Author Note

Hi there…indeed it has been a while, huh.

I'm terribly sorry for not updating this story in a while. I can come up with plenty of excuses here, but I won't bother. Those who became writer will understand that sometimes the creativity and drive just isn't there. As such, I managed to complete six Naruto stories and have four in progress stories. Since I wanted to pick one to update, I had placed a poll for the readers to choose amongst my three favorites and this one was victorious by a great margin, close to 75% of the readers voted in favor of this one. So, I appreciate the help and patience of my readers.

With that said, let us continue when we left off, the beginning of the Wave mission where both Team Kakashi and Team Asuma were assigned for the job.

That being said, a few changes will occur to the mission of course to make it more exciting. Of course, the opposition will be much fiercer than simply Zabuza, Haku and the Demon Brothers.

Who else, though, it will be revealed later on. Also, I have decided on a change of Naruto's pairing for this story. For those who saw the previous Author Notes, I was aiming first towards a female Haku, but I had changed my mind. I'm still in internal debate, but I have four different women to choose from (and no, I won't do a harem). Those who read my stories know that I'm into older woman pairings, so all four of them are older. Two from Konoha and two from other villages. I have already envisioned a story for all four of them, but I'm still in debate. For those who remember (or those who read the chapters recently, sorry) Hinata no longer viewed him the same way.

So, she will be his teammate and that's it.

Of course, any of the pairing will not happen until later on, so for now, that's irrelevant.

Also, I don't simply plan to make them meet and start a relationship out of the blue.

The chapters will be gearing towards his future meeting with his pairing. I plan on deciding soon, though.

Now on with the chapter and I hope it is to everyone's liking.


Nidaime no Sairin

Chapter 7 – Wave Mission Part I


After Naruto was dismissed by Asuma, he went straight home to read more of the scroll containing wind manipulation. The boy at first assumed that the material wouldn't help him much, considering that he had already performed the two exercises necessary to use wind ninjutsu. He had already sliced a leaf and the waterfall. However, he later realized that Asuma-sensei did know his stuff about the craft. The scroll contained a more practical approach to the use of wind ninjutsu, of course, detailing the two exercises, but also what the shinobi must envision in his mind to further increase its potential. The thought of picturing two blades grinding with each other, until both edges were as thin as possible was brilliant.

Immediately grabbing his sword, Naruto focused on his wind chakra through the metal, before seeing the blade humming with transparent blue energy.

As soon as Naruto incorporated on Asuma's tips, though, he could see the wind energy accelerate around the steel and even the humming noise increased. Naruto would simply keep on with it until he was comfortable with the feel.

As he closed his eyes, Naruto meditated on the feel of his chakra right now. It was imperative according to Tobirama-sensei that Naruto would use the exact amount of chakra needed for each technique. Of course, the theory of chakra was pretty much hammered inside his brain, but the Nidaime did say that the possibility of him running out of chakra was quite slim. Still, he carried on with the skill as he pictured wind-razor sharp chakra passing through his developing tenketsu. Once he had found the necessary amount, Naruto stopped the flow of chakra as he placed his sword back in the scabbard. The scroll had also indicated a rather exciting exercise.

So far, Naruto had known only a technique that either accelerated projectiles (Repusshou) and one that sent a gust of wind to the opponent (Daitoppa).

But he knew from the Nidaime's scroll that wind techniques also had cutting and slicing characteristics.

Asuma's scroll explained how to use this specific ability. To slice objects using only your chakra. By using both hands, Naruto would have to position his hands in both sides of the object and focus wind chakra in the middle. Quite like the leaf cutting exercise, but much more concentrated and precise. It is certainly detrimental to learn this before attempting one of the techniques. Taking a look off the scroll for now, Naruto looked outside the window of his apartment and realized that it was already night time. He was now debating between going out for a late dinner or heat up something inside and go to sleep early. Of course, he had a mission tomorrow morning, so going out was ill-advised. So, Naruto opted to heat up some premade food he received from Kosuke-ochan and went to sleep soon afterward.

Of course, it was no ramen, but the kind old man's cooking was considered a blessing for a young man growing up with little to no skill in the kitchen.


===Barbeque Place===

Inside the Barbeque Place, the three jounin sensei were having a nice dinner together to discuss some things together.

