A/n: I did mean to post this chapter earlier, but has been screwy lately. Wouldn't let me edit/post. So... it's totally not my fault this chapter is late! Anyway, hope you enjoy!

hitai-ite- forehead protector

sensei- teacher/master

aniki- older brother

onii/nii- variation of older brother

Chapter 9- Chaos

"YOU'RE LATE!" Sakura and Naruto both screeched, only for Naruto to earn a bonk on the head. Naruto grinned sheepishly; well, he supposed he deserved it. After all, he and Sasuke had only came to the bridge five minutes earlier. After five days with their new sensei, Sasuke had quickly figured out that being late was Kakashi's habit, and convinced Naruto to stay home until almost three hours after the designated time. Naruto quickly agreed, never liking to waste time, but unfortunately Sakura was not so easy to convince.

"Well…" Kakashi smiled, "You see, there was this blind old man who couldn't find the way back to his house and…"

"LIAR!"

This time Sakura did not bonk him on the head.

Kakashi scratched his head, beaming, "Well alright then, how 'bout we go get another mission then."

No. No, no, no. Naruto didn't care if he sounded like a kid; he didn't want another stupid D-rank today! Edward nii-san had been exceptionally busy since he'd been made jounin, and was sometimes out of the house for weeks on end. Sasuke and Naruto didn't want to spend their precious time with Edward training, so in these past months they had hardly learned anything personal. "When are you going to train us, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Eh? Train?"

"Well yeah," Naruto said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "'Cause you're our sensei you know, as in, teacher? You're supposed to help us get stronger?"

"Um… how about you learn some stuff later, and do missions now? It helps… build your teamwork, and it pays…"

"But- but- but-!"

"Not an issue," Sasuke thankfully decided to help Naruto out. Then again, Naruto knew that the dark haired Uchiha was getting annoyed with Kakashi's lack of mentorship too. Naruto couldn't explain his points very well, but Sasuke could; there was no way Kakashi was getting out of training them now! "Naruto and I live with a jounin, so his pay covers for the both of us. Sakura has parents who support her, and therefore she does not need the money. Our teamwork will not suffer if we take every second day off to train, especially if the training is a team building experience."

Woot Sasuke! Ha, let's see how Kakashi would argue against that!

"Um… um…" Kakashi glanced at Sakura, obviously hoping to find some sort of support, but she just glared at him, clearly still mad about his lateness, "This… this is insubordination!"

"Good," Sakura crossed her arms over her chest, her green eyes narrowed, "It's about time we took down the captain."

Sasuke snorted, shaking his head, "Whatever, we'll just ask Aniki. I'm sure he'll be glad to train us. Tch, no wonder Kakashi never passed a team before- he sucks at teaching!"

The lack of the attachment of sensei was apparent. Kakashi slumped, looking beaten, "Fine, I've been defeated. It's just… you two know so much already, and actually I would say you're past genin level already. If you took the chuunin exams… you could pass. I'm not sure if I should teach you anything, that'd give you way more advantage than other genins."

"But other genins have their family jutsus!" Naruto protested, "Besides, since you're our mentor, wouldn't it look good for you to have outstanding students? I bet you'd get, I dunno, promoted or something!"

"I don't want to get promoted," Kakashi's tone almost sounded wistful, which was odd, "But I suppose you do have a point. Maybe it'd score a hit with the ladies if… hehehe… okay, I'll train you. Hm, I know you two know tree climbing already, so how 'bout water walking? Yes? Okay then, how 'bout this basic C-rank jutsu called Earth Release: Entrapment? Yes? Alright, how 'bout…"

It went on. By the end of the hour, Naruto felt like his head was going to explode from all the nodding he had to do. It was crazy! But… but at least it showed how much ahead of all the academy students Naruto and Sasuke were. Naruto would have never guessed how awesome they were, because Edward nii-san had admitted that he had never been a genin and therefore didn't know the standards, but it sounded like from Kakashi's explanations, Sasuke and Naruto were really ready to be chuunin!

At least… ability-wise they were. Naruto still wasn't too sure about his decision making skills. He still remembered that fateful day of the escaped prisoner, where he had wanted to show off, and had forced Nii-san to kill. Would he ever forget it?

"…how about affinities?"

Naruto was just about to nod his head, when he paused. Wait a minute, they had never learned about affinities! He felt his blood pump, his whole body filling with excitement, "No!"

"Oh thank god I found something… although, this is a jounin thing… oh well, what the heck, they'll need to learn it sooner or later. Okay, so do you know what affinities you are so far?"

All three genin shook their heads.

"Eh? Then how did you do all those jutsus during your genin exam?"

Sasuke shrugged, "We just did them. Aniki didn't want us to train our affinities was because he said it'd limit us. So, Naruto and I learned a whole splattering of D and C-class jutsus, as well as a few B-rank. It's just that we found certain types of jutsus easier to perform, so that's why we prefer to stick by those kinds, though we can do all five types."

