Magnus: Well, here is the first part of the very first mission of teams 7 and 11, I believe that you are going to recognize some parts, or some characters, hope you enjoy this, and remember, Read and Review!
Disclaimer: We don't own Naruto or anything you believe is being mentioned in this fanfic, Reiko Zonbolt belongs to Kage Bijuu, and the other OCs belong to me
Chapter 9
Dead Uprising – First part
At the Hokage tower, teams 7 and 11 were reunited, wearing their hitai-ates proudly, Naruto was wearing it tied to his left arm, Hinata was wearing it around her neck, Lee had it as a belt, Matsukaze and Reiko were wearing them in a more traditional fashion, in their foreheads, while Naraku was using it to cover his eyes, they were about to receive their first mission, all the other teams have already left with missions related to mundane tasks and boring assignments, so, they didn't had high hopes on getting something good, thing that was even more obvious due to the fact that this was their very first mission, what they didn't knew, is that their fate was sealed the night before they were tested as a team.
=Flashback=
"Naruto, what have you become?", Sarutobi asked to no one in particular, he was amazed by the unspeakable power unleashed by the son of Minato, a power that Kyuubi didn't had,
"He has become my son, and I'm very proud of him", a sweet male voice replied, and as Sarutobi turned to face the owner of the voice, his eyes grew wide as he recognized the speaker.
"Ankiseth-san!, how did you enter?!", Sarutobi asked, somehow he felt very insecure in front of the merchant, maybe it was the fact that outside the office were over 20 ANBU ninjas, or maybe the fact that neither the windows or the door were even slightly open, or maybe the fact that he, being the Hokage, didn't noticed the merchant entering his domains.
"That's a very interesting question, Hokage-sama, but there is no time to explain something that will explain itself in a few moments, right now, I'm here to ask a request", Ankiseth started, right now, any feeling of uneasiness was multiplied way too much,
"And what is this request about?, I'm guessing you don't want to change Naruto's team, do you?", Sarutobi asked, something was wrong, very wrong,
"I just want to give an interesting and educative first mission to my son", Ankiseth replied with a foxy grin.
"What kind of mission?", Sarutobi asked, interesting and educative weren't D-rank missions, so, this merchant wanted something entirely different,
"Nothing special or dangerous, one client of mine lives in a little town called Cheddar, just a week from here, you know that place, nothing never happens there, this client wants this little and inoffensive package, so, I was thinking, 'why not to let my son and his team to deliver this little and inoffensive package to a small and peaceful town?', I mean, A chosen Hero, a reborn God, and chosen princess can get bored by just doing mundane tasks, don't you agree?", Ankiseth explained.
Sarutobi was about to have a heart attack,
"The Chosen Hero and Princess?, AND THE REBORN GOD?!", from all the times for old prophesies to become true, why it had to be during his days as a Hokage?, he was about to ask this when Ankiseth banished in front of his eyes, no chakra spike to be felt, as if he never step inside the office, the only evidence of this event, was the small package...
=End of Flashback=
'Might as well send both teams, just in case', Sarutobi thought, while eyeing them intently, and this made Anko explode,
"ARGH!, JUST HAND OVER THE MISSION ALREADY!, WHAT IS IT?!, PAINTING A FENCE?, PURCHASING GROCERIES?, TAKING CARE OF TROUBLESOME CHILDREN?, CATCHING THAT DEVIL CAT?!", Anko shouted, and this made Yamato to chuckle, while the genins sweatdropped, this also returned Sarutobi to the current situation.
"No, nothing like that, in fact, I have a special mission for both teams, here, take the info, and handle this package with utmost care", Sarutobi said, while handling the information and the small package to the jounins,
"Deliver the package to a man named 'Alexander Anderson', in the town of CHEDDAR!, that's one week of travel!", Yamato expressed the contents of the information,
"CHEDDAR?!, THAT'S THE MOST BORING PLACE OF EARTH!!!", Anko added, she felt that this was almost as bad as a D-rank mission.