It was the bet that Asuma made with Kakashi. If Naruto won against Sasuke, then Kakashi would buy Asuma dinner. Kurenai just went along for the ride, much to Kakashi's dismay. It was a first time that the famous Sharingan no Kakashi ever lost a bet and the woman jounin wouldn't miss this opportunity to hear all about it. As such, after placing the orders and a good old sake bottle for the table, Kakashi and Asuma turned to explain to her the contents of the wager and how one Uzumaki Naruto managed to win a spar against Uchiha Sasuke in close range, using nothing but tai, kenjutsu and the regular three jutsu taught at the academy.

"Okay Asuma, now it's your turn to explain to me that exactly what you taught Naruto." The bearded jounin was feeling rather smug at the sight of a petty looking Kakashi.

Kurenai was also basking in the feeling, despite not being a part of the wager.

"Here is the thing, all I ever did with him was a light spar every now and then in between team practices."

Kakashi's only visible eye looked bored, though Asuma knew enough to know that the silver-haired jounin was skeptical.

"Despite not showing any extraordinary skill, I could see that he was using chakra in his moves throughout the fight and not like a genin. Hell, I've seen chunnin with less level of control than him." Asuma nodded and grabbed a piece of meat from the grill as Kurenai offered her insight into the conversation. The kunoichi jounin's team had two genin that had adequate chakra control. Ino and Shino were drilled in the art by their families, but Chouji still required some advanced tutoring in that aspect.

"A genin with high level chakra control is indeed impressive. Nowadays, people only tend to focus on extravagant techniques, it's nice to see someone thinking outside the norm, but I didn't see this information in his file."

"Indeed…because of his high chakra capacity, Naruto needed to focus more on chakra control, though he had already nailed both exercises by the time he graduated."

Both Kurenai and Kakashi whistled at that.

"Ok, then considering his chakra capacity and high chakra control, he may be a ninjutsu powerhouse, then."

Kurenai frowned at Kakashi's input, as she filled her plate with some grilled vegetables.

"Men…always leading on straight to ninjutsu and pretty much forgetting about everything else…I'd say that someone with high level chakra control could be an all-rounded shinobi. Certainly, Naruto's education could consider other ventures." Asuma smiled at the argument. Of course, none of them were any wiser that the boy already had a much better sensei than all of the three combined and was learning tons of different skills that will certainly benefit him in the future. They knew that Naruto was a blank canvas and could pretty much take any path he so desired.

"Well, he did mention that he wants to master his element, which is wind by the way. But when I tested his affinities, I was surprised to see that not only he had a wind affinity, but a water as well. Not to mention, that he is highly skilled in kenjutsu, taijutsu and shurikenjutsu." That pretty much made Kurenai pause and Kakashi wonder what happened to his sensei's son that made him so powerful out of the blue.

It was Kurenai who pondered aloud what all three thought.

"A genin fresh out of the academy with excellent chakra control, with more than average skills in tai and kenjutsu and two elemental affinities…do you have a prodigy in your hands, Asuma?" the bearded jounin could only nod. No doubt, he knew that when word about Naruto's skills comes to light, he would attract the interest of many jounin in Konoha willing to teach the kid. And looking at both Kurenai and Kakashi, well Kakashi managed to hide it well, but Kurenai was practically salivating at the future prospect of such a shinobi. If he is this good right now, imagine how he would be in the future. And Kurenai realized that he could very well learn genjutsu as well as be a ninjutsu specialist.

With dual affinities, she knew that Naruto would bend towards the ninjutsu department, but with good chakra control, he could also learn genjutsu.

"Huh, perhaps Sasuke may not be a suitable rival for him after all."

Kakashi said, admitting to himself that even Sasuke's sharingan may not be enough. Asuma allowed himself to smirk at that, though.

When he sparred with Naruto, he was using chunnin level skills.

The rest of the dinner then resumed with the three jounin talking about other mundane things, before all three went to their respective homes as Kakashi and Asuma both had a joint mission tomorrow.


===Next Day===

When Naruto awakened the next day, he realized he still had quite some time before he was due to present himself at the gates.