"Hm well… I don't have any chakra paper on me right now, but I would bet you anything that the types you find easier are your affinities. D and C-class jutsus of everything are a good basis; your brother knew what he was talking about. A and S-class jutsus however, can only be performed with whatever you have an affinity for. Affinities also allow you to control the element without using a jutsu, for example a water affinity like your brother can moisten the air into mist just by willing it. Now, what are the element you have the easiest time with?"

"Wind," Naruto replied unhesitatingly, thinking back to all those times when Edward nii-san had somehow given him a bath without using any jutsus. Hehehe… it was finally time to get revenge.

"Fire and Lightning."

"Hm… wow Sasuke, it looks like you've already developed your second affinity unconsciously; must be because you started either fire or lightning jutsus while you were young, even if it wasn't your affinity. Alright then, I'll start you two on your individual affinity training, and Sakura, you shall start the wonderful art of water walking. Oh what luck! There's a lake right beneath us! Ack- Sakura! What are you doing? Hey, hey! It was a joke, it was a- Noooooo, not my 'Icha, Icha'!"

Kakashi stared, and stared. He really couldn't help it.

They were waiting in line for their next mission, and various ninjas were busy scrambling to categorize the requests sent in to them. It was loud, it was hectic, it was important… and the braided blond was sleeping! At one of the desk stations, where ninja were supposed to be ordering missions, Edward Elric was blissfully asleep, completely unaware of the world around him. Elric was leaning into the desk, using it as a pillow as his arms dangled uselessly at his sides. His cheek was pressed against a scroll, and Kakashi just knew that it would leave ink stains when the blond woke up.

The Sandaime followed Kakashi's line of sight, and Kakashi mentally prepared himself. The Hokage didn't look it, but he could be a damn menace when he wanted to. Inwardly –and rather gleefully— Kakashi wondered what punishment the blond would get. To his completely surprise and horror, the Hokage simply smiled. "Ah… Edward that poor boy, I must have worked him too hard this past week. I shouldn't have let him come today."

Um… what? If Kakashi was found sleeping on duty… well, he didn't even want to think about the consequences.

The Sandaime must have caught Kakashi's surprised look. The old man smirked, shaking his head. "It was entirely my fault. I gave Edward a workload that should have taken a month, even for someone of his capacity, but I said I needed it urgently. He finished it within two weeks. I have a feeling he hasn't been getting much sleep, and it's my fault. I should have specified."

"Oh," Kakashi whipped his head around at the voice, finding an unusual sight of Naruto looking completely murderous, "Oh. So that's why Edward-niisan wasn't able to teach me anything this past week. It was because of you."

Surprisingly, —or maybe not so surprisingly, considering whom Edward lived with— Sasuke actually looked resentful too.

The Hokage actually gulped, looking nervous, "Right… um… so onto business."

Inwardly, Kakashi snorted. As if the Hokage was ever nervous— but he supposed the old man liked to indulge children.

"Kakashi's Team #7, your next mission is..." The Sandaime trailed off, squinting at the wrinkled paper in front of him, "Hm… babysitting an elder's grandson, shopping in the neighbourhood village, and helping with the potato digging..."

"NO! NO! NO! No thank you!" Naruto shouted, looking like he still wasn't over the whole Edward thing, "I want to do, you know, more incredible missions! Find us a better one! But! But! We keep on getting the crappiest possible duties!"

Kakashi blinked at the interruption, then sighed. Ah, he should have expected this. Still, he wished that Naruto wasn't so loud. Kakashi would have thought Naruto would at least consider the person sleeping… Kakashi looked again to the braided blond, feeling his eyebrows rise in astonishment. Somehow, that Edward was still sleeping through this.

"You idiot!" One of the workers —Iruka, if Kakashi remembered correctly— screamed back, jumping up from his seat, "Everyone starts up from the simple duties and works their way up!"

Again, Kakashi couldn't help his surprise. What was this? The normally calm academy teacher actually had a temper? But then again… Kakashi cast a surreptitious look at his other two 'normally calm' students; Naruto did seem to bring out the worst in everyone.

The Sandaime sighed, and with a blush, Iruka sat back down again. The Hokage turned towards Naruto, his usual cheery grin nowhere present, "Listen, everyday this village receives numerous requests, from babysitting… to assassinations. Each request is written down on these lists, and divided into…"

"Hey you know," Naruto whispered to Kakashi, "I have proof that the healthy food stuff is a bunch of crap."

Kakashi turned to the blond, interested in spite of himself. Really? There was proof? Kakashi hated health foods, and it would be a blessing beyond words to know that he wouldn't have to eat them to be in top shape. Oh yes, there would be consequences for not listening to the Hokage, but really, did Kakashi need to listen? After all, he already knew about the ranks…

"See," Naruto said secretively, "I'm real energetic and all, but I never eat anything healthy! Sasuke-teme does though, but as you can see, it gets him nowhere. He's always such a downer, I'm way more energetic! I CAN live on only ramen, and thrive! Just last night I had pork ramen, so miso sounds good for…"

"Hey! Listen!"

