lord Hokage, the mission was a success. My team of genin were able to take down the bandits blocking the road with little difficulty." Gai states.

Hiruzen nods his head. "I see, that's good. Well done all of you. Your pay will be issued shortly, is there anything else you need to discuss?" He asks them. They all shake their head and depart once dismissed.

The next day Naruto and Tenten arrive at their training ground to find Gai and Lee hard at work. Seeing them, the two stop for a bit.

"Good morning my youthful students. Today we'll be doing a bit of a free day, I've got lots to work on with Lee here." Gai tells them.

Naruto nods his head. "Actually Gai sensei, I was hoping I could learn a new jutsu to expand my arsenal a bit." Gai pulls out a scroll and smiles.

"I was wondering when you'd ask young Naruto. My hip rival Kakashi gave me a scroll for this moment. In it contains a jutsu he's been known to use, known as Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu, you can use it with Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu to pull an enemy underground, leaving just their head above. Making for an easy takedown." He finishes explaining, handing Naruto the scroll.

"Awesome! I'll make sure to get right on it Gai sensei!" Naruto says excited.

"Tenten, did you have anything you'd like to work on?" He asks his weapon-favoring student. She nods her head.

"Actually yes, I thought I'd try using a bow, something to give me more range if needed." She admits.

"I see, I'm afraid I don't know much, beyond needing arm strength to pull the string. I would advise you to use weights on your arms to increase their strength, though perhaps Naruto's mother, Kushina, might know a way you can achieve this with seals." He explains.

She nods her head. "I'll go speak with her, see if she can make some and show me how to make them, thanks Gai sensei!" She says before running to speak with her.

"Now then Lee, let's get back to training, we shall do 300 laps around the village, on our hands!" Gai declares.

Lee's eyes widen and quickly fill with determination. "Yes Gai sensei!" He says, quickly getting on his hands as they both take off.

Over with Naruto:

We find the blonde haired genin hard at work trying to get down his new jutsu. He forms a few clones and begins going through the hand signs for the hiding like a mole jutsu, and while underground tries to use headhunter jutsu on one of his clones to mixed results.

He makes a few more clones, instructing them to practice the new jutsu while he works on his nature manipulation training.

Over with Tenten:

Tenten arrives at the Uzumaki residence and knocks on the door, being met with Kushina.

"Oh Tenten, it's good to see you. What brings you my way? Is Naruto giving you any trouble?" She asks the young genin.

Tenten shakes her head. "No, nothing like that lady Kushina. I was actually stopping by for help with fuinjutsu. I was hoping you could help me make seals that can increase the weight of my arms."

Kushina nods her head. "Resistance seals, sure I can help." She says smiling. "Come in, let me get my fuinjutsu materials out and I'll show you what to do."

Tenten steps inside and begins listening intently and watching Kushina make the seals.

After going over the info she makes a few attempts to make the seals, getting it right on the 4th try.

"Good job, now with these seals your chakra is gonna literally be the key here. You can use it to increase and decrease the weight." She explains. "Now, make sure to keep up your fuinjutsu training ok?" Tenten nods her head, departing to practice with her bow.

And this will be where I'll end this for now. With another C rank under their belts they continue the grind that is training.

As always please drop a review, thank you for reading!

Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu - earth release: hiding like a mole jutsu

Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu - earth release: headhunter jutsu

Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu - Fire style: Fireball jutsu