The Child of Prophecy
Chapter 3
"Welcome you four, today will be the beginning of a new chapter in your lives. From here on out, you four will be a team, with Mesuri here as your team leader. Even though all of you are Chuunin, she has the most experience out of the field and therefore you three will be under her direct command." The Fourth Hokage said before looking at Naruto with pride. His son was growing up so fast.
"Alright team, meet me at training ground 7 so I can evaluate your skills and determine how we will fight." Mesuri said before blurring away. The other three disappeared as well, but not before Naruto gave a slight wave to his dad.
Once they got to the training ground, Mesuri had them all stand shoulder to shoulder facing her.
"Alright, I want to hear your personality type, your preferred attacks, and where you think you stand on this team. You, blondie, you're first."
"My name is Naruto, and my personality type is calm, but I love fighting strong opponents. My preferred attacks revolve around my Summoning Toads, which I use exclusively for my ninjutsu arsenal, and my speed for taijutsu. If I had to logically place where I stood on this team, I would say I'm the initial fighter used to take out large numbers of opponents, or single opponents."
"Alright good, I think that will suffice. Uchiha, you're next."
"I am Itachi. My personality type is calm and quiet. I enjoy testing my strength against strong opponents, but I prefer to not fight at all if possible. My attacks, like most Uchiha, are strong fire attacks. I am a good long range fighter with my excellent aim, but I can be used for support up close with my sharingan."
"Good. Up next, girl with spiky hair."
"My name is Anko, and I've easily excitable and awesome. I don't really have main attacks except for decent taijutsu and my extreme flexibility. I see myself in the front with the cute blonde because I can be extremely deadly with my taijutsu."
"Well, now that we all know each other, I want the rest of the day to be spent with you three using collaboration to take me down. We are all the same rank, so I will not be taking it easy on you just because two of you are 7 and the other is 12. I have been a chuunin for 10 years so I will naturally be stronger, but if you all work together, you should be able to take down a single opponent no matter their skill."
The three genin then left to devise a strategy for fighting her. At first Anko refused to listen to any idea they had because she thought that she was older and deserved to make the plan. Eventually though, she began to feel excluded when they started making plans without her, so she submitted to them and began to listen to their plan with rapt attention. Soon enough, they all disappeared into the forest, ready to enact their plan.
Soon enough, the air was filled with sounds of kunai racing through the air, and the resulting explosions from the explosives attached to the kunai handles. When the dust cleared, Mesuri was standing alone and perfectly fine; however, she was on alert because she knew that the first attack had just been a diversion. Suddenly, the ground beneath her feet began to crack, and two hands launched onto her ankles. Or at least they would have, had she not substituted with a log. Unfortunately for her, that was just what they wanted. When she appeared, she was suddenly subjected to a raging inferno aimed in her direction. With a flurry of hand seals, she was protected by a wall of water, but the drawback was that the area was now bathed in mist, perfect for Itachi's Sharingan, which could see Mesuri's chakra.
Mesuri had her guard up, and was trying in vain to peer through the dense mist when she was suddenly struck in the leg by a strong kick. When she went to counter, the assailant had already disappeared into the mist. Mesuri was subjugated to this for the next few seconds, as Itachi would circle around and strike her where she was unprotected then vanish. Eventually, Mesuri realized that she could not protect herself well enough here and flared her Chakra to evaporate the mist. Upon looking around once the mist cleared, Mesuri wished she had stayed in the cover of the mist. A water dragon, courtesy of one of Naruto's Summoning Toads, slammed into her chest and threw her against a tree on the far side of the clearing. Before she could get back up, Mesuri's clothing was riddled with kunai and shuriken, pinning her to the tree.
"Good job squad. You all did extremely well, I give." Mesuri managed to get out between pants.
Once she gave up, Anko retrieved her weapons from Mesuri's person, and Naruto sent his Toad back to Mount Myoboku.
"We did awesome team! I think I'm gonna enjoy being on a team with you two shorties." Anko said exuberantly.
"I'm not short! I'm just young! Just you watch, I'll be taller than you someday." Naruto yelled back at her.
"Naruto, it's best if we don't argue with our new teammate, at least she's better than our genin teammate." Itachi said, trying to calm Naruto down.
"Yea, that's true Itachi. Well Anko, you did really well enacting our plan, I think we will be a rather good team." Naruto agreed.
"Well, now that you three feel so compatible, can you take me to the hospital, whoever was hitting me in the mist ruined my ability to walk." Mesuri said while leaning against a tree.
