Alright, so, this chapter wasn't as along as i planned. I was going to go straight to the beginning of the chuunin exams, but it was taking too long, so i got the the beginning of the wave mission instead. Still, this is a pretty decently long chapter eh?
Anyways, i'd also like to mention, for those of you that read multiple of my stories, i'm still not exactly sure, but I think the plan right now is to put the other three on hold until i finish this one (this is the only one where i know exactly where it's going to end, and it's alot sooner than the other three, though I might do a sequel).
So here it is, new chapter; read, review, and especially, ENJOY!
disclaimer-don't own, but i encourage to support the official release
"Why Iruka sensei! Why?" Iruka looked up, not particularly surprised at Naruto outburst. He had figured she'd get upset.
"Well, Naruto, you know we build teams to balance them out, and though you've been a fairly good student, you still got the lowest grade on the exams, not to mention failing them last year. Combine those results with your sporadic ninjutsu and you have the lowest scores in the class. Sasuke, on the other hand, has the highest of the boys, and Sakura has the highest test scores for the girls. You three will even each other out."
"Cha! We don't need a looser like her on our team sensei!" Naruto slammed her palms down on the table, turning to look at Sakura.
"You'd better be ready to take that back cause I'm gonna make you!"
Nartuo! Sakura! Stop at once or I'll be getting the hokage!" Naruto immediately sat down, mumbling vague threats under her breath as Kiba and Hinata were stuck trying to decide whether or not to laugh at the whole thing, or glare at Sakura (who was also sitting down and sulking) for her insult to Naruto. However, before they could decide, team 8 was called out and they looked at each other in surprise. Even Naruto stopped her sulking for a moment.
"What? Why couldn't I have gotten on your team? Man, that's so not fair." Hinata smiled brightly.
"Well, I'm s, sure that we'll have a g, good time as a team, Kiba-kun." Kiba nodded and shrugged.
"Yeah, probably. I mean, we're pretty good, and we've got Shino, too, so I expect we'll make a good match." He looked sideways at Naruto who was back to sulking, slight blush on his cheeks. "Yeah, a good team, huh Akamaru?" It was then that Iruka put down the scroll with the team assignments, the reading complete.
"Alright everyone, you'll have an hour to get to know you're teammates, then your sensei's will come and call for you." He looked over them once more, a tear almost coming to his eye as he thought about how much he'd miss some of them…and how much he hated how he'd have to deal with some of them coming back when they failed their genin test. "Good luck, and take care," he said, and he left the room.
Most everyone did spilt up and talk with their teammates, though Naruto just sat there banging her head on her desk for a little while before getting up.
"Where the heck did they go anyway?" She walked around the academy grounds trying to catch a sight of them, but she caught sight of someone else first as she walked around a corner and then jumped right back to the other side.
"Ah come one, can't you just give me a hint?" Iruka shook his head, little beads of sweat appearing around the bottom of his head band.
"No, you'll just run and tell Naruto the first chance you get and then you'll plan a prank for her new sensei," he said. Anko put on a pouty face and leaned into him, hands on his chest. Of course, Iruka didn't have anywhere to run to as she'd already caught him next to a wall.
"Pleeease? I, I'll let you kiss meeee?" She said, as cutely as she could, eyes wide and 'innocent' as she stared up at him. His sweat began to pour. Crap, that's actually really good incentive! Wait, when did that happen? Anko gave him an odd look of surprise at the confusion that showed on his face. What's he thinking? Wait! He, he's not actually considering it, is he? NO one considers it!
"S, say, how, how about I, I tell you over some, uh, some dango, eh?" Anko face faulted in shock, immediately standing up and looking at Iruka with a very scrutinizing gaze.
"Come again," she said, her voice normal and level. Iruka cleared his throat.
"Well, ahem, that is, it's, it's better to eat first, don't you think, than, than to skip right to the-" he never did get to finish as Anko's face lit up and she charged forward, mashing her lips against his and holding that position for several seconds, red tomato blush covering both their faces. She brought her head back a few inches as he failed to respond much.
"I, uh, I already ate," she said, grinning mischievously. She didn't expect to be looking at a man whose face was now moving from emotion to emotion faster a heartbeat. Finally, he replied.
"Anko, have you ever, gah, have you ever, been on a date before?" She blushed and shook her head, looking down, an odd look for her usual brash nature. Iruka massaged his head. "I thought not," he said, not expecting what came next.
"I, I'm sorry. I, I didn't think I'd be that bad a kisser, but more and more-" he covered her mouth, not wanting to hear the guilt and despair in her voice.
"No no, that's not it. It's just, [sigh], it's just, well, I do like you, Anko, like you were starting to say, I think. It, it came on slowly, but I think since that night last week, with Naruto, I stopped being so scared of you." Her eyes widened.
