In a forest in Konoha, all of Team 7's members were positioned "Sasuke, I'm at point B." Sasuke said through a microphone.
"Sakura, I'm at point C." Sakura said.
"Kakamei, I'm at point D." Kakamei said. There was a silence as they waited for Naruto.
"Naruto, I'm at point A. Believe it!!" Naruto yelled.
"You're slow, Naruto. Ok Team 7, get ready to move." Kakashi said suspensefully. A black figure jumped through the bushes.
"The target has moved, follow it." Kakashi ordered as the four genin moved through the terrain to keep up with the moving target. They moved, like normal ninja, to stay unnoticed by the beast they were trying to get the one up on.
"What's your distance from the target?" Kakashi asked as Kakamei looked at the animal.
"About 4 meters." Kakamei said as Naruto became inpatient.
"Kakashi-sensei just give us the order. I'm ready. Just give us the signal." Naruto said through the speaker as everyone listened to Naruto.
"I'm ready too." Sasuke said.
"So am I." Sakura said. Kakamei looked around and watched his surroundings."
"I'm ready." Kakamei said.
"Very well… Go!!" Kakashi yelled as all the members of Team 7 jumped out of the bushes and attempted to subdue the monster.
Naruto was the member to grab hold of the beast.
"I got you!" Naruto yelled as he was holding a cat that was trying is hardest to get out of Naruto's grasp. The cat let out a loud shrieking sound as it started to scratch Naruto.
Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakamei watched as Naruto struggled to keep the cat in his hands. Kakamei saw this and picked the animal out of Naruto's hands. He rubbed against its back and the animal calmed down. Naruto stood up off the ground and looked at Kakamei.
"Wow, you're really good with animals. Sakura said as Kakamei shook his head.
"Nah, I just have a good streak with cats I guess." Kakamei said as he looked at Sasuke giving Kakashi the run down of the mission. Naruto was standing by himself as he took a huge deep breath.
"Can't we have a real mission for once!!! I seriously hate cats!" Naruto yelled as everyone with a headphone in heard this loud and clear. Kakamei punched Naruto in the head.
"Stop yelling like that!! If you do it again I'll go deaf!" Kakamei yelled.
Later In the Hokage's Office
"Oh, my little cute Tora-chan! Mommy was so worried about you, but it's okay now. Mommy's here now and she will never let you go!" The woman said as she was nearly strangling the cat to death.
'Haha. Stupid cat. That kitty deserves to be strangled.' Naruto thought to himself as Kakamei just shook his head in the background.
"I see you have accomplished your mission." Sarutobi said as he got the attention of the ninja squad.
"We have a couple requests that Team 7 can handle. Helping an old lady with her shopping, babysitting the grandson of an elderly man, painting the fence—" The Hokage tried to say as he was cut off by Naruto.
"No! I want a serious mission. Something challenging and exciting! Not this little kid stuff." Naruto yelled as everyone in the room look slightly annoyed.
'The bad thing is he has a point." Sasuke thought to himself.
'He's such a pain.' Sakura thought.
'I knew this was going to happen sooner or later.' Kakashi thought as he shook his head.
Kakamei didn't think anything as he just stood there with his hands behind his head. Iruka stood from his chair and looked angrily at Naruto.
"How dare you! Idiot! You're just a fresh Genin with absolutely no experience! Like everyone else, you start with simple missions to develop and prove their skills! You're in no position to order around the Hokage!" Iruka yelled. Naruto just got even more loud.
"Are you serious?! Babysitting is not a mission! I'm a ninja and I—" Naruto tried to say before Kakashi punches him in his temple making him fall to the ground.
"Can you please shut up Naruto?" Kakashi said in his usual slow voice. Naruto sat up and rubbed the back of his head.
"Naruto, it seems you don't understand the tasks you have been given." Hiruzen said. He started to give an extra long explanation of how the ninja ranking systems were set up. As he came to a conclusion he looked at Team 7. He saw that they weren't listening to a word he said.
"I had some nice Dango last night. It was a different flavor than—" Kakamei was saying as he cut off by Sarutobi's yelling.
"Hey, Listen to me when I'm talking to you!" Sarutobi yelled as he caught the attention of the team.