Usually, he would take this opportunity for some training and he decided to do just that. This happens to be the first time he would be leaving the village and it was quite exciting. He would venture into Wave Country, as such, it would be prudent to get into some training regarding suiton manipulation. Getting a quick breakfast and to make sure that he had everything he needed for the mission sealed into a storage scroll, Naruto opened the door to his apartment as he watched the sun about to rise on the horizon. Normally, this time most in the village would be asleep with the exception of those that had a night life sort to speak.

Considering the rough neighborhood that he lived nowadays, Naruto had met the occasional drunk and even some gang members, making quite a fuss this time around.

As he jumped towards the nearby buildings, the blonde genin had expanded his senses throughout the village and felt the reduced number of shinobi that were finishing the usual rounds around the village.

He smiled upon practically seeing two green blurs jumping together towards kami knows where.

He never had met them in person, but Naruto could feel their enthusiasm every day, since he usually awakened the same time. It didn't take him long to reach the cave where he had first found his sensei, the Nidaime Hokage, and where he trained for three straight years. Every time he came here, he expected to hear the grunt in complaint from the man. It was actually a nostalgic sight as he got mesmerized by the cave's reflection from the crystalline waters. If the boy closed his eyes and focused, he could feel his sensei's presence with his customary frown.

As such, Naruto had allowed himself a couple of minutes of simply doing nothing as he remembered with fondness the experience of being taught by such a legend.

'If you waste more time just standing there, you will be sorry!'

Naruto was surprised for a moment as he looked around, only to remember that he was alone inside the cave.

Letting out a nervous laughter at the memory, he stepped on the waters until he was in the middle of the cave lake.

Focusing on the ram seal, Naruto closed his eyes as he went through every and all suiton manipulation exercise he was taught. As such, first, he focused chakra throughout the lake and started swirling the current until he created a whirlpool around him. He would first increase the speed of the spinning vortex and then reduce it as he felt his connection to the water, just like his sensei did with no effort whatsoever. Naruto remembered the first time he saw the Nidaime doing this exercise. He was simply crossing his arms with a look of pure boredom as he commanded the water to do his every bidding.

Thus, Naruto, with his eyes closed, pictured his sensei standing there by his side with his arms crossed and a proud smile on his face.

'Sensei, despite not seeing you, I can still feel your presence.'

Going up a notch, Naruto then focused on a different set of hand seals and finishing with the bird hand sign as water goblets lifted from the lake, surrounding his body like suspended grenades in mid-air.

Of course, being a C-ranked mission, Naruto didn't expect to be pushed enough to consider revealing his hidden ninjutsu knowledge.

However, it would be a disservice to the Nidaime if he wasn't prepared for the eventual necessity. Considering the mastery he had in Suiton, Naruto could truly use at least some of what he learned if either him or his teammates were pushed. As he opened his eyes, Naruto allowed himself to relax his chakra coils somewhat as he saw the water molecules in the air slowly falling back to the lake as if it was raining inside the cave. Each droplet caused small ripples on the water as Naruto then left the water towards the cave's exit and then towards the location when he would meet his team and Kakashi's team as well.

===The Gate===

Upon arriving at the designated place, Naruto saw Sasuke there already.

"Hi there Sasuke." The Uchiha in question was with both his hands inside his pockets as he turned to see Naruto approach.

The blonde genin found it humorous that Sasuke was looking at him with the sharingan activated.

"Naruto." A short but formal greeting as Sasuke turned to look around once more, perhaps getting adapted to his new tool.

Quickly extending his senses throughout the region, Naruto couldn't sense anyone approaching, so he just took a seat close to a tree as he observed Sasuke looking around.

"So, how is it..." Sasuke turned to Naruto's question. "How does the sharingan work, exactly?" Sasuke, though, had simply smirked at the question.

"Why…scared that you will be beat next time we fight…"

Naruto snorted at the comment. Tobirama-sensei did comment about the Uchiha Clan's drive for constantly get into provocations.

Well, Naruto was truly looking forward to testing himself against the sharingan, so it was fair game.

"Oh, I know about bits and pieces…you would be amazed at what some books and scrolls in the library says about the clans of Konoha. I was more interested in knowing about how it feels to have such a tool."

Sasuke tsked as he deactivated his eyes. It still consumed too much chakra to use for longer periods.