The three quickly apologized for going too far, but Mesuri who have none of it. She said that she was happy to have such a powerful team under her rest of the day was spent training with Naruto and Itachi. They had tried to get Anko to come, but she said something about meeting up with a friend at a Dango(Sweet Meatballs) stand.
"Are you going to tell this team about your eyes, Naruto?" Itachi asked while they were doing their final spar.
"Nah, I heard that you only have to spend half a year as a Chunnin before you can apply for ANBU, so I don't think I'll grow close enough to these two. Only my parents, Jiraiya, and you know, and I plan to keep it that way until I have mastered at least one path." Naruto replied before ducking under a jab, he rataliated with a cross that Itachi blocked with his forearm. Since they were both advancing at the same speed, their spars were always evenly matched because whenever one would get stronger, the other would hurry to catch up. It was an extremely effective way to train, and made them way stronger than most Chunnin out there. The rest of the training went well, and both boys went home and slept.
Naruto awoke to the sound of gears turning. He paled and jumped out of bed as quick as possible but he was not fast enough. In no time at all, he was drenched with freezing cold water, courtesy of his mother rigging up another prank to use on him. The rule was that until he "survived" the next prank, he would not be taught any more kenjutsu techniques from his mom. Everytime he "survived" he would be taught a new technique, but it also meant that the next prank would be at a higher level. He would always look back on them as good training tactics; however, right now all he could do was curse his mother and take a hot shower.
"That's what you get for coming home so late again!" Naruto heard his mother shout from outside of his room. Naruto was sorry that he couldn't spend anymore time with his family but because of his desire to be the strongest Hokage ever, he had to train extensively.
Naruto quickly took a shower and donned his gear. After a breakfast spent with his small family, he left to go meet his Chuunin squad.
Naruto found out that he was second to arrive, the first being their captain. They waited patiently, and soon enough Itachi appeared in a Shunshin(Quick Step). Anko was there a few minutes later.
"Okay team, now that we are all gathered I have a mission for us from the Hokage. This mission is B-rank and will take place in the southern region of the Land of Fire. The details of this mission are straightforward. We are to remove the threat of a small group of missing-nins. The reports say there are three of them attacking small villages and pilfering what's left. They have hit here, here, and here, their path takes them to this village, where we will ambush them and kill them. Any questions?" Mesuri asked.
After seeing no one move, Mesuri took off towards the southern gate, her squad close behind. Within the next few minutes, Naruto's squad was leaping through the trees. At the speed they were traveling, they would reach the village by nightfall.
"Do we know where the missing-nin are from?" Naruto asked.
"Yes, we have reports that they are from Suna(Wind Country)." Mesuri replied.
"If that is the case, we can guess their attacks." Naruto continued.
"Suna is famous for their puppetry, and their war fans." Itachi listed off from memory.
"Correct Itachi, but never expect the fight to ever be that easy. More than likely, they will be regular shinobi with no particular talents, just the usual shinobi arts, which means no planned tactic will work." Mesuri warned.
The journey from then on was passed by in silence, with the occasional bird chirping and other nature sounds. Just as the sun was about to set, they arrived in the village.
"Listen here team, the missing-nins will attack here tonight, so we must come up with a defensive plan by that and prepare to enact it. Anko, I want to to organize all the villagers and restrict them to their houses, this fight will probably be dangerous. I'll go speak with the village leader and let him know I'm here, while I'm doing that Naruto and Itachi are to create a plan that I can hear when I return. Go!" Mesuri ordered before vanishing in a Shunshin.
As soon as she left, Naruto and Itachi began evaluating the village for weak spots and choke points. Eventually, they had a basic understanding of how to go about ambushing the missing-nin. When Anko and Mesuri returned, they were also told the plan. Mesuri agreed to the plan and they all went to their assigned places. Naruto would be guarding the left entrance, Anko would be guarding the right, and Mesuri would be guarding the main entrance. Itachi was placed in the middle of all of them and had a vantage point to see each of the easily. He would be the back up for anyone who needed help in this battle.
The team of four didn't have to wait long before a shinobi walked right past Mesuri. Soon enough, another shinobi appeared near Anko and continued into the village. Naruto was completely hidden when the third and final member of the missing-nins appeared directly in front of him. With a signal from Itachi, all three Konoha ninja's struck. Anko and Naruto's attack went off well. They both got an early hit before the enemy knew they were even there. Mesuri's opponent, however, saw Itachi's signal and was quick enough to dodge Mesuri's swipe.
