Chapter Two

THUNK!

"You missed, again."

"Tsk! Fuck you Sasuke!" Naruto retorts with a growl as he pulls out more shuriken and starting throw some more. "I'm still tired dattebayo," he grumbles while Sasuke rolls his eyes at his teammate. Sakura, who is nearby gives a soft smile at her teammate's interaction. Much to her annoyance, the three are still waiting for their usual late sensei to show up so they can train.

However, Kakashi is present, his single eye watching his students carefully. His eye focused on Sakura, the healer and genjutsu specialist of the team. He can see the flickering annoyance in her eyes as time passes and he has yet to show himself. Though the girl is usually calm, he knows better, after all, it's just a facade. The girl is bloodthirsty and quite scary, though she keeps it behind a calm and teasing demeanor.

What makes her even scarier in Kakashi's opinion, is the fact she is quite skilled despite being a newly graduated genin. Her medical ninjutsu prowess is very impressive as is her genjutsu skills. It was somewhat difficult for him to break out of her spell when he gave the bell test, in fact, she is who allowed the bells to be taken. Her illusions though are painful and rather terrifying, usually being ones of death in hundreds of different painful ways. Though all three of them are smart, it's clear that she is the brains within the team. She did place first as the Rookie Kunoichi of her year after all, which didn't say much until he overlooked her file.

She only has two known friends, her two teammates. She never really spoke to anyone besides them, and she is serious with her studies, scoring a perfectly on every written test, and close to perfect on others. She definitely has an aptitude in the medical field. She is usually reading a book on the subject. He knows next to nothing about her home life, besides the fact she lived with her aunt and uncle due to her parents KIA and she recently moved out.

His eye then began to slide over to Sasuke Uchiha, who is slightly shorter than Naruto with raven black hair, his bangs framing the side of his face. His coal black eyes hold boredom similar to Naruto's expression, going rather well with his somewhat pale skin. While his physique isn't as toned as Naruto's, it is obvious he trains as well, his choice of clothing is a dark blue high collared short sleeve shirt with black pants and black sandals along with arm warmers, his Konoha headband tied to his forehead similar to Naruto.

Sasuke is seen as the ninjutsu specialist of the team and can honestly be considered about mid chunin level. He has already unlocked his Sharingan, has a good amount of jutsu in his library and strong enough chakra reserves to improve them as well as extend its uses. Kakashi also noticed he seems to favor the sword as well, all of them do really, just varying skills.

While Naruto is rather loud and isn't afraid to voice his thoughts, and Sakura is the more polite one, Sasuke is silent and calculating. He usually tries to prove his power over Naruto, which frankly never happens as both are equal to each other in their own way. While Sasuke is cold and annoying in his own way with his jabs, Kakashi has been around long enough to know that is pretty much how Sasuke shows affection and emotion to his teammates. He is being nice.

Then his eye lands on who he feels may be the most dangerous student despite that he comes off as harmless, brash and unfocused; Naruto Uzumaki. Naruto is the close combat specialist of the team, a natural born fighter. He has no talent for Genjutsu, but on the flip side, it doesn't affect him. He is decent enough with Ninjutsu, often preferring to side with Wind or Water elements. Then there is his Kenjutsu which he has only seen in action once or twice, but he knows that Naruto is extremely skilled; however, doesn't bring out his sword unless he feels like it. Taijutsu apparently is his favorite; as being in his opponents face as he beats them down is thrilling. Naruto openly lusts for blood and battle, which only makes him much more dangerous with his unpredictable nature.

What Kakashi finds strange about the boy is his facial expressions, as he usually squints his eyes, even though he can see perfectly. The only time Kakashi has been able to see Naruto's eyes is when he is serious or about to let loose, and the latter is usually accompanied with a toothy dark animalistic foxy grin. Which he sees creep on Naruto's face right as a kunai comes flying at him. Kakashi moves his head as it stabs into a tree, and he looks down to his awaiting students all gazing at him.

"You're late Kakashi-sensei!"

"Maa maa," Kakashi waves Sakura off who looks like she is about to blow her top as Naruto has a goofy grin on his face while standing beside his two teammates. Sakura elbows Naruto hard in the gut as he sings a victory song to himself, telling him to shut up while an angry and embarrassed blush is on her face. Kakashi wonders what is up with them, but doesn't care enough to find out, so he moves on. "Are you guys ready to see the Hokage for your next exciting mission?!" Kakashi happily cheers but his response is silence, then a quiet cough from Naruto. "You guys are no fun," he grumbles, deflating.

