Hokage Tower- A Month Later
Team Seven laughed goodheartedly as they walked towards the Hokage's office. The three Genin had just finished another mission and, as promised by Kakashi after completing their Fiftieth mission (or chore as Kiba and Naruto liked to call them), they were to request a C-ranked mission. Kakashi honestly thought they deserved it. After that little prank they pulled on one of their clients a month ago and each had been punished, they have behaved accordingly. Kakashi knew they were ready for a C-rank.
The team stopped in front of the Hokage's office and before Kakashi could knock on the door, it flew open and the Daimyo's wife walked out with the cat from Hell named Tora. Naruto and Kiba snickered when they saw the cat being hugged to death; enjoying every bit of it being tortured because of the trouble that cat gave them two weeks ago. Team Seven turned to walk into the office after the Hokage called them in. However, once Team Seven was inside and had observed the occupants of the room, killer instinct began pouring off a certain blonde Jinchuuriki.
"Uchiha," Naruto growled, glaring over at Team Eight; more specifically at Sasuke. Sakura felt the tension in the room rise and immediately knew it was Kyuubi's KI. She stepped as far away from Naruto as possible without it being too obvious. However, Kiba, the Hokage and Kakashi noticed this.
Kiba misread it and cursed inwardly. 'Calm down, Naruto. You're scaring Sakura.'
Kakashi, however, did understand her actions, as did the Hokage. So, before anything else could happen, the Hokage brought Naruto's attention to him. "Naruto, I'm guessing you and your team are here to turn in your report. How did the mission go?"
Naruto clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth and turned his attention towards his conversation with Sarutobi, however, never took his eyes off the glaring Uchiha. "Missions? More like chores, Hokage-jiji. It's time you give us a real mission, though. Kakashi-sensei promised us a C-rank after we completed our first fifty D-ranks." At the end, Naruto finally turned to the Hokage completely, crossing his arms over his chest and pouting slightly.
Hiruzen turned to Kakashi in question, who chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head. The Hokage smiled at this. "Very well. Team Seven, here's your first C-rank-"
"Wait, what?" Sasuke interrupted the Hokage while glaring at Naruto. "This idiot gets a C-rank with his loser-of-a-team but you decline us when we ask for it?" Sasuke glared back at the Hokage, clenching his fists.
Sarutobi looked from him to Kurenai. "Yuuhi, how is your team coming along?"
Kurenai stopped herself from heaving a sigh before speaking. "Their Ninjutsu, Taijutsu and Genjutsu are excellent." At this, Sasuke smirked smugly at Team Seven, who by this time all three Genin were giving him dirty looks. Kurenai frowned at the show her student was making before continuing. "However, teamwork and communication is very much extinct." Sasuke rolled his eyes at this, thinking those two aspects aren't important. Sarutobi nodded then turned to Kakashi, asking the same question he asked Kurenai.
"Team Seven's Ninjutsu is coming along nicely. Kiba and Naruto seem to have a knack for Taijutsu while Sakura seems to be the only one with a natural affinity for Genjutsu. We are, however, working on those weaknesses as we speak. The teamwork in Team Seven is absolutely perfect, and the four get along just fine, both in and out of the battlefield." Kakashi informed, winking down at his team when they grinned up at him at the compliments.
Hiruzen hummed then turned to Kurenai. "Do you think your Genin are ready for a C-rank?"
Kurenai did heave a sigh this time. "As ready as they'll ever be, Hokage-sama."
"Very well. Kakashi?"
"Yes, sir."
"I see. Team Seven and Eight, here are your first C-rank missions. Bring both clients in." This last part was directed to the door, which opened at once. Two people came in. One was an old man with a sake bottle in his hands and a pink hue across his cheeks. The other was a figure in a white cloak and a white porcelain mask. Before the Hokage could speak again, however, the old drunk spoke.
"What? This is the protection I get? A bunch of kids? And what's up with the shorter one's stupid face?" The man hollered, taking a swig from his bottle then glaring at Team Seven. Kiba and Sakura looked towards Naruto, who was in between the two of them. Once Naruto realized he was the shorter one by barely two inches, he turned to the man and growled, saying he'll gladly make a sake-covered sushi roll out of him. Kakashi looked pointedly at Sakura, who sighed and pulled the back of Naruto's hair towards her. She threatened that if he didn't shut up, she'd give him the same duck-butt hairstyle Sasuke had. Despite the pain he was in, the blonde laughed at her choice of words.
"As I was saying," Hiruzen started again, watching as Kiba smiled smugly at Sasuke because of the comment his smirking female teammate made while Akamaru barked and how Naruto wasn't capable of holding his laughter back. The Uchiha was glaring at all of them, especially at Naruto and Sakura. "Team Eight, your assignment is to guard your client Tazuna until Nami no Kuni. You must be at the Front Gate tomorrow morning to take off." When Kurenai nodded in understanding, he continued. "Good luck. You're dismissed." Hiruzen handed Kurenai a scroll containing details of the mission and Team Eight along with the drunken man now known as Tazuna left the office.
