I don't own Naruto in an way shape or form.

talking: Ya' know

thinking: Ya' know

jutsu: Flying Raijin Jutsu

Summoning talking: You little runt

Summoning thinking: You little runt

Tailed Beast talking/slight possession: Damn you 4th Hokage

Tailed Beast thinking: Damn you 4th Hokage


Chapter 24: Adventure in the Land of Tea

"The report says "Naruto had an opportunity at defeating Doto and took it, successfully decapitating Doto with the 'Rasengan'." Said Koharu, as she reported to Danzo about Squad 7's latest mission.

"I see." Danzo replied, not showing any emotion.

"Lord Danzo. There's no doubt that the child is getting stronger, but we're not getting the oportune moment we need to ensure that you properly train him. What if the moment nev..." Homura began, before Danzo interrupted him.

"I've already considered that possibility. Honestly, I'm getting a little impatient. So, if the moment won't come to us, then we'll just create our own moment. It all comes down to the Nine-Tails making an upcoming mission a success."

"And what is this plan you're planning, Lord Danzo?" Koharu asked.

"I won't bother you with the details. Just wait and see. Now, I must go make preperations. You're dismissed." Said Danzo, getting up to set his plan in motion.


-Mission Hall-

"I wonder where Kakashi sensei is?" Naruto asked, with his hands behind his head.

"Kakashi won't be coming, he's been sent out on another mission." Said Tsunade, as she walked into the mission hall.

"Lady Hokage." Said Sakura.

"Grandma Tsunade." Said Naruto.

"Would you quit calling me that already?" Said Tsunade, as she sat down and grabbed a scroll. "Anyway, just you three will be sent on this mission. Needless to say, Naruto is in charge."

"Right! Leave it to me, Granny!" Said Naruto, holding a thumbs up.

"I would hope so. This is a very important mission. The results of which, are on your shoulders alone." Tsunade replied, with a stern stare towards Naruto.

"Guh...R..right."

"Anyway, let's start the briefing." Said Tsunade, as she briefed them on the details of this mission.


-Land of Tea-

The mission had been peacefull upto this point. Naruto and his teammates were currently taking a break in a tea house. As they were relaxing, a teenager a few years older, came up to them.

"Gee, the life of a ninja seems pretty cozy." Said the teen.

"Say what?!" Naruto replied.

"You heard me. You Leaf ninja don't have a care in the world." Said the teen, really getting on Naruto's nerves.

"Why you!" Naruto growled, as he started to stand up.

"Well hello there. I didn't mean you ofcourse." Said the teen, as he saw Sakura.

"Huh? Wh..who me?" Asked Sakura.

Leaning on the table, the boy continued his flirting with Sakura. "Listen, have you ever given any thoght about our future?" The teen asked.

"Wh..what future?"

"You know, the one where you quit this ninja business and run away with me." The boy said, giving Sakura a wink.

"Aaaahhhh! Are you gonna hit this guy, Sakura?! Or should I?!" Naruto yelled.

"Jeez, I was just kidding. But what I said about being a ninja wasn't." Said the teen, as he prepaired to leave.

"Calm down, Naruto. You're supposed to act like a Chunnin, you know." Said Sakura, trying to calm Naruto down.

The comment caused the teen to pause in his step. The teen looked behind him, and saw that what she said was true. Naruto was wearing the standard Chunnin vest.

"Yea yea, I know. Sheesh." Naruto replied.

Turning back around and leaving without being noticed, the teen thought to himself. "That kid? That stupid looking kid, is a Chunnin?! Impossible!"


-A few moments later-

"Heh! Those idiots will never catch m...aaah!" Thought the teen, as he suddenly tripped over a tree root. "Oof! I gotta watch where I'm going." Said the teen as he started to stand up.

"I wouldn't be worried about that right now, if I were you." Said Naruto, from a branch just above the teen. Naruto ofcourse was with Sasuke and Sakura.

Jumping down, Sasuke asked. "Alright, why did you leave your bill with us?"

