Chapter 3 Mission to the Waves Part 1

The Genin of Team 7 moved stealthily through the forest in pursuit of their target. They had it in sight then Naruto scrambled to catch it.

"Reow!"

"Oww! Oww! Ow! Ow!" Naruto yelled in pain as it scratched him all over.

"Lost pet, Tora, retrieved," Sasuke spoke through his radio to Kakashi who was further up the path.

They returned to the Academy to complete their mission where the Fire Damyo's wife, the one who owned the cat, smothered her pet in a hug as Tora shrieked in misery. Sakura pitied the cat and saw why Tora ran away though Naruto felt the 'little monster' deserved to be crushed.

He then rounded on Hiruzen and Iruka.

"Enough of these lame missions! I want to go a real one and prove myself!" Naruto shouted. "These are a joke!"

He's got a point. Sasuke thought.

"Naruto we're not ready for anything harder!" Sakura said.

"Maybe you're not," Sasuke said. "But I could probably handle a hire level mission by myself. I don't need you… or Naruto. You probably need more experience with these so called missions."

His words stung Sakura who looked down in sadness. They'd been going on missions for nearly a month now and he still hadn't come out of his shell or even greet her a bit warmly.

Maybe its time we move on, Sasuke is cool and all but he's so cold hearted. Her inner self said. Naruto's been nice to us.

Sakura didn't know what to do. True Sasuke was cold hearted, but at least he was smart and strong. Naruto, well… he was a total idiot.

"Hey we all need to work as a Team! So you could lose the attitude!" Naruto yelled at him. "If you can do it so can I!"

Sakura sighed. Naruto was always trying to best Sasuke to no avail.

"Naruto! Sasuke! That's enough!" Iruka said. "You will remain on your D-rank missions until your Jonin Sensei sees you as capable of taking the next step."

"Well I think they actually might be able to handle a C-rank mission," Kakashi said.

"Very well. Since you're so eager. I have a person that needs guarding from thugs. He should be right outside.

A moment later an old man entered. He had shot gray hair, glasses and wore a hat over his head, in his hand he carried a beer bottle which he drank from. He took one look at them and-

"This is the best you can do? A bunch of snot nosed kids? I paid good money and just look at what I get. And you, you're the wort with that idiotic look on your face."

He was pointing at Naruto who was immediately fired up.

"That's it I'm gonna demolish you, you old drunk!"

Kakashi took hold of him. "You can't demolish the client Naruto! We are supposed to protect him."

Naruto fumed. It had been a childish action Sakura thought, but she had to admit that guy was kinda rude to someone that supposed to be protecting him. They all went home to get their things and pack for a mission that could take a month or even more.

Sakura arrived home and told her parents, Mibuki and Kizashi about it.

"Well that's certainly early to get a C-ranked mission. You haven't been a genin for even a month yet!" Kizashi said. "Back when I first became a genin they wouldn't let me go on one for over two years."

"Well good for you dear!" Mibuki said with a smile at her daughter. "And how are things going with your teammates?"

"Not well," Sakura confessed. "Naruto is always trying to best Sasuke and that usually gets him or all of us into trouble."

"He hasn't done anything to hurt you though has he?" Mibuki asked.

"What? No! Why would he do that?" Sakura asked, awestruck.

"Well- I just heard he is a trouble maker," Mibuki said.

Sakura looked at her father who was rather silent.

"Yes he was a prankster. He'd always cut class, never paid attention… and his jutsu was terrible," Sakura said with a laugh as she realled Naruto's pathetic attempts at clones and transformation. "Though that all changed the day of the exam."

"Well, I just want to be careful around him," Mibuki said.

Sakura frowned. "Mom? What did he ever do to you? Sure he's annoying at times but I don't think he's harmful!"

"Dear that boy has-

"Mibuki!" Kizashi suddenly shouted.

His wife closed her mouth and sighed.

"Well, I think we better change the subject. How's your other teammate. It's the boy you like right?"

"Sasuke. I used to like him so much, but now I'm not so sure. He's handsome, cool, and strong but he is just so cold."

"Well you know there are a lot of boys out there in not only this village but the entire world as well!" Mibuki said. "I had about six boyfriends before I finally decided to date your father."

Sakura had never really considered going for other boys. She'd been solely interested in Sasuke for so many years ever since she was seven. Why had she even fallen for him?

"Yeah, no one really wanted to date me since I was still a genin," Kizashi said. "I'm probably gonna be that for the rest of my life. Ah well… I don't have the raw ability to be a jonin or higher. You'll be lucky to ever advance to Chunin."