"What is there to be excited about when we always do the same shit?" Naruto huffs as he crosses his arms, a bored look on his face. Kakashi raises a brow as he looks to Naruto then to his two teammates, who share his expression. Together, the three genin radiate confidence, experience, and boredom. He can see why they would be bored, six months into being a genin and they have done nothing higher than a C-rank mission. They have done over two hundred D-rank missions and this mission, if it is a C-rank, will mark their thirtieth C-rank mission. He understands completely. Most of their C-rank missions either involves escorting, delivery or the occasional raid, maybe all three at once. The most excitement they get is going full out against him in a team spar. But he promised himself that after this mission, he would talk to the Hokage about giving the team higher missions.

They are ready for it, more than ready, and he is proud of them. Though they have a habit of grating on his nerves and being a little too much in his opinion, they have worked hard to be where they are at now, as a team. "Well, who knows maybe next time is different ne?" Kakashi suggests, causing the three to look interested. He then turns and begins walking off towards the mission hall. "C'mon now, time is being wasted!" the three genin grumble,

But they follow their dumb sensei.


"Where are these damn ninja? I paid good money for them!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi just sighs as he too waits with Tazuna the Bridge builder for the assigned team to show up, wondering what is taking them so long. He blames Kakashi. He doesn't wonder for much longer as he hears the familiar loud voice of Naruto Uzumaki echo throughout the hall as Team seven walks in.

"I'm telling you teme, gummy worms are way better than those damn mulch balls," Naruto stresses as chews on one, holding a bag of said candy in his hand. Sasuke rolls his eyes as he walks beside his teammate, giving him a side eye glare.

"And I'm telling you, idiot, that it's malt! They are much better than your damn worms you worm!" Sasuke insults with a huff, "They actually have flavor." Naruto's eyebrow twitches as he continues to argue with Sasuke, annoyed.

"What bullshit are you spewing now? Those damn balls you chew on go way too fast! And they are too damn expensive," Naruto scoffs as he waves off Sasuke. "With gummy worms, you get three full bags for like two bucks when on sale. Plus they last longer, are more enjoyable and they do have the taste you dumbass!" Sasuke just growls as he glares at his comrade.

"Malt!

But Naruto doesn't back down as he butts heads with the Uchiha, his eyes actually open, revealing his sapphire blue eyes.

"Gummy!"

"Malt!"

"Gummy!"

"Malt!"

"Gummy!"

"Both of you shut up!" Sakura voices out, causing them to actually stop and look at her. "We get the damn point! Naruto, you love your damn gummy worms because you like to chew! Sasuke, you love your malt balls because they are chocolate and taste good," Sakura glares at the two who both eye each other. "But if you must know! Pockie is actually the best candy," she smirks, licking her lips a bit. Both boys take offense to this as they turn on her with comical glares and big demonic heads.

"Fuck pockie!"

Kakashi sighs tiredly as this only ensures an argument between the three genins. He debates if he should stop them, but the last time he tried, both Naruto and Sakura tried to maim him with their fists and words. Nope, not this time. "Kakashi, stop them," Hiruzen orders his jounin who actually shakes his head. The old man's eye twitches in annoyance at the defiance but says nothing. He, Iruka and Tazuna just watch the three genin argue about the useless topic until the Hokage has enough.

"Enough!" he snaps, causing them to stop and look at him with unblinking eyes. He glares at them, daring one of them to say something…Naruto just coughs quietly during the silence. "Good, now that I have your attention, we can get started," He gestures to Tazuna who is looking at the three genin out of irritation. "Here is your client, Tazuna. Tazuna, these three will be escorting you back to your village."

"Wait, so I'm stuck with these brats?!" Tazuna complains, the three genin glaring at him out of annoyance. They each grumble in unison, which the Hokage ignores as he assures Tazuna that he is in good hands; sharing with him that the team is the best of their year, and they have a jounin sensei with them to give them back up if needed. Though he still doesn't look pleased, Tazuna accepts it anyway, turning to them. "I'm Tazuna! I expect you to protect me with your lives!" Tazuna declares, and the group is silent, staring at the man. Naruto looks towards Kakashi with a curious look.

