Naruto Chronicles: Rise of the Bandits

Chapter 3

Speaking: normal

Thoughts, flashbacks, com-link, and notes: italicized

Jutsus, summons, demons: bold

Summons's and demon's thoughts, and mind link…: bold italicized

(): author speaking

…: Time change

~: Scene change

Summary: On the night of the sealing, Minato seals the entire fox into Naruto and Sarutobi reveals his true heritage to the village. When the council demands his death, Sarutobi sees just how far Konoha has fallen from grace.

He then gives Tsunade an important assignment: raise Naruto Uzumaki to rise above the village that betrayed him. However, during his life outside of Konoha, Naruto gains a second goal that he intends to make into a reality.

Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is a fan-made story made simply for the sake of enjoyment.

It had been three weeks since Naruto had confronted Konohamaru about his dreams. During those three weeks, Team 7 discovered the bane of all shinobi aside from paperwork. They discovered the dreaded D-Ranked missions.

The one mission that the team discovered was the worst of the worst was the 'Catch Tora' mission. In fact, the team was currently in pursuit of said feline…for the ninth time that morning.

After another three hours of cat chasing, Naruto cornered Tora between some trees and put her to sleep with a special sleeping powder. He then scooped her up and said, "I am getting so tired of this crap. Let's get Tora back to the office before I do something she'll regret."

Hokage's office…

As soon as Team 7 entered the mission room, Tora was instantly snatched up by her owner. Madame Shinji turned to Naruto and said, "Thank you for saving my precious Tora again, Naru-kun. Tell your mother I said hello."

Naruto smiled and nodded as the daimyo's wife exited the office. As soon as she was out of sight, Sasuke was the first to say, "How are you so familiar with the daimyo's wife?"

Naruto smiled as he gently curled a spiky lock of hair around his fingers. "Okaa-chan and I liked to travel around a lot. We had been invited to Lord Shinji's birthday party when Madame Shinji accidently gave herself a case of food poisoning. It was the first time I had both fully diagnosed and cured the same patient."

He then turned to Sarutobi and said, "My many high-end connections aside, we want a better mission."

Iruka, was assisting in the mission assignments, started a spiel about the mission assignment system. When he finished, he quickly noticed that Sakura was organizing a medical kit, Kakashi's nose was buried in his smut, Hiruzen and Biwako were playing cards, and Naruto was whispering something into Sasuke's ear that made the Uchiha blush.

Iruka cleared his throat and said, "I can't believe you all ignored me like that. Did you all overdose on stupid this morning?"

Hiruzen set his hand down and said, "Kakashi-san, do you believe that your team is ready of a higher ranked mission?"

Kakashi closed his book long enough to say, "I'm sure that a C-ranked mission won't be a problem. It would serve to let them see beyond the village's gates as well as give them some field experience."

Hiruzen nodded and said, "It just so happens that I have a C-ranked mission ready to go. Iruka, please bring in the client."

The scarred Chūnin briskly exited the room before returning with a middle-aged man wearing a straw hat. The man took one look at Team 7 and said, "This is the team that's supposed to protect me!? I bet these runts couldn't…hold on a second."

The client's eyes landed on Naruto before lighting up in mirth. "Naruto, is that you!?"

Naruto eyes bugged out of his head as he got a better look at the client. "Tazuna, why are you here in Konoha? Is this about the Tanzaku incident? I swear that I paid that one off already."

Kakashi placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder and smiled. "It seem as though you are also familiar with our client."

Naruto and Tazuna both gave face-splitting grins before saying, "We're poker buddies."

Sakura gave Naruto an incredulous look. "You play poker? You don't look like the type to gamble."

Naruto pulled a deck of cards from his pocket and said, "When your okaa-chan is Tsunade Senju, you tend to pick up her penchant for gambling. I could teach you a few things if you want."

Naruto then gave Sakura the cards before turning back to Tazuna. "Don't worry about a thing, oldie. We've got you covered."