"Scared? Of me? Wh, why?" He looked away, but she grabbed his chin and made him look back at her. "What do you mean you were scared of me? Why?" He sighed again, cringing.
"Its, well, most of the shinobi, male and female, talk about you… in a certain way. I, I should have known better, especially after seeing you with Naruto the last couple of years, but I listened anyways. The villagers…they think of you the way Mizuki said; I think it was maybe when I heard him saying it then that I kind of started to realize exactly what I'd done." He looked down at her. "I'm sorry, Anko, for thinking of you as a traitor." She slapped him, hard, leaving a red mark on his face. She slapped him again and again, five times in total before grabbing his jacket and crying into him.
"It, it's not fair! I, I never did anything! I'm not him! I'm not-" she broke down, and Iruka reached his own arms around her, wondering if even Naruto had ever seen the snake mistress like this. She reminded him of Naruto this way, always a happy cheerful front, but with turmoil inside.
"I'm sorry, Anko, and you're right, you don't deserve that. And about before, it was a sloppy kiss, but that wasn't why I wasn't kissing back. I wasn't kissing back because I thought that you deserve better than just a kiss. You deserve to actually be treated like the caring woman that you are, and not the heartless, insane one you have so many thinking you are. I've seen the real you now, and I don't want to just kiss you Mitarashi Anko, I want to go on dates and get to really know you. YOU. That is, if you still think I'm worth a shot." He lifted her chin. "What do you say?" She smiled through her tears and made to kiss him again but stopped herself and just her face back into his chest.
"Yes, I, I would like that…Iruka-kun." Naruto, at this point, tiptoed away, trying to keep the tears out of her eyes. She had vaugly been aware that people treated Anko differently than other people, more like how she was treated, but she never knew that it hurt her so much…still, maybe Iruka sensei could help her now, and Naruto would too, when she wasn't busy doing missions… mission… shinobi… genin… hour… CRAAP!
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Naruto was running all over the academy trying to find her teammates with the few minutes she had left. She finally found them, but they were already walking back to the classroom. Well, Sasuke was walking back. Sakura was walking around him trying to get him to talk to her and let her hold his arm. Naruto stormed over.
"Where the heck were you two!" Even Sasuke stopped and managed to look surprised. Sakura just looked offended.
"What's it to you what Sasuke-kun and I are doing?" Naruto glared at her and Sasuke winced at the implication. In reply, Naruto pointed at her new teammate and spoke in a very angry tone.
"Listen here you! We're on a team whether we like it or not, and we were supposed to use this hour to get to know each other. So, what do I spend the whole time doing? Trying to figure out where the heck my teammates disappeared to! How is that getting to know each other? And don't you even try to say you were getting to know Sasuke; stalker like you, you probably even know what brand of underwear he has on!"
"I, I, I, I'M NOT A STALKER!" Sasuke looked at her, terrified as she failed to deny that she knew his underwear. Ooookay….need to burn everything I own and replace it, just to make sure she didn't contaminate it… Naruto just nodded.
"Case and point! Not that it matters right now. We're out of time so let's hurry up and get back in there or we'll be late to meet our sensei!" With that Naruto began to practically push the other two towards the academy. None of the three noticed a silver haired shinobi watching them from the cover of the trees.
"An interesting group indeed," he said, gazing up at the sky for a moment. A small tear fell from his uncovered eye. "Hmmm…maybe I'll go visit sensei, Obito… and Rin, for a little while.
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"Graaahh! Where is he!"
"Naruto calm down! I'm sure that our sensei has a good reason for being late. After all, he's a Jounin, and he's going to be training Sasuke-kun! He's gotta be really important if their trusting him with that." Naruto rolled her eyes.
"Ugh; Sakura, you know nothing about how they pick senseis."
"NaniiI? I got the highest grades in the class for a reason you know!" Naruto laughed.
"Hah! Book smarts don't equal ninja smarts! I've been there when they decide senseis and teams before. Remember, I'm the hokage's granddaughter, after all." She crossed her arms smugly. "so there!"
"Yeah, whatever," Sakura mumbled, not wanting to admit that Naruto could be even partly right. Sasuke, meantime, was looking at the two of them without interest…at least, that's what he made it look like. Truth be told, he was thinking back on all the time spent in the academy (and had been since his earlier thoughts about their youth right before their accidental kiss) and he realized that Naruto was the only girl that had ever approached him in a non-crush/fan-girl manner. The first time they'd met, it had been brief, but friendly. These days they basically ignored each other, both preferring the cold shoulder treatment. What is it about her that makes her so different? Does it have something to do with why mom wanted to be nice to her? He raised an eyebrow as he saw her getting an eraser and a chair. Or maybe she'd just stupid… He was leaning towards the latter as Sakura questioned Naruto about her little prank she was setting up.