"Excuse me, but going out of the village isn't considered as a C-rank mission?", Naraku asked, a little confused for the sudden importance of the mission,
"It has to be, is too far away from any backup", Reiko replied, already getting excited for getting a great mission,
"GREAT!, our first mission is over ranked!, we'll be the envy of the rest of the teams!", Matsukaze shouted, all of them seemed to forgot what Anko said.
"Can I ask who is asking for this mission?", Naruto suddenly asked, with a sweet and polite voice that sent shivers thru Anko's spine,
"Let me see... huh?, hey!, it's Naruto's father the one who ask for this mission!, no wonder the Hokage is accepting to give it to you, being only a genin, besides, the only danger lies in the forest, once we hit the road to Cheddar, is almost an accomplished mission", Yamato stated, however, instead of getting another shout from Anko, he watched in distress how a dangerous smirk appeared not only in Anko's face, but in her genins too.
"I know is an easy mission, however, I want you to take this chance to teach your students how to treat C-rank missions, and remember to make good use of the time to polish your skills in stealth and survival, now, you are dismissed, go and get ready to leave in the morning", the Hokage commanded, and both teams left, leaving the Hokage to think in how to approach the merchant, in order to clarify how he knew about the old legends... and to purchase some herbs to smoke.
Konoha's main Gate, next morning...
Yamato had instructed his genins to pack everything they considered necessary for a medium to long trip, and he saw the result of his words in the big backpacks the kids brought, Reiko's backpack was slim and small, Yamato knew that any Zonbolt will simply refuse to seal their things in scrolls, and that they lived basically from their swords, meaning that what she packaged were mostly sharpening tools and spare clothes, Naraku's backpack was a sack, containing mostly healing items, and some food, Yamato was still amazed on how he was able to identify everything with ease, despite being blind, however, Matsukaze's backpack was way too big, and looked awkwardly heavy, and it was hard to tell what could he have there.
Soon after checking his team, Yamato noticed team 7 getting closer, and he took notice of the genins, Naruto was not carrying any kind of backpack, and he doubt that this genin could already know how to seal things in scrolls, which he also didn't saw on him, Hinata was carrying a very small pouch, tied in her belt, and by the shape it was taking, it looked like small bottles, either with medicinal remedies, or poisons, but Lee, the only difference was that he was wearing a GREAT mantle, made of the fur of some bears, it was the only animal that Yamato thought that could have enough fur for that kind of mantle, giving him an scary look.
"Your team looks ill prepared for this trip, Anko", Yamato stated, it was hard to tell if he was all business, or if he was teasing Anko,
"Yours looks overcharged, Greenie", Anko replied, mockery at it's best,
"You can't blame the kids, they wanted to be ready for everything", Yamato defended, getting angry,
"A good shinobi can live from the ground, carrying too much will slow you down, specially oversized weapon users, they should not carry anything else", Anko shot back, she looked really happy for teasing the wood user.
Meanwhile the genins were having their own chat, where Naruto and Hinata were busy in a flattery contest, with kisses in between, Naraku was pointing how Reiko drooled in front of her crush, while Matsukaze was making plans to get Reiko to look at someone else, namely him, when they watched how Lee was getting closer to Reiko, who became nervous upon this realization,
"Reiko, can I have a word with you?", Lee asked, with a strong yet polite voice,
"Huh?, er... I... sure!", Reiko replied with trouble,
"Can you stop drooling?, it's disgusting", Lee said with not much emotion in his voice, and Reiko got petrified, tears were menacing with getting out like rivers, when,
"Besides, it ruins your beautiful face", Lee continued, and then turned to walk to his companions, Reiko's heart skipped a beat, or two,
"Did... he... call me... BEAUTIFUL?!", she finally snapped, and almost jumped in joy.