Kakashi chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head as he turned back to the Hokage. He didn't feel like a bratty kid who had just been caught stealing rice… no, not at all…"I… I apologize."

"Geez!" Naruto huffed from his place on the floor, crossing his arms. "All you do is give lectures like that. Don't you think Edward-niisan already told me all that? I know about the ranks, blah blah blah. But we can still do a C-rank can't we? I'm not the same kid I was before, so stop treating me like that bratty kid!"

Kakashi sighed; he was so going to get yelled at for this.

"Hm…" The Hokage seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, "Ok then."

Naruto opened his mouth to argue some more, but then the Hokage's words seemed to catch up to him. "Wait… huh?"

What?

"If you want it that much…" The Hokage smiled, steeping his fingers together, "I'll give you C-rank mission. It's a protection mission of a certain individual."

Naruto blinked, then jumped in excitement, punching his fists into the air. "Yatta! You're the best old man! Who will we be protecting? Who? A Fuedal Lord? A Princess? Or… or maybe it's an important noble, like the one you gave Edward-niisan for his first mission!"

The Hokage blinked, glancing at the slumbering boy beside him, "I thought I told Edward not to tell you guys about his missions. Ah, it can't be helped I guess… Calm down Naruto, I'm about to introduce your client now. Please Tazuna, come in!"

The door slowly swung open, and an old civilian man stumbled out.

"What's this?" Squinting through his foggy glasses at the genin, the client seemed all together unimpressed. Kakashi himself, felt unimpressed by the client. A drunk. Grreeaaat. Sasuke too, looked unimpressed. Sakura, disturbed. Naruto… well, he hadn't actually got over 'shocked' yet.

Tazuna snorted, crossing his arms and sneering at the Hokage. "How're they supposed to protect me? I'm an important bridge builder you know. They're all a bunch of super brats, especially the shortest one with the stu-"

The client never got to finish, because in an instant he was pinned to the ground by a demonic looking Elric. Kakshi blinked in surprise, he didn't even think his Sharingan could have caught the blonde's movement.

"Who are you calling short?" Elric whispered dangerously, digging his elbow into the client's throat.

"Oh boy, not again," Sasuke muttered, sighing. "Hey Aniki! Wake up!"

Kakashi raised a brow. Wake up? Elric wasn't even awake…? This was a freaky jounin, and here Kakashi thought Gai was bad.

Elric seemed to blink, his golden eyes turning considerably warmer, or at least, not as frightening. He got off the client, scratching his head with a sheepish grin, "Haha, sorry. Just don't say the word 'short' around me. It's an ingrained reaction."

The Hokage sighed, "Edward, you've really got to get over that. You can't go killing off clients just because of a word. Besides, it's not like you were ever really short, so I don't understand where this reaction comes from… though I admit that compared to some people you did seem quite—"

"Finish that sentence and I will kill you," Elric glared, "Hokage or not."

The Sandaime chuckled nervously, and somehow Kakashi got the impression that it was real this time. "Aw come on Edward, aren't you okay with your little brothers saying it? Shouldn't you give me the same courtesy?"

"No," Elric said flatly.

"No what?" The Sandaime asked, looking confused.

"He means he doesn't let us say it either," Sasuke sighed, now glaring at the blond jounin.

"Yeah…" Naruto said in a surprisingly small voice, one arm rising to his chest in phantom pain, "The last time I did… That was the time I ended up in the hospital, 'cause even Edward-niisan's medical skills weren't enough to cure me."

The Sandaime looked really scared now.

Naruto suddenly burst out laughing. "Ha! HA! You fell for it! Of course there isn't an injury beyond Edward-niisan's medical skills! AHahA!"

Tazuna seemed to perk up at this, glancing at Edward like a hungry hippo, "You have legendary medical skills?"

Elric glanced at the Hokage, "I'd say there are still some people who could beat me. But yes, my medical skills are above average. You could say that is what qualified me for jounin."

Ah? Kakashi's eyes narrowed in suspicion. Elric was keeping something from them, that much was obvious. But from the looks of it, the Hokage knew, so it couldn't really be a cause for concern. Still, Kakashi was suspicious. And if it was Edward's medical skills that qualified him for jounin, did that mean his fighting skills were limited? Or he had only mastered one element? The silver haired jounin made a note to research the so called 'older brother' of his two students. Yes, he had heard about the 'Edge of Death', but the rumours had only told him one aspect of Elric's skills.

"Really?" Tazuna looked positively gleeful. He turned to the Hokage, a predatory gleam in his eyes, "Can I take this guy instead? He's young, but he seems so much more competent than the other brats."

"Why you-!" Naruto growled, lunging forwards. It was only Kakashi's restraining hand that stopped him.