"Our sensei is an elite Jounin; there's no WAY he'll fall for a trick like that," Sasuke said, not that Naruto cared. She was waved him off as Sakura vehemently agreed with him. Well, a moment later he was proved wrong, it seemed, as someone stuck their head in the doorway and the chalk filled eraser hit him on the head. Naruto started laughing and Sakura started going on about how they had told her not to do that.
"How do I put this," the man said thoughtfully. Sasuke noticed that he had a mask that covered most of his face, and his headband was covering one of his eyes. Other than that his uniform was typical for a shinobi, his only other distinguishing feature being his silver colored hair that stuck up in the air. "My first impression of you," he was saying, taking a small pause, "I hate you."
"What?"
"Oh, and meet me on the roof top in five minutes. It feels less formal there than this stuffy little classroom." And with that he closed the door again. The three looked at each other.
"Well, that was weird," Naruto said.
"Who cares? We need to get to the roof pronto!"
"Yeah yeah, alright, fine!"
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"So Naruto, how did your day go?" Naruto glared at the hokage.
"Old man, that was just mean!" Hiruzen managed to look shocked and hurt.
"Why Naruto-chan, whatever do you mean?" She pointed at his accusingly.
"You knew! You knew that my sensei would be over an hour late, didn't you? And that he's lazy and as direct as a lost duck!" The old hokage laughed.
"Yes, well, Kakashi-san is odd in some ways, but he is a good shinobi, believe it or not. His being late only applies when missions are not involved. In fact, sometimes when we're missing someone for an important mission, he'll just 'happen along', as he says." Naruto's eye twitched.
"He must be the most inconsistent person I've ever met," she declared.
"Only if you don't know him. Some of us have him down like clockwork," he said.
"Yeah yeah, whatever." She started to walk off to her room, but ran right back.
"HEY! One more thing, jii-san! What's up with this crappy 'survival' training? Why didn't you tell me anything?" Hiruzen smirked.
"Ah, I wondered when you'd get to that part. Well, everyone has to do it, and the only ones who know ahead of time are the ones who choose go it again after their sensei fails them. Not many do since it's rather discouraging, and that's the way we weed out a lot the shinobi candidates that otherwise wouldn't be able to put their hearts into it, or would get killed early on in their shinobi careers. It's maintained as a top level secret to make sure that everyone keeps working their hardest until the final deciding moment.
"Of course," he said, "every sensei has their own unique 'survival' training, or whatever else they choose to call it, so don't go asking me for hints."
"Ahhh! I was going to use my best puppy dog eyes too! Oh well…still, since everyone is different, I guess I need to tell you that I won't be needing breakfast tomorrow. Sensei said we'd throw up." Hiuzen spewed out the tea he was drinking all over the table.
"R, r, really? My, isn't, isn't that interesting?" Naruto just gave him a weird look before shrugging and finally going to her room. She wanted to make sure her mom's old tools were nice and shiny for the test the next day…even though she'd already polished them so much that it seemed unlikely they could shine much more.
Well, I must say, I didn't expect him to be using my very own test! It's no wonder the other teams I've assigned him in the past have failed. Not many get the point of that test…I wonder if Naruto will?
Said girl was, at that moment, pausing in her polishing to once again look at an odd kunai he mom had. It had strange writing and seals all over it, and it had three prongs, like a sai. It doesn't seem very special, but if it wasn't why was there only one?
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The three of them arrived at about the same time that next morning, barely awake (though Sasuke tried to pretend that he wasn't) and began to wait for Kakashi. Even Sakura was too tired to try and glomp Sasuke like she normally did. They sat down for the first hour and talked idly about this 'survival' training, but after that they slowly nodded off. Naruto was the first one to wake up, oddly enough.
"Ah! No, I was, I was just resting my eyes sensei!" She looked around and realized that the three of them were still all alone. "Whew, just a dream," she said, relieved. Then she noticed the pressure on her shoulders. She almost jumped when she realized that both of her teammates were sleeping on her. Darn it, now Sakura's going to try and say that I'm trying to steal Sasuke! She blushed slightly. I do not need this! She slowly tried to slip out from between them, but found that Sasuke was embracing her like she was his personal pillow or something. Her blush deepened. Not good not good not good not good not good not good! Just then Sasuke started waking up. Oh thank goodness it's him first and not Sakura!
"Hmmm mmm hnnmn…" Sasuke's eye's opened slowly. Hnnn, this isn't my bed, but my pillow feels comfortable…aren't we having training today? Who's the pretty blond gi…AAHHH! Sasuke was suddenly quite awake as he jumped away up and away from Naruto, disentangling himself. He didn't really register that he'd been essentially hugging the blond, however, as much as the thought he'd had. I was half asleep, I was half asleep, I was half asleep, I was half asleep! Naruto simpley stuck her nose up hautily and looked the other way, She didn't want the arrogant little boy to see her blushing for no reason; he might get the wrong idea, after all.