That didn't do much to lift her spirits. Sakura sighed. There were several remarkable clans in the Leaf with their own special abilities passed from generations. The Haruno's were just a civilian clan that didn't have anything like that. Many of her academy classmates had abilities from their clans specifically. The Naras could manipulate shadows with their chakra, the Akimichi's their bodies, and her friend Ino's Yamanaka clan could manipulate minds. Sasuke's clan was reportedly one of the most powerful in the leaf village, at least until its downfall. Kurenai Sensei's squad all came from clans with special talents. Hinata had those white eyes that popped veins when she used them. Kiba and Shino used dogs and bugs which their clans were known for. And Naruto… well he didn't have any clan abilities. Did he even come from a clan? Naruto had to get his last name from somewhere. But now that Sakura came to think about it, she'd never heard of any Uzumaki's besides him.

"Sakura?" her mother asked.

"Oh sorry mom. I spaced out. Just thinking of all my classmates. All the ones that made it to Genin have really cool abilities that they got from their families. I've seen them in our joint training sessions."

"Well a lot of those kids come from families that have been Shinobi for a long time. I was the first member of our clan to become a Shinobi. We were just merchants before I joined that business."

Sakura nodded.

"Well, even if you didn't get any real special abilities from us… that doesn't make you have any less potential," Mibuki said. "You just have to find something to practice. Then maybe you can pass it on to your children someday when get married."

Sakura smiled. Then an imaged appeared in her head. Whenever she thought of marriage, she'd always pictured herself and Sasuke. But now the figure beside her in her mind was featureless. Though a certain blonde with whisker markings on his grinning face came into her head.

Sakura shook slightly. No, she wasn't gonna marry him! She liked him better now but not like that!

Ýou admitted that you might date him if he continues to impress you! Her inner self reminded her.

Sakura bit her lip. She finished her dinner and left to pack her things. She wasn't sure what make of Naruto sometimes. She needed some time to think, decide what she was going to do about her feelings for Sasuke. Should she just give up on him and maybe try to find someone else? An image of Sasuke's handsome face appeared in her head. She couldn't give up yet.

"This mission," Sakura said with a firm resolve in in her voice. "I'll decide things after this mission. First I'll try talking to Sasuke tomorrow."

With that decided, she went to bed.

The next day she ate breakfast with her family, got her backpack that she'd packed for the long mission, then headed out. She still had an hour before she and her team were supposed to meet Tazuna at the gate. She needed to talk to Sasuke now.

She made her way to the Uchiha Compound and knocked on the door. Sasuke opened it.

"Sakura," he greeted his teammate in a neutral tone.

"Um… hi Sasuke," she started. "I just wanted to talk to you real quick in private before the mission."

"Hmph. Alright what is it?" Sasuke glared slightly at her.

"You know that I like you right?" Sakura asked. "You said I was annoying and I've tried not to bother you too much this past month. I was wondering, if maybe…"

"I have other things to worry about besides girls right now," Sasuke told her simply. "Maybe once I avenge my clan I'll be open to something like that. But right now I don't need any distractions from my training. You spent all that time in the academy fawning over me instead of trying to make yourself strong! But I'll say that I like you a bit better now. You might not be totally useless as a teammate. You're learning genjutsu and you're smart. But I'm not looking for anything like that right now."

Sakura felt her eyes water at his words, she clutched the straps of her backpack tightly.

"I understand Sasuke. Well, I-I hope I can at least…" her voice broke as she began to sniffle. "at least be a worthy comrade to you."

He didn't answer. She walked off and wiped her eyes at the rejection. Sakura cried for a while then saw him coming from the direction of his house as he walked past her with his own backpack on. Sighing, she pulled herself to her feet. He wasn't going to be interested in girls until he avenged his clan. Who knew how long that would take? It could be months, or even years. Sakura couldn't spend her days waiting for him.

She followed Sasuke to the gate where Naruto was shouting at their client.

"You just wait old man, I'm gonna be the greatest Hokage and then you'll have to worship me!"

"Ha! When you become hokage I'll sprout wings and fly! Its never gonna happen!"

Naruto's rage boiled over. "Why you I'm gonna…"

Kakashi appeared and grabbed hold of him. "You can't attack the client Naruto! Pipe down!"

He looked at Sakura. "Hey Sakura. I'd like you to stay close to Naruto on this mission."

"Huh? Why?" Sakura asked.

"He's strong but dumb. You're weak but smart," Kakashi said. "You two can balance each other out."

Sakura looked at Naruto and sighed. She wasn't as annoyed with him as she used to be and she considered him a friend. Maybe this way she could keep him from making stupid mistakes. They began their mission and headed out to the Land of Waves, walking through the forest with Tazuna.

Well I plan on making a few changes to the land of waves arc, at least in the final battle but we'll see if I make any more changes along the way. I didn't originally plan on Sasuke rejecting Sakura so soon but it just happened as I wrote. I might have to check on the last two chapters to make sure I haven't gotten anything goofed up or contradicted here from there. Please review and share your thoughts.