"What's the point of killing the person we're supposed to protect?" The silver haired jounin muttered, "No matter how much you dislike the guy, you can't allow your emotions to interfere with your work."

The Hokage hummed, his lips twitching as if he had heard Kakashi's and Naruto's little side exchange. Coughing in a way that sounded suspiciously like a laugh to Kakashi, the Sandaime Hokage turned to Tazuna with a serious look on his face. "I am sorry, Edward is a jounin, and as a jounin, very expensive to purchase. If you would like Edward, you would have to pay almost 30 times what you've already paid."

Tazuna paled, but his face quickly closed off. He grunted, crossing his arms and turning away. "Fine fine, I'll stick with the brats. Sheesh, you people are so stingy."

"Says the person who won't pay a bit more money when he wants higher protection," Elric grumbled quietly, then turned to the Hokage with a sour face. His voice was quiet, and would have been impossible to hear for anyone who wasn't Kakashi. "And please don't 'help' me like that again, you make me sound like cattle. What's wrong with saying I have special privileges?"

Special privileges? Kakashi had to bat down a rising brow. Why in the world would the blond get 'special privileges'? Inwardly, he couldn't believe that the Hokage was playing favourites, and so blatantly at that. The Hokage was supposed to be fair and just, but the Sandaime… quickly, Kakashi squashed down those thoughts. He would not commit blasphemy. Besides, it wasn't as if he disliked the Sandaime, it was just that sometimes, Kakashi couldn't help but question his leader's judgement. He really hoped the old man wasn't going senile.

But still… The Hokage always had picked the best for Konoha, and Kakashi had never once thought the Sandaime did wrong when it came to big decisions. Besides, it wasn't as if the other Hokages never played favourites. The Yondaime himself… Kakashi shook his head slightly, stopping that line of thought before it could progress any further. No, he didn't want to think about the Yondaime. Couldn't.

The Hokage coughed slightly, catching Kakashi's attention, to which the silver haired jounin was completely thankful. The Sandaime raised a brow at Elric, his own voice equally as quiet as the blonde's. "You know why I don't want to tell anyone about your circumstances. It's just like, what's wrong with me telling others about who your teacher was for your medical jutsus? And Kakashi, it's rude to eavesdrop."

Kakashi almost flushed, feeling like a little five year old yet again. The Hokage did seem to have that effect on people. He was sure he hadn't been obvious about it, not even looking at the pair as he was listening in. But then again, he supposed that this was the skills of a kage, and that they could never be underestimated. Elric turned to look at Kakashi, a speculative look on his face. The silver haired jounin ignored it, placing his attention on the client now that he'd been reprimanded.

Tazuna was glaring down at his little genins, as if daring them to argue with him. Of course, they wouldn't, because that's what Kakashi taught them to do. Or at least, Kakashi hoped they wouldn't. "I'm the super expert bridge builder Tazuna! I expect you to provide me with super protection until we get back to Wave Country."

Elric perked up, looking away from Kakashi and staring with almost an excited gleam at Tazuna. "Wave Country?"

"Yes," Tazuna answered huffily, "The great and powerful Wave Country!"

Elric turned to the Sandaime, a hopeful look on his face.

The Hokage sighed, "Fine, fine, you did all your paperwork early anyways. You may take a vacation. Not a year long sabbatical this time, though. The time training can be excused, but the time with Sasuke? Can't."

Elric rolled his eyes, glancing at Sasuke with a grin, "Oh yes it can. I was 'helping the poor Uchiha' that time, and it's the same with this time. The council didn't care, and it won't care this time either."

Sasuke glared back. Most likely at being called 'the poor Uchiha'.

Naruto crossed his arms, a sullen look on his face. Mostly likely because Sasuke's status was once again, more important than Naruto.

Sakura looked depressed, hopelessly looking at everyone's faces to get some hint of what was going on.

Kakashi sighed. Maaa, the Edward boy was stirring things up. He was going to break Team Seven. Seriously, Kakashi hoped Elric didn't want what Kakashi thought he was implying.

"Don't worry Hokage-sama," Elric said seriously, "I won't be gone for more than a week. I made a promise didn't I?"

The Hokage smiled slightly, but unlike his usual ones, this one looked sad. "Yes, yes, of course. Alright then, you may take your vacation. And I warn you, if you're gone for more than a week, it's coming out of your pay."

Kakashi sighed. So his prediction came true after all. At least, it gave him time to pry some secrets from the maddening blond.

Elric laughed, turning to Team Kakashi with an arrogant grin on his face, "Well well, it looks like I'll be joining you on your little mission. I haven't been to Wave Country before, even in my expeditions around the world, and this is the perfect opportunity to visit it. Hey now! Naruto, Sasuke, don't look so murderous— I'm not coming along as a ninja."

Tazuna's previously gleeful expression, fell flat.