"Well, it's about time you woke up," she said. "I don't like being treated as an emo boys personal pillow!" Sasuke gagged. He'd been doing what?
"It, it's not like that," he retorted. "I mean who, who'd want to, to do that kind of thing with a dobe like you!" She whipped her head back around, an angry offended look on her face before looking away again, crossing her arms.
"Well then, next time I'll just punch you in the face and let you use the tree roots for a pillow instead of me!" Sasuke's mouth dropped as he recalled thinking about his 'pillow' a moment ago, his face getting redder and redder. However, this akward conversation was stopped by Sakura yawning and stretching as she sat up. By the time she had actually opened her eyes her teammates were both sitting, facing away from both her and each other.
"Hey, wait a second!" They flinched. Did she hear that? "Where's Kakashi sensei! He was supposed to be here, like, four hours ago!" Speaking of the devil…
"Hello everyone, sorry I'm late. I got lost on the path of life…"
And so the test commenced. Naruto, of course, tried to take Kakashi out head on. She didn't know much about him, though she was pretty sure she'd heard his name in some of the meetings she'd sat in on with her grandpa, but after him saying that if they failed his test they'd go back to the academy, there was no way she was going to let him win!
Sasuke and Sakura, meanwhile, had hidden in the trees and bushes surrounding the field that Naruto and their sensei were currently fighting in. Both were shocked when they saw that Naruto was using solid clones, and not the mere illusions they were taught in the academy. When and where did she learn that, they both wondered, knowing she would have shown it off if she'd learned it back in the academy. Neither was surprised, however, when she got caught, but their own attempts to attack their sensei were to no avail. His guard was constantly up. He truly was an elite Jounin, not even letting his guard down when facing a dobe like Naruto.
Soon enough, Naruto was up in a tree and her teammates had fled. Seeing as how she was wearing a skirt, she was very grateful that she had on leggings underneath. However, getting down was proving to be difficult, and Kakashi simply gave her a small lecture about 'looking beneath the beneath' and walked off.
She's so much like her mother, even if she looks a lot more like sensei, he thought. Not as skilled as either of them, though, even with the kyuubi. Of course, even living with the hokage doesn't mean he gets the time to train you, and he told me about how most of the people treat her. A small tear formed in his eye. I shouldn't have disappeared when they. I could helped out more, trained her like sensei trained me. He dropped his head, shaking it for his past mistakes. I had no right, even, even if Rin died. I should have faced my sorrows instead of drowning myself in missions. He continued through the rest of the test, trapping Sakura in a genjutsu and sticking Sasuke into the ground with those thoughts, the depression coming back. He'd thought that he'd gotten a full hold on it two years back after he finally relented to therapy with Inochi, but maybe it looked like he should have listened to the man when he said he should continue a few more sessions.
Of course, Naruto put a smile on his face again (not that anyone could see it) as he caught her trying to cheat and eat early. Then time was up.
"You all fail," he told them simply. "You shouldn't even bother going back to the academy." Even Sasuke, the typically emotionless Uchiha, got up in arms about it, though of course they all missed the point, even when he told them about the stone next to them that contained the names of all the shinobi that died over the years, his friends and comrades, people who relied on one another and used teamwork to see them, and their friends, through many missions, saving the village countless times over before their died.
"I'll give you one more chance," he said. "After you eat some lunch, we'll give it another go, but Naruto doesn't get to eat since she cheated, and neither of you are allowed to give her your lunches."
"Ah who needs it! I can go days without food, believe it!" Of course, her stomach growled right then, ruining her brave speech.
"One hour, them I'm back and we'll continue, and this time I'll make it harder." With that he shushined away. It was only a moment before Sasuke proffered his meal.
"Eat it, while Kakashi sensei isn't around. We'll need you at your full strength if we hope to beat him."
"Ah, um..." Sakura sighed.
"Yeah, I guess you're right, but since you're the strongest, I'll feed her from my food." She stood up and moved the first bit of rice to Naruto's mouth, who thanked them both, happy that they actually wanted her help. Of course, Kakashi had been watching the whole time and he stormed in, trying to scare them into denying their team once again, but they stood up to him instead of cowering and denying it, like his other teams had done. Well, this is a pleasant surprise. I guess…
"You pass," he said, giving them his one eyed smile.
"What?"