Sarutobi sighed and rubbed his temples, watching as Team Seven regained their composure now that Uchiha Sasuke (and ultimately Hyuga Hinata, seeing as Sakura had kept glancing at the other kunoichi uncertainly) was gone. "Very well. Team Seven, you are to escort your client," He signaled over to the masked person, "to an outpost town close to the Hi no Kuni/Yu no Kuni border. You are to leave in an hour. I expect you back no later than two days from now. Understood?" When all the Genin and one Jonin nodded, he smiled at them. "Alright. Good luck, kids. I expect you won't have any problems on the road." He gave a quick glance towards the masked person before dismissing the team.
Once outside of the office, Kakashi dismissed his students to go pack up and disappeared. Kiba turned to his teammates. "Who do you think that was?" the brunette asked, referring to the masked person.
Naruto shrugged and turned to face his team as they walked, resulting in him walking backwards with his hands behind his head. "Dunno. He looked like an Anbu, though."
Sakura frowned. "Anbu usually wear masks with animal prints on them. His was blank. And if he was an Anbu, he wouldn't need an escort."
"Why does he need an escort, though? I didn't see anything particular about him." Kiba muttered, looking up at the ceiling with a thoughtful pout. The two Jinchuuriki hummed in agreement. After a moment, the brunette shrugged. "Kakashi-sensei must know, so it won't be a big deal. Anyway, I'm heading home. See you guys in an hour." Kiba waved goodbye as soon as they reached the entrance to the Tower. Akamaru barked at the two now still ninja in a farewell as his partner walked away.
Naruto turned to his remaining teammate. "Is Yugao-nee at your house?" He received a shake of head and continued, "Wanna get our stuff together, then?" Sakura blinked a few times before smiling and nodding.
An Outpost Town Close to the Hi no Kuni/Yu no Kuni Border- Next Day
Kakashi bade farewell to their client then turned to his team of Genin. "Alright. Why don't you guys go get dinner while I look for a place to stay at tonight? We've been walking all day non-stop. You must be tired."
"Not really. Just bored." Kiba commented, waving off Kakashi's last words. Rolling his only visible eye upwards, the Jonin started walking away. Turning to each other, the Genin decided to get some sushi down the street. While walking towards the restaurant, though, they walked by a quarrel.
A burly man was standing over a woman, glaring down at her. His fists clenched at his sides, he seemed to be yelling at her. There weren't many people standing around looking. In fact, most just walked by without even sparing a glance, as if it was an everyday occurrence.
"What's his problem?" Kiba muttered when the three stopped in front of the quarrel. The other two frowned but didn't move.
"Maybe she stole or something." Naruto threw in a guess. Sakura shrugged but she didn't seem to have any intention in leaving. Naruto quickly ate his words, though, when he saw the man's fist twitch and start rising. Eyes widening, the blonde Jinchuuriki took off and grabbed the man's fist just as it was about to hit the woman on the ground. Kiba ran over and jumped onto the man's back, holding him in a headlock until the man fell to his knees. Sakura helped the woman stand up, unaware of the woman's blue eyes on her.
Naruto held back the man's arms and feet while Kiba sat on his back and held his hair back to reveal his face. "What do you think you were doing, huh?! Hitting a woman?! A man shouldn't do that!" Kiba barked in his face.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!" the man cried out as Naruto held his arms even tighter. Kiba's nose twitched at the scent of alcohol on the man's breath.
'This asshole's drunk?! That's it!' Just as Kiba was about to bring his fist down on the man's head, a broken sob was heard. This made him halt his actions and look up to the woman.
The woman was staring at Sakura with tears running down her cheeks while Sakura looked at her, confused. "Uh, are you-"
"H-Hikari…?"
Sakura blinked at the same, glanced at her teammates then back at the woman. "I'm sorry. That's not-"
The woman's face lit up and she threw herself at Sakura, wrapping her in a hug. "It is you, Hikari!"
The three members of Team Seven looked at each other, confused
'What?'
(A/N: If I write 'I'm sorry' a hundred times, will you guys forgive me?...No, I didn't think so. Even so, I'm extremely sorry! I have my reason as to why I've been absent (in the Naruto fandom, at least) for a while. They're in my profile if you wanna check it out. Anyway, this seems fast paced and lacks a lot of things, I know. I really didn't like how it came out but I've rewritten this multiple times and this is the best I could come up with to change into a new chapter in their lives. Anyhow, if people are still reading this, please review and I'm sorry if I took so long to update, only to have a small chapter. See you next time,
7th Creature)