Team 7's Expedition
Two hours later Team 7, Kakashi's shinobi in training, gathered in front of a billboard after being called in at the last minute for a mission. The three squad members were all 12-year-old ninja who had already had good combat experience from a previous mission to the land of waves. The three squad members were Sakura Haruno, a kunoichi (female shinobi) with a soft outward appearance but hides a fiery temper with a soft spot for the boy she likes. The second of the team is Sasuke Uchiha, a brooding loner with a serious talent for combat and all skills involved in becoming a Shinobi, he also can tend to be overconfident and despite this he is outwardly stoic but deeply cares for his allies, though he doesn't show it. Outside of their Sensei, the leader of their team, Kakashi. The last member of the team is Naruto Uzumaki, a hyperactive ball of energy and determination with aspirations hopelessly higher than anyone else in the village… and he is a bit late.
Sakura and Sasuke wait patiently as Naruto walks toward them, waving at his teammates with Sakura waving back while Sasuke just watches as he gets closer. Once Naruto gets close enough to give an actual greeting, he locks eyes with Sasuke and they immediately avert their gaze from one another, hiding a look of disgust. It was clear they didn't get along, especially not now. Sakura groans at her teammates, commenting to herself how they have been acting this way since a previous mission.
Apparently, things have gotten worse, regardless Naruto was raring to go, he could hardly wait for the mission to start. Waiting however is just what he would have to do since Kakashi was even more late than he was. Three hours later Kakashi arrived having made the excuse he had gotten lost. An excuse which his team wasn't putting up with since they have heard this exact excuse before. Before things got more tense Kakashi started the meeting, he said, "I have a very special C rank mission for you three." The mood suddenly shifts with this new information. Naruto is hyped to get a new mission and can't wait to hear what it is but first he wants to check something with Kakashi. He yells out with all the energy the pre-teen could muster, "Kakashi Sensei, lately all of our Team 7 missions have been too easy!"
He continued, "Is this one, ya know, a Hot One? One where I can shine, that follows my Ninja way, and my heart like…" Kakashi cuts him off, "Yeah, yeah." He lets out a sigh and says in a low, exhausted tone, "I pretty much know what you're going to say." Kakashi then cuts to the chase, "Today you all have a search and retrieval mission." Everyone quiets down and listens, he continues, "You will be escorting a collector to his home far west of Mount Paozu. Essentially in the countries of the West, you will then help him collect some lost artifacts and return them to him safely." Naruto was very animated about his disapproval, yelling out, "Oh come on, what happened to this being a "Hot One"? Kakashi then replied with a slight smirk, "Well you all will technically be going to a desert, Diablo Desert if I'm remembering it correctly."
Naruto grit his teeth at the bad pun and grumbles, "You know that's not what I meant." However, Sasuke notices something about what Kakashi said that slipped by the other two Genin. Sasuke asked, "What do you mean when you say "You all"?" Naruto and Sakura immediately catch on to what Sasuke was saying and in turn what Kakashi is implying. Their sensei then begins to rub the back of his head and says, "Well, yes, this will strictly be a three-man mission. I will not be accompanying you on this one." Sakura throws out a question, "What do you mean Kakashi Sensei? You have always accompanied us on missions, even the previous C rank mission we got recently, why is this one any different?"
Kakashi then admits, "It's an easy mission and besides that the Hokage wants me for a solo mission so I can't accompany you for this one." Naruto was confused by this reasoning asking, "Why can't this mission wait until after ours is done?" Sasuke chimed in with an annoyed tone, "Obviously this one's important, you moron." Naruto irritably said back, "What did you say?!" This time Sakura spoke up, "If it's a mission from the Hokage then obviously it's gonna be more important than a C rank." Naruto grumbled but relented after seeing the clear logic behind this decision." Kakashi finally joined the conversation again saying, "That's exactly correct, Lord Third wants this mission done as soon as possible so I can't delay any longer. I'll take you to the client and we can be on our way."
The mission is accepted and Kakashi takes them to the front gate to introduce them to their client. They stop at the check in station which is set up just outside the front gates of the village. There they meet the collector and his two companions who greet them. The first thing all three ninja think when seeing them is that they're an odd trio. The most normal of the bunch is a young woman with black hair, black eyes and wearing a dark, teal trench coat. The second member is an anthropomorphic dog, a strange species that appears to be very common in the west. He has orange fur, is wearing a stereotypical ninja suit with a hood with his dog ears poking at the top, and he has a katana strapped to his back. The last member is the oddest of the bunch and is apparently the merchant in question, he is a short light blue man with no nose, pointy ears and wears a green and black tunic with a frill around his collar, he also wears a red and blue striped hat that covers all but his eyes and below.
