Disclaimer: I do not, nor have I ever, owned anything related to Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto franchise.
Legend:
"A human is talking."
'A human is thinking.'
"A Tailed Beast or a Summon is talking."
'A Tailed Beast or a Summon is thinking.'
Chapter Six:
-Land of Fire: Hidden Leaf Village-
It had been three months since Naruto, Shino, and Hinata had passed Anko's "test" and had become an official Genin Squad. It was after that this that they were informed that they were expected to show up at the 13th Battle Training Ground at 4:55 every morning.
When the three Genin had arrived at their training ground the next morning, Anko smiled at their sleepy/angry expressions before she handed them their training schedules.
Schedule:
From 5am to 6am: Laps around the village. They were encouraged to try to add another lap every other da.
From 6am to 7am: Chakra control excerices. They mastered the Tree Climbing Practice and Leaf Concentration and had only recently begun the Water Walking exercise.
From 7am to 8am: Taijutsu practice. Anko used this time to point out the weaknesses within her student's Taijutsu styles.
From 8am to 9am: Ninjutsu training. Anko used this time to help her students learn how to perform the Ninja Academy's jutsu without vocalize and/or using hand-seals.
From 9am to 10am: Free for all Sparing matches. This hour alone accounted for most of the burns, bruises, poisoning, and broken bones that Squad Eight accumulated.
From 10am to 11am: Lecture time. Anko would sit down and teach them things that Genin could be taught. Interrogation and assassination were two of her favorite topics.
From 11am to 12pm: Lunchtime.
After the team had lunch, Anko would take them to the Mission Assignment Desk, a room within the Ninja Academy, to receive D-rank missions from the Third Hokage.
Anko would usually get six D-rank missions, two for each Genin, before the squad would leave the Ninja Academy. Once outside, she would create a couple of Earth Clones, assigning one Genin to each, before telling them to go off and complete their missions. Naruto noticed that Anko had assigned him to herself, making him wonder why she always seemed to be observing his every move.
The purple-haired Jonin had believed that, by implementing her training regime, her team could get around the Third Hokage's requirement for a C-rank mission. Her squad benefited from the absolute loathing she felt towards D-rank missions.
Hinata had slowly begun to come out of her shell as she bonded with her teammates. It was with their encouragement and advice, something previously unknown to her, that her Taijutsu improved. She began improving and learning how to perform new Ninjutsu.
Shino was put on a strict physical regime that had been developed by Anko and his father, Shibi Aburame, to keep his body in tip-top condition. He showed his teammates that he was a natural at Ninjutsu; perfecting a couple of low-level Ninjutsu in a couple days.
Naruto began to develop a growing love for Genjutsu as Anko's friend, Kurenai Yuhi, instructed him in the illusionary arts. With her instruction, he learned how to perform numerous low-level Genjutsu. He could now cloak a human-sized object with the Genjutsu he used to cloak Samehada.
When Anko had learned of that Genjutsu, she had warned/ordered him to never teach it to another person without direct permission from the current Hokage. The blonde had understood the reason behind the order but he didn't like it.
Naruto had also begun to slowly reveal his vast knowledge of water-based Ninjutsu. Although he couldn't perform most of the B-rank and A-rank Ninjutsu, he was able to help his teammates understand the theory on how to perform them.
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-The Ninja Academy: Mission Assignment Desk-
Squad Eight stood on a green mat before the Third Hokage, nervously waiting to see if their request for a C-rank mission had been improved. Three minutes passed in a tense silence as the Hokage seemed to weigh the decision within his mind.
"Very well, your request for a C-rank has been approved…" Hiruzen said. "Could you bring the client in Iwana?"
The eyepatch-wearing Chunin, sitting next to the Hokage, replied with a quick "Yes" before he set the papers he was reading down. He then stood from his chair and left the room to retrieve Squad Eight's new client.
When Iwana returned, he was accompanied by a drunken gray-haired man holding an alcohol bottle. The Chunin quickly returned to his seat by the Hokage's side, returning to the paperwork in front of him.
The gray-haired man wore a sleeveless, black-colored shirt, black pants, and black sandals. A thin, white-colored rope was tied around his forehead and a conical straw hat was strapped to his back.
When this man saw Squad Eight, he lifted his alcohol bottle and took another drink before he turned to look at the Third Hokage accusingly.
