Ruination

'Why?' Naruto couldn't bring himself to open his eyes. He was too scared of what he'd find should he open them.

When Naruto arrived at his house to gather the supplies he was met with his father and mother. They both knew why he was so excited and greeted him with smiles. His father approached him while his mother hung back, seemingly nervous, although that flew over his head.

"Hey kiddo, you seem excited for your first mission."

"Of course I am, it's my first real mission. I mean, I know it's not very important or hard but still it's cool to be going on one." Minato smiled proudly as he patted his son on the head.

"I know it is and I'm very proud that you've managed to graduate so early. I've got a feeling that you'll quickly surpass me as a ninja." Naruto couldn't help but beam in happiness at the praise. At this point Kushina stepped forward.

"I'm very proud as well and I'm sure you'll complete this mission easily and be back for more. Although I can't help but wish you'd still be an academy student for your own safety, I know you're destined to do great things and holding you back would only hurt you." Both father and son were surprised that Kushina was so willing to let go of one of her babies.

"Thanks mom, thanks dad. It's nice to know that you believe in me. Me and my team will be back before you know it. I gotta hurry though, our sensei might have given us a lot of time but I want to make sure everything is perfect."

Minato took over the conversation once more. "Just so you know, when you pass your mother and I wish to have a talk with you. It's something that you deserve to know for becoming a full-fledged shinobi."

Naruto was curious about the sudden seriousness of his two parents. He couldn't help but wonder what exactly they wished to tell him that was so important. It was probably an awesome coming of age shinobi secret. With that thought in mind he bid his parents farewell before running off to pack

As Naruto rushed off to his room both parents looked upon him fondly. As Naruto gathered what he would need for the mission he couldn't help but begin to think of his future. Once this mission was over his Tsuneo-sensei would train him and his teammates. While Chie-sensei was a good teacher, she wasn't a jounin.

He'd learn so much more than he ever did during the academy. His education thus far had been focused on the basics but his new sensei would be teaching him the advanced stuff like powerful jutsus. That and he had two teammates to help him grow made him excited for his future.

Once Naruto had finished packing everything he went to where he would spend the rest of the time waiting, his sister's room. Every time he visited her his day became so much brighter. He could spend hours simply playing with and watching his little sister, he assumed this was what Itachi felt about his little brother.

When he thought about his sister's future, he could understand his mother's reluctance at letting him go. He didn't want Masuyo to have to become a ninja at his age. He wanted her to be safe for as long as she could possibly be. She was so beautiful and innocent that he didn't want her exposed to anything bad.

With a sigh Naruto got up and gave his sister a kiss on the forehead before leaving.

Naruto finally arrived at the front gate with a myriad of thoughts flowing through his mind. He greeted his team but wasn't really paying attention to what was said.

"Naruto! Get your head out of the clouds; you can't let your guard down without knowing anything about the enemy during a mission." The sharp reprimand from his sensei brought Naruto out of his thoughts. He nodded in assent and was mildly embarrassed about his lapse in concentration. "Now come on, let's go."

The team quickly began jumping through the thick canopy of trees in relative silence. All three genin were concentrating on the mission, taking it with the utmost seriouness. Their sensei was observing them with mild amusement; it had been awhile since he had been green.

"I wanted to let you know that when we find them, we will be setting up camp far away. I'll go and personally scout them to assess their strength and should I deem the threat low enough I will authorize fighting the bandits. If not we shall simply go back to Konoha and report their location and estimated strength. Under no circumstances should you attack without my say so, understand?"

All three genin shouted out in affirmation, each secretly hoping they would be given the chance to fight the bandits. They were eager to test their skills in a real battle.

"We are also to knock them out only so that we may capture them. Wanton killing is not the way of Konoha so please restrain from fatal blows. Of course if your only option is to kill, then I will understand, but do your best not to."

Naruto in particular was queasy at the thought of having to kill someone. He knew he'd have to one day, but he certainly didn't want to start now. He was happy that if they even did end up fighting, it was capture only. As they continued on, Naruto began to run through the ways he knew to incapacitate someone without using lethal force.

Kushina had set her daughter down for a nap and decided to have a quick discussion with her husband to settle her worries. He was currently at home relaxing while a shadow clone took care of the daily minutia of being the hokage.

"I understand the early graduation but why the early mission? They should train first before being sent out." Minato refrained from sighing or rolling his eyes, as he wanted to live to see his children grow up.