"You're always lecturing me as if you're my grandfather or something! I'm not the little brat that used to do pranks. I'm a ninja now and I want an actual ninja mission!" Naruto said as he crossed his arms and poured, only willing to budge if the Hokage gave him what he wanted. The Iruka and Hiruzen started chuckling.
"Naruto wants to prove that he's no longer a brat but a former brat. So be it. I will give you a C-rank mission. You will be bodyguards on a journey." The Hokage said as Naruto jumped up in the air. Everyone but Kakashi looked surprised.
"Really?! Who are we guarding?! A princess? An important councilor!?" Naruto said both loudly and excitedly.
'I hope so. I need a refresher from all the cat catching assignments.' Kakamei thought to himself.
"Do be so impatient. I'll bring him in right now." He looked to his left and told his secretary to, "Bring in the special guest." The secretary nodded before going to a door and opened it to show an old man with a bottle of liquor in hand. He was drinking it sloppily.
As expected Naruto didn't exactly like this too much.
"What the…? A bunch snot-nosed brats?" The old drunkard said. He seemed tipsy by the redness of his face.
"And you, the little one with the idiotic look on his face, do you really expect me to believe that your s ninja?" The man said. Naruto laughed at the joke.
"Who's the one with the idiotic look on his face?" Naruto asked as his teammates stood next to him. Sasuke and Kakamei were relatively the same height. Sakura was slightly beneath them with Naruto being the shortest. Noticing this Naruto tried to jump at the man as he was held back by Kakashi.
"I'll demolish you! Let me get him! Come here!" Naruto yelled as he tried to jump at him.
"You can't destroy the client, Naruto." Kakashi said as the man looked at the pipsqueak.
"My name is Tazuna, master bridge builder. I must return to my country. I'm building a bridge there that will change our lives. So I expect you to get me to my destination safely. Even if it means giving up your lives." The man now known as Tazuna.
At the comment everyone dispersed and readied themselves for their next mission.
The Next Day
Morning came quickly as Kakamei rose from his bed and wiped his eyes. He stood up and walked to his refrigerator and opened it. He reached in and grabbed the milk. He grabbed a bowl and cereal and sat down to eat breakfast.
He poured his breakfast and ate silently. He put on his clothes gathered his supplies he would need for the trip and walked to the outside of his apartment. He closed and locked the door behind him and stood up in front of his door. He softly slapped his face to wake himself up.
"Time to start out first 'real mission'. Hopefully we get some strong ones to fight." Kakamei said before walking down the hall.
Ten minutes later Kakamei was among the rest of his team at the gates of the village.
"Yeahhh!" Naruto yelled as he jumped through the gates looking and bouncing around like a rabbit.
"Naruto, why are you so excited?" Sakura asked as Naruto looked around.
"Because this is the first time I've ever left the village. I'm a traveler now! Believe it!" Naruto yelled. He looked at Kakamei who was behind him with his hands behind his head.
"Hey, Kakamei, you used to live in the Village Hidden in the Sand. How is it like outside of the village? Are there a lot of scary, strong ninja out there?" Naruto asked as Kakamei looked at Naruto.
"Like you said, before I came here I lived in the Sand Village. I was merely a child when I came to the Leaf but I specifically remember one person who would would make me feel great when we were together. Other than that there were multiple strong people but there were only a few that were anything special." Kakamei said. Naruto looked surprised. Then he went close to Kakamei's ear.
"Someone made you feel great huh?" Naruto teased as Kakamei slightly blushed.
"No! It was a guy. When we would fight I could feel that we were fighting for existence. It made me feel… alive." Kakamei said as Naruto backed off. He was taken aback by the way his teammate had answered. He never heard Kakamei speak like that before.
Tazuna snorted as he heard these two talking.
"Am I supposed to trust my life with this runt? He a joke!" Tazuna said. These words rang in Naruto's head.
Don't worry Tazuna. He's with me and I'm a Jonin." Kakashi said with a slight smile.
"Hey, never insult a ninja because it's a terrible mistake!" Naruto yelled trying to fight back Tazuna's words.