"You, pass." He laughed inwardly at their shock as he explained to them that the test was really about teamwork, repeating the words of his old teammate. "In the shinobi world, those who break the rules are scum, it true. But those who refuse to help their friends are worse than scum." He smiled as they walked off to inform the hokage that they were, officially, team seven, wondering how long it would take Sakura and Sasuke to remember that Naruto was still tied up to the pole. It was a pleasant surprise when Sasuke pointed it out before they even reached the trees and went back to cut the ropes himself. Only Kakashi noticed the small blushes as Naruto grudgingly said thanks. Maybe, maybe this is what I need; the thing I should have done all along…Rin-chan, Minato-sensei, Kushina-chan, Karura-chan, tou-san...… I'll make you all proud…
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The next few days seemed to drag on for the new team as they began to get into the habit of waiting for Kakashi to show up (late with a lame excuse) and do d-rank missions. All three grumbled about the lameness of them, but Kakashi did his best to actually make them into good training exercises. Capturing Tora, for example, was no small feat. Of the last few years it had become a rather difficult mission. That cat just kept escaping, and it was getting much better. So, he made them plan out their 'attack' and coordinate in accordance with it, just like in an assignation or similar type mission. When doing physical labor, he would make them add in difficult movements to aid their taijutsu. It was subtle, and he doubted that they noticed since they stayed so focused on grumbling, but when they would spar for an hour at the end of the day, he could see their styles flowing more evenly, though Sasuke was obviously still the strongest. Sakura was quite weak overall, her main asset being her brains and chakra control, and Naruto was simply all over the place. Of course, it made her rather unpredictable, which gave Sasuke more difficulty defeating her. Still it was no surprise when Naruto began to complain after their third time capturing Tora.
"Hey Jii-san! This is lame; when are we gonna get a real mission, eh? How are we supposed to improve if we never get a chance to show our stuff?" Kakashi laughed inwardly as he watched the hokage put a hand to his face and rub his temples. He suspected Naruto had been after him about it already at home, but when Sasuke and Sakura chimed in an agreement with Naruto, he explained the set up for missions, A B C and D ranks, and who got to take them. Kakashi expected Naruto to keep fighting, but then Anko walked into the room.
"Hey Iruka-kun! You said we were going to go swimming half an hour ago! Why aren't…you…oh, uh, hi Naruto-chan! Ummm, you see…" Naruto laughed.
"Ah come on Anko-chan! Did you really think I didn't know you two started dating? I'm not that dumb!"
"Amazingly enough," Sasuke muttered, earning himself a glare from the two females. Anko turned back to her little sister, gesturing back at Sasuke with her thumb.
"So, Naruto, who's the emo?"
"He's my teammate, Uchiha Sasuke." Anko grinned evily and was about to set in when Iruka, who seen this coming and already gotten up, walked up behind her and whispered in her ear.
"You promise not to make him pee his pants, I'll buy you an extra box of dango when we're done swimming, which we would be doing already, by the way, if Naruto's team hadn't taken so long and were trying to convince Hoakge-sama to give them a higher rank mission." Anko's eyes went pouty as she turned to look over her shoulder at her boyfriend.
"Aw come on Iruka-kuuun; You're no fun!" He laughed.
"Oh really? Then why are you dating me?" She poked him.
"Easy; you're just so good in-"
"HOKAGE-SAMA! Maybe we should give them a c-rank!" Naruto caught Anko giving her a wink and grinned, winking back as a bright red Iruka attempted to divert attention from Anko's somewhat embarrassing comment. Hiruzen sighed.
"Alright, fine; I should have something…ah yes, just in today, an escort mission for Tazuna, a bridge builder from the land of Waves." Naruto pumped her hand in the air as Sasuke smirked in pleasure at their success. Having the hokage's granddaughter came in helpful after all.
"Alright! Now it's time to really shine! We'll show them what we're made of, right team?" Sakura slapped her on the back.
"Heck yeah! We'll whoop butt!" It still freaked Naruto out some that the two of them were actually becoming good friends now. It seemed that being exposed to Sasuke at a higher dosage had decreased the pinkette's fan-girl syndrome to a certain extent, allowing for fairly normal conversation (after Naruto had convinced her that the kiss was an accident and she had absolutely no interest in Sasuke). So, being the friends that they were now, Naruto slung an arm around Sakura's shoulders, pumping her hand in the air and shouting her agreement. Sasuke, on the other hand, maintained his simple, unenthusiastic smirk. The adults in the room sweat dropped and shook their heads at the girls antics.
"[sigh] send in Tazuna and tell him we have his escort ready." A chuunin by the doors nodded and went out, returning a moment later with an old, well built man carrying a half empty bottle of liquor and a towel draped over his shoulder. It was obvious that the bottle had only recently become half empty.
"This is it? They don't look like much, just a bunch of brats, especially that short one with the silly look on their face." Naruto's eye's darkened. She was well aware of how short she was, even for a girl.
"Listen here old man! I'll have you know that you're looking at Naruto and I'm going to be the next hokage, so you better watch your mouth!" The man looked at her in mild amusement, taking another swig from his bottle.
"Well, at least she's got spunk; how do your parents deal with a feisty little girl like yourself, eh?"
It was to the surprise of her teammates that, instead of blowing up, Naruto just got quiet, clenching her fists and looking down at the ground. The hokage cleared his throat, and made a gesture for Anko to put away the kunai she was drawing as she looked in anger at the man.