"What?" Naruto asked in confusion, voicing everyone's question.

Elric swished his crimson cloak, covering the hitai-ite at his waist, "When this mission commences, I am no longer a ninja of Konoha, I am a regular civilian. Even when bandits and thieves attack, I will act like a regular civilian. You'll have to protect me too… hm, I could probably even close my chakra points for a better effect… nah, too painful…"

"Seriously?" Naruto looked positively delighted, "That means… that we can finally get you back for all the pain you gave us!"

Sasuke smirked, and Kakashi noticed his hands going through the familiar fire jutsus.

Elric coughed into his hand, looking slightly stunned for a moment. Quickly though, he recovered. "No, I'm a civilian, and ninjas aren't supposed to attack civilians—" Kakashi inwardly snorted. Edward was one to talk, especially when he went into a fury just by one simple word "—so you can't attack me. But that reminded me… I will not be a medical ninja. If you get hurt, I won't heal you. Naruto, Sasuke, think of this as another training exercise."

The two genins groaned, but Kakashi could tell that there was no grievance in it. Elric seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, but Kakashi thought he was the only one who noticed. Elric noticed him noticing. Once again, a pair of speculative golden eyes turned to him.

Kakashi suddenly got a very, very bad feeling about the mission…

The next day dawned bright and early, as it always did with Fire Country. Kakashi stood languidly by the gate with his hands in his pockets, only an hour late this time. Personally, he thought this was a record, but his genin didn't see it that way. Nor did his fellow jounin, for that matter.

"YOU'RE LATE!" Naruto and Sakura screamed at him, popping a few nerves in his ears.

"Really," Elric threw an easy grin in Kakashi's direction, but his golden eyes were steely. "Are jounin supposed to be this late? What if we got attacked while you were dawdling? Would these kiddies still be alive?"

Ah… so Elric was getting into the role already. But really, he would have to act better if he wanted the part of a civilian. Disapproval rang clear from the boy, as it only would with senior jounins. Kakahsi's eyes turned to upside down U's. Well, he was waaay more senior than the little golden eyed boy. "If you are worried mister, you do not have to travel with us."

Elric narrowed his eyes.

Naruto seemed to sense the tension in the air, and apparently, was better at distracting than Kakashi thought. Naruto coughed, drawing everyone's attention. "Hey! Let's go! I've never left the village before, and… um… wow, I wonder what's out there. Will there be bears? Will we have to hunt to survive? Hehe… Sakura-chan, I can definitely impress you then if…"

As he talked, Naruto grew more and more animated, until Kakashi was sure the blond had forgotten the reason he started talking in the first place. He sighed.

"Hey…" Their client sighed, "Am I really going to be safe with this brat?"

Naruto turned on the bridge builder, puffing out his cheeks in indignation. "Hey old man, don't mess with ninjas! I'm incredible! One day I will take on the super elite ninja title Hokage! My name is Uzamaki Naruto! Remember it!"

"Hokage is the village's #1 ninja right?" Tazuna drawled, raising a brow, "I doubt someone like you could become it…"

"Shut. Up."

Kakashi turned in surprise; the speaker wasn't Naruto.

Tazuna turned a glare on the genin. "Excuse me?"

"I said shut it." Sasuke repeated slowly, crossing his arms and leaning back against the wall. He had a bored expression on his face, as if what he was saying was an obvious fact of life. "Naruto will become Hokage, and that's all there is too it."

"Ye-yeah," Naruto stuttered, shooting Sasuke a faintly surprised look. Shaking his head, he turned back to Tazuna with a determined face. "I'll definitely become Hokage, and then you will acknowledge me!"

Tazuna gave Naruto a long, considering look. Finally, he turned away, "No I won't you brat… even if you did become Hokage."

"Grr…" Naruto looked to be at his limit, "I'LL KILL YOU!"

"Stop it," Sasuke grabbed onto Naruto's shoulder and surprising Kakashi once again. "Do you realize what Tazuna just said, idiot? He just acknowledged that you could very well become Hokage."

Naruto stopped in his rampage, an almost vulnerable look on his face, "Re-really?"

"Yeah, idiot," Sasuke sighed, removing his hand from Naruto's shoulder, "But let's get going. I want to end this mission as soon as possible."

Naruto stuck out his tongue, "Just because you've been out before…"

The rest of the journey seemed to be in ceaseless chatter, between Naruto, Sasuke, and Elric. After a while, Sakura seemed to finally have enough of being left out. "Umm… Tazuna-san?"

"What?"

"You're from Wave country, right?"

"What about it?"

"Um… Kakashi-sensei? Do they have ninjas in that country too?"

That seemed to catch everyone's attention. Well, well, Kakashi wouldn't disappoint. "Nope, not in Wave country. But, in most other countries…"

Kakashi finished his explanation of the different villages, and looked to his genins for their reactions. Naruto and Sasuke both looked dubious, while Sakura looked overly chirpy. Kakashi shook his head, not sure whether to feel amused or exasperated, "You guys just doubted the Hokage-sama didn't you?"