"I'm one of the greatest ninja ever! Someday I'll become Hokage and then you'll have no choice but to stop looking down on me. My name is Naruto Uzumaki! Never forget it!" Naruto yelled. Tazuna simply scoffed it off.
'I don't know about the greatest ninja EVER. I'm still here.' Kakamei said as he chuckled. Naruto turned to see Kakamei smiling and became slightly annoyed.
"Oh, and what are you laughing at Kakamei!" Naruto said loudly as Kakamei just shrugged.
"Nothing. Just thinking of a joke." Kakamei said. Naruto looked annoyed as Tazuna started his rebuttal.
"The Hokage is powerful and wise. You are puny and brainless. The day you become Hokage I'll grow wings and fly." Tazuna said. This obviously made Naruto angry as he turned back to the bridge builder.
"Shut up!! I'm willing to do anything to become Hokage! Anything! Then everyone will have to admit that I'm the top ninja in the village, even you!!" Naruto yelled. Tazuna ignored the outburst and answered normally.
"You could become Hokage ten times over and to me you'd still be a nobody, a loser." Tazuna said as he turned around to make his back face Naruto.
Naruto attempted to jump at Tazuna but Kakashi held him back. Then, after Naruto had calmed himself, the group started the mission by leaving the gates of the village.
Hours Later
The group of shinobi were walking down a path. Everyone was walking silently as they were waiting for ninja to attack them. To break the silence Sakura posed a question
"Mr Tazuna?" Sakura said, getting the attention of everyone.
"What is it?" He asked.
"You're country is the Land of Waves, right?" Sakura asked.
"Yeah, what is it?" Tazuna rudely replied as he kept walking. Sakura faces Kakashi as she was puzzled about something pertaining the mission.
"Kakashi-sensei, there are ninja that live in the Land of Waves, right?" Sakura asked. Kakashi was interested that his student actually wanted to know what was happening in the world.
"No, actually. There are no ninja in the Land of Waves." Kakashi said. He went on to explain the reasonings of why certain villages had ninja while others didn't.
"... the Hokage, The Mizukage, The Tsuchikage,He Raikage, and the Kazekage. These are the leaders, the five shadows that reign over thousands of ninja." Kakashi said as the genin thought skeptically.
"Woah, so the Hokage is very important." Sakura said.
'Yeah, right. I caught him with my sex jutsu. He can't be that strong.' Naruto thought to himself.
'Cha! is that old man really such a big deal?!? I'm not buying it!!' Sakura thought to herself. Even Kakamei thought about 'ole' Hiruzen.
'If he's that strong then I'll just have to up and beat him.' Kakamei thought. Seconds later the three were halted as they felt a strong feeling of fear come over them.
"You all just doubted Lord Hokage, didn't you?! That's what you were thinking, huh?!" Kakashi said loudly. Naruto and Sakura shook their heads as Kakamei kept his cool as to not let Kakashi know what he was thinking.
"That's good to know. Anyways, you shouldn't worry. There aren't going to be any foreign ninja in a C-rank mission." Kakashi said as Sakura sighed as they continued to walk forward.
Not too long after, the group of travelers passed a bridge as they passed a puddle of water on the ground. While the others paid it no mind Kakashi looked at it quickly before changing his gaze. They continued walking as they heard a snap. Kakamei turned around to see his Kakashi-sensei wrapped in chains. In an instant the chains tightened and Kakashi was split in two.
Out of the shadows came two ninja in all black clothing with both having mechanic arms with chains connecting the two's arms.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled. The enemy ninja jumped in front of Naruto.
"Don't worry, you're next!" The ninja said as they laughed evilly. Naruto looked at the ninja, frozen with fear. He looked as if he wanted to move but he just… couldn't.
'Why… Why can't I move?! They're going to kill me! Damn it Naruto! Move!! Move!!' Naruto yelled to himself in his mind as he stayed still, unable to make his body move.
'You have to be kidding me!' Kakamei thought to himself as he and Sasuke moved forward quickly. Sasuke grabbed kunai and shuriken out of his pouch and threw them. The shuriken pushed against the middle of the chain while the kunai jabbed between the shuriken which forced the chain against a tree. While Sasuke kicked their heads together Kakamei pulled Naruto out of the way.