The merchant introduced himself as Pilaf and the other two are named Shu and Mai. Team 7 introduced themselves and they immediately headed out saying goodbye to Kakashi sensei. Right when they leave the village Pilaf turns around and says, "Ok now for our part of the agreement." Team 7 watches him inquisitively as he pulls out a small box with peanut sized devices inside. One was labeled "airplane" Pilaf then pressed down on some sort of switch at the top of it and tossed it a couple feet away from everyone. The device disappeared in a puff of thick smoke and once the smoke dissipated a large mechanical machine stood where the machine was now.
Team 7 was dumbfounded; they had only heard stories of the West's machines, but they had never seen or read anything like this. Pilaf noticed their dumbfounded expression and said, "You must be new to Western technology, seeing how a simple Dino-Cap can impress you." The team remains surprised when Pilaf motions them to get in the plane but before they can Sakura had a question, "Aren't these illegal outside of the West? From what we studied, I thought the West was very strict about what comes and goes from their land?" Pilaf waves this off saying, "You don't need to worry about those regulations. They've been softened since last year, now vehicles can go through so long as they aren't equipped with weapons of any kind and then you have a license. I can't even bring a dinky, little knife without the Border Patrol getting on me for "endangering the East."
Pilaf seemed really indignant about these regulations. With his explanation the team relaxes and boards the plane, strapping in as they fly off toward the Diabolo Desert and right to Pilaf's home. It was an amazing feeling for the team, with this being their first time in a plane. The sense of vertigo was nothing like what they have ever felt before. On the way their Pilaf told the team his woes, he explained how a group of bandits robbed him and took seven priceless artifacts he had just acquired.
While they were circling Mount Paozu Sakura asked a very interesting question. "Since you all live near the mountain, have you ever encountered the Paozu monster?" Pilaf was confused, "The Paozu monster?" Sakura noted Pilaf's confusion and said, "You know, the monster at the top of the mountain." Naruto chimed in, "Oh, oh, oh, I remember those stories! It's based on an old tale I heard in the middle of class." Naruto began to recite the story, "On the night the Nine Tails attacked, a second roar was heard from the mountain. The Hokage sent a hundred shinobi to find the beast but only five came back alive. Some say that every few months during midnight you can hear the monster from the summit."
Sakura with a furrowed brow says in a low tone, "Figures Naruto would be focused on a horror story over class." Naruto rubs the back of his head while laughing nervously. Pilaf let out a short laugh and spoke in a dismissive tone, "You kids and your stories. Of course, there is no monster and even if there was, my house is way too far away to be hearing anything this far off." Sasuke agreed, "Of course it's false. If there really was a monster the Hokage would have taken care of its years ago. You should focus more on your training than random stories, loser." Just hearing Sasuke's pompous tone was enough to make Naruto want to slug him but he's strapped down and Sasuke's too far away, so Naruto just settles with telling Sasuke to shut up.
Sasuke dismisses Naruto's comment, coming back to the topic of thieves. Sasuke spoke confidently claiming if petty thieves are the ones that took his stuff, then this mission might go easier than he thought. Sasuke's chill yet cocky attitude agitated Naruto even more, while Sakura swooned over his confident boasts. They too were an odd and emotional trio… The moment they arrive team 7 realizes how much of an understatement "home" was. It turned out Pilaf's home was actually a man-made Castle in the shape of a stone palace with a strange metal disc at the top of it. Once they entered and made themselves at home, Pilaf and his compatriots prepared rooms for them since it was so late. The Moon was already up when they arrived. Pilaf and his employees left them be as Team 7 conversed with each other about their mission.
Sasuke had his mind set on these bandits, he was sure they would be their greatest obstacle and be a good group to test himself against. Naruto was confident that no matter their numbers he could take care of them. After another agitated staring contest between him and Sasuke, Sakura mentioned how they need to stay focused. After all, Kakashi wouldn't be there to bail them out if things got bad. Naruto reassured Sakura that this shouldn't be that tough, they handled themselves really well during the Waves mission. Naruto even mentioned how Kakashi was impressed too. Sasuke didn't do this much but he verbally agreed with Naruto. Sakura agreed after that but for a moment she looked a little dejected, but she switched back to being more positive before heading straight to bed.
