Thanks to everybody who has reviewed and (finally) voted on my polls. The results will be showing up in the next few chapters. It means a lot when you guys give me good reviews. It gives me that much more motivation to write up the next chapter.

Now, I know you guys are all thinking "When is Sakura going to come into this story?" I did not put NaruSaku on the description of the storyand there is a reason why. I wanted to give the story some action, not just romance. However, I'm not going to make it so easy for them to get together. THIS IS MY STORY! You want to write your own cheesy NaruSaku stories, then by all means go for it. Just don't criticize me for not putting in Sakura in the first 3 chapters (and yes I'm talking to you "thedarkpokemaster"). I WILL NOT be rewriting the whole story just because I DIDN'T PUT SAKURA IN THE BEGINNING! I promise, there is a reason why Naruto is not initially paired up with Team 7. It's coming, just practice a little patience, will ya?

ebo372: read above…it's coming soon

Showtime09: Thank you! You have no idea how much your support means to me…gives me more motivation to write up the chapters quicker

juniorreal: You do realize that this is a NaruSaku story eventually, right?

Enough with my rant…let's continue shall we?

(1 week later)

Kakashi treated the whole team to Ichiraku Ramen after being defeated by his team of genin. Well, Naruto was the complete opposite of genin, considering how he just defeated a jounin at his own test. Nevertheless, he did have some help from his teammates, which never hurts.

However, this whole week has been full of 5+ D-rank missions every day and training on top of that. Least to say, Naruto was bored and tired at the same time, which he has never felt until now. Needless to say, their teamwork has improved drastically, but this didn't make things better. Mitsuo still yells annoyingly whenever he gets another D-rank, which Naruto agrees with silently, and Narumi still whacks him and Mitsuo for no apparent reason. 'Ugh, life as a genin sucks…'

After the umpteenth D-rank mission, Team 7 reported to the Hokage's office once again.

"Hokage-sama, Team 7 would like another D-rank…" Kakashi started before he was interrupted.

"NO! Kakashi-sensei, there's seriously got to be a more exciting and meaningful mission than just D-ranks. Honestly, we beat you on your own test." Mistuo complained, earning him a smack from Narumi.

"Be respectful to sensei and Hokage-sama, Mitsuo!" Narumi said, although that didn't mean she didn't secretly agree with Mitsuo.

"But, Mitsuo has a point, sensei and Tou-san" Naruto said. "The Chunnin exams are coming up and we need the experience from a C-rank mission or higher."

'As expected from my son to pick up on that…' Minato thought.

"Fine. There's a C-rank mission from a man who resides in the Country of the Wave. Here's the mission details. You all leave in 3 days." Minato explained.

"Alright! Naruto, you're dad's the best!" Mitsuo exclaimed as they left the office.

"Yeah, I know…" Naruto agreed. "Just needs a little influence, right?" He turned to wink at his father before leaving with his team, leaving Kakashi and Minato by themselves.

"You sure about sending Naruto out on a C-rank?" Kakashi asked.

"It's better than having him complain to me about it. Also, he's capable of handling B-rank by himself. It's just that I'm not ready to send him out to do that just yet." Minato explained.

With that, Kakashi bowed slightly and flashed away like an ANBU.

(3 days later) (AN: I know…I'm fast forwarding too much, but hey: the quicker I go, the faster I get to NaruSaku J)

"Naruto, you better wake up if you want to get ready in time for your first C-rank." Kushina told her son.

"Wow, this is a first…you're not yelling at me to get my ass out of bed" Naruto replied as he slowly woke up.

"It's 7:00. Unless you don't get up, then I will …" Kushina threatened.

With that, Naruto shot up out of bed. "Alright, alright…I'm up"

Naruto was getting ready into his "battle" attire, which consisted of his black ANBU pants, but his also added his chainmail armor underneath his brand new black jacket.

Meanwhile, Kushina was in the kitchen cooking breakfast with Minato reading the paper.

"Oh, Minato…what if he gets hurt? What if there are thugs that are A-rank or higher?" Kushina worried out loud.

"Calm down, Kushina. It's just an escort mission. Besides, the Country of the Wave doesn't have any shinobi force. I'm not sending out my 8-year old son out to die on a C-rank" Minato tried to calm his wife.

"But still, the Country of the Wave is asking for an escort mission. If it doesn't have ninja, why on earth are they asking for a mission from Konoha of all places?"

"Now, I'm sure that Naruto will be just fine…Besides, I didn't pick Kakashi to be his teacher for nothing."

"*sigh*…fine"

With that, Naruto flashed into the kitchen, quickly grabbed his breakfast, and flashed out the door.

"NARUTO, GET YOUR ASS BACK IN HERE!"

Upon arriving, Naruto saw he was the second one there with Kakashi being the first, which was a rare occurrence.

