Chapter 8: Breaking the Wave Mission
Things went about the same for the two weeks after that. My team and I finally got to work out all the kinks in our teamwork and we had some pretty good strategies that I hope we can pull off when the time comes. I had also gotten Sasuke and Sakura up to snuff on their chakra control exercises, and had both of them start to train their own affinities. Sasuke was, of course, lightning and fire. While Sakura was earth and water. I was surprised that they both had dual affinities while I just had the one wind. I did train to get the other four eventually, but that took a lot of time and effort to do. These two had two natural affinities from the start which was a huge advantage. I also managed to teach them both the 'Body Flicker Jutsu' and the 'Kunai Shadow Clone Jutsu', with permission from the Old Man.
We were also able to finally get Sasuke to activate his 'Sharingan'. Which took no small amount of effort on my and Sakura's part. We then focused on having him mature it and spent most of our spars trying to overwhelm him with numbers, speed, and Jutsu. It took until the last day before the 'Wave Mission', but we got his third tomoe to appear and he was happy enough to actually hug Sakura and kiss her. I was flabbergasted, and not at all surprised. He had, not so subtly, alluded to the fact that he enjoyed having Sakura around, since she often tried helping him and had apparently beat him up the day of the graduation test because he was too hardheaded to let others in. My man Sasuke seems to be a masochist, because he said it had been the first time that he'd felt hot under the collar. That also explained why Sakura seemed a lot less fan girlish and Sasuke seemed more receptive to her rare few bouts of girlish adoration. They weren't dating per se, but if you asked me, they were well on their way.
Our Mission record so far was at a total 63 D ranks. More than enough to show that we're ready for higher missions on paper, and for us to have worked everything out in practice. Now it was time to meet the bridge builder Tazuna.
"Hey Kakashi Sensei, do you think that we're ready for a C Rank mission now? We've done pretty good on these past 60 some missions and we've all gotten a lot stronger individually as well. Sakura can finally use the 'Mystical Palm Jutsu' well enough that she can patch up most mild wounds if we get any. And our teamwork is enough to get you to have to take that eye of yours out for a spin, ya' know?", I ask and comment while walking with the infamous Tora purring on my chest.
"Well, I don't see why not. You're certainly not the standard academy graduates that's for sure." He pauses as we walk into the building. "I'll see what I can do." He says finally, as we walk into the mission assignments office. I give my friends a thumbs up and they reply with their own - or in Sasuke's case, a smirk.
"Team 7 reporting from successful D rank mission: Capturing Tora, the Fire Lords Wife's cat." Kakashi states with a salute as I hand Madam Shijimi her live cat plushy.
"Hm... that's 64 completed D rank missions in three weeks Kakashi.", The Hokage begins. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to get them to hate you.", he finishes with a chuckle. Kakashi just sweat drops at this. "Uh, yes. Well, this team is quite motivated and cognizant of their situation. So, I see no reason to not indulge them." Kakashi states giving us an eye smile. "Oh, what do you have in mind Kakashi." The Old Man asks. "I think this team has proven to be more than ready for a C rank mission, wouldn't you agree, Sir?"
"Ah, yes. This year's rookie teams seem to be quite promising. I believe yours is the first to request such a mission as well. Let's see what we have here." He looks around and finds the mission scroll. "Here you are. A C rank escort mission to the Land of Waves. You will be escorting a bridge builder to his homeland and protecting him until he finishes his bridge." He hands it over to Kakashi and calls the client in.
Tazuna then stumbles into the room and asks, "What's this? It's just a bunch a' darn squirts?" Then takes a few good swigs from his jug. "You really expect me to believe these kids are ninja?" My team and I sigh at this.
"Not to worry Tazuna, these here are some of our best. They will take you safely to Wave Country." The Old Man reassures him. "Ah, well... yes. Now then team. Go home and pack for a two-week mission, we'll meet at the northern gate in an hour." Kakashi commands. and we nod before vanishing with a 'Body Flicker' to pack up.
It was about an hour into hour trip that I picked up two chakra signatures about half a mile ahead of us and I signaled for my team to get in defensive position around the client, with Sakura making small talk with the client. Kakashi seemed pleased at this, given the feel of his chakra. Sasuke took point while I held up the rear since I had the most effective range out of all of us - Kakashi included.
"So, Tazuna. What's this bridge for?" Sakura asks point blank with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. We all cringe at the approach and have a silent conversation with Kakashi Sensei to establish Sakura is never to do subtle info gathering, that thankfully Sakura is either too engrossed or too oblivious to notice.
"What do you mean, what's it for? It's for allowing my people to come onto the mainland without the need for naval vessel or other such transport.", He answers slightly peeved at the near stupidity of the question. She pushes on, oblivious to our silent cries for her to stop. "Well, I get that. But why build a bridge when you get everything via boats and stuff?" "Well young lady, that's just it. Everything we do get is from some sort of naval transport, which means that if something were to happen to make that difficult, we'd have no way to deal with it. It's always better to have more than one way to do business, and my bridge will help my land accomplish just that." Tazuna continues, much to our surprise with some small bit of wisdom. Probably should have thought of that before Gato though.
Then, a few moments later we all spot the worst disguise Genjutsu I have ever laid my eyes on. Like bro, it's dryer than hard tack, why hide in a puddle of all things?