Seeing no way out, the teen decided to use deception. "I'm sorry! I didn't have any money!" The teen yelled, as he bowed his head.

Just then something small fell and hit the top of Naruto's head. "Ow. Huh? Whats this?" Naruto asked, as he bent over to pick it up.

"Don't touch that!" The teen yelled, as he grabbed the object and stood up.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Naruto asked, bracing himself for any sudden moves.

Deciding that he had no other options, the teen decided to remove the leg weights he had been wearing. "See ya." Said the teen, as he dropped the leg weights causing a cloud of dirt to appear.

Once the dirt cloud disappeared, the teen was gone.


-A minute later-

*Huff* "Now *puff* what?" Asked Sakura, as they came to a stop. The group had chased the teen, but were unable to catch up to him.

"Don't worry. I tagged the back of his cape, while he was flirting with you, Sakura." Naruto replied, with a confident smirk on his face.

"Huh? You did? Why?" Sakura asked, confusion on her face.

"I had a gut feeling he'd pull something stupid. Anyway, I'll be right back." Said Naruto, just before he vanished in a flash of yellow.


-With the teen-

"Hah! Looks like I lost... w..."


-Squad 7-

"...hat the?!" Said the teen, as he landed on the ground. "What happened? How did I get back here?" The teen thought, as he looked at his surroundings. He noticed that he had already ran past this area, and this was where the ninja had stopped chasing him. Not only that, but he was surrounded by said ninja. Well, if you don't count being sat on by one of them.

"Hee hee! Too bad, you can't get away from me that easy." Said Naruto, sitting on top of the older teen.

"How did you catch up to me, so easily?" The teen asked, glaring at Naruto.

"Heh! Don't worry about the details. Mind helping me tie this guy up Sasuke?" Naruto asked, as he began tying the older teen.

"Sure, but what's the plan with this guy?" Sasuke asked, as he helped Naruto.

"The nearest town is where we're supposed to meet up wih Boss Jirocho, right?" Naruto asked, looking toward Sakura for confirmation. However, all members of Squad 7 missed the slight widening of the teens eyes.

"Yea, it is. Why?" Sakura asked, confused about where this was going.

"Good. After we meet Boss Jirocho, we'll have this guy turned into the proper authorities." Naruto explained, as he lifted the teen to his feet.

"Hn. Not a bad idea." Commented Sasuke, as he helped Naruto lift the teen.


-Boss Jirocho's office-

"I see. I'm sorry that Idate has caused you trouble." Said Jirocho.

Naruto and the rest of Squad 7 made it to Boss Jirocho's home, where they were greeted by a member of the Wasabi family. To the team's great surprise, they were informed that the teen, Idate, was actually a member of said family.

"Uh, sure. No problem, I guess." Sakura replied, not entirely sure what to make of the situation.

"Thank you. Now, could you please leave us. I must speak with Idate." Asked Jirocho.

"No problem, Boss!" Naruto replied, his voice full of his usual enthusiasm.

Once they left the office, Jirocho turned his attention to Idate. "Idate." Said Jirocho, dissapointment eminent in his voice.

"Y..yes boss?" Idate replied, nervous about what kind of trouble his latest round of mischief had caused him.

"Correct me if I'm wrong. But I believe that when I took you in, I asked that you stop with these thieving antice. Did I not?" Asked Jirocho.

"Yes, you did." Idate answered, bowing his head.

"Then, why? Why did you skip out on your bill, and pinned it on the ninja?" Jirocho asked, with a stern look in his eyes.

Idate stayed silent, and didn't answer.

*Sigh* "I understand that you don't like ninja. And I've never asked why that is, but please just bear with it. Alright?"

After a moment of silence, Idate answered. "Yes sir."


-In the forest-

"Hey! Where are you going?!" Naruto yelled. Squad 7 had been chasing Idate since the start of the race and Port Dagarashi. Instead of taking the boat and head to the next island, Idate ran into the nearby forest.