"It's just a simple test to see if they have the skills required to operate as a team. It's a much more realistic way of testing them. All they have to do is scout the location of a small bandit group that's been causing trouble not too far away. If their jounin-sensei deems the threat minimal they will carry out destroying the bandits. If not then they will simply report back and I'll send out a team fully capable of finishing the task."

Kushina accepted his explanation but one part didn't quite sit well with her. "Destroying them? I don't think Naruto or the other two are ready to kill anyone yet."

"Of course, I've given capture only orders, once the children are away their sensei will execute the bandits."

"What about telling him Masuyo's secret after he comes back, do you really believe that he's mature enough to accept it? I really don't want to make Naruto afraid or hateful of his sister should we tell him the truth of the Kyuubi."

Kushina was about to continue questioning her husband but a kunoichi burst through the front door into their home putting them on alert before they realized she was an Anbu. "Hokage-sama please forgive the intrusion but this is an urgent report that we have just received from our intelligence division." The kunoichi bowed to Minato while handing him a scroll. Unfurling it the Hokage paled as he read its contents. The scroll fell from Minato's hand as the words sunk in.

"Get a squad of Anbu together and have them sent out now! I want them out of this village five minutes ago! In fact, I'll be leading them!" The kunoichi quickly moved to follow his orders. While that was happening Kushina had moved to read the fallen scroll. A piercing wail was heard by all nearby.

"Alright, the bandits have been reported to be striking from around this area. We'll cover more ground by splitting up, although I want everyone to be within approximately two hundred feet of those on either side. Be on the lookout for any indications of bandit presence. Move out."

All three genin quickly spread out along with their sensei and began a slow move forwards. Naruto assumed it would be pretty easy to find evidence of any bandit activity as they were usually rather clumsy and inept. Add that to their complete lack of knowledge in the art of stealth any bandit would stick out like a sore thumb to even green shinobi like Naruto and his teammates.

After a few minutes of absolutely nothing, Naruto's thoughts began to wander. He couldn't help but wonder exactly what his parents were so anxious to tell him. As he was pondering what the secret could be, a shadow moved in the peripherals of his vision, but he was too unfocused to detect it. He continued on, doubting that they would ever find these apparent bandits. Within less than a minute a cry of immense pain was heard from his left.

A deep fear took hold of Naruto as he heard that scream. He didn't want to think about what had happened to Hanako to cause it. However, driven by a need to aid his teammate Naruto turned to where he heard Hanako scream.

Rushing over to see what had caused the scream he found Hanako lying dead on the forest floor, a pool of blood rapidly expanding underneath her. Tarō came from the opposite side as Naruto, only to see his dead twin. As Tarō roared in anger, a roar that was quickly cut off, Naruto shut his eyes in an attempt to keep the horrible sights out of his mind. To his dismay he could still smell the blood and hear Tarō's death throes. He couldn't block all those senses at once so he was forced to deal with his mind creating images to accompany what he heard and smelt. Nor did he want to block his ears as he could hear his imminent death.

He could hear a blade coming to end his life before two separate sounds of a blade slicing through flesh was heard. A warm liquid hit his face as the thump of two dead bodies hitting the ground could be heard. His own distraction and inaction had caused the death of his sensei, maybe even the deaths of his teammates.

'Why?' Naruto couldn't bring himself to open his eyes. He was too scared of what he'd find should he open them. This was meant to simply be a low-ranking mission that even academy students yet to graduate could have accomplished. Something like this wasn't supposed to happen.

It was a very new tactic; cause a bit of strife to have a low-level mission assigned then ambush those sent out to deal with it. Each time the major powers would end the wars they fought out in the open, a shadow war would start and be fought to weaken old enemies and potential new ones. Striking at the future of a village by killing their fledgling shinobi before they could grow was one of the best ways to hurt a nation. Naruto's team was just an unfortunate casualty in a war that had, technically, been ongoing since the founding of the villages.

Of course none of that mattered to Naruto; the only thing that mattered was getting away from all of this. He couldn't hide from the reality or horror of the situation though. He opened his eyes, images of a similar scene flashing through his mind. 'Why did it have to turn out like this?' It was the last thought to pass through his mind before he passed out in a battlefield of blood.

Wakahisa means 'Forever Young' and Tsuneo means 'Eternal Hero/Man'.

Yamada Tarō/Hanako are generic placeholder names, kinda like John and Jane Doe/Smith.

Still Friday where I live as I post this. Still, cutting it close.

This chapter didn't turn out as large as I hoped as this seemed like a good place to end it instead of continuing. So to make up for it I'm going to have another chapter up on Saturday. This is also to make up for the fact that I'll be gone for over a week with no access to my laptop.