After a few minutes of watching the verbal fight between their senseis, they departed, and since there was no danger in this mission, a bet was made, the sensei of the team who fared worst this trip, will pay for the party at their return, this was a serious bet, both teams have people that eats like there is no tomorrow, making this a hard contest, and at noon, they had their first test of survival, getting something to eat,
"Ok, go and get some food, and remember, we have to remain hidden, from the gathering to the eating", Yamato instructed, and turned to watch how Anko managed this,
"Lee, go and hunt whatever you want, I'll skin it, and Hinata and Naruto will cook it", Anko stated, and Lee darted into the depths of the forest, this brought Yamato's attention,
"Anko, are you abusing that we are still in homeland?, remember that there could be dangerous animals or bandits, even some enemy ninjas, you can't allow that overmuscled boy to wander alone!", Yamato lectured, and Anko looked at him as if he were some kind of alien,
"I seriously doubt that there is something more dangerous than him out there", Anko replied, and soon they heard the sound of a dieing animal.
"I'll start the fire, Hinata-chan, can you kindly make some of that delicious sauce that only you know how to make?", Naruto begged, and Hinata giggled,
"Of course, my dear Naruto-kun, besides, I love how you lick it from my fingers", Hinata replied, seriously turning on the other males in the nearby,
"Aren't they too young for that?", Yamato asked, a little startled by the display of affection,
"If I remember properly, you were very pervert at a younger age", Anko replied, making fun of the wood user, again.
After one hour, both teams were eating, Yamato instructed his genins to eat atop a tree, eating fruits, and cold foods, this in order to keep the stealth, but this lesson was being corrupted by Anko's team, they were at the floor of the forest, feasting in a fat boar that Lee caught, that Anko cleaned, that Hinata and Naruto cooked, the fine yet strong smell of the cooked meat was an inhuman torture for team 11, even Yamato's mouth was all wet, but he decided to show strong, and closed his eyes to add a dramatic effect to his lecturing,
"As you can see, team 7 is being careless, during a mission, is vital to keep secrecy, to remain hidden, by cooking meat like that, you only attract unwanted attention, like bandits and wild beasts, and if other ninjas were in the nearby, team 7 will be dead by now", Yamato finished his lecturing, just to find that he was alone, his team went to join team 7 into the feast, and upon seeing them enjoying the meat with utmost pleasure, he fell to the wimps of his stomach,
"WAIT FOR ME!", he shouted while jumping to join the others.
Outskirts of Cheddar, one week later...
A blond girl was running thru the forest, her weapon, an old katana strapped to her waist, her mission, to get help from any source available, the reason, some kind of evil people cam to her peaceful town, and started to kill the good people, people that she knew, that she loved, and that loved her, but the worst part was that the people that was killed, didn't stay dead for long, they raised, and started to attack other people, this invasion of the dead destroyed the town in only one day, and the few survivors were being protected in the small church, somehow the priest managed to repel the abominations, but he wasn't a fighter, he won't last for long, that's why she decided to take the risk to go outside and call for help, but as usual, she found resistance.
"No!, stay away!, please!, don't you remember who am I?, it's me, the Kitty!", the girl tried to reason with the man in front of her,
He was one of her best friends, one of those that were a good choice to marry with, but it was useless, the only answer she got were the hungry moanings of who used to be one of her best friends, and soon, more in this condition answered the moanings in the distance, it was a matter of time before she finds herself surrounded by the undead, she had to act fast, to decapitate this undead just as the priest told her to do, but she hesitated, she found herself unable to kill him.
The full moon shined with a bloody red tint over her like a bad omen, as if her own end were close, until a white gloved hand bursted out of the chest of the undead, and as if it that were the most deadly attack, the zombie became ashes, once this happened, she was able to see her savior, a young boy dressed in an orange trench coat, with wide brim hat that matched his coat, and his eyes shined like two orange round orbs, she barely missed those who were at the sides of her rescuer,
"W-Who are you?", the girl asked, and her rescuer, as well as his two companions grined in a scary way,
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki, The Yokai King, to my right is Hinata, The Aurora Angel, and to my left is Rock Lee, The God of War, and we are here on a mission", Naruto introduced himself and his team,
"A beautiful night, isn't it?", Naruto concluded, while the jounins and team 11 raced to join them.
Magnus: This was only the introduction to this mission, I believe that some people already have an idea on how is this going to turn, isn't it?, if not, you'll discover it in the next chapter!