"It's none of your business!" Idate replied, as he continued to run. "Why don't you just leave me alone!

It wasn't long till Naruto was running right behind him, but neither noticed the double-layered Genjutsu. Idate had detected the first, but not the second. As a result, both Naruto and Idate had fell of the side of the mountain they had been running on. Luckily, they were saved by Sasuke's action to catch them using a rope.

*Sigh* "That was close." Said Naruto. Naruto then notice something falling. "AAH! My ninja tools!" Naruto yelled. *Sigh* "Atleast I still have my trench knives and my gauntlets. I'll just have to get my weapons later." Naruto thought, as he and Idate were being pulled up.


-On the boat-

Since the forest, everything seemed to be going smoothly. But Squad 7 was still on guard, just in case. During the boat ride, Squad 7 discovered that Idate was once a Genin from the Leaf Village. And that Idate had an older brother, named Ibiki. Idate was releaed to hear that his brother was alive and well. However, the moment was interrupted as an arrow hit the rail of the boat.

"What the..." Said Sasuke, turning around to see another boat. Not long after, Rain ninja began boarding the ship. Sasuke activated his sharingan, and took note that only one was real. "Naruto! Sakura! Watch out, one of them isn't a clone!" Sasuke yelled, infroming his teammates.

"Right!" Naruto and Sakura replied.

"We gotta keep them away from Idate!" Naruto ordered, as he punched through another clone.

"We know!" Sasuke relied, as he went after the real one.

Sasuke had put himself in a confrontation with the real Rain ninja, eventually forcing the enemy to retreat by diving overboard.

"Sasuke! They turned into 'Water-Clones'!" Naruto yelled, making sure the other knew that the threat wasn't over yet.

"I know! Be carefull!" Sasuke replied.

"No shit, Sasuke!" Naruto yelled.

Suddenly rain started to fall, leaving small black puddles on the deck. Sakura was the only one that notices this, and soon realized that the rain was actually oil. Then noticing that Sasuke had started making handsigns, Sakura yelled. "Sasuke! No! There is oil all over the place!"

Heeding Sakura's warning, Sasuke immediately ceased casting his handsigns.

*Sigh* "That was close." Said Sakura, to one inperticular. Sakura then notice that one of the ninja was holding something in his hands, and taking carefull aim. Seeing that one of his comrades lit the object on fire, she realized what they were planning. "Watch out! They're planning on lighting the boat on fire!" Sakura yelled, warning her teammates.

"I'm on it!" Naruto yelled, making the handsign for his second favorite jutsu. "Shadow-Clone Jutsu!" Having created 9 clones, making a total of 10 Narutos. The real Naruto ran to the back of the boat, while pulling out one of his trench knives and held it like a sword. Seeing that it was a flaming arrow that was fired, Naruto jump off the back railing and concentrated his 'Wind' chakra into his blade. "Back off, you assholes!" Naruto yelled, swinging his trench knife. The 'Wind' extended blade easily split the arrow in two, effectively keeping their boat out of harms way. However, Naruto's 'Wind' blade caught fire. This created a large 'Fire' blade instead. Continuing his swing, Naruto hit the enemies boat. This resulted in two things. 1) The front end of the boat was split, vertically, in two, effectively causing the boat to eventually sink. 2) Set the boat on fire.

"Alright! "Shadow-Clone Jutsu!"" Creating another Shadow-Clone, Naruto had it grab hold of his arm and threw him back towards their boat.

"Good job, Naruto." Said Sakura, as Naruto landed.

"Hee hee. Thanks Sakura." Naruto replied, as he placed his right hand behind his head. "Ouch!" Said Naruto, pulling his hand back down

"Naruto, are you ok?" Sakura asked, carefully grabbing Naruto's hand. Holding Naruto's still armed hand, Sakura noticed that his hand was burned. Removing the weapon and glove, Sakura said. "Naruto, you got 1st to 2nd degree burns."

"Ouch! Yea, I kinda figured I'd get burned if I did that. Heh heh." Naruto replied, placing his uninjured hand behind his head.