"This bunch of snot-nosed brats is supposed to guard me?" The drunken man asked.
"I can assure you that this group is very capable of the mission you require Mr. Kochi." Hiruzen responded. "Anko, this is Tazuna Kochi. Mr. Kochi is a bridge builder from the Land of Waves. Your squad will guard him on his way back to his home."
The Hokage then dismissed them with the instructions to meet Tazuna at the gates within an hour. The four ninja thanked the Hokage for the mission before they left.
Once they were outside of the Ninja Academy, Anko instructed them to pack for a long mission outside of the village. A victorious grin spread across her features.
Squad Eight had received their first C-ranked Mission.
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-Land of Fire: Hidden Leaf Village-
As his team waited for their client, Naruto leaned his back against the bark of an old oak tree. His eyes were narrowed as he waited, impatiently, for their 25-minute late client to show up.
The blonde felt Samehada begin to tremble on his back, drawing his attention, before it began to keen. This wailing brought a frown to Naruto's face before he began to rub Samehada's skull-tipped handle in an effort to calm his blade.
"I know that you want to leave Samehada." He whispered. "You just have to be patient. I can promise you that we're going to go soon. You'll see it again."
Samehada began to thrum in time with the strokes of its wielders fingers. Its wielder always knew how to calm it when it was upset.
Squad Eight had to wait another five minutes before Tazuna arrived. He was obviously drunk as he was unsteady on his feet as he walked, his cheeks were tinted pink, and an alcohol bottle was in his hand.
Anko growled at the sight of the old man before she stomped towards him, muttering obscenities under her breath. When she was in front of him, she ignored his drunken compliments and innuendo before she pressed her hands to the sides of his head.
The Jonin then proceeded to use the Alcohol Elimination Technique. She used it to track down and destroy every ounce of alcohol without Tazuna's body. When this was done, she removed her hands and watched as gray-haired man fell to the ground. He clutched his head in agony.
"Maybe that hangover will teach you some manners Mr. Kochi." Anko spat. "It is not wise to leave a ninja waiting for you."
With that said Anko turned around and started walking towards the stand 10 feet from the gates. It was there at she handed the two Chunin, Izumo Kamizuki and Kotesu Hagane, their papers.
When the two Chunin cleared them for travel, Anko led them out of the Hidden Leaf Village. They had begun their first C-rank mission.
No one seemed to notice the smirk that was growing on Naruto's face as he walked. He had just received the instructions on how to perform the jutsu Anko had used. It was nice to wield a sentient, chakra-sensitive sword.
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-Land of Earth: The Hidden Stone Village-
Deidara flew over the Hidden Stone Village, over 500 feet in the air. He frowned as he noticed that someone had actually spotted him. It shouldn't have been possible from his height in the air.
Members of the ANBU Black Ops jumped from rooftop to rooftop, keeping pace with him as he got closer to the center of the village.
"Earth Release: Rock Pillars Rising!"
Deidara smirked when he heard that technique, knowing that the ANBU wouldn't know that he had heard it. With this foreknowledge, his dragon dodged multiple rock pillars, bursting from the ground, which all attempted to skewer his creation.
The blonde then noticed, out of the corner of his eye, ANBU running up the pillars. He cursed silently as they were almost in range. Soon they would begin to bring out the big guns to take him out of the sky.
"Earth Release: Bedrock Coffin!"
Even as large sections of earth, from the rock pillars, began to enclose on him, Deidara smirked. The palms on his hands on had finished infusing chakra into his clay.
As the technique took the shape of a dome, numerous insect-like bombs snuggled into the walls. The blonde then made a one-handed hand-seal and applied chakra.
"C1!" He announced.
As explosions rocked the dome of earth, fragments of it fell to the force of gravity. This caused three teams of ANBU to retract to stop the earth from impacting the village.
The smoke from his explosions clouded his form for a moment, allowing Deidara to escape the ANBU's notice. His dragon flew towards his target; The Tsuchikage's Residence.
He was 200 feet away from his target by the time the ANBU managed to catch up with him. At his current speed, it was highly unlikely that they would catch up with him.
It was at that moment when Deidara caught a glimpse of his former teammate, Kurotsuchi, and his face went white. He urged his dragon onwards.
'I have to get to the Old Man's office!' The blonde thought.
"Water Release: Water Trumpet!" He heard Kurotsuchi shout.