"Actually, Tazuna san, Naruto's parents died about the time she was born. She was adopted by my son and his wife, but she was still so young she has little memories of them, so it has been up to myself, and Anko here on occasion, to raise her." Tazuna actually looked shocked now.
"You mean to say that that runt there is your granddaughter? Well, looks must be deceiving! With you being her grandfather, I imagine she must be pretty good after all."
"Shut up," Naruto said quietly. "Shut up and stop talking. I don't care what you have to say anymore. You look down at me for my size then try to take it back when you hear who my grandfather is? That's lame! I don't want that respect and neither does otuoto! If you're gonna respect me, respect me for me! Uzumaki Naruto! Kunoichi of Konohagakure!" With that she turned and walked out the door. Anko followed after her (after another glare from the hokage stopped her from doing more than shoving the bridge builder on her way out).
"Well…she's something," he said thoughtfully, looking after the two of them while rubbing his bruised shoulder (Anko didn't exactly shove lightly). "She's got a good head on her shoulders, if you don't mind me saying, Hokage-sama." Hiruzen nodded.
"Yes, I know. All she has to do now is work on her temper." He shuffled some papers. "Well, you may speak with Kakashi, the man with his eye covered, outside. He's the team leader, as you probably guessed, of your escort, a high rank Jounin. You'll find him and his team acceptable, I imagine. Have a nice day." With that they left the room, pausing in the entry way to talk, the two remaining genin eyeing the man who had just ticked off their teammate.
"Alright Tazuna san, we can be ready to leave in an hour, but I'd prefer for my team to have the rest of today to prepare for the trip, so if it's alright with you I'd like to hold off on our departure until tomorrow morning, after breakfast, if you wouldn't mind."
"Yes, that sounds fine to me. Besides, I'd like to apologize to that girl if I see her around before then. It's bad luck to start a journey with resentment like I gave her." Kakashi gave his one eye'd smile.
"Very well. Team 7, pack for three days journey, that should be enough, and go to the front gates immediately after the standard breakfast time." He turned back to the bridge builder. "You should try out Ichiraku Ramen, just off the downtown district," he said, making sure to say it slowly. Sasuke raised an eyebrow as he walked away.
"Yes, I think I'll do that; thank-you, Kakashi san."
"Don't mention it," the Jounin said, waving a hand, his nose already in his favorite book as he walked away.
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"Stupid idiot; shouldn't talk about people like that." Naruto was muttering angrily over a bowl of ramen, Anko sitting beside her, trying to placate the girl.
"Hey, you know I think your right, but seriously sis, you need to calm down." She put a hand on her shoulder. "I've been there too, you know." Naruto sighed.
"Yeah, I know, I know. It just made me so mad, him changing his opinion like that just because I was jii-san's granddaughter. I've been hearing Konohamaru complain about it for years, and now I know what he means." She stared at her bowl for a moment. "Mis-underestimating me for my size is one thing, but giving me respect for nothing than being jii-san's granddaughter?" She shook her head. "That just isn't right. It's too much like how people treat Sasuke. I mean, yeah, he's pretty awesome I'll admit- though not as good as me-" she added, "but most of the attention and respect he gets is only because he's the last Uchiha. They weren't all-powerful you know!"
"Hnn; it does get pretty annoying," Sasuke said.
"Yeah, especially that way he acts all stuck up all the-SASUKE! Wh, wh, when did you get here?" Anko was holding a hand over her mouth to cover her grin as Naruto blushed and looked wide eyed at the new comer who just shrugged.
"I was hungry; besides, I thought I'd tell you that the client is coming and he wants to apologize. I figured someone else should tell you before you start yelling at him again and don't listen." Sasuke began to eat his bowl that arrived. In all honesty, he wasn't sure why he'd come. He'd just said the first thing that came to his mind when Naruto asked him. It was true, though. Naruto, spaz that she was, was likely to just go off on the client before listening to him, especially with Anko there. Having observed them commit many pranks, he'd decided that Anko must be very like Naruto…though perhaps more sadistic. She could be quite creepy some times.
"Well, well, well I don't take back what I said! I still say you act stuck up!" he shrugged.
"Fine. I think you act like a dobe, so we're even." He ignored that she was getting red with anger… to a certain extent. "Hmmm, this is pretty good. Where would you rank it?" Naruto's eyes immediately flashed with interest and scrutiny. Sasuke had noticed that Naruto liked talking about Ramen, so he'd decided that the best way to diffuse her anger would be to ask her a question about it. It worked quite well and Naruto began to scrutinize his ramen…though sniffing the noodles on his chopsticks was a little odd, even if it did mean that he got a good look at her nice pink lips…huh? Hnn…annoying thoughts be gone.
"Well, it certainly seems as though finding a seat is getting difficult," a new voice said. Anko immediately jumped up and glomped the next new comer.