"Hehe…" Naruto scratched the back of his head, and shrugged, "Well who knew that old geezer was that powerful? I mean, I totally wiped the floor with him using my sexy— ow!"

Elric smiled innocently, putting his hand back into his pocket, and blatantly ignoring the fresh red bump on Naruto's head. "If I may say so, though I'm not a ninja, I'd think that there's always more than meets the eye. If you've happened to 'defeat' the most powerful ninja in your village, I'd have to think that he let you, just like a father would let his kid win at a game of tag. As a ninja, you should understand that… right?"

Naruto pouted, glaring at the golden eyed 'civilian' as he rubbed the back of his head gently, "Edward-niisan… how could you know? Have you ever had a match with jii-san?"

For a moment, Elric looked thoughtful, then he shook his head and shrugged. "Hey, what are you talking about? I'm just your normal, average civilian. I can't fight with the most powerful ninja in Fire Country."

Naruto looked displeased by the answer, and even Sasuke seemed disappointed.

Kakashi coughed, wanting to get off such a subject while they were so close to… well, the puddle. It would not do, for the mist nins to think they had two jounin. They would freak out, then, and might not even come out. "Anyway… you guys don't have to worry about any ninja combat in a C-rank mission."

"You mean we won't come in contact with foreign ninjas?" Sakura looked positively delighted. Hm… so the kunochi didn't like the idea of combat did she? Well, Kakashi would have to change that.

But as for now… his acting skills were much better than his three genins. His eyes curved into upside down U's, indicating a smile. "Haha…. Of course not! Hahaha…"

The bridge builder however, didn't seem to find this funny at all. Strange… perhaps, he knew about the mist nins? Sasuke seemed to notice too, as did Elric, but the latter didn't seem to give it much thought. Or maybe he was just playing his role of civilian, much like Kakashi was playing his role of obliviousness.

As he felt the two ninjas rise out of the puddle behind him, Kakashi couldn't help the little snort that escaped him. Honesty, did two Chuunin level at best mist nins seriously think they could take on a jounin? Maa… well, Kakashi supposed that he had been expecting his genin to do the same. Still, there was a large difference in capturing, and killing. Besides… it wasn't like he ever fought his kids seriously…

The chain wrapped tightly around him, and Kakashi made sure to put on a stunned look for show.

"What's this?" Naruto shouted, looking truly shocked.

"Huh…?" Sakura's eyes dilated in fear, and in that moment Kakashi did feel a tiny bit of regret for taking away that innocence. But really, if the three genin hoped to become truly ninja, then they would have to face this reality sooner or later. Besides, this was the only way to find out who the target was. Though, if Tazuna's reaction earlier was any indication, Kakashi really didn't need to look any further. Still, he didn't like to penalize others without proof.

"One down," One of the two brothers said, tightening the chain.

Inwardly, Kakashi laughed. He quickly formed the body switch handseals, and within a second he was watching his own 'death'. For an instant, Elric's eyes flickered to his location, but they quickly returned to the scene. Kakashi didn't take much notice of it. It was not that ridiculous, for a fellow jounin to discover his location, especially not a medic-nin. Besides, it wasn't as if he were putting in an enormous effort in concealing his chakra. These new found enemies were obviously chuunin, and there was a big gap between jounin and chuunin.

"Two down." The mist nins appeared behind Naruto, sinister grins on their faces.

Sasuke took a quick glance at Elric, who didn't even move to help. With a nod to himself, Sasuke sprang from his spot beside Tazuna, and flew to Naruto's side. Reaching into his weapons pouch, he sent two shuriken flying, tangling up the mist nins' chain. A second later, Sasuke landed on top of the mist nins' heads, flipping himself over and giving them each a powerful kick. Kakashi felt his eyes curve into upside down U's. This was more than he expected from Sasuke, even from everything Kakashi had already seen in training. Taking out two Chuunins on first try… my, my.

But, as it was, ninja were ninja, no matter how stupid they seemed. The Chuunins immediately let go of their chain, and each headed towards different directions. One headed towards Naruto, and the other Tazuna. Sakura immediately moved in front of the client, despite her previous complaints of not wanting to fight. For a split second, Sasuke hesitated, glancing at Naruto. Then, he seemed to decide that Naruto could handle himself, and flew to Sakura. Kakashi felt a well of pride bubble up within him, and decided it was time to act.

It was over in an instant.

"Edward…" Kakashi said, hoisting the two mist nins in his arms, grey eyes scanning the scratch mark on Naruto's hand. "I'm surprised you didn't act. What if your little bunnies had gotten killed? That was risky, even for the 'Edge of Death Elric'."

