Mind, Magic, and Sword…wait what?
Chapter 3
Disclaimer: Kishimoto owns Naruto and the original idea for this fic comes from Christopher Scott.
The sun shined over Konoha as the three Genin of Team 7 shot through a wooded area off to the side of the village streets in hot pursuit of a dangerous and elusive target that they had been contracted to hunt down.
"I'm closing in," said Sakura as she flew through the trees, using her ESPer powers to levitate through the trees, "target is en-route."
"Copy that," came Naruto and Sasuke's voices from the communicator she was wearing.
Suddenly, the creature she was pursuing made a sharp turn away from the direction they had been guiding it towards, bolting through several trees and bushes in an attempt to escape. Frowning, Sakura activated her mic and calculated a plan.
"Naruto, the target is headed to the northeast quadrant," said Sakura, "we need you to intercept and redirect it!"
"On it!" said Naruto from his position as he dashed through the trees and grabbed the hilt of his sword, "Ittoryu: Odoru tsubame!"
Swinging his sword out, Naruto released multiple blades of wind that sliced through several trees in quick succession, causing wood to fall in the path of their target, forcing said target to stop in its tracks and sprint off in a different direction. Sheathing his sword, Naruto brought his hand up to the radio earpiece he was wearing.
"It's headed your way Sasuke."
The creature the Genin were pursuing continued to run through the trees, picking up speed, but a figure leapt down in front of it and drew a glowing rune in the air, "Somnus nebula!"
A thick fog spread out from the runes, enveloping the creature as it tried to skid to a stop, and when it tumbled out the other side, it was in a deep sleep, allowing Sasuke to approach it and pick it up.
"Ribbon on the ear confirmed," said Sasuke into the radio, "target has been apprehended."
"Congratulations," said Kakashi as the rest of his team walked up, or floated in Sakura's case, "though I do have a question: why didn't you just apprehend the target with your powers, Sakura?"
Said ESPer frowned and glanced away, a slight flush appearing on her cheeks, "…my powers aren't advanced enough to target a moving object of that size."
"I see," said Kakashi, "well, in any case, the Daimyo's wife will appreciate the return of her cat."
"Indeed," said Naruto, "the beast was surprisingly dangerous and elusive for one its size."
"There's a reason Tora is known as the Bane of all Genin and the Demon Cat," sighed Kakashi as he thought back to his Genin days when his team was assigned this mission, "well, enough reminiscing. Let's get Tora back to her owner."
xXsceneXx
Once Madame Shijimi departed with a struggling Tora clutched a bit too tightly in her embrace, the members of Team 7 met with the Hokage to discuss the success of their mission and to request their next one.
"Impressive work," said Hiruzen as he looked over the mission report, "I can say that I haven't seen a more creative method used for this mission in years. Now, as for your next mission, let's see, there's cleaning out the Inuzuka kennels, painting the local Bathhouse, pulling weeds outside the Academy…"
"With all due respect, Hokage-sama," said Sakura, "but would it be possible to request a higher-level mission? I mean, hauling lumber is good training for my abilities…"
"And it's nice to find the occasional rare root or flower when gathering medicinal herbs for the hospital," added Sasuke.
"And the joy of regaling youths with tales of legend when watching over them," put in Naruto.
"But we would like a mission that better tests our skills," finished Sakura.
"Sakura," said Kakashi, "D-Ranks serve a vital purpose for helping Genin learn to work together as Shinobi. You can't just jump into a C-Rank without adequate preparation."
"Actually, Kakashi-sensei," said Sakura, "according to the Konoha Genin Handbook, a new Genin team must perform a minimum of 42 D-Ranked missions before they are allowed to request a C-Rank from the Hokage, and since we've been averaging about three missions a day for the past three weeks, we've more than met that requirement."
"And as for our teamwork," said Sasuke, "I'd say we've proved we have that down considering our performance during your 'Survival Test.'"
Kakashi's visible eye twitched at the reminder causing the Sandaime to chuckle. He had gotten that report and said Jonin was notably rattled when discussing their progress and had requested to forgo training for one day so he could observe them. The subsequent report for that was made even more amusing due to the legendary Copy-nin being quite hungover when he submitted it.
"As it so happens," said Hiruzen as he looked through the files on his desk, "there was a C-Rank just submitted this morning that should be perfect for you."
The Hokage handed a file to Kakashi and the Copy-nin nodded as he read through it, "An escort mission to Nami no Kuni guarding a bridge builder from bandits. Yes, I believe this would be a good way for my students to get their feet wet and get some experience outside of the village."
"Excellent," said Hiruzen, "I shall inform the client of your acceptance."
"Well then," said Kakashi as he turned to his students, "head home and gather your things. We'll be setting out once I speak with our client. Be prepared to camp out, as we won't be returning for several days."
The three Genin of Team 7 nodded and quickly departed, causing Hiruzen to chuckle, "Well, this should prove to be quite the experience."
"For me or for them?" asked Kakashi flatly.