"Can I kill him now? He's starting to piss me off," he voices, his teammates sharing his ire. Tazuna, however, takes a step back from them out of fear while Kakashi sighs, shaking his head while turning a page to his book.

"No you can't kill him. We need him for the mission," Kakashi tells them, with Naruto visibly deflating. "Go prepare yourselves for a month-long mission and meet me at the gates in an hour." with their orders given to him, they walk off, ignoring everyone else as Naruto and Sasuke get back to their argument about their sweets. As they leave, Tazuna voices his concerns.

"Are you sure I can trust them?" this earns curious looks from Kakashi and the Hokage while Irka remains silent. "The blond one puts me on edge; how am I supposed to know he won't actually kill me?" he questions worriedly, and the two leaf shinobi look to each other then shrug.

"We don't." This makes Tazuna pale, thoughts of Naruto randomly trying to murder him running through his mind. "Naruto is pretty laid back and even, so don't worry about him too much. Just don't bad mouth gummy worms, ramen, team or him; and if you challenge him, make sure you can back it up," Kakashi warns as he then pats Tazuna on the shoulder. "See you in a little bit!" with that Kakashi began to leave as well, and Tazuna looks to the Hokage, as if expecting something, and the old man sighs.

"This is going to be a long journey."


"Hey, you guys go ahead, I have to piss."

Sasuke rolls his eyes while Sakura gives a soft sigh while grumbling to herself. Kakashi eyes the puddle that the rest of them ignored previously, though Naruto is walking towards it without much care. As Naruto moves to undo his belt, he suddenly hops back when two clawed hands reach out of the water to run through him. "Oi!" Naruto snaps at the enemy ninja as he lands on the bridge railing, "That is a man-code violation bro!" the blond then lunges at the two Nuke-nin, while Kakashi suggest for Tazuna to turn around as Naruto starts to beat the two ninja to death, Sasuke and Sakura watching with varying degrees of boredom.

Tazuna winces and flinches occasionally as he hears the screams and cries of pain that Naruto brings out of the two. When it goes silent, he takes a peek to see one of the two are dead and the other is alive, barely. The dead brother has a broken neck as well as a severed arm, and the living brother is missing a hand while also having a broken arm. Naruto flicks the blood off his kunai, putting it away while dusting off his hands. "Now, who sent you assholes?" he questions as he tosses the ninja in front of his team. The man says nothing, but he still whimpers due to his pain. Naruto rolls his eyes and looks to Sakura who puts away her book with a sigh as she walks over to the ninja. "Sakura here is going to heal you, and then I'm going to rip through, shred or break something on your body. We're going to repeat this process till I get my answer," he explains to the man with a sick smirk.

Still not speaking, Sakura takes that as a sign to begin her treatment, healing the wound expertly. But right before it can heal completely and bring soothing relief to the enemy, Naruto breaks his leg. The man gives a scream and Sakura goes for his leg, only for Naruto to break his other arm, making him scream even louder. Sakura then moves on to his arm, and while Naruto is enjoying hearing the man's screams, he isn't talking which is annoying. Thinking of another place to injury, he moves to pull out his kunai. Upon hearing the metal weapon slide out of Naruto's holster, the Nuke-nin panics!

"The old man!" he voices out and Naruto stops, glancing to the shaken Tazuna. "It was Gato! He hired me and my brother to kill the old man! Zabuza too! Just please stop!" the man begs, though Naruto snorts in amusement before snapping his neck, and Tazuna couldn't help but puke at this point. Naruto then tosses the body with the other one and looks to Sakura, the two sharing a look before looking over to Tazuna who is also being stared at by Kakashi and Sasuke. When Tazuna gets himself together, he sees that he is being watched and he pales a little bit more.

"W-what?"

"Don't you think it would have been a good idea to inform us of this issue?" Naruto speaks up as he crosses his arms, giving the man a dry look. "Shinobi are after you. If my team wasn't so badass, you would have been dead," he says flat out and Tazuna looks ashamed. Naruto sighs as he runs a hand through his hair, "What the hell should we do?"

"Keep moving with the mission," Sasuke finally says, giving his opinion on the matter while Sakura gives a nod, agreeing. "We can handle ourselves, right Kakashi?" Sasuke looks to Kakashi who at this point is only reading his book.