"Iruka-kun! You can have my seat, you know, as long as I can sit in yours…" She gave him one of her looks that made him melt. Crap; how can a woman that can be so scary also be so darn cute he thought, sitting down in the vacated seat while she held onto him with her arms around his neck and her legs dangling off on the side.
"Anyways, Naruto, I just wanted to let you know that-"
"That bridge guy is coming to apologize?" Iruka gave her a surprised and confused look.
"Huh? How did you know that?" Naruto gestured.
"Sasuke-tem… er, Sasuke-san already told me," she said, as though bored of the topic. "I'll hear him out, but no promises."
"Well, that's enough for me," the man said, stepping in and looking at Naruto. The girl swiveled in her chair to look at him somewhat coldly, a look she'd been taught by Anko.
"Alright then, go for it." She drummed the fingers on her right hand as her left foot tapped in the air. Coming from such a small girl, it almost looked cute. Not exactly the effect she was going for, but Tazuna had enough sense not to laugh.
"Well, after what you said earlier, I have to admit, I hadn't thought about it that way, and you're right, respect should be earned and not be given solely on who you know or are related to. So, with that in mind, I apologize for not giving you the respect you deserve for the right reasons, and I give it to you now because of who you are; a leaf shinobi with a lot of guts! So, apology accepted?" He stuck out his hand, smiling and giving her a wink and, well, Naruto was always one to believe in and have faith and trust in people. Fortunately for her, this one was sincere. She shook his hand.
"Sounds good to me! Now, while you're here, though, you have got to try some of this ramen! Ichiraku's is the best in town…" Things were certainly getting crowded in the ramen shop. Teuchi and Ayame were, of course, having a lot of fun with cooking and talking to the large number of customers. Ayame gave Naruto some seasoning to go with her cup ramen she was going to pack for the mission (for which Sasuke informed her about when they were leaving and how much to pack) and Teuchi asked Tazuna about ramen in wave country. The man was vague with his answers. Iruka and Anko both noticed, but said nothing, though they decided that later they would look for more information on Wave… after the swim that Iruka owed Anko, of course… and some dango…and maybe something else…
.
.
.
The next day they set out. Besides Tazuna making fun of Naruto a little for never being out of the village before, the trip seemed to be going well. Sakura was asking Tazuna a question about wave country when things seemed to go to heck.
"Tazuna san, in the lad of waves, don't they have their own shinobi?" It was Kakashi that answered, however, from his relaxed slouch as they continued walking.
"Actually, no, not in wave country, they don't. but, in most other countries, while the culture and customs may be different, hidden villages do exists, and so, of course, do shinobi.
"To many most countries of the continent the existence of a shinobi village means military power. That is how they hold and maintain advantages over each other. However, you have to remember that it's not the hidden villages that rule those countries; they merely stand equal to the countries government in all things pertaining to shinobi.
"Now, a small island country, like Tazuna-san's Wave country, doesn't receive much interference form the larger courtiers and so it doesn't really need a Shinobi village. The five major villages, the leaf, sand, mist, cloud and stone, reside in the largest countries and are the most powerful largest themselves. Thus they are called 'The Five Great Shinobi Countries'. Only these countries and villages who's shinobi village leaders receive the title of Kage. The five kage's, Hokage, Mizukage, Raikage, Kazekage, and Tsuchikage, reign over thousands of shinobi, and are considered the elite of the elite."
"Wow! Hokage-sama is the best," Sakura said energetically. However, knowing her like they did, everyone else knew what she was really thinking, and Sasuke even agreed a little. That lame geezer is that incredible? Sounds fishy….
"You guys just doubted hokage-sama, didn't you?" Sasuke and Sakura gulped slightly as Naruto smirked. Yeah, teach 'em to doubt jii-san sensei! "Ah, don't let any of that worry you, though," Kakashi said, ruffling Sakura's hair. "There won't be any ninja combat on a c-rank mission."
"Then, we won't be seeing any foreign shinobi," Sakura asked.
"Of course not! Hahaha!" Kakashi kept things light hearted, even as he and Sasuke noted Tazuna's slight flinch at the mention of foreign shinobi. Kakashi, of course, also noticed the puddle of water on the ground that didn't belong there, but said nothing and continued to walk…or at least appeared to as he performed a shadow clone and hid himself off in the tree's, waiting to see what would happen.
Sure enough, a moment later two shinobi from the mist it seemed, based on their headbands, jumped up and attacked his clone. Kakashi was forced to put up a small genjutsu to make it look like he'd been ripped apart, wincing at the shock on his teams faces. Well, at least now we'll know for sure if it's one of us they're after, or Tazuna, though I'm betting on the latter what with Tazuna's flinching…
It happened quite quickly, Naruto being their next target. It even amazed Kakashi, however, at how quickly Sasuke moved, stopping them from ensnaring Naruto like 'Kakashi' have been, and getting their chain attack stuck to a tree with one of his kunai. Of course, they detached their chains and jumped back before swiveling their feet and making their next move. They quite clearly attempted to divide Sasuke's attention by going for both Naruto and Tazuna, the former of whom was frozen in fear at their first real combat. What Kakshi didn't expect was for Sasuke to hesitate before deciding wether to jump and help Sakura defend the client, or save Naruto. Well, I guess it's time to hop back in, Kakashi thought.