"Yes," answered the Hokage simply, causing that blasted twitch to return to Kakashi's eye.
xXsceneXx
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were pleasantly surprised when they only had to wait ten minutes before Kakashi arrived at the village gate, a grouchy looking older man following behind him with a sake jug in his hand.
"You're not late," observed Sasuke with a raised eyebrow.
"No," said Kakashi, "no I'm not. Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to Tazuna, our client. He's a bridge builder from Nami no Kuni that we'll be escorting back home, and along the way, we'll be tasked with protecting him from the occasional bandit attack."
"Are you sure these three kids will be enough?" grunted Tazuna, "They don't look like much."
"Trust me," said Kakashi, "underestimating them will be the last mistake any bandits ever make. Believe me, I know from experience."
"Really?" said Tazuna disbelievingly, "These three kids took you down?"
Kakashi's eye started twitching again, "…I'd rather not talk about it."
"In any case, sir," said Naruto respectfully, "I'm sure you'll find that we're more than capable of any bandits that choose to cross our path."
"After all," said Sakura as he looked at him carefully, "bandits and such aren't much to be worried about."
"Right," said Tazuna, "let's get going then. The sooner we leave, the sooner I can get back to work."
Kakashi nodded and the members of Team 7 headed out through the Konoha gates with Tazuna alongside them, though the bridge builder had to do a double take when he saw Sakura choose to levitate alongside them instead of walk, and upon confirming what he was seeing, he glanced down at his sake flask before shrugging and ignoring the anomaly.
The group continued on for several hours, keeping an eye out for any surprise attacks from bandits. And thanks to that, they noticed an irregularity on their path: a large puddle in the middle of the road when it hadn't rained in days.
Sakura's eyes glowed brighter for a moment before glancing at her teammates, getting a nod from Sasuke and Naruto and a quizzical look from Kakashi, and the group continued on, with Tazuna none the wiser. As they walked away from the irregular puddle, two male figures wearing rebreathers and hitai-ate that bore the symbol of Kirigakure and had false horns attached to them rose out of the puddle and brandished clawed gauntlets that each wore on one arm.
Moving quickly, one of the two launched his partner over the group, landing in front as they extended a chain of shuriken blades that linked their two gauntlets together, wrapping them around Kakashi before the Jonin could react and, with a quick motion, slicing him to bits with the bladed links.
"Heh," chuckled one of the two, who had a single horn attached to his forehead protector, "now for the kids."
"Not likely," said Sakura as her eyes glowed bright, causing the ground underneath the feet of the Kiri-nin to erupt upward, knocking them off their feet, "Naruto, protect Tazuna. Sasuke, with me."
Naruto quickly moved to guard Tazuna, drawing his sword as he did, so, while Sasuke drew some quick runes in the air as the two Kiri-nin rushed at him, "Fulmen iecit!"
A bolt of lightning shot from the runes, striking the chain that linked the gauntlets and was conducted along the metal, electrocuting both men, forcing them to disconnect the chain from their gauntlets. Cursing, one of the two Shinobi leapt at Sasuke, aiming to tear him apart with his claws, but a rather large piece of earth slammed into him and redirected his flight path into and through the trunk of a tree. Shaking the stars out of his vision, he looked up and saw Sakura floating there with stones and torn up pieces of earth orbiting around her as she glowed with a pink aura.
He was about to pull himself to his feet, when Sasuke pulled a vial out of his pocket and threw it at him.
"Hostem aeterna glacie coercet" yelled Sasuke, causing the vial to shatter, splashing the Kiri-nin with the contents, said contents promptly freezing, the ice expanding to cover the Shinobi's body, leaving only his face exposed.
"Damn you!" yelled the other Shinobi, "What did you do to my brother?"
Before he could act though, the chain they had disconnected from their gauntlets flew at him, glowing with a pink aura, wrapping itself around the Kiri-nin as it dragged him over to a tree and bound him to the trunk, the blades from the chain digging deep into the wood to do so.
"You should pay more attention to your enemies," said Sakura.
"You three," stammered Tazuna, "you're Genin?!"
"Indeed," said Naruto as he lowered his blade, seeing that the threat had been dealt with, "while we are skilled in our fields, we are merely students. Isn't that right, Kakashi-sensei?"
"I probably should be surprised that you detected me so easily," said Kakashi as he stepped out from behind a tree, "but after being your sensei for the past few weeks, I'm not sure anything surprises me anymore."
"I don't understand," said Tazuna, "they ripped you apart! I saw it happen."
"Genjutsu," explained Sakura, "the art of illusion and misdirection."
"That and a quick application of the Kawarimi," said Sasuke.
"Indeed," said Kakashi, "but what concerns me the most is the identity of our two attackers here. The Demon Brothers: Gōzu and Meizu, missing-nin from Kiri that defected after a failed attempt on the Mizukage's life. Most certainly not the level of opponents expected on a C-Rank escort mission."
Kakashi slowly turned to face the bridge builder with an even look, but Tazuna couldn't help but sweat at what he felt emanating from the Jonin.
"Tazuna-san," said Kakashi with a deceptive calm as he looked their client in the eyes, "I believe you have some explaining to do, and until we get the truth, all of it, this mission is on hold. Now talk."