Kakamei jumped in the air and hit a flip. His foot hit one of the assassins in the temple of their head forcing them onto the ground. The other shinobi rushed around straight for the bridge builder. Before he could get completely there Sakura jumped in front of Tazuna.
'I've got to do something!' Sakura thought to herself. Just then Sasuke jumped in front of Sakura as to help protect her.
In the chaos of it all there was a loud bang. Sasuke looked up to see Kakashi standing in front of him with both ninja in his arms.
"Hello there." Kakashi simply said as he had an eye smile on his… eye (I guess).
"Kakashi-sensei is alive!!" Sakura yelled loudly. Sasuke lowered his guard and let off a scoff. "Show off."
Kakamei put his hands behind his head and walked to Naruto. Naruto was speechless as he thought of a way to rationalize what had just happened.
"But… Kakashi-sensei was…" tried to say before looking behind his back to see the Kakashi's 'body' that had been split in half had become nothing more than a pile of wood.
"Substitution Jutsu." Naruto said as he understood what had just happened.
"Naruto, I'm sorry I didn't help you sooner. I didn't mean for you to get hurt," Kakashi said, "I simply didn't think you would freeze up like that. Sasuke, Kakamei, good job. Very smooth. You too, Sakura."
'I was useless! No! Worse than useless! Sasuke and Kakamei acted so cool, like they've done it a thousand times! So calm! They didn't even get a single scratch! Kakamei even had to save me! Why can't I keep up?! Why are they so much better than me?!' Naruto asked himself as he looked at Kakamei.
Kakamei nonchalantly looked at Naruto. His hands were behind his head so he just raised his eyebrows quickly to signify that he it wasn't that serious. Kakamei turned his back as Sasuke was next.
"Hey, Naruto." Sasuke said as Naruto turned his head.
"Yeah?" Naruto asked.
"You're not hurt, are you? Scaredy cat." Sasuke said which got Naruto's blood boiling. He went to jump at Sasuke yelling his rival's name before Kakashi butted in.
"Naruto!" Kakashi said getting the attention of the blonde genin. Naruto stopped in his tracks.
"We need to take care of the wound on your hand. Those ninja had poison on their claws. Try not to move or you'll spread the poison." Kakashi said. Naruto looked down at his hand to see a small cut on his hand.
"Naruto. You got hurt?" Kakamei asked. Naruto looked at his teammate.
'I could have sworn that I made sure that he didn't get touched. I need to be more careful.' Kakamei thought to himself.
"By the way… Mr. Tazuna." Kakamei said as he looked at the client.
"Y-Yeah?" Tazuna said, worried of what the ninja was about to ask him.
"After I finish off these two, we need to talk." Kakashi said sternly.
Minutes later the two ninja were tied to a tree. The traveling group was standing around them.
"They're shinobi from the Village Hidden in the Mist. They're trained to keep fighting no matter the cost." Kakashi said as he looked at the two pursuers.
"How did you know of our attack?" One of the Mist Village ninja asked.
"A puddle, on a clear day? When it hasn't rained in weeks? I found that odd." Kakashi said as Tazuna seemed slightly confused.
"So, why did you leave it for the genin to do the fighting?" Tazuna asked as Kakashi looked at him with a certain look.
"I could have taken them out easily but then I would have learned nothing. I had to know who they were after." Kakashi explained. Tazuna looked suspicious of what the silver haired ninja was trying to get at.
"So What are you saying?" Tazuna said.
"I wanted to know whether they were after us, ninja attacking ninja, or after the man we were protecting. When you were putting in your request you asked for standard protection in case you encountered robbers and thieves. But, you never said anything about ninja attacking. That alone makes this a B-ranked mission, maybe even an A. Our task was to simply get you to your destination and protect you while you complete your bridge. If we knew that we would encounter enemy shinobi we would have labeled it a B-rank and charged you for it. As of now this is beyond the scope of the mission." Kakashi stated. Tazuna lowered his head. Kakamei walked away from the enemy ninja and looked at Tazuna.