"You did?!" Sakura yelled, as she hit him over the head. "If you knew that would happen, then why'd you do it you idiot?!"

"Ouch! Sakura, I did it so the boat wouldn't get burned and then sink. Ooow!" Naruto replied, holding his head.

"Oh. Sorry, Naruto." Said Sakura, feeling ashamed of herself.

"It's fine. Just don't hit me again." Said Naruto.

"Rig.." *KABOOM!*

An explosion hit the left side of the boat. With the boat beginning to sink, Squad 7 had no choice but to abandon their means of transportation. Naruto ordered Idate to go on ahead, but Idate was convinced that they were just trying to save themselves. I took Naruto to hit him over the head with his burned hand to get him to get moving.


-In a cave-

Squad 7 had managed to get off the boat safely, after giving Idate a head start. On the way to the shore, Squad 7 was drawn under water by the Rain ninja. Thanks to Naruto's quick thinking witht the use of his Shadow-Clones, the Rain ninja were defeated.

Once they got to shore they rushed in to help Idate, who was being attacked by another Rain ninja they haven't encountered yet. Unfortunately, the ninja was keeping his distance. By doing so, Squad 7 were defeated by the ninja poisonous needles.

Squad 7 and Idate had been resting in a cave since, thanks to Sakura who had been given the antidote by Tsunade before they left the gate. While they were resting, Idate explained who that ninja was. He was a rogue ninja, named Aoi Rokusho, who defected from the Leaf Village and joined the Rain Village. It was Aoi that had tricked him into bringing him a secret scroll and the Sword of the Thunder Spirit. Only after that had Aoi explained that Idate could become a Chunnin, but within the Hidden Rain.

Idate eventually told them how he meet Boss Jirocho, that out of all of the Wasabi family, he was the only kne to have faith in him. Unfortunately, thanks to the reunion with Aoi, Idate had lost faith in himself. But Naruto refused to let Idate give up. He told Idate that one person believing in him is all he needed.

With Naruto's help, Idate made it to the top of the 'Spirit Breaker' steps. Once he was at the top, Idate took of running in order to finish the rest of the race with his own power.


-Drawbridge-

Idate had finally managed to get to the drawbridge that he needed to cross in order to get to the finish line. As he got closer to the bridge, Aoi suddenly appeared and knocked him to the ground with the Sword of the Thunder Spirit.

"You just don't know when to give up do you, Idate?" Asked Aoi.

"Uh. Not bad. Too bad for you, that I'm not Idate." Said Idate, with a smirk.

"What're you talking about?" Aoi asked, confused by what Idate was saying.

"Hnhn. You mentioned earlier that you're a Jounin, but you can't detect a simple 'Transformation Jutsu'?" Idate replied, before he dissapeared in a *poof* of smoke.

"I see. So you're indeed not Idate. But don't think that you can take me. Especially when I wield the Sword of the Thunder Spirit." Said Aoi, looking into the dark eyes of one of the Leaf ninja.

"Heh, interesting. Your Sword of the Thunder Spirit against my 'Chidori'." Sasuke replied, as he activated said jutsu and his Sharingan.

The two nina charged towards eachother. "I've always heard that the last Uchiha was talentless brat, unworthy of his family name." Aoi taunted, cutting through Sasuke's 'Chidori'.


-Nearby trees-

"Oh no! He needs our help!"

"He's fine, Sakura. It'll take more than that to take him out." Naruto replied, proving his point by pointing at the battlefield.

"When do we make a break for it, Naruto?" Idate asked, anxious to get going.

"If you can sneak by with out getting caught, then I can help Sasuke. Sakura, I need you to go with Idate. Just in case." Naruto answered, getting ready to enter the battle.

"Alright. C'mon, Idate." Said Sakura, taking off toward the bridge after Idate.


-Sasuke and Aoi-

"Take it back." Said Sasuke, as he stood back up.

