The Pathless Sage
Beta read by 'I before A except after K'
A/R: Yay, finally, the story is moving along. It felt a little bogged down the past few chapters, but Naruto will now be an awesomesauce Taijutsu master, for now. Next up is probably Fuinjutsu and him getting a proper house.
Ranting, AGAIN!
On with the story!
Hinata just got back from meeting with her Jounin sensei for the first time. Well, it wasn't the first time she met Kurenai, but it certainly was the first time she met her as her Jounin sensei. She liked her team, Shino was quiet yet supportive and Kiba was exciteable but loyal. She had a feeling they would make great trackers.
Walking through the wooden hallways, she made her way towards her father's office. She knew her father wouldn't care, but she was supposed to report to him about her daily activities and the fact that she was safely back in the compounds when she got back. She didn't like it, but her father was the Clan Head.
She came upon the traditional sliding doors that gave entry to her father's office and knocked quietly, waiting for a response. At the call of "Enter!" she went into the office and immediately sat into seiza. She may have been the heiress, but even she was meant to show respect to the Clan Head.
"It's good to see you, Hinata," Hiashi said quietly, not looking up from his paperwork. Hinata froze. "Good to see me? Something isn't right, he has never said anything like that to me."
-TT-
(That was mean, but I'm not telling you what happened to Hinata yet :P)
It had been a month since he started doing the D Rank missions, and he had kept up a constant stream of them. He was earning a lot of money, but that didn't keep him from being bored. He hadn't thought about boredom when he was training, all he ever got to think of then was the exhaustion.
With a sigh, he walked into the Mission Center to pick up his set of two hundred D Rank missions for the day, but stopped in his tracks after seeing who was there. The Hokage was the one giving the missions out today, and Team 7 were seemingly having an argument with him.
"These chores are boring, Old Man. Give us something a bit more fun to do," Zaraki complained. Naruto watched from afar, a smirk on his face. Seems like Zaraki had become a bit more open with his emotions since he had become a Gennin.
"So you want something more fun to do, Zaraki-kun?" The aged Hokage asked, watching the reactions of the other team members. Sasuke looked like he approved, though it was hard to see through all that brooding, Sakura seemed to want to hit Zaraki, though she thought better of it and Kakashi looked like he wanted to fall through the floor and disappear. "So, Kakashi, think your team is ready?"
"Yes, sir. They should be fine with a low to mid C Rank mission. Their teamwork isn't stellar but their individual prowess may shine through," by that, he meant Zaraki could save their asses if Kakashi was busy.
The Hokage motioned to a Chunin, who was sitting next to him and told him something Naruto couldn't hear. The Chunin went outside and in came an aged man that looked drunk out of his wits.
"I'm Tazuna, a bridge builder. I thought I was getting real ninja for protection, not some pipsqueak brats?" The drunk man, now identified as Tazuna, slurred. For someone that was so drunk, his speech was oddly coherent.
"Yo, Old Man, you mind if I tag along with Team 7 for this one?" Naruto asked, silently telling Sarutobi that he thought something was wrong with this mission.
"Why would we need the Dobe to come with us? We are more than capable of protecting a man from bandits and robbers," Sasuke finally makes his presence known.
"YEAH! SASUKE-KUN CAN DO ANYTHING!" And in comes his loyal banshee. "Jeez, do they not see that something isn't right here? Why would a bridge builder need 'real' ninja for protection from bandits?"
"Eh? Why not, more the merrier," Seems like Zaraki was the only one in their team with half a brain.
"Alright Naruto, go ahead and pack for three weeks," Sarutobi called, handing Kakashi a scroll for a C Ranked mission.
-TT-
"Naruto, you better have a good explanation for why the hell you dragged me out of bed at eleven in the morning," Kisame's voice wasn't loud, but the threat behind that tone was obvious.
"Two reasons Kisame. One, it's unhealthy to sleep for that damn long. Two, you're my Jounin sensei, so you have to come with me on this mission," Naruto replied, ignoring the glares from Sakura and Sasuke, and the bored looks from Zaraki and Kakashi.
"Naruto, it's fine. Go ahead on your own, if Kakashi is there, you should come back alive. I'm going back to bed, so don't bother me," Kisame headed back towards Naruto's apartment, while everyone sweatdropped.
"And here I thought I could drag him out. Ah well," Naruto sighed. He was hoping he could bring him along, having someone as powerful as Kisame around usually raised the rate of success for your missions.
"Well, our client is here. Sasuke, you have the best eyes, take point. Sakura take the right, Zaraki take left and Naruto can bring up the rear. I'll come last to make sure you guys don't get ambushed." With that, they headed out.
-TT-
They had been travelling for a couple of hours. Having to walk was a bother, normally they would just jump from tree to tree, but having a civilian in their midst made that impossible.