"Sensei, you're actually on time?"

"Well, when there's a mission, I feel that it's wrong to be late."

Both Narumi and Mitsuo both shared the same reaction that Naruto just had when they arrived together.

"So…what's up lovebirds?" Naruto asked, noticing that they were hands were touching. With that, both of them blushed and quickly removed their hands from the other.

After the team met together, they turned around and saw a white haired, drunk old man walking up to them. He wore an outdated looking hat with gray shirt and brown pants.

"Hey, my name is Tazuna. Wait, what? ...I thought I paid for a C-rank mission with chunnin to escort me back, not some chump genin" He replied drunkenly.

Kakashi butted in before Mitsuo yelled at him. "Hello to you too. I'm the team leader here, Hatake Kakashi. Don't worry, the shinobi here can fulfill your mission to its extent, and I will make sure of that."

"Tsk, you better hope so" Tazuma remarked. He was shocked, however, to see one of the ninja on the team that resembled the Yondaime surprisingly well. "Aren't you the Hokage's son?"

"Yeah, you got a problem with that?" Naruto asked.

"No…just the opposite" Tazuna replied.

With that, the 5 of them headed out on their way.

As the group reached a small clearing along the way, only Naruto and Kakashi were able to spot a small puddle on the side of the road. 'Weird, there hasn't been any rain here in a while' Naruto thought.

Suddenly the group heard the rubbing of chains, making their way to wrapping around Kakashi, effectively destroying his body into rubble. Narumi screamed and Mitsuo went back to protect Tazuna because he could barely move.

"One down, three more pipsqueaks left to go" said one of the men.

However, Naruto went right to work, flashing right in front of the first guy.

Rasengan

As he smashed the first guy with the jutsu, he started a taijutsu battle with the other. Despite his small size, Naruto his used incredible speed thanks to the use of shunshin no jutsu and his large level of chakra to overwhelm the mysterious attacker.

Although he was poised to finish him off, he saw Kakashi catch the guy in a headlock before snapping his neck, effectively killing him off.

"Heh, show-off" Naruto commented.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Narumi shouted in relief.

"What!?" Mitsuo was stunned to say the least, until he turned around to see where Kakashi's body was. It was actually a replacement

"Sorry for not helping you earlier, Naruto. But, I figured you had it taken care of." Kakashi said. Naruto scoffed. "You two, we'll work later on freezing up like that."

'Wow, I was saved by these genin' Tazuna thought as he gained a new appreciation for the shinobi.

(Later on in the forest)

As the group continued on, Kakashi talked with Tazuna separately while Naruto listened in.

"Tazuna, why are chunnin level ninja wanting to kill you?" Kakashi asked.

"Ok, it's not as it seems. To be honest, the Country of the Wave right now is really poor. This man, Gato, came over and completely took over the place like it was his own. He hired mercenaries and ninjas to ransack the place, in addition to cutting off our trade routes, while he makes a profit. The bridge I'm building right now would eliminate our dependency on those trade routes and put our economy back on its feet. However, this would mean that Gato couldn't keep control over the town and his profits would plummet, thus the reason why he hired ninja to kill us, especially me the head carpenter" Tazuna explained. "That's the reason why I could only afford to pay for a C-rank mission, hoping that your chunnins could help get rid of them instead of some genin."

Naruto scoffed silently.

"However, it turns out that your team here has none other than the Yellow Flash's son, so I feel a little guilty about my first impressions." Tazuna said.

'Yeah, you better' Naruto thought.

"Well, we're glad nobody has gotten hurt" Kakashi remarked. Tazuna agreed, nodding his head. He has slowly moved on from his previously drunken state as the trip progressed.

However, as they said that, they felt the presence of an enemy closely nearby.

"Naruto…" Kakashi nudged.

"Yeah, I know" Naruto added.

All of a sudden, a sword that was aimed right at their heads was quickly approaching from behind them.

"Everyone, duck" Kakashi warned as he pulled Tazuna down with him. Everyone followed suit, as the sword zoomed pass them and hit a nearby tree. Then, they saw a mysterious ninja with bandages over his face from his nose down to his neck appeared on top of the sword.

The mysterious ninja began to chuckle. "My my, if isn't Konoha dogs that get to be my victims this time."

"He's…" Kakashi started.

"…Momochi Zabuza, the nukenin from the Hidden Village of the Mist" Naruto finished.

"Hn, sounds like you did your homework there little brat. Too bad that information won't help you" Zabuza mocked.

"Everybody, stand back and protect Tazuna. Naruto, you be my backup." Kakashi ordered as he lifted up his headband to reveal his Sharingan.

"Roger that" the team responded as they went into a defensive position around Tazuna.