Elric stiffened, but then seemed to shake it off. He walked slowly towards Naruto, only allowing a slight interest to be revealed in his tone, "It wasn't risky at all. I trust a jounin to look after his genins after all—" The piercing, but you didn't, rang clearly in the air. "—and I don't appreciate you using that name. It's misleading."

"Why not?" Kakashi smiled, dismissing Elric's hidden insult. "I think it suits your double-edged techniques. On one hand, you can bring someone back from the fringe of death, on the other hand, you can bring someone to the edge of death… For a regular ninja, amazing techniques are what keeps them alive, but something about how you do things…"

Like how he brought a ninja to the edge of their death for instance. He had never heard of someone, who could stripe another of their life's worth, without exactly destroying life itself. It was monstrous.

Elric stopped at Naruto's hand, picking it up and examining it closely, "Are you suspicious of me, Kakashi? I've really had enough of that. Besides, you shouldn't judge anything unless you've heard the full story."

"Yeah!" Naruto agreed loudly, waving his free hand to make a point, "Edward-niisan's not suspicious at all! Give him a chance!"

"Stop it Naruto," Elric commanded, and the blond genin froze. Kakashi narrowed his eyes at the instinctual response. Edward had this much power over their jinchuriki… "Their claws are soaked in poison. You have to open the wound to release the poison from your body. Don't move much, the poison will spread."

"Ack!" Naruto cried, but didn't dare move, "Can you cure me though, nii-san?"

"Hum…" Elric dropped the hand, smiling, "Nope. I'm just a regular civilian remember? Oh and, good job, Sasuke."

Sasuke beamed, allowing Kakashi to catch a glimpse of the Uchiha that he had never seen before. The silver haired jounin blinked in surprise, hardly able to believe that this side of the usually stoic Uchiha existed.

"Yeah," Naruto muttered sullenly. "Good job Sasuke. I'll be sure to save you next time."

Sasuke threw a lazy glance at Naruto, grinning. "You giving up already, scaredy cat?"

Naruto threw back another insult, but Kakashi paid it no mind. Now, all his attention was focused on the bridge builder. "Tazuna-san… I need to talk to you."

Tazuna sighed, "You're right this job is most likely outside of your duties. It turns out a super dangerous man is after my life."

"Super dangerous man?" Kakashi paused, his mind rapidly going through and filtering the people around the area who could be counted as dangerous. In the end, there were just too many. "Who?"

Tazuna looked away, his voice having something akin to bitterness. "You've probably at least heard his name before. The wealthy shipping magnate… a man named Gato."

"Gato?" Elric blurted out before Kakashi could, looking surprised. He licked his lips, and tested the name on his tongue, "Why does that sound... familiar?

"It couldn't be…" Kakashi muttered, "Gato from the Gato Company? He's said to be the world's few extremely wealthy people."

This… made the whole mission much more troublesome. If for some reason Gato really was going against Tazuna, then it would actually be in Konoha's favour not to participate in this mission. They would upset a potentially great client if word reached Gato's ears, especially if Tazuna wasn't even going to pay them for the deed.

"Yes," Tazuna sighed, turning back to them with a resigned look on his face, "Officially, he runs large shipping companies. But, secretly, he sells drugs and other illegal items using ninjas and gang members to take over… businesses and countries. He's a very nasty man. It was about a year ago when he set his eyes on Wave Country. Through money and violence, he quickly took control of the country's shipping industry. Gato now has a monopoly on all business traffic in the country. The only thing he has to fear now is the completion of the bridge."

"I see…" Sakura said with a thoughtful frown, having turned her attention from Sasuke and Naruto at some point or another and instead focusing on the adults. "Since you're building the bridge, you're in the way."

Naruto wrinkled his nose, "Woah, uncool. But ah— why hasn't this Gato guy paid you off yet? I mean, if he doesn't want you to build the bridge, couldn't he just bribe you or something?"

"Idiot," Sasuke muttered, "Why would a tyrant businessman pay someone off when he could just assassinate them? Those ninja were hired by Gato, right?"

"Who's the idiot?" Naruto snorted, "I think it's a lot cheaper to pay off a poor bridge builder who can't even afford a B-rank mission than to hire a bunch of ninja."

Kakashi was impressed that Naruto had managed to connect the dots. He really should stop underestimating the blond. Sakura and Sasuke were of course, as sharp as always. Kakashi couldn't help but feel a moment's of pride. His team was so smart!

Tazuna shook his head, "He can't buy me off, and he knows it."

There was a story behind that one, but Kakashi wasn't heartless. He wasn't going to press where things could end up exploding.

"Ah!" Elric suddenly exclaimed, "I just remembered! Gato… is a client I had!"

There was a moment's of silence, and blank looks from everyone.

Elric blushed, scratching his head with an apologetic look at Tazuna, "Oh… sorry. A few years ago, I had to accompany an upstart businessman to a contract deal, and he was afraid of getting assassinated. So I was hired along with somebody else to protect him. The mission didn't end to well… well, we managed to complete it anyhow. The businessman got his important contract signed. His name was Gato."