"Able to stand back up, eh? You should've just stayed down." Said Aoi.

"I said, taKE IT BACK!" Sasuke yelled, reactivating his 'Chidori'.

Sasuke charged with his 'Chidori' at full power. In a clash between thunder and lightning, Sasuke's jutsu was once again defeated. But not before leaving a crack in the sword's blade. Unfortunately, Sasuke was captured in the sword's current. Using this to his advantage, Aoi threw Sasuke over the side of the cliff. Once he was sure Sasuke was done for, he finally noticed two figures were running across the bridge.

"NO! It can't be!" Yelled Aoi, as he ran to cut the ropes of the bridge. Luckily for Idate, Naruto appeared blocking the path to the bridge. "Out of the way!" Aoi yelled, swinging his sword.

"Not a chance!" Yelled Naruto, blocking the sword with his 'Wind' charged trench knife.

"What?! Impossible!"

"Not when wind beats lightning, asshole!"

With that clash, Idate and Sakura managed to finish crossing the bridge. "Damn you. You'll pay for that, you bastard." Said Aoi, furious at being stopped by a worthless Leaf Chunnin.


-Few moments earlier w/ Sasuke-

Sasuke had fallen unconsious when he was caught in the Sword of the Thunder Spirit's electrical current. As he was falling towards the whirlpool at the bottom of the ravine, there was a yellow flash.

"I gotcha Sasuke." Said Naruto, as he grabbed Sasuke. Once he had him secured, Naruto removed a tagged kunai and threw it toward a decent sized ledge on the cliffside. With another yellow flash, Naruto and an unconsious Sasuke, were on the ledge. "Don't worry, Sasuke. Once the boss beats that bastard, we'll get you some help."


-Naruto and Aoi-

Naruto and Aoi had continued to clash. Aoi had tried to get past Naruto, but Naruto hadn't given up any ground.

"Alright. Even if you can block the Sword of the Thunder Spirit, I'm still a Jounin. And you're just a lousy Chunnin, who just got lucky to to even get that promotion." Said Aoi.

"Heh, really? Cuz the way I see it, that's the best trick you've got. And I got another trick up my sleeve that'll beat you and that sword, believe it!" Taunted Naruto.

"Is that so? Then try it you little bastard." Aoi replied, charging towards Naruto at full speed.

Smirking, Naruto waited till just the right time. As Aoi came swinging his sword down, he said. "Where's your big talk now, huh?!"

Quickly concentrating chakra to his left guantlet, Naruto swung his arm. The result was an arm with an dark blue hilt flying, landing on the ground 10 ft away. Aoi hardly had any time to scream in pain, because his head fell to the ground shortly after.

"Heh. Told ya. Now, time to grab that sword, Sasuke and get to the finish line." Said Naruto, as he went to grab the Sword of the Thunder Spirit.

Once Naruto place the sword in his weapons pouch, he disppeared with yellow flash.


-Sasuke-

Appearing with a yellow flash, Naruto dismissed his Shadow-Clone. "Alright. Give me a second to find out Sakura's surroundings, and we can get you some help." Naruto said, to an unconsious Sasuke.

Once Naruto found Sakura's location, and confirmed that she was somewhere no one could see her, Naruto grabbed Sasuke and once again disappeared in a yellow flash.


-On the boat-

The mission has ended in a success. Idate had caught up and passed Fukusuke, winning the race. Although, the Feudal Lord's Minister had attempted to he Idate disqualified, since he provided a photo of him being carried by Naruto. That was over ruled by the Feudal Lord, providing a photo of his own. The photo proved that the Minister had been accepting bribes by the Wagarashi family. This resulted in the Minister being forced to resign. Once the boat had arrived, Idate had a short reunion with his older brother Ibiki.

As Naruto was yelling his 'good byes', Sasuke had been thinking about his fight with that traitorous Rain ninja, Aoi Rokusho. "I wasn't able to beat him. But Naruto was!"


Well there you have it, a new chapter. I hope you liked it. Please read and REVIEW.