"You have Chunin after you, from the Village Hidden in the Mist no less. You must have done something crazy to get these ninja after you." Kakamei said as Tazuna looked up. Sakura attempted to comfort him.
"We're only genin. This is too advanced for our level of training. Besides, we really need to check Naruto's hand and get the poison out as fast as possible. We can take him to a doctor at the village." Sakura said trying to get everyone in the 'right' mindset.
"Naruto's hand could become a problem. I guess we have no choice but to go back to the village." Kakashi said agreeing with Sakura. Just then the blonde haired genin stabbed himself in the had before anyone could make any real decision. Everyone looked at the boy who now had a kunai sticking out of his hand.
"Why?! Why am I so different?! I worked so hard to get here! Pushing myself until it hurt! Training for hours! Anything to get stronger, to reach my dream! I will never back down again and I will never let anyone else rescue me again. I will not run away and I won't lose to Sasuke or Kakamei. Upon this wound I make this pledge! Bridge builder I will complete this mission and protect you with this kunai. I real ninja never gives up and neither will I. Don't you worry about me guys. I'll be just fine. Let's go!!" Naruto said as everyone stayed silent for a second.
"Naruto, that was cool and all but if you lose any more blood you're going to die." Kakashi said as Naruto looked at his hand and felt a lot of worry and regret for stabbing himself.
"Whhhhaaaaa!!! No! No! No! I can't die yet! I'm too young to die!!" Naruto yelled. Kakashi casually held out his hand.
"Give me your hand." Kakashi said as he put his hand in Kakashi's.
Kakamei was in the background with a huge grin as he looked at his teammate getting his hand stitched up.
"There we go Naruto. Now you can help next time we see ninja." Kakamei jokingly said. Naruto was getting his hand wrapped as he heard the remark.
"Whatever! When I see another enemy I'll show you!" Naruto said loudly as Kakamei simply smiled at the reaction he got from his teammate.
In the Middle of a Lake
Hours Later
Team 7 were silently moving along the water as they moved slowly.
"Alright, before we can carry out any farther is there something you want to tell us Mr. Tazuna?" Kakashi said interrogatively. Tazuna looked up as this made everyone on the little boat listen in. The bridge builder sighed heavily as he readied himself to finally tell the truth.
"I believe there's no point in hiding anything anymore. I'm not going to lie. There's an extremely powerful man after me." Tazuna said as he looked at the others. Kakamei was surprised by this answer as he looked at the builder.
"A powerful man?" Kakashi asked.
"You probably know of him as one of the wealthiest men in the world: Gatou." Tazuna said. Kakamei looked surprised.
"Oh, you know Gatou as well?" Kakamei asked Tazuna. This became an extreme shocker to Tazuna.
"You mean you know him personally?!" Tazuna asked. Kakamei thought about how to answer.
"Well, I wouldn't say personally but I've met him." Kakamei states, "Before I made it to the Leaf Village I was traveling. I met Gatou and his men." Kakamei said. Everyone was surprised to hear what Kakamei was saying.
"What are you talking about?! How did you meet them?!" Tazuna urges, pressuring Kakamei to answer.
"They occupied a town that I was staying in. I stole food from and money them." Kakamei said as Kakashi was surprised.
"But I thought Gatou owned Gatou's Transportation Company." Kakashi said. Tazuna nodded slowly. Naruto sat in the background confused as always.
"On the outside Gatou is the owner of one of the world's largest companies. But, underground he he uses gangs and ninjas to smuggle drugs and contraband just as he takes over companies and countries. A year ago he st his sights on the Land of Waves. He entered the country using his wealth and violence as a shield. He quickly took over the country's sea traffic. On an island like the land of Waves, controlling the sea is controlling the wealth, politics, and the people. The one thing Gatou is afraid of is the bridge thats being constructed right now." Tazuna said.
"So, you're an obstacle for Gatou then." Sakura said.
"Then Those Chunin for the Village Hidden in the Mist were sent by Gatou." Sasuke said.
"Let me guess… since you're country is controlled by Gatou it's at a financial low. That's why you didn't apply for an A-rank mission. It's that you couldn't afford it." Kakamei said. Tazuna nodded his head.