"I'm still adapting to it…as I look around, I can perceive movement before the person starts moving. Also, there are traces of chakra saturated in the air." Naruto hummed in recognition and Sasuke found himself feeling strange at receiving recognition from him. To this day, Sasuke never bothered acknowledging anyone in the village, not even the jounins. He had a target in mind and nothing in this village would deter him from getting stronger for the single purpose of killing his brother and avenging his clan.

"Amazing, indeed. Does it hurt?"

But, strangely so, finding out about Naruto's skills, made Sasuke strangely so yearn about competing with him. Somehow, the knowledge of being acknowledged by a rival, made his mind focus on something else aside from Itachi.

"Only when I use it for longer periods of time."

"I see…well, I will admit that I'm quite eager to see your improvement." Naruto got up and dusted his clothes as Sasuke could see others approaching.

He observed as Naruto greeted Shikamaru and Hinata. Sasuke keenly observed how at ease Naruto was in his posture as he conversed with his team. He could see confidence exuding from the genin and it intrigued him greatly.

"Good morning Sasuke-kun/Hi there Sasuke." The Uchiha then saw Sakura and Kiba also arriving together with Akamaru on top of Kiba's head.

The two jounins followed in last accompanied by the client Tazuna, who was once more seen carrying a canteen with sake inside. Kakashi was nominated by the Hokage as the mission leader, so he quickly explained the drill towards Wave Country. Considering Hinata's byakugan and Kiba's effective nose, the Inuzuka would take point with Sasuke. Shikamaru and Sakura would be close to the client in the middle and Hinata would be in the rear with Naruto acting as her backup. Meanwhile, the jounin would simply observe the genin as they perform the protection mission. Considering it was a C-ranked assignment, neither believed that the group would be attacked. The most they would find were thugs and low-life criminals.

So, the group cleared at the gates their departure and each genin fell into their assigned position, while progressing in a civilian pace.

Along the way, Naruto paid very little mind to the conversation shared between Sakura and the client. The girl was actually asking about the existence of ninja villages in Wave Country. It was baffling the lack of focus, but Naruto couldn't simply allow himself to these feelings. The rest of the teams were more or less focused at the very least in their respective assignments. Kiba and Sasuke were up front, scouting up ahead with Kiba's nose. Shikamaru appeared aloof, but Naruto knew that he didn't need to worry about the Nara genin. His eyes may show boredom, but he was looking around for traps and eventual opposition. Hinata was activating her byakugan every now and then and reporting to the jounin her findings, or lack thereof.

As they progressed towards Wave Country, Naruto could better feel the humid climate in the area.

As he extended his senses throughout the air, he found that his range of sensory ability increased.

After a while of walking, the teams passed through a puddle of water on the ground.

Neither of the genin appeared to notice, though the jounin looked towards each other and nodded.

All six genin turned abruptly to the sound of movement behind them as they saw a chain filled with small blades coming out of nowhere and wrapping it in both Asuma and Kakashi, slicing their bodies in half before they even got the chance to see what was going on. The frightened look in their faces caught most by surprise. The rest of the genin, though, had mixed reaction as they saw what appeared to be two identical looking shinobi with gray capes, breading masks and claw gauntlets joined together by the very chain who shredded the jounin's bodies.

"Huh, easy, two down already." Their metallic voice reached everyone's ears, sending chills up their spine.

Shikamaru was the first and extended his shadow before the two opponents attempted to attack the client and kill him as well.

The old man was terrified to his very bone and Sakura wasn't fairing much better herself, having seen two jounin falling victim just like that.

The Demon Brothers saw the shadow coming their way and evaded it, however Sasuke took the opportunity and charged with his sharingan activated. Naruto noticed that the Uchiha's speed increased as Sasuke managed to slice the chain in half with his kunai. Kiba and Akamaru went straight to the one on the right, who after being separated by Sasuke's attack, managed to dodge the Inuzuka's attack and overpower Kiba's taijutsu with his own gauntlet. Akamaru came to his partner's aid and kept the demon brother occupied, before Sasuke came in and joined the fray.

"Let's go Hinata, we'll take the one on the left." Naruto was already moving with extreme agility with his sword drawn.

"H…hai." Hinata followed right behind Naruto with her byakugan activated.