Naruto was a little unsure what was with her, but Sasuke said, "Leave her be." Naruto was agitated at how easily Sasuke dismissed Sakura but became more confused when he said, "This isn't a balanced team." Naruto let out a confused, "huh" and said, "What are you talking about?" Sasuke let out an exasperated sigh and said, "If a loser like you can't see what I mean then I'm not going to spell it out for you." Naruto, switching from confused to agitated, yelled out at Sasuke but he ignored him while he strolled to his room. This only made Naruto even more annoyed, annoyed and very confused. He couldn't figure out what Sasuke was talking about, and he didn't care. He stormed off to his room to sleep the question away.
In the morning, the collector and his two companions cooked them breakfast and afterwards Pilaf explained what these artifacts were and exactly what they were going to do to get them back. Pilaf described the artifacts as shiny, orange balls made of thick glass. They had numbered stars on them that ranged from one to seven. Pilaf continued with his explanation on how to get them back, "Those rotten bandits may have gotten my goods but what they don't know is that I have tracking devices in them. No doubt they have already sold them, but I wouldn't be surprised if a couple of the bandits had decided to keep them, no doubt as a memento to their grand theft."
Pilaf then ordered Mai to give them "the radar". Mai immediately handed Sasuke a small, thin, square device with a button at the bottom of it, like a Dino Cap.
Mai explained that the button at the bottom turns it on and off but to increase the range they need to twist the bottom switch counterclockwise. Sasuke did just that and it blinked to life with a red outline that swept across the surface of the tracker like an outward spreading wave. The rest of team 7 watched as Sasuke twisted the switch until they were at max range. Naruto counted several balls scattered everywhere but stopped at four that are currently clustered together. They were moving toward a fifth one that was a ways away and they were moving slowly. Naruto spoke in a confused tone, "What are these doing together?" Sakura questioned why they would be going for a ball that they apparently already stole and most likely sold. Pilaf yelled out, "No doubt the bandits haven't sold all of them just yet. They're probably on their way to sell another."
His theory seemed plausible enough, but Sasuke had his doubts, so he asked, "Why didn't they sell the whole set?" Pilaf paused and then let out a simple, "Huh?" He was honestly confused which triggered Sasuke to continue, " They could have charged much more for all seven rather than just selling them in singles or pairs, right?" Pilaf stammers at the thought when Mai chimed in with an answer, "They probably want to sell them under the story that they are a rare item, it's easier to sell rare items in singles since selling them as anything more than two would contradict that story." Sasuke paused for a moment and then agreed and dropped the question, but Pilaf's confused response was strange to him, but he decided to keep that to himself.
Sasuke then said, "We would get started." His chill demeanor agitated Naruto with how "cool" he was acting and how he seemed to be acting like the leader of the squad, but he put up with it since Sakura looked pleased with the decision. Team 7 agreed and were about to head out when Pilaf stopped them. He told them that part of the deal was flying them in and out of the desert. Pilaf then handed them a second device; it was a black device that was as thin as a twig but much more straight with a switch at the top of it like with the Dino Caps. Mai chimed in, "If you press the button on this device, we will be able to home in on your location and pick you up. Try not to press it on accident or when you're being attacked. Our craft is not only expensive but also doesn't have defenses thanks to the weapon restrictions."
Sasuke handled the device with care and handed it to Sakura saying she should be responsible for it, calling it a team effort. It was a bizarre statement coming from Sasuke, but he brushed the confused gaze of his allies aside, looked at Pilaf and spoke in a commanding tone, "Get us as close as possible, the faster we get this done the sooner we can go home." Naruto was confused but Sakura was stunned. If she didn't know any better, she would say that Sasuke was trying to make her feel important to the team. Pilaf seemed a bit irritated but just waved for Shu to fly them out. Sasuke noticed Pilaf's two friends looking oddly nervous. Regardless, it was time to go. Shu escorted Team 7 to the plane and flew them out but as soon as they left...
Pilaf yelled out angrily, "That damn brat, I'm the one who hired them. What's he doing giving me orders?" Pilaf ended his rant with a kick to a large computer panel behind him, inadvertently hurting his foot. Mai attempted to calm him down, "But sir, now we have our own lackeys searching for the balls for us. The balls are practically being gift wrapped to us." Pilaf stood up straight in an attempt to regain his composure. Pilaf laughed out loud and spoke with a gleeful expression on his face, "Soon I'll be Emperor and the world will at long last be mine!" He then looked to Mai and said, "And it's all thanks to my negotiation skills. Without any elite ninja following us around we'll have those fools dancing in the palm of our hands." Mai acted a little hurt saying in a low tone, 'B-but I was the one doing the negotiations." Pilaf ignored her objections and ordered his lackeys to shadow them after dropping them off. He wanted them to be watched in case they began to catch on to their deception, his two companions immediately left as Pilaf laughed some more at his supposed victory.