Tazuna nodded before pulling out a bottle of sake. "That actually makes me feel easier about this. We're leaving in about four hours because I need some time to grab some stuff for the trip home."

Kakashi dismissed the team so that they could gather anything they needed to prepare for the mission.

With Sakura…

As soon as the kunoichi entered her home, she saw a woman with dark pink hair reading from a scroll. "Saki oba-chan, have you seen my special medical kit?"

Saki Haruno, Sakura's aunt and maternal figure, pointed to the counter where a medical kit was resting. "This must be an important mission if you're using that kit. How long will you be gone?"

Sakura grabbed the kit and sat down next to her aunt. "It's an extended C-Ranked mission and we're looking at a few weeks to almost a month."

Saki placed her scroll on the table and smiled at her niece. "I know you'll do well out there, Sakura-chan. Jaden-nii would be so proud if he could see you right now."

Uchiha residence…

Sasuke crept through the compound and into his room to gather what he thought would be essential for the mission. He had almost made it to the gates when a painfully familiar voice said, "Why all the sneaking around, otouto? After all, this is your home."

Sasuke sighed as Itachi rounded a corner. "I'm in a bit of a rush," said the younger Uchiha. "I'll cater to your annoying personality when I get home."

Itachi poked him in the forehead before smiling. "Foolish little brother, you really should consider getting laid."

Sasuke turned his head to try and hide the fact that he was blushing. "Go back to your pocky and leave me in peace. Better yet, why don't you follow your own advice?"

Itachi turned to walk away with a smirk on his face. "I already am. Have fun trying to lose your virginity."

Sasuke stifled a scream as he left to meet with his team. He'd deal with his brother's idiocy on a later day.

Senju residence…

Naruto casually strolled into the Senju compound and stopped as a fist came within an inch of his nose. Tsunade quickly lowered her hand before saying, "Oh, it's you Naru-chan. I was hoping to catch that old toad you call a godfather."

Naruto gave a void smile while saying, "Here's a funny little science lesson. Did you know that some toads prefer to live in large trees? I'm honestly left without a clue as to why."

Picking up on her son's hint, Tsunade punched the oak tree to her left. She then gave a satisfied smirk as Jiraiya came crashing to earth with a girlish scream.

Jiraiya simply dusted himself off before saying, "What did I tell you about being a snitch? Just for that, you don't get a birthday this year."

Two seconds later, he found himself on the ground again with a fist-sized bruise on his head. Tsunade smirked in satisfaction before saying, "I didn't realize that Kakashi had dismissed you all so early today. Is something going on?"

Naruto shook his head before vanishing in a swirl of rose petals. When he returned, Tsunade noticed that he had a playful smirk on his face. "We're going on a C-Ranked mission with Tazuna of all people and won't be back for about a month."

Tsunade gently kissed her son on the forehead before saying, "I know you'll do just fine, Naru-chan. Now go out there and kick some ass for me."

Naruto nodded as he turned to exit the compound. "Have fun beating up ero-kyōfu and I'll see you in a month."

As the blonde vanished in a swirl of rose petals, Tsunade refocused her attention on Jiraiya with a demented smirk plastered on her face. Jiraiya quickly looked around before pointing to his right and shouting, "Someone left a bottle of sake out!"

Tsunade turned her head in hopes of finding the alleged sake, but was sad when she saw nothing. She then turned back to Jiraiya, only to find the old pervert running faster than the Yondaime on a sugar rush.

Village Gates…

As Team 7 and Tazuna met up at the gates, Kakashi noticed that Naruto seemed to be waiting on something. "Is something the matter, Naruto? You looked concerned about something."

Naruto simply shook his head and held up three fingers. When the first finger dropped, a red and white blur shot past them with a green and blonde blur following close behind.

On the second finger's descent, the sounds of an overpowered punch and a scream filled the air. When Naruto's third finger came down, Jiraiya crash-landed into the ground just left of Sakura.