Shikamaru saw both Sakura and the client shaking in fear and sighed as he stood by to protect them.

Sasuke did quick work of his foe with taijutsu and the use of kunai to prevent the claws from reaching him as well as it did Kiba's. Naruto and Hinata coordinated well in facing the other one. With Naruto's kenjutsu and Hinata's byakugan strikes, the other demon brother was being pushed quite severely, while trying to figure out just was going on. When they started this, the first targets were the jounin, who were killed instantly. And now these genin were keeping them on their toes. The moment of indecision was enough for Naruto to pierce the man's stomach with his sword and Hinata to land some fierce jyuuken strikes on his tenketsu points, shutting down his entire chakra network instantly.

No sooner after the last demon brother dealt with, Asuma and Kakashi appeared looking no worse for wear.

Kakashi had his hands in his pockets and looked bored, while Asuma applauded his team for the efficiency.

Everything happened in less than a minute and Sakura looked at the two jounin, clueless about was going on, which Shikamaru breathed a little more deeply at having to explain.

"Relax Sakura, they used kawarimi as soon as the chain was pulled. You don't remember seeing blood after they were attacked, did you?" Kakashi smiled at that and Asuma looked around for the two downed chunnin on the ground. The one from Sasuke had bruises all over the place and the one that Naruto and Hinata dealt with was bleeding profusely from Naruto's sword strike. Pretty soon, this one would bleed to death, but Asuma wouldn't morn his death. No, he was looking at both Naruto and Hinata and could see that they have performed flawlessly.

"Naruto, Hinata, congratulations on handling him." The two genin turned to see their sensei and Hinata blushed slightly at the praise.

She was just following Naruto's directive and double-teaming with him.

However, now that the adrenaline left her system, she had just realized that she had beat a chunnin missing ninja.

"Yes, Hinata was great, sensei. What did I tell you. Your father doesn't know squat."

Asuma chuckled at the boy for lifting the girl's spirits up. Hinata has come a long way after joining with them.

"Ah..thank you Naruto-kun." Despite no longer seeing the same Naruto from before anymore, Hinata still felt safe around him and the blonde had always lifted her spirits.

Shikamaru soon approached them as well. Kakashi, for his part, was handling his team and was now busy berating Kiba for attacking head on.

"Kiba, it appears you got yourself poisoned." The Inuzuka looked frightened at his sensei while Sasuke released a sigh in embarrassment for his teammate. Sakura looked frantic at that. "Easy there, Sakura, remember to breathe."

"S…sensei, you were killed…back then…I saw your body being shredded."

Kakashi now realized that perhaps his actions may have scarred a fresh out of the academy genin, but the others seemed fine, though.

"Don't worry Sakura, it would take a lot more than mere chunnin to defeat us. Now Kiba, come here and we'll take care of the poison…a bit of heads-up, though. It will hurt a bit, so bear it with me." The Inuzuka, though, was attempting to show some bravado, but failing miserably.

"Huh, I can take some pain, sensei…Ahhhhh, that hurts! Why didn't you warn me."

Kiba started boasting about his pain tolerance, but then flinched once Kakashi used a kunai in key places on Kiba's hand to release the accumulated blood with the poison, before it could spread to his body. Kakashi found it humorous the look of pain and jumping eye sockets from the Inuzuka, while Akamaru was whimpering on the ground, possibly in embarrassment for his partner just like Sasuke. After ridding the poison, Kakashi asked Sakura to close his wound and wrap it up while he would join Asuma in checking the enemy's bodies. The bearded jounin, for his part, had Naruto and Hinata's help to close the rest of their tenketsus and strap them in the trees.

"You're good here, Asuma?" Asuma nodded as he looked back at the chunnin.

"Both of them are unconscious right now, but you can question Tazuna about it."

The old man was silent so far, simply busy enough to try and slow his own beating heart, when the two jounin looked at him, accusingly.

"W…what…do you want to question me…" Kakashi snorted and turned to the enemy chunnin as he talked to Tazuna.

"We did what we did, because we wanted to see just who they were after. It wouldn't be any of the genin, since they are fresh out of the academy. Then, it became clear that they were after you. You must thank Hokage-sama for adding a second team to this mission or else I fear the consequences would be more severe than one of our genin getting poisoned."