"Yes. If you would like, you may drop me off when we reach the island. Sure, I'll be killed before I even get home." Tazuna said. The last sentence seemed to sound different as he seemed more… sincere.
"But there's no need to blame yourselves. Only my cute, eight year old grandson will cry and cry and cry some more. My daughter will also bare a grudge Leaf shinobi for the rest of her life. But, it won't be your fault." Tazuna said as he waited for someone to answer. Kakamei sat in the background listening to what Tazuna had to say.
Kakashi scratched his head as he looked at the bridge builder.
"Well, I guess we don't have much of a choice. We will continue the mission." Kakashi said.
"Thank you." Tazuna said aloud. In his mind he had different. 'I win.' He thought to himself.
"Hey, Tazuna." Kakamei said getting the attention of the bridge builder.
"What is it?" Tazuna asked. Kakamei looked at the boy.
"What does it feel like to have a family?" Kakamei asked. This caught everyone's attention. They had not heard Kakamei speak about his family. This caught everyone off guard, even Sasuke.
"What do you mean?" Tazuna asked. Kakamei just looked plain faced. He stared at the old man as he tilted his head in wonder.
"I mean, how does it feel to have a family? I've forgotten how it feels. Please tell me how it feels." Kakamei said. Kakashi looked at his student.
'Seeing as he never talks about it I almost forgot Kakamei's alone.' Kakashi thought to himself.
The question caught Tazuna off guard as he hadn't expected anyone to ask him something like this. Now that he stopped to think about it, what was his family to him.
"This is unexpected kid. If I had to say what a family is to me it would be people I care for a lot." Tazuna said. Kakamei thought about it for a couple of seconds then sighed.
"So it hasn't changed. Haha!" Kakamei said laughingly. Just like that Kakamei was going to say something else but he stopped himself.
"Hey." The man rowing the boat said quietly.
"This is as far as I go." The man said as they docked onto the shore. Everyone hopped off the boat.
"I understand. Thank you for taking such a risk." Tazuna said humbly.
"Just be careful." The man said before turning the boat engine on and leaving the group of travelers in the mist.
"My home is this way. Please, just follow me." Tazuna said.
Minutes later the group were out of the thick mist and walking through the a forest that was surprisingly green. Kakamei was walking slightly behind everyone thinking to himself.
'If they strike us again it'll be someone stronger than the last ones. Hopefully there's one for everybody. And this time I expect Naruto not to choke up like he did last time." Kakamei said as he cracked a smile. Naruto just so happened to look back at him.
"What are you smiling about?" Naruto asked as he looked at the Daichiki boy who had a smirk on his face.
"Ah, it's nothing." Kakamei said. Naruto turned and ran to the front of the group.
'I'm not gonna let Sasuke or Kakamei get the glory this time. Believe it!" Naruto thought to himself as he watched for any upcoming threats. Out the corner of his eye Naruto saw the bushes slightly move. He grabbed a kunai out of his pouch quickly and threw it at the shrubbery. There was a silence as everyone waited for what would pop out.
"It's just a rabbit." Naruto said, trying to play it smooth.
"A mouse! Yeah right! Stop trying to act cool, idiot! You're so obvious it's embarrassing!" Sakura yelled naggingly at Naruto.
"Naruto, that's a kunai knife. It's a dangerous weapon." Kakashi said. Tazuna was in the background shaking with fury.
"Stop trying to scare me you damn twerp!" Tazuna yelled as Naruto simply ignored the worming and kept looking for clues of an incoming opponent.
"Hey! Is someone over there?! No, I think he's over there!" Naruto said loudly as he jumped around looking for something to throw a kunai at. He saw a slight movement in the corner of his eye.
"Over there!" Naruto yelled as he threw a kunai at a tree. Everyone in the group looked at what Naruto had hit. In the wake of the weapon a little white rabbit. Kakamei sniffed the air.
'I know we're surrounded by water but… why does it smell so heavy?' Kakamei thought. Just as he finished that there was a sharp cut of wind in the air. Just then a huge blade came into sight. It cut into a nearby tree. Everyone looked up and on the hilt of the blade stood a man.
"Here he is." Kakamei said aloud as everyone looked down their next opponent.