"I'm guessing you're Hatake Kakashi of the Sharingan, aka the copy ninja, and it looks like the Yellow Flash's son, Namikaze Naruto…I'm going to have fun with this fight" Zabuza commented. "However, if you just hand over that old man then a fight can be avoided."

"Sorry, but our mission is to protect him" Kakashi reasoned.

"Hn, suit yourself. I just need to kill that man, but first I'll kill you, Kakashi" Zabuza said as he removed his sword from the tree and dashed over to the river nearby.

Ninpou: Kirigakure no Jutsu

Soon, the whole forest was covered by a thick layer of mist and visibility was narrow.

"The mist is so dense. I can barely see a thing" Narumi said nervously.

"Let me clear this up a little" Naruto said.

Fuuton: Toppū

With that, a wind gust cleared up most of the fog, revealing Zabuza right behind them ready to strike. However, Kakashi got there just in time, impaling Zabuza with his kunai.

"I won't let you lay a finger on my students" Kakashi said to Zabuza.

"Hn, what about yourself?" The Zabuza water clone right next to Kakashi dispelled and the real Zabuza was standing right behind him, slicing Kakashi apart. However, that also turned out to be a water clone just like Zabuza's and the real Kakashi stood right behind Zabuza while holding his kunai right at his neck.

"Don't move" Kakashi threatened.

'How did he copy my jutsu in the mist?!' Zabuza thought.

"This is the end…" Kakashi said menacingly.

"W-wow" Mitsuo said shockingly.

'Show-off…He didn't even thank me for clearing up the mist' Naruto thought.

Suddenly, Zabuza started laughing. "Is this actually the end?" he questioned.

Turns out that the person Kakashi was holding up was another water clone, with the real Zabuza right behind him. He swung at Kakashi at full power, but Kakashi was able to dodge. Using his sword, Zabuza was able to stop his motion and send a roundhouse kick right at Kakashi, which connected and sent him flying into the river. He crashed onto the surface where Zabuza was waiting for him.

Suiton: Suirō no Jutsu

Kakashi was then trapped in a bubble of water filled with chakra, effectively trapping him.

Suiton: Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu

With that, another Zabuza water clone appeared.

"I guess it's my turn now…" Naruto said. "Narumi, Mistuo, protect Tazuna. I got this. I must warn you in advance though, I won't hold back like Kakashi did."

"Don't get too cocky there, kid" Zabuza mocked.

Instead of giving a snarky reply, Naruto flashed right in front of the Zabuza clone with a Rasengan aimed right at his stomach.

"Keep up with my speed first…" Naruto backfired.

After dispelling the clone, Naruto went right to work freeing Kakashi from the water prison.

Kage Shuriken no Jutsu

The kunai aimed right at him turned into 100 kunai, causing Zabuza to dispel the jutsu in order to dodge the attack. However, he did manage to get hit even after releasing the jutsu. With Kakashi now free, the two cornered him until his back was against a tree.

But before they could get closer, two senbon impaled his neck, effectively stopping his heart rate. In a moment, a hunter ninja appeared in front of the body.

Kakashi examined the body closer, looking for a pulse. He didn't find any. "He really is dead." He looked up as the rest of the team saw the hunter-nin bow.

"Thank you very much. I was looking for the chance to kill Zabuza" the hunter-nin replied. He hauled Zabuza over his shoulder. "Your battle ends for here now. I must now dispose of this corpse. It's a body filled with secrets. Now, if you'll excuse me…" And with that he disappeared using an ANBU transportation jutsu.

However, this did not sit well with Team 7, especially Mitsuo who wanted to be the ones to finish him off. For Naruto and Kakashi, they noticed that the hunter-nin did not follow standard procedure because he didn't take out the senbon before disposing of the body.

"Kakashi-sensei, I think that hunter-nin is Zabuza's ally" Naruto said plainly.

"WHAT?! You mean all that work was for nothing?!" Mitsuo raged.

"What are you talking about? You didn't do anything" Naruto questioned Mitsuo.

"All right, that's enough. But Naruto, I think you're right" Kakashi said. "He's taking Zabuza away in order to save him. We should get going though…"

And with that, Tazuna and Team 7 headed towards the Country of the Waves with some work to be done before they face off once again.

So…how was that? Make sure to review…please don't review negatively just because there is a lack of NaruSaku.

Please vote on my polls!

Jutsu translation:

Rasengan - Spiraling Sphere

Ninpou: Kirigakure no Jutsu - Ninja art: Hidden Mist jutsu

Fuuton: Toppū - Wind style: Wind Gust

Suiton: Suirō no Jutsu - Water style: Water Imprisonment jutsu

Suiton: Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu – Water style: Water Clone jutsu

Kage Shuriken no Jutsu – Shadow Shuriken jutsu