Tazuna flinched as he sensed the silver haired jounin now looking at him.

The old man was feeling his heart beat faster as he felt his life in this man's hands, but Kakashi was not finished in roasting Tazuna.

"You deliberately withheld information from Konoha by asking for a C-ranked protection assignment. Said action alone allows me ground to simply abandon you right here." The rest of the genin all stood by as they heard Kakashi grill the client. Naruto, though, couldn't help but notice that Asuma-sensei had a slight smirk on his face, despite also assuming the role of a pissed jounin at the client lying about the mission.

For him, though, all that counted as replaying the fight he had just now.

This was actually his first fight outside of training. Of course, Tobirama-sensei would always fight him using extreme killing intent, but it was not the same. This time, Naruto faced an enemy in battle and felt the rush of battle first hand. He was focused in his movements, though. The chunnin he battled against, with Hinata's help, didn't even have Sasuke's level of agility. Also, Naruto managed to target the precise points that Tobirama-sensei instructed him to go for that would instantly debilitate his opponent. He didn't hesitate even for a second, which counted as a big win in his book.

'Naruto, no matter how much you train…no matter how much strong you become…at the end of the day, a simple kunai can still kill you. Never drop your guard on a mission and never underestimate the enemy.'

The words of his sensei still echoed in his brain…now more than ever.

"I'm sorry…" He then turned to Tazuna as he turned to explain the truth to Kakashi. "My country is poor. We are struggling just to get by. They are counting on me to build a bridge that will finally link our country to the mainland. And Gatou has killed everyone that amounted something of an opposition to his plans. I'm the only one left to save my country. I need protection. I can't come home alone or else I will be killed for sure. My grandson…my grandson will be without a grandfather…my daughter…oh my daughter…kami, what's going to happen to her. Please, shinobi. I know that I lied about the mission, but I don't have enough money for a higher ranked mission."

Kakashi and Asuma heard the man's plea with a tough enough face, but on the inside, they were struggling to keep it together as neither could see deceit in Tazuna's voice.

"Gatou, you mean, Gatou of Gatou industries, the shipping magnate?" Tazuna nodded at Kakashi's question with a downed visage.

"Yes, he had killed my son-in-law, the man who first dared to oppose Gatou's plans. He will certainly kill me for sure."

Tazuna briefly looked upward as he heard Kakashi's sigh.

"Excuse us for a second, will ya."

The old man nodded as he saw the two grown-up shinobi walking away to discuss. The genin, in the meantime, were busy tending to Kiba's wounds. Sakura had done a fine job patching his hand, but the wound from the kunai was extensive in order to fully remove the poison. Sakura and Hinata were the ones that inspected the wound. Sakura had some knowledge on first-aid kits and Hinata was using her byakugan to inspect Kiba's chakra system for some poison remains. Shikamaru, Naruto and Sasuke were simply content in waiting for the jounin's decision to either return to the village or proceed with the mission, though Naruto could venture a guess that his lazy teammate wouldn't mind going back home.


===Kakashi and Asuma===

"What do you think, Asuma?" The bearded jounin took out a cigarette and light it up before considering his comrade in action.

"Man sure has placed us a in tough spot, with the guilt trip."

Kakashi nodded with a sigh. Certainly, news about Konoha abandoning a client in the middle of a mission wouldn't bode well for the village, but the jounin were responsible for the genin under their supervision. As such, they had many plausible reasons to simply walk away and let the Hokage deal with the consequences. That was even more truth, considering that in this mission, they had four heirs of Konoha's main shinobi clans and two of them, were the most prestigious, Uchiha and Hyuuga Clan. Neither Kakashi nor Asuma would be blamed for taking the safe round and return to the village. However, neither of them felt alright abandoning the old man right now.

"For sure, if we proceed, this mission would be at least A-ranked. Gatou wouldn't settle for a couple of chunnin to kill Tazuna. Obviously, there is at least a jounin waiting."

That was quite obvious conclusion and Asuma grunted.

"One jounin would be wishful thinking. Gatou has deep pockets…for sure, he wouldn't save money on something like this."

Kakashi's eyes were focused on Tazuna's tense disposition as well as the genin teams.

