Disclaimer: I don't have a job, yet! I technically don't even own my car!
"This is Squad Leader; status report, over."
"This is Hawk. I'm in position A."
"Moon is in position B, over. Target is in sight."
"Shadow in position C. I can see the target, too."
"Okay, remember the plan: Shadow and Moon drive the target out straight to Hawk, who will intercept and capture. Understood?"
"Sir!" Naruto replied alongside his teammates.
"On my mark…" The blonde tensed his legs at Kakashi's words. "… Mark!"
The blond shot out, Hinata some feet away from him. Both caught the attention of the target, who shrieked and turned, making its escape.
Said escape was swiftly cut off as Sasuke snatched it out of midair. The cage clicked shut.
"Target captured, over."
"Can you confirm the identity?"
"Ribbon on the right ear is present, sensei…" Hinata sighed out.
The Jonin dropped down behind his team. "Then mission: 'Retrieve Lost Pet' is complete. Good work, kids." He gave off an eye smile.
"Oh, my precious Tora! Mommy missed you so much when you ran away!"
The three pre-teens watched as the Fire Daimyo's wife left the Hokage's office, the small cat in her arms in a death grip. Sasuke's face was impassive, and Hinata's had a small measure of pity and understanding for Tora.
Naruto? Well…
"I hope the cat's head pops open from all the blood being squeezed into it."
The heiress looked over to her friend in slight shock. "N-Naruto, that's not nice!"
"Neither is scratching my face so much I'm surprised I haven't bled to death yet!" he countered as tears ran down his cheeks comically.
"…What?"
Naruto grinned at his male teammate like he had won a lottery. "I have really good healing."
The three kids turned to look at the Hokage when he cleared his throat. "Calm down, kids. Now, since it's just after lunch, I can safely assume you'll be able to handle another mission?" The elder looked at Kakashi, who nodded. "There is a mission for babysitting, weeding—"
"TORA!"
"— and retrieving Madame Shijimi's cat," Hiruzen finished without missing a beat.
"No, no, no, no, NO!" Naruto made an X formation with his arms. "I'm sick'a these chores, Old Man! Ain't there a cooler mission for us?! Like, like… Guardin' a princess!"
Whap.
"Naruto, are you stupid!?" Iruka shouted, moving back to behind the Hokage. "You three are fresh Genin barely two months out of the Academy!" His face set itself into what Naruto called 'Lecture mode'. "D-Rank missions are handed out to new teams like yourselves for a reason: to build your teamwork—"
"I know, I know!" Naruto grinned and pulled Hinata and Sasuke in by the shoulders, making them look ready to either faint, or rip his arm off, respectively. "But me an' Hinata an' Sasuke are, like, the next Sannin, y'know! We can handle something more challenging than chores!"
"Hm…" The Hokage looked to the Jonin. "Kakashi, do you think they're ready for a C-Rank mission?" he asked, ignoring Iruka's shocked look and Naruto turning to his teacher to beg.
"Oh, me?" The silver-haired man looked at the blond, who had proven himself a master of the Puppy Eyes Jutsu. Hinata and Sasuke were also looking at him with some hope for a 'yes'. The cyclops shrugged in deference. "Eh, why not?"
"AWESOME!" Naruto attached himself to Kakashi's leg. "You're the best, Kaka-sensei!" He then let go to turn to Hiruzen with a wide grin. "So, so, what's the mission, Gramps?! Guardin' a princess, or spyin' on the enemy?!"
"You don't get the mission until you stop trying to rip my desk, Naruto," the old man replied with his own amused grin, causing the blond to chuckle sheepishly and fall back in line next to his teammates. "Now, I have a mission for you three that involves excavating ruins and bringing what you can back here." He pulled a scroll from a small pile and handed it to Kakashi. "You'll be within the ruins for the Hidden Whirlpool Village; I'm confident you three should do fine."
The Jonin stopped his reading and glanced at the Hokage, then to Naruto, who was excitedly talking with (well, to) Hinata about how their team was the best.
"When do we leave?" Sasuke turned to their instructor, who gazed back lazily.
"We can leave tomorrow; say…8 o'clock in the morning?"
"So, 10, then?"
Hiruzen looked amused and Hinata giggled. "Naruto, I'm hurt; do you have such little confidence in my punctuality?"
"Yes." Both Uzumaki and Uchiha shot down Kakashi without remorse. Hinata covered her mouth to keep from laughing further. The Jonin himself eye-smiled. "Show up at 9, then, at least."
Naruto shot a thumbs up and the Hokage cleared his throat, bringing all eyes to him. "You have your mission, kids; go get ready."
"Sur thing, Gramps!" Naruto pulled Hinata from the office. "C'mon, Hinata; let's go get some ramen to celebrate! You, too, ya jerk!" The poor girl stammered out a good-bye to the adults as she was dragged out, Sasuke sighing and following the pair.
Kakashi dropped the light face and turned to Sarutobi, who looked just as serious. "I assume it's going to be a bit more extreme than just simple excavation."
The elder nodded. "Plenty of traps are still active, only passable by those with Uzumaki blood." The man sighed. "I expect Naruto will want to know why he can disable them when you, Sasuke, or Hinata cannot. I'm also expecting him to return demanding information on his clan."
The silver-haired man sighed himself. "Got it." He waved to Hiruzen and Iruka, before vanishing in smoke. Once it dissipated, the latter turned to the former.
"What clan?"
Sarutobi sighed a second time. "Iruka, take a seat; I will tell you all I know of the night of Naruto's birth..."
…I have no excuses other than job searching is fucking hell. It's cutting into this, and the wrestling classes I'm in. It's frying my brain.
Review, fave, follow, flame my poor sense of scheduling. I'll leave those for everyone to see. Flames against the story will still get nuked.
Gǎnxiè nín de yuèdú!