Before he could react, Deidara was hit by a large jet of water that sent him, spiraling, into the air. Kurotsuchi appeared above him, her pink eyes narrowed, before she hit his stomach with a roundhouse kick.
Blood dripped out of Deidara's mouth as he crashed against the ground. He then felt hard, rocky arms wrap around his body as his was lifted into the air. He tried to move but it only caused the thing holding him to increase the pressure of its hold on him.
The blonde then watched as Kurotsuchi destroyed his dragon with one of her Lava Ninjutsu. She then proceeded to vanish.
When she reappeared, Akatsuchi was with her, one of his large hands laid upon her should.
"Look who decided to come home." The black-haired woman hissed.
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-The Hidden Leaf Village: The Intelligence Division-
Inochi Yamanaka stood before the Mind Reading Amplification Machine, his hand lying on the forehead of the prisoner that currently resided within the machine. He and the three other ANBU powering the machine were trying to break into the prisoner's mind.
This particular prisoner had initially repelled several members of the ANBU Torture and Interrogation Force with his numerous mental barriers and strong will. However, with this machine, he would have to resist the force of four skilled ANBU.
With this device, the team of four had slowly begun to break through the prisoner's mental shields. They had begun by weakening the barriers one by one. Once the shields were weak enough, one of the team would destroy the mental shield before rejoining the others. This would cause the man much mental pain, making him lose focus on enforcing his remaining shields.
It took the team 10 more minutes before they destroyed the final mental barrier and entered the man's mind. They had gotten through.
The team then spilt up to begin looking through the prisoner's memories. Tonbo Tobitake was the one to discover why the man had attempted to steal the Forbidden Scroll of Seals.
After viewing the memory himself, Inochi ordered his compatriots deeper. They needed to find out when the man had become a spy for Orochimaru.
The team watched as the man tortured numerous women, killing each and every one when they became "boring" to him. They watched as he burned the women's bodies before storing the ashes in his backyard.
They watched as Mizuki Touji caught the attention of the lovely Tsubaki Yuki, one of the last members of the Yuki Clan. They watched as he had lured her to him in a web of lies.
The team later found that Tsubaki had been initially drawn to Mizuki because of his sweet demeanor. She had also been encouraged by her peers to see if he "liked" her as well.
The two of them spent a couple of months together, happy and carefree, before it all fell apart. Tsubaki had discovered the secret correspondence he had been keeping with Orochimaru.
The black-haired woman had gone to inform her superiors of her discovery. She had almost made it back to the main part of the village before he caught and disabled her. He then proceeded to drag her back to their house in the woods.
Mizuki had then proceeded to use two Juinjutsu developed by Orochimaru. He used the Gedo Mark: Seal to seal most Tsubaki's abilities. He sealed away her Kekkai Genkai.
The silver-haired man had then used the Gedo Mark: Confusion to seal Tsubaki's memories away and make the woman completely dependent on him.
At Inochi's signal, the team withdrew from Mizuki's mind. Once outside of the horrid man's mind, the blonde turned to the other three ANBU.
"Start filling out a report on what you discovered in this filth's mind." Inochi ordered. "I want it completed before I get back from the Hokage's office."
"Of course, sir… Should we take the prisoner back to his cell?" Tonbo asked.
"Yes… Well, what are you waiting for? Get to it!" Inochi replied.
"Yes, sir!"
Jutsu:
1. Alcohol Elimination Technique: A jutsu that uses chakra to seek out and destroy alcohol.
2. Earth Release: Rock Pillars Rising: A jutsu that creates rock pillars that will protrude from the ground to skewer a target.
3. Earth Release: Bedrock Coffin: A jutsu that allows the user to control multiple sections of rock and move them around their opponent. The user then forms two gigantic sections that crush the opponent.
4. C1: Deidara's most basic and versatile form of explosive clay that is created from a single palm mouth. These are small animated dolls that often resemble animals. He can produce and release a significant number of them at high speeds.
5. Water Release: Water Trumpet: A jutsu that launches a large jet of water from their mouth through the user's hand. This gives the appearance of playing a trumpet, hence the name.
A/N: Author's Note:
Author: Sorry to have taken so long to update guys!
Shino: Yet you have had time to read other Fanfiction... How would that be taken as "busy"?
Author: Uh... Well... You see...
Shino: I'm waiting.
Author: *Gulp*