"Hm?" he blinks, looking up, seeing eyes are now on him. "Oh yeah, sure sure," he waves them off. "Let's get moving, we still have a bit to go," Kakashi informs as he begins walking, and they follow however Sakura notices Naruto lagging behind, with a somewhat troubled look on his face. Curious about what is up with him, she speaks, getting everyone's attention.

"What's wrong Naruto?"

"Give me a sec, I really have to go pee!"

"Ugh, baka."


"So let me get this straight…"

Tazuna looked in Naruto's direction as they just left the boat that granted them access to the Nami no Kuni. "You're country is hella poor, always has been, and is now even more poor because this Gato guy wants to be a dick?" Naruto questions with Tazuna giving a nod, "And so as an attempt to raise funds and get your economy going, you decide to build...a bridge." Tazuna now gives an uneasy nod, wondering where Naruto is going with this because of his dry tone. "Never mind the fact you could have hired Konoha to assassinate Gato or make out some kind of payment plan. No you feel that building a bridge will solve all of your problems."

"Naruto," Sakura speaks up, giving him a light scolding tone but Naruto ignores her.

"Tell me smart guy, let's say you successfully build this bridge and Gato doesn't have anyone hired to kill you, which is also stupid; but that's beside the point," he waves off carelessly. "You build this bridge...what is to stop Gato from blowing it up when it's finished?" Naruto questions and this actually makes Tazuna stop, giving it some actual thought. "I mean, he has enough money to hire people, which is more expensive than some damn explosive tags." Naruto mutters and Tazuna deflates a bit.

"I didn't think of that…"

"Of course you didn't," Naruto rolls his eyes while Sakura flicks his ear, "What? I'm just being logical here. I mean, we're ninjas damn it, killing motherfuckers behind closed doors is what we do!" Naruto then looks to Kakashi, "Right Kakashi?" Kakashi gives him a thumbs up, his nose still in his book. "At least that's what we're supposed to do, I feel," Naruto grumbles quietly as he sighs. "I'm not trying to get in your ass Tazuna, I'm just saying...DUCK!" Naruto brings down Sakura while Sasuke grabs Tazuna and Kakashi dodges the giant cleaver sword that gets stuck to a tree trunk. A shirtless shinobi stands on the handle, glaring at them as they stand up.

"I'm impressed, a mere genin was able to detect my presence," the shinobi informs and Naruto nudges Sakura curiously as they surround Tazuna as protection and Kakashi eyes the newcomer seriously.

"Oi, Sakura-chan...why doesn't he have a shirt on?" Sakura's brow twitches, wondering why Naruto can't read the mood and she huffs.

"I don't know Naruto, why don't you ask him?"

"Okay, I will smartass!"

"Ah, Kakashi of the Sharingan, thought I recognized that stupid haircut. Sorry but…"

"Hey! You!" Naruto voices and Sakura face palms, Sasuke deadpans while Zabuza blinks looking at Naruto. "Why don't you have a shirt on?!" Zabuza narrows his eyes at Naruto, and a few moments pass of pure silence till Zabuza poses his question.

"Are you serious?"

"No...are you serious?" Naruto turns it back around as he crosses his arms. "I mean seriously, you're a shinobi dude...why don't you have a shirt on? I mean, sure, I'm wearing orange, but I have an actual reason...what possible reason can you have as to why you are not wearing a shirt? To distract your enemies with your bulging muscles?" Naruto wonders as he sighs then turns to Sakura who is giving a dry look. "Am I the only one who thinks this whole situation is stupid?"

"Naruto, I'm going to say this as nice as I can," Sakura says evenly and he raises a brow, curious. "Shut up. Please." Naruto deflates with a grunt while Sakura turns to the enemy ninja with a soft sigh, "Zabuza right? I'm sorry for him. Please, go on. You were saying?" she gestures and Zabuza clears his throat.

"Yes, as I was saying…" he starts and his glare returns back on Kakashi. "The old man is mine Kakashi, hand him over," Kakashi however refuses, which prompts Zabuza to use his killing intent, and he looks back to his three genin, but he sees someone move. "What the?" Zabuza gasps as Naruto longest at Zabuza, throwing a fierce punch who jumps out of the way with his sword, and the tree collapses. While not what he expected, Kakashi is thankful for Naruto's distraction as he lunges at the recovering Zabuza, kicking him in the face. Zabuza carefully and quickly ducks under it, still trying to swing his blade upon Kakashi but he misses. The Jounin moves out of the way, whipping out a kunai and lunges at the missing ninja, the two grown men clashing and swinging at each other.