Now everyone wasn't just looking at him. They were gaping at him.

"I feel bad about that," Elric continued, "If I knew he'd turn out like this… No matter what Tazuna, I'll help you with your situation."

There was, another moment of silence. And then, Tazuna sighed, "And here I was, getting all ready to tell you a sob story about my niece. Thank you for your offer of help… Mr. Ninja."

"Wait! Wait! Wait!" Sakura exclaimed, waving her hands around frantically, "We never agreed to anything! We aren't ready for a B-rank mission, let's quit! We will need medicine for Naruto's wound. We should go back to the village and take him to a doctor."

"Hm…" Kakashi thought about this. It was reasonable, and he didn't want to lose any of his genins so early. Or at all, for that matter. Besides, most likely Elric could accompany Tazuna to Wave, and one way or another, the old man was safe. Still… something didn't sit right with him abandoning the mission. But then again, teammates were definitely more important than a mission any day. He had learned that the hard way. "Yes, you might be onto something there Sakura. This might be too much. I guess we should return to the village and treat Naruto."

He looked around, and everyone seemed to be agreeing. Even Sasuke, though he looked a bit sullen about it. Well, everyone except— Naruto whipped a kunai out, and ran it through his hand.

"Naruto! What are you doing?" Sakura screamed, voicing Kakashi's thoughts. What in the world was the little chibi thinking? Was he so into self-harm?

"With this kunai…" Naruto pulled out the weapon, beads of sweat clinging onto his face, "I'll protect the old man. We're continuing the mission!"

Kakashi blinked, stunned. Naruto was… Naruto was… Kakashi felt his lips curve into a smile. Yes, Naruto did have a chance to become Hokage after all.

"Seriously," Elric sighed, taking a roll of bandages from his pack. He leant down to bandage Naruto's hand, then patted genin's head, smiling. "Don't do that again."

"But—but—"

"Once is enough," Elric said, wrapping the white cloth a few times around Naruto's hand. "Right?"

Naruto blinked, then nodded happily, "You bet'cha!"

Kakashi sighed; what a relationship those three had…

"By the way," Elric looked lazily at Kakashi, but there was anything but laziness present in those accusing yellow eyes, "Since we're continuing, but it's apparently going to be more dangerous, shouldn't we send for some backup? I for one, don't want to lose my life. Ninjas have those summon thing right? Well, why don't you use one?"

Kakashi's eye twitched at the tone the blond was using with him, and the insinuation that Kakashi wasn't smart enough to figure it out. Kakashi had thought of that, but he decided he wanted his team to get real field experience. Besides… "Tazuna doesn't have enough money to hire backup."

Still, now that would not sit well with the Edge of Death. Elric turned to look at Tazuna, and although Kakashi could not see the blond's expression, he did see the arrogant old man gulp in fear. Elric cleared his throat, turning back to Kakashi, "Well then, I'm sure Tazuna here will get more money when they finish building the bridge. So, I'll pay for a genin team now, and Tazuna will pay me back later."

A genin team? Why…? Oh yes, because every genin cell came with a jounin sensei, and although jounins themselves were difficult to afford, when they came with their genin teams their own prices were null. Very tricky, Mr. Elric. Shooting Elric a knowing grin with his eyes, Kakashi bit his thumb and ignoring the wide eyed look of almost everyone present, summoned one of his nin dogs. Giving a strict order to report to the Hokage of everything, and request backup, Kakashi let his dog run.

The rest of the journey passed in relative peace at least, and they even managed to make light conversation. That is… until Naruto decided to go berserk with the weapons.

"There!" He yelled, throwing yet another kunai into the foliage.

"I said stop!" Sakura screamed, whacking Naruto on the head, "There's no one there!"

"Aw… that isn't a nice thing to say. I don't think I'm 'no-one', though Mikael might be considered that…"

The group froze, turning towards the source of the voice.

The sun shown down brilliantly on the three new figures, one of which was twirling Naruto's kunai around like it was a small toy. An ancient looking sword swung from his hips, a sharp contrast to his young and innocent appearance. He smiled, tilting his head slightly, his long blonde hair covering his right eye.

"Ha! Ha! See?" Naruto pointed to the trio, smirking at Sakura, "I told you there was someone shadowing us!"

Sasuke ignored Naruto completely, narrowing his eyes at the newcomers, "Who are you?"

Kakashi took in the other two boys, and felt his blood freeze. Suddenly, he remembered the three faces, the three faces that had surprised and amazed him. The blond one, with the hidden eye. The golden haired boy, with the twig stuck lazily between his lips. The black haired one, who always wore a long wool hat. They were the three that had only been added to the bingo book a year ago, but in a year had risen to A-class. They were…

"Oh us?" The blond grinned, "I'm Ares, the one that looks like a zombie is Mikael, and this is Baruna. We're… ninjas from the Village of Chaos."