Naruto was on edge, he didn't know why, but he was expecting something to happen. He felt uneasy about this mission, and his instinct never lied to him. Not once in his life.
"Stop that, brat. Your constant shivering is getting on my nerves," Kurama thought, it had been a while since they talked.
"Sorry, Kurama. I just get the feeling there is something wrong with this mission," right then, Naruto passed by two puddles on the floor. No one seemed to notice, but he saw Zaraki twitch in anticipation slightly. "A puddle on a sunny day when it hasn't rained for a week? Nice disguise, dumbass! I'll talk to you later Kurama." With that, Naruto cut the link, and again, he could of sworn he heard to Fox chuckle before he left.
When Kakashi passed the puddles, he showed no signs of acknowledgement, but Naruto knew the war-veteran wouldn't miss something so basic.
"You're mine!" Two voices intoned at once as two figures quickly jumped out of the puddle. Before anyone could react, a spiked chain wrapped around Kakashi, and with a tug on both sides, Kakashi was no more.
"Kakashi-sensei!" The banshee wailed. Sakura and Sasuke froze, while Zaraki and Naruto got to work on instinct.
Ducking underneath the claw that came at him, Naruto let his fists fly. Faster than anyone could see, his target was on the floor; battered, bruised and unconscious. Naruto's target got off easy in comparison to Zaraki's though.
Not bothering to dodge any of the hits, Zaraki drew his long, jagged sword. The blade looked chipped and worn, but Naruto could see it was sharp. The claw that came at Zaraki was no longer attached the attackers shoulder, but lying forgotten on the floor as Zaraki advanced on his prey with a manic grin.
With a glint in his eyes, he sliced down from crown to crotch, ripping the man perfectly in half.
"Good work, Zaraki-kun, Naruto-kun. Sasuke, I didn't think you would freeze up like that. Sakura, stop wailing, I'm not dead," Kakashi called from a branch high up in the canopy.
Sakura stopped crying in the favour of looking at where the voice came from. "You're not dead, sensei?" Everyone held their ears in pain. The Haruno's were truly blessed with piercing voices, and not in a good way.
"Of course he ain't dead. Human bodies get sliced up in fleshy chunks, not bits of wood," Zaraki called from where he stood, pointing to several pieces of splintered wood where Kakashi supposedly died.
"Alright, we need answers," Naruto advanced towards Tazuna, suddenly taking charge. His instincts told him something was up, and his instincts had never disappointed him. "Why the hell are there enemy Chunin after you?"
"They weren't after me, they attacked you. What should I know?" Tazuna shouted back, though he knew he had been found out. All of a sudden, this pipsqueak brat was looking terrifying to him.
"Don't play possum with me old man. Either you talk, or we abandon this mission. Your damn choice," Naruto wasn't in the mood for games. Zaraki sheathed his sword after he was done cleaning the blood off, Sakura got off the floor and Kakashi came back down to the floor from his high perch in the trees.
Tazuna explained to the gathered ninja about his country, abut Gato and the bridge. To them, the bridge was the only hope, the only way they were going to get out of that hellhole of a place.
"Wait a second, doesn't the Land of Waves have a Hidden Village of it's own?" Naruto asked, remembering one of the history scrolls Itachi had given him to make up for his lack of learning from the Academy.
"It does, but Gato has taken over the Village and given shelter to his missing nin. We can't do anything about it and it's given him more and more power over us," Tazuna was almost in tears now. The man looked a decade older than his age and he looked broken. "Go ahead, abandon the mission. Our country will be Gato's slaves, our women will get raped. My grandson is going to cry-"
"Save the sob story old man. We are ninja, we are trained to hide our emotions," Naruto interrupted. "How about this, we take this mission, and 1% of all income from your Hidden Village goes to us. 1% for each of us, that's 5% and another 10% for our Village. And while you're at it, you might as well sign a pact of non aggression with our Village."
"Ridiculous, that is way too much money just to get me to my house!" Tazuna yelled.
"Oh who said we are just getting you to your house?" Tazuna looked at him, puzzled. "I'll personally bring you Gato's head."
Everyone in his vicinity looked at him like he was crazy, though Zaraki was giving him an appreciative grin. Tazuna looked at him like he was an angel on earth.
A/R: CUT! That's a wrap. Not one of my better chapters, but thanks for reading. The next chapter should be more fun.
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=*=*=Personal Opinion Rant=*=*=
Short one again.
Why is it that all the Black people get dumped in Kumo? I get that the skin colour might be caused by the environment they live in, but it can't be the only place with that kind of environemnt. And how is it that Leaf has Asian/White people that are so pale when they get plenty of sunlight?
Is Kishi racist? I dunno.
=*=*=Personal Opinion Rant End=*=*=