Naruto just stands off to the side, watching carefully, waiting for an opening. His eyes narrow once he finds one, silently rushing at Zabuza from behind. Jumping into the air, he makes a hand sign and a katana appears in his hand and he swings it. His blade slashes Zabuza's back, and he expected blood to flow, but instead, he disperses into water and earns a kick to the face for his troubles. Kakashi spares his student a quick glance but focuses on Zabuza, being behind him with a kunai at his neck. "It's over, Zabuza." Kakashi says in a serious tone. The nuke-nin snorts as he disperses into water again while another Zabuza is behind Kakashi, slicing him in half, but the Konoha Jounin is a water clone as well.

"Oi!" Naruto announces as he delivers a brutal round kick to Zabuza's face. The man grunts in real pain, signifying that he is not a clone. He skids to a stop as Naruto still rushes at him, swinging his sword at him in a precise and accurate motion. But the jounin has been fighting a lot longer than Naruto, and is able to avoid as well as block the strikes. Naruto throws another kick to his face, and Zabuza grabs it, swinging Naruto around, missing the smirk the boy has. Releasing him into the air, Zabuza notices the three kunai that flows towards him, each with an explosive tag.

"Shit!" Zabuza hops away, two of the kunai make contact with the ground but don't explode. The third kunai is on it's way to hitting the ground but Kakashi comes in for the save, throwing it at Zabuza who has no time to move again. An explosion is heard and seen, giving the Konoha ninja the impression Zabuza is caught within. Kakashi is kicked into the water a moment after, causing Naruto to growl and go help but realizes the ten clones of Zabuza in front of him. Kakashi questions what is with the water, as it is too dense, then next thing he knows he is trapped inside a water prison.

Zabuza keeps it together and Kakashi yells out, "Sasuke! Sakura! Help Naruto break free and run with Tazuna!" Kakashi orders, but the two genin just watch their sensei and glance back to an analyzing Naruto.

"Paper Rock Scissors?" Sasuke offers and Sakura gives a shrug as they play the game with Sasuke coming out on top. "Two out of three," he mentions, and the two go again with Sakura winning both times. "Well damn," he grumbles as Sakura grins at him, sticking out her tongue. She turns to the enemy, a smirk coming across her lips.

"Ne, Naruto, need some help?" she asks her friend, but Naruto waves her off. She nods and starts walking towards the real Zabuza who is curious along with Kakashi.

"What are you doing?! Get out of here!" he says frantically as Zabuza laughs at her, then sneers at her and her friends.

"You better listen to your sensei," Zabuza advises as his eyes narrow at the headbands he sees the genin wearing. "Wearing those headbands and acting like Shinobi, how cute. A real shinobi is someone who has had brushes with death numerous times!" Zabuza boasts though Sakura continues to approach, unfazed. "Only when you're good enough to be listed in my bingo book, will you ever be a good ninja!"

"Gryah!" Naruto roars as he kicks and cuts through each clone, an excited grin on his face as he grips his katana. "You should shut up about how to be a Shinobi, you don't even have a shirt on!" Naruto points out causing everyone to yell at him comically.

"WILL YOU GET OFF THAT!"

"Fuck you and your dumbass book!" Naruto spits out, ignoring everyone. "I don't need you telling me about being a Shinobi. You aren't anyone special to determine what I am or not! I make my own path dattebayo!" Naruto growls out with a serious stare. "And anyone who stands in my way, will get their ass kicked! Believe it!"

"Hm, couldn't have said it any better," Sakura chuckles then rushes at Zabuza with an impassive look. The jounin grunts, creating more clones to stop her. As they run at her, Naruto appears in front of her with a battle cry, slashing through them with ease and speed. Zabuza grunts, creating more clones but less this time as it is now a strain on his chakra. Though this time he doesn't have to worry about Naruto taking care of the clones, Sakura does. During the brawl, Naruto hands her his sword and she cuts through all of them with precision. She then gives a hop back, throwing the katana at Zabuza, directly at his body. He curses before jumping high enough and still not releasing the prison to dodge it. Zabuza grins under his mask, gloating.