The fights were even for Anko and Naruto, both opponents were bleeding and tired while they were only minorly winded. Mesuri, on the other hand, was losing badly. It seemed that her opponent was a Jonin and was destroying Mesuri's guard. Itachi quickly went to assist Mesuri, but not before Mesuri was knocked out by a hit to the head. Itachi was then forced to fight a Jonin all by himself. Itachi was quite good for his age, and even his rank. But still, it was a one sided fight as he was forced to dodge attack after attack, never able to strike back.
While Itachi was busying avoiding death, Naruto was able to counter from a sloppily done attack and drove a kunai through the other mans skull. He then went to check on the progress of the other two. He saw that Anko was almost finished herself, the enemy wobbling on her feet. He then went to check on Mesuri, only to find Mesuri on the ground covered in blood and Itachi dodging attack after attack. Naruto disappeared to aid Itachi. He re-appeared just behind the Jonin, intent on slashing the older man's throat. Instead, he had to duck to avoid a well thrown kunai. Although, this gave Itachi enough time to slash the man's thigh. The man was brought down to one knee when he went through hand seals at a rapid pace.
"Even though this technique will kill me, I will not give you the satisfaction of living. This attack is too fast to dodge, and too strong to block with any element! Say goodbye kids!" The man roared before the entire place was flooded with poison, a third thing Suna was famous for that they forgot. Itachi knew they were dead, he had nothing that could save them and nothing Naruto ever used would be enough. Itachi closed his eyes and waited for his death, now that he had seen the poison, he knew it was not the normal kind. It was a poison that was absorbed through your skin, there was no way to dodge or block, unless you could literally repel EVERYTHING away from you at once, the particles were just too small.
"SHINRA TENSEI!(Almighty Push)" Naruto roared. And suddenly Itachi and Naruto were witness to something truly spectacular. Everything around them was pushed away and obliterated, with them at the epicenter. Afterwards, Naruto fell back on his back, entirely spent from using that strange technique. Itachi soon followed, and when Anko came back, all she saw was Naruto, Itachi, and Mesuri all lying on the ground, all of them breathing. She was able to carry them back to an inn where they slept until noon the following day.
When Naruto awoke, he felt funny. He felt a little more complete than he ever had in the past. He asked Itachi what had happen and he was extremely surprised that he had learned a Rinnegan technique without instruction. He knew now that he was ready to begin learning from Jiraiya and resolved to letting his dad know of what transpired during this mission. Once he team was all awake and healed up, they set out towards Konoha, this time at a much slower place because they were all a little sore and drained. They finally arrived and checked into the village after two days of travel. The first thing they did when they arrived was report to the Hokage, as was the rule.
When they arrived at the Hokage's office, Minato's eyes lit up with happiness at seeing his son return virtually unharmed, but he did not let his happiness dictate his actions, he was the Hokage after all. Once they were done reviewing the mission, the Hokage allowed them to leave, but while Mesuri and Anko left, Naruto and Itachi remained behind.
"Dad, could you ask the ANBU hiding in your office to leave for a sec, I have something to tell you."
"Yes, of course. ANBU." Hokage ordered. With his command, the four ANBU is his office disappeared.
"Dad, something else happened on this mission that our teammate and captain don't know about."
With this, Minato grew more serious, "What happened, son?"
"You remember in the mission report how we defeated the third man by flaring our Chakra and spinning, thus creating that little crater that Anko found us lying in?"
"Yes, what about that?"
"It wasn't us spinning, I used a Rinnegan path by accident."
"Interesting. How did you even know how to do a path, son?"
"I didn't know how, there was poison coming at us from all directions and I just wanted it to be repelled, and then I shouted a jutsu I never heard before and suddenly all the gravity around us was pushed away." Naruto explained.
"I never knew the Rinnegan was instinctual. I suppose it's time to see Jiraiya again, I'll send out a message through the frogs to summon him back here. When he gets back, I hope you are ready for some intense training. I know you and Itachi train together, and I hope this won't upset the balance of power between your rivalry." Minato said with mirth. Clearly, he didn't care if his son was stronger than Itachi. The Uchiha could get knocked down a peg or two. Recently, some troubling things were coming his way from the Uchiha.
"Alright you two. Dismissed."
"With that, Naruto and Itachi went to their respective houses to get some much earned rest. It had truly been a stressful mission where they almost died had Naruto not used the Rinnegan powers. Itachi was thankful for his friend, but he was a tad upset he could do nothing in that scenario, even with his fully evolved Sharingan. He decided to go visit the Uchiha Shrine to learn more about the Sharingan, now that he had to compete with Naruto learning how to control the Rinnegan. Itachi stayed up all night researching something called the Mangekyo Sharingan.