"Huh, okay, if they have more than one jounin, we will have to deal with them. And if they had more chunnin as well, then Sasuke and Naruto will have to assume a secondary leading role in this mission. What's your intake with Naruto?"

"What exactly do you wish to know, Kakashi?"

The silver-haired jounin looked straight at Asuma for this one. Asuma saw a rare, but focused disposition on the leading jounin.

"Assuming that we are occupied with the jounin, Naruto would have to assume a more leading role to the genin if we are to face other chunnin as well. Sasuke is strong as well, but I can feel that Naruto is the more experienced of the bunch." Asuma finished his smoke and threw away with a smile on his face at Kakashi's inquiry. Right after stepping away from the chunnin's initial onslaught, Asuma turned his focus on how his team handled it in his absence. Naruto could have dealt with his foe by himself, without much trouble, but he inspired Hinata into facing and defeating the enemy together using teamwork.

"He is ready if it comes to that. Though, Sasuke could certainly operate together with him." Kakashi nodded.

"So, shall we proceed?" Asuma though merely snorted.

"Sure, just send in a message to the Hokage informing of the change in parameters, but I am good to go."

The jounin had already summoned a nin-dog by the time and quickly scribbled a message to be sent to the Hokage.


===Back with the genin===

The rest of the team got up as Asuma and Kakashi arrived from their discussion. Tazuna's heart was beating fast in apprehension for their answer.

Kakashi was certainly taking his sweet time with his answer. Despite already deciding to go ahead, he for sure would make the man sweat for a while. Konoha may be benevolent like that, but he didn't want to see other clients thinking that they could simply walk inside the village and fool them. If Tazuna decides to do the same thing again, he could very well get a comrade killed.

"Tazuna, we shall proceed for now. And we just communicated the Hokage about the mission parameters. For sure, Konoha will demand a compensation for an A-ranked mission afterward." The old man turned from downright fearing for his life to being upbeat about the situation.

"Oh, for sure…thank you very much. I'm sure that once the bridge is complete, trade will resume in my country and I can come up with an agreement with the Hokage as compensation." Kakashi nodded as Asuma instructed the genin.

"Okay everyone, listen up. From here on out, this is an A-ranked mission. These two were chunnin level shinobi. So, we should expect to face jounin level up next. Kakashi and I will handle them, but Naruto and Sasuke, you two shall be our next line of defense." Sasuke and Naruto turned to eye each other briefly and nodded. "Kiba and Hinata will be our scouts ahead. Shikamaru and Sakura will be close to Tazuna for his protection." The six genin all complied with the next set of orders as they moved once more for a while, until the group arrived to see a boat there waiting for Tazuna to arrive. Since the boat wasn't big enough for everyone, only Shikamaru, Hinata, Sakura, Sasuke and Kiba joined in with Tazuna in tow.

The area was heavy in humidity to the point that a heavy mist surrounded them. Naruto could practically perform all kinds of suiton jutsu without much concentration. Despite opting to keep his secret for now, Naruto could use the high humidity in his favor to increase his sensing ability. Then, much to everyone but Hinata and Shikamaru's surprise, Naruto walked on top of the sea by Kakashi and Asuma's side.

Sasuke was looking at his blonde rival in hidden awe at the skill.

"Oi, how the hell do you know how to do this…" Kiba screamed in demand, but actually received a scolding from the man who was roaming the boat.

"Hey, keep your voice down. You want to get us all killed?"

Kiba had the decency to look apologetic, but he was still looking at Naruto and remembering the one he knew from the academy.


Author Note

Ok that's about it for now. The Wave Mission will have one or two more chapters. I already have a couple of changes in mind, but it will be revealed later on.

Well, once more I apologize for taking this long to update this story once more. I do hope that this chapter was for everyone's enjoyment and feel free to criticize and supply me with possible ideas for me. Lastly about the pairing for this story, it's still a secret but feel free to venture a guest about the four women's identities. I won't reveal her identity for a long time, but the story will bend towards them meeting eventually and interacting, so those who know about the Naruto universe will figure it out as the story progresses.

Thank you everyone for your patience.

Now that I am writing three stories (two FSN and this one), I shall work with the schedule of one chapter per week per story.

Next update: Fate Shadow Spear