The blonde smiled at his godfather's discomfort and said, "I just didn't want to run the risk of being bowled over by his reentry. Let's get out of here before something else happens."

Three hours later…

As Team 7 and Tazuna made some leeway into their trek, Kakashi and Naruto noticed a puddle on the side of the road. Kakashi looked at Naruto from the corner of his eye and winked, showing the blonde that he had seen it as well.

Just as the group came parallel to the puddle, Naruto used a chakra-powered stomp to disrupt the terrible attempt at a camouflage jutsu. The puddle vanished to reveal a pair of brunette twins wearing a pair of gauntlets that were connected by a chain.

Kakashi was about to tie them up when Naruto held out a hand to stop him. "What are the two of you doing out here?"

The male on the left lifted his head to reveal that he was barely older than Naruto. "We were ordered to come here and try to take out the bridge builder. There was no way of knowing you would be here, Naruto-sama."

The one on the right nodded before saying, "Gato hired us to make sure that Tazuna-san wouldn't finish the bridge. We were only doing as we were told."

Naruto crouched down to face the boy on the left. "Kazu, I want you and Raikō to tell your boss that I want to speak to him. And I don't mean Gato."

The twins bowed before vanishing in a swirl of mist. Naruto just sighed before turning to Tazuna. "You should've told me that Gato was after you, Tazuna. I would've taken this job for free if I had known he would be the cause of this."

Kakashi gently placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder and smiled. "That's kind of you, but it would be counterproductive for Konoha. Still, I'm curious as to your reasons for being willing to deal with Gato free of charge."

Naruto sat down in a grassy area before saying, "Gato advertises himself to be a merchant and shipping tycoon. However, he's really a lowlife bastard who sells drugs, enslaves women, and does a few other things I won't mention. For a while now, he has been on my list."

The Jonin nodded before pulling out his infamous book. "Well, it looks like Naruto-kun wants to keep going. Team, what's the verdict?"

Sasuke grunted before saying, "If my okaa-chan found out I let a country get bled dry when I had the chance to do something, she'd kill me."

Sakura nodded while patting her medical kit. "If I were anything like that bitch Saiyuko, I'd say that it wasn't my problem. However, I actually have a heart unlike her."

Naruto smiled at the girl's reasoning. "From what I just heard, you and this Saiyuko person have no similar qualities. So sensei, we've made our choice."

Kakashi nodded before closing his book. "Let's get back into formation and move back out. Tazuna-san, we're taking you home."

A few hours later…

The group had met up with one of Tazuna's friends and used his boat to cross the water and reach the island that Tazuna lived on. When they arrived on land, they walked for another hour before noticing that a heavy fog had rolled in.

Naruto instantly channeled chakra into his ears and focused on the world around him. When he heard a sound to his left that was too heavy to be an animal, he tossed a kunai into the brush and said, "Be on your guard. We are no longer alone."

However, when he went into the brush to retrieve his kunai, he returned with a white rabbit. He quickly held the rabbit up and said, "I told you we weren't alone, sensei. This rabbit only confirms that."

Sakura was genuinely confused. "Naruto-san, how can you know that just from seeing a white…rabbit? Wait, is that a snowshoe hare?"

"Exactly," Naruto said. "A rabbit like this should be brown during the spring unless it's raised in a cold area. Second, take a look at the red collar on its neck. I know we're not alone because I know who owns this particular rabbit."

Suddenly, Kakashi shouted, "Get down!"

Everyone managed to duck as a large blade flew over their heads and wedged itself in a tree. From within the fog, a deep voice said, "It looks like someone has a few skills. However, that won't be enough for some greenhorn genin to try and deal with me."

Naruto rolled his eyes while petting the rabbit. "Save the crap and come out here, Zabuza."

When some of the mist cleared, everyone could see a male standing on the hilt of the large blade. The male turned his attention to the group and pointed at Naruto. "Now I see what the twins were telling me about their master returning. It's been a while since we've done battle. Hasn't it young Naruto Senju?"