He jumped back onto the road and performed as substitution jutsu with Naruto, knocking out the first mist nin before moving to clothesline the other, his reappearance causing quite the mix of emotions on his companions faces. Sakura was overjoyed that her sensei was alive, Tazuna relived, Naruto confused and flustered as she tried to sort out how she'd gotten where she had, and why she'd frozen. Sasuke, though, he noticed, obviously thought he was being a show off, but deeper in his eyes he saw conflict and questions. He's probably trying to figure out why he wanted to save Naruto, he thought. Well, I guess Kushina would be happy to know that he best friends son has a crush on her little girl…but I'm not sure that's best for them.
"Naruto," he said, "I'm sorry I didn't save you right away and got you injured, but I didn't think you'd freeze up like that. Anyway, nice job, Sasuke, and Sakura too, at defending the client." He began to tie up his unconscious captives so that he could interrogate them when the woke up. Meanwhile, Naruto was still getting up, thinking on what had just happened.
I couldn't do anything, she thought despairingly, looking over at Sasuke who assuming his usual brooding look. Yet Sasuke… it was his first real fight. Wasn't he scared at all? He's acting like nothing even happened, and he doesn't even have a speck of dust on him. He even saved me…
"Hey, You alright," Sasuke, forcing a smirk on his face, causing Naruto to blush slightly…until he finished his sentence… "Scaredy cat?" Naruto's face immediately flushed red with anger, though she did wince at the pain coming from her hand where one of the two shinobi had managed to cut her slightly. Kakashi cut in before she could yell at her teammate.
"Naruto, save it for later. It looks like their claws are soaked in poison. We have to remove it quickly, and you getting excited will only make it spread more quickly. We'll have to open the wound more to release the poisoned blood from your body, so like I said, don't get excited, and stay still to keep the poison from spreading." Now he redirected his attention as he was sure the poison wouldn't give Naruto too much trouble. After all, jinchuuriki were notorious for their resistance to poison and speed healing.
"Tazuna-san, I need to talk to you…" a short conversation later, and Kakashi explained how he spotted the mist shinobi and let them attack so he could see who they were after. Tazuna kept mostly silent, only grunting.
"..this mission would have been set as the more expensive b-rank," he continued, letting a little bit of an edge creep into his voice. "I'm sure you have a reason, but it causes problems where you lie about the mission. We're operating outside of our duties now." It was then that Sakura, who had been shaky ever since Kakashi reappeared and knocked out the two mist nin, spoke up.
"We, we aren't ready for this mission," she said, sweat forming on her brow and fear evident on her face. "Let's quit! I mean, we'll need medicine for Naruto's wound, so we should go back to the village and take her to a doctor."
"Hmmm…" Kakashi thought for a moment. They had already had to deal with two chuunin level mist shinobi, Sakura wasn't really the type who would be much use in combat, Naruto had frozen up…only Sasuke might be ready at this point. "This might be a little too much for you right now… I guess we should return to the village to treat Naruto." He missed the desperate look in the blond girl's eyes as he spoke, her sudden movement mildly surprising him; it was that she was stabbing her own hand to get the blood out that shocked him and everyone else.
"Naruto! What are you doing," screamed Sakura as her teammates blood poured out of her hand.
"I'm not going to need saving ever again," she said, glaring at the kunai in her hand. "I swear, on the pain the pain in my hand that I won't, and with this kunai," continued, looking over her shoulder at the rest of the group, "I'll protect the old man. We're continuing the mission!"
And that's a wrap! (for this chapter, anyways). Like the stopping point? i thought it was a good spot to do so. But next chapter will be the continuation of the wave mission, coming home, and the reappearance of the rest of the sand sibs! YAY! Personally, i'm looking forward to adding them back in. Oh, also, more romantic drama and love... triangles? squares? pentagons? Or do you just always call it a triangle? but there will be some of that coming up
Please review and tell me what you think, especially if you have advice (in a constructive, NON-flame format) of how i can improve. Include where i made grammar/spelling errors and i will go back and correct them. Thanks!
Final note, i thought i had this one on my story alert list, but can't seem to find it anywhere, but i'm looking for a naruto time travel fic where Minato survived, and I think Kushina turned out to be a ghost the whole time, also coming back in time, and Minato manges to get here back into a body. Just trying to find out what it was called, so if anyone recognizes this one, please tell me.
Have a good one!