We walk past it and as soon as the 'Demon Brothers' try to sneak up to shred Kakashi with their chains Sakura activates her Genjutsu to protect Tazuna and make the brothers miss their target, allowing Kakashi to just move to the side and see how we do. Sasuke and I cut the arms with the chain attached them off. It's a little gorier than I was prepared for, but I didn't let that deter me, and I used my kunai to stab Gōzu in the back of the head. Sasuke took the opposite approach and captured Meizu.
Sakura looked shocked that I'd killed one but didn't comment. Kakashi did, however. "Uh, Naruto... are you alright?" I look at him and sigh. "Yes, Kakashi sensei. I just sort of went for it. I'll be fine in a few minutes, thanks. Let's just get what we can and continue." This wasn't my first kill by any means, but it was the first time I'd done so without gunfire. This just felt much more personal, and it took me a few minutes to get my bearings.
Sasuke caught the hint and moved over to inspect the body for any supplies we might be able to take. I looked at the severed arms and decided to take the gauntlets and seal them in a storage scroll I brought with me for just this purpose. I plan to give them to Sakura, to beef her up some until mommy Tsunade comes into the picture.
Sasuke also took the chance to practice using his 'Genjutsu: Sharingan' to get whatever information he could from the captured Meizu before reporting to Kakashi. "I see, that changes the scope of this mission, wouldn't you say so, Bridge builder?" Kakashi states. Tazuna then gives us the story on why he lied about the mission, and we decide to continue, since we already have all the intel we need, and I know exactly how to handle our next opponents.
After arriving in Wave via the ferryman's boat we walked for about another three hours until I told everyone to stop. I signaled to Kakashi that we had two opponents, one Jonin and one Low to Mid Chunin. He decided to let me have the Chunin which was what I was hoping for.
We then continue walking until we have to hit the ground to avoid a rather nasty bisection. Zabuza does his intro routine and I signal to my team that there's more than one enemy and to stay sharp while maintaining a protective formation around Tazuna. I created a few clones to help scope out our surroundings and give us and Tazuna a safe way around the battlefield to his home. Sakura also started to layer her Genjutsu on us so that we were hidden and could move without being noticed when the time to escape came. Sasuke started to prepare his ninja wire in case we needed to restrain the bridge builder in order to move quietly. A well-oiled machine.
It was then that my clones spotted her. And yes, Haku, was indeed a her. I don't know if she always was originally and Kishi thought that having her be a trap was a last moment decision or if the Anime had her gender changed in Shippuden. Anyways, Haku was hiding not too far off in the trees just watching the confrontation between Zabuza and Kakashi. So, my clones went ahead and knocked her out with a well-placed senbon on a pressure point in her neck. They then restrained her and took her to my team and I while my team made their escape from the battlefield. I stayed back just in case Kakashi needed it, not to mention I was also using a fair bit of Genjutsu to avoid the others getting detected.
It was then that at the pivotal moment Kakashi was trapped in the 'Water Prison Jutsu' where I made my move and fired a 'Wind Style: Vacuum Wave' at Zabuza's unprotected side while a few clones did so at angles that avoided Kakashi being in the line of fire. Then had them fire off a round of 'Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu' from all sides and upwards in case he jumped that left him powerless to defend all attacks. One of the waves cut him in half and the shuriken made his remains into minced meat - I threw my shuriken covered in wind chakra. Kakashi was impressed at my quick thinking, and even more at my ruthless efficiency. I took Zabuza's sword for myself since I was pretty okay at Kenjutsu and the old man hadn't gotten me a suitable staff for my Bōjutsu just yet.
Kakashi commented. "You know Naruto, I'm surprised at the leap in skill you portray when your teammates aren't around. You're also a lot more efficient than even I would like to admit." He prods for answers subtly. "I'm sure the old man has told you this already Sensei, but I've been training since I was around four years old." He nods, I continue. "What he may not have told you is that I had started learning my clan's techniques before even starting the Academy. Or that I had mastered my father's original technique or my mother's trump card, as I spent my days sparring with him to help hone my Taijutsu and fighting instinct." At this he takes a pause.
"You know who your parents are?" He asks. "I do. And I have for quite some time. Not like it was hard to figure out, ya' know?"
"I see..." He responds after some moments of silence. "Do you also know about..." He leaves the question open, probably referring to Kurama. "The fur ball?" He looks at me wide eyed. "Yeah, been trying to get him to tell me about his name for years now. He's a bit grumpy, but he's not all that bad. You heard the report, right? About him being under the influence of a Genjutsu when he was summoned within the village?" Kakashi nods at my question. "Yeah, so you see, he's not all bad. Pretty unpleasant when he gets bored though. Likes to bitch and comment about anything and everything." I finished. "I heard that, you brat." Kurama grumbles. "Aw. I love you too Mister Fox." I reply without missing a beat. He grumbles and goes silent.
"Also, I captured the Chunin. She's rather pretty, and I'd like to keep her with us until we finish this mission. She might have some info on Gato that we can use." I say after making sure to destroy Zabuza's remains with a fire Jutsu and start to walk toward the bridge builders house, undoing all of mine and Sakura's Genjutsu while I'm at it.
"Alright, but she's your prisoner, so I want you to keep an eye on her. Also, which of your father's techniques did you mean?" He asks, curious as to which I meant. "The same one that inspired yours" I smirked.