"You missed!"

"Put a damn shirt on!" a voice says from behind him, and Zabuza looks back to see Naruto throw an explosive kunai at him. A deadpan expression comes upon Zabuza's face as he can only sum up what he is feeling in one word.

"Shit."


"So, you're saying he is still alive?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Kakashi confirms for Naruto with a nod, and Naruto gives an annoyed sigh with a roll of his eyes. Kakashi glances to Sakura and Sasuke who sit around him as well as he lies in bed from overusing the Sharingan against Zabuza after Naruto and Sakura's rescue plan. The battle was short-lived to be honest because after Zabuza avoided the blast, the two jounin finished off their fight with stylish Jutsu. Kakashi won and was about to finish off Zabuza when a Hunter-nin stopped him from doing so. Naruto had intended to cut into the newcomer as well as Zabuza so they can be done with it, but Kakashi prevented him from doing so. "That Hunter nin should have disposed of Zabuza's body on the spot, it's procedure," Kakashi goes on. "Besides, he used senbon, which probably put Zabuza in a death like state.

"Wait...so you just thought about this?"

"Yeah."

"Aren't you an elite Jounin or something?" Naruto questions with a tilt of his head and Kakashi feels like he is being mocked. "I mean, isn't this kind of stuff supposed to be noticeable to you right then instead of nearly a day later?"

"Pushing that off to the side," Sasuke speaks up, earning a side glare from Naruto. "How long will it take him to heal?" he wonders, glancing to Tazuna who is paying attention. "I doubt he will give up on trying to kill Tazuna," he figures, to which Sakura agrees too, she goes over the damages deal to the man in her head and his supposed recovery time.

"At least two weeks," Sakura tells her team who is interested, "Two weeks at most. With senbon being dealt to the neck, it causes body paralysis for a bit. Not to mention the large strain on his chakra. When he sent his clones after me I noticed they were fewer in number; and his water dragon wasn't as strong as Kakashi-sensei's. So he is probably dealing with chakra exhaustion," Sakura lists out, voicing out her thoughts organically with the team listening closely. "He was also close to an explosion, so his left ear is probably deaf, also the 2nd degree burn marks. He will probably want to have his ear better so it can be a better tool in battle. Like I said, the time I say we have is a week and a half," Sakura estimates then sees that everyone staring at her. "What?" The boys just looked at her in astonishment, surprised by her analysis. Kakashi more so than the other two; her explanation actually letting him know that she is learning something in those medical books she reads.

"Wow Sakura-chan! That was amazing!" Naruto praises with a big grin, Sakura just smiles shyly, with a small light blush on her cheeks. It is as if she is not used to the praise Naruto always gives her. Then he tilts his head a bit, "How come you didn't point this out about the senbon earlier?!" Out of embarrassment and anger at ruining her moment, Sakura bashes him on the head. "Ow! What was that for?!"

"Baka!"

"So what are we going to do for a week?" Sasuke questions, moving his attention away from his two teammates usual dynamic. Kakashi gives a sigh as he looks down at his legs, and the other two pay attention.

"Well, I'm still pretty tired from the Sharingan, my body isn't at one hundred percent yet," Kakashi says as he thinks it over. "The Chunin exams are coming up soon, and I plan to register you guys. Which means plenty of time for training. I was going to wait till we got back, but I feel this can be used now. We'll start working on your elemental affinities and applying them to your fighting skills," Kakashi explains as he has Sasuke hand him his bag. He pulls out three blank pieces of paper. Handing each of them one, he orders them to channel chakra into the paper. Sasuke's crumples up before burning, meaning he has fire and lightning. Sakura's becomes wet as well as muddy, meaning she has water and earth affinity. Naruto's is cut exactly in half, one side becomes wet and the other crumples and lights on fire. This means he has wind, water, lightning and fire affinities.

Kakashi narrows his eyes at this information, having a good guess how he inherits three extra affinities. The jounin expected Sakura and Sasuke to be jealous of Naruto, mostly Sasuke; but in fact, the two just look surprised and move on, like it's no big deal. Strange. "Alright, well I now have a clue on what to do with you three. Come, let's start your training!" Naruto only gives a grin,

"About time!"