CHAPTER ELEVEN
Our benefactors Part-1
One month later
"So what's the plan?"
Moegi asked her new mentor, none other than Sakura Haruno. The pink haired shinobi raised a hand to silence her protégé.
"Shhhh, be quiet". Her hand hovered over her kunai pouch as she scanned her surroundings at high alert…
Two figures appeared from the overhead tree branches and landed in front of the pair. Upon spotting them, Sakura exhaled in relief and beckoned Moegi to follow her. She approached the new arrivals, who turned out to be Naruto and Hinata.
"We've located their hideout" Hinata pointed in the direction of their target.
"They're resting in a clearing to the north east, about 2km from here"
"Then we better get going" a masculine voice belonging to Uchiha Sasuke spoke from behind them.
Naruto nodded to his friend's words in approval. "Remember our orders, no prisoners. We should strike them now they're unprepared".
Sakura turned to Hinata. "How many of them?"
"About forty"
"Forty?" Sakura said with a surprised expression.
"There's a reason the daimyo assigned the best shinobi in Konoha to this mission" Naruto said, turning to Sasuke with a shit eating grin. "And Sasuke"
The Uchiha looked in the distance with an expressionless face. "You'll probably end up holding me back Uzumaki, watch your words"
Naruto scoffed at Sasuke's words. "Pah, like we even need you on this mission. You're just dead weight"
"Then we shall prove our worth on the battlefield"
"We already have, and I kicked your butt if I recall" Naruto replied placing his hands on his waist proudly.
"It was a draw idiot" Sasuke replied, his frustration starting to show
"I didn't mean that battlefield stupid, I beat you in the training field last week"
"We were having a friendly spar you bastard, or do you want to go over ALL our training sessions?"
"Only the ones that matter Sasuke!" Naruto growled.
"You don't get to decide which ones DON'T!" Sasuke shot back at him.
While the two argued, Hinata rolled her eyes at Sakura, who broke into a small laugh. Moegi took notice of this and asked her. "Sakura-sama, are they always like this?"
"Eh, most of the time" Sakura shrugged. "And just call me Sakura okay?"
"Sorry" Moegi apologized, then she rubbed her arm nervously. Sakura took notice of this and walked closer to her.
"Are you feeling cold Moegi?"
"No, just a bit nervous that's all"
Sakura placed her hand on student's shoulder. "We'll succeed in one piece, you can count on it"
Moegi's eyes shifted to the snowy ground beneath them. "It's just that…I've never…killed a man before"
"Oh" was all Sakura could say. She didn't have any experience guiding anyone to their first kill and didn't know what to tell Moegi.
"It's part of being a shinobi".
Sakura turned to find Hinata addressing Moegi. "You're never prepared until it happens and you're left with no choice. You know what you signed up for, be prepared to stay true to your duties"
Hinata looked in the direction of the gang's hideout and continued with a frown "And these rapist murderers are absolute scum, they deserve worse than what's coming to them"
Moegi thanked Hinata for her words, which she felt came out a bit too straightforward, but they got the job done.
A few moments later the two finally calmed down and the team set off for the bandit's hideout. A group of A rank criminals, the red wolf gang had made a name for themselves in recent weeks. Their reckless looting, killing and trafficking had placed a lot of the outer villages in constant fear, and soon enough the daimyo got Konoha on the case. Not wanting to take any chances, he ordered for the absolute best the hidden leaf could offer and specifically requested the total destruction of the terrorist group.
As they made for the red wolf gang's hideout, Sakura glanced at Moegi by her side. The young girl had personally asked her to be taken under her wing as her student. Moegi was the medic nin assigned to team 4, and while she was okay in her role, she felt she could improve. Sakura was the shinobi she looked up to the most and as soon as she made chunin, Moegi took it upon herself to ask her to be her mentor. The young girl's request reminded Sakura of her own self, asking lady Tsunade to train her all those years back and she felt a sense of accomplishment from being considered capable enough to pass on her will to the next generation. So naturally she agreed.
"We're almost there" Hinata declared to the group as they moved from branch to branch. Sakura took note and checked her backpack to inspect her medical equipment again.
Not like she was ever going to use them, she thought. The truth was going on Missions with Naruto and Sasuke could be likened to going on a hike through the woods. There was really nothing for anyone else to do with the two strongest shinobi in the world on the same team, and Naruto and Sasuke's constant attempts at one-upping each other meant everything was guaranteed to be a seal clubbing tournament to any unfortunate soul on the receiving end. Sometimes Sakura wished all the Kages would suddenly turn evil and do battle with them, just so she could feel something in combat missions. She laughed away her ridiculous fantasy as her mind travelled back to the previous morning when they were assigned their task….
"Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Hinata" Kakashi paused to look at the new face in his office.
"And Moegi" he continued, "You are expected to leave immediately". The Hokage got up and placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "As the team leader, I am entrusting you with the lives of these people. Be careful out there, stay true to your objectives and do not underestimate the enemy"
"Understood Hokage-sama" Naruto nodded.
Kakashi exhaled and squeezed his former student's shoulder. "The entire kingdom is counting on you, I cannot stress this enough" he made a dramatic pause, his eyes travelling around the room and resting on each shinobi before finally returning to Naruto.
"Be careful out there….we're all praying for your safe return"
The two men remained frozen in their position. And then they both exploded into laughter.
"Oh man, you almost got me Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto said, doubling over in laughter. "Be careful out there" he said, doing an impression of Kakashi and laughing again.
The Hokage wiped a tear from his eye and plopped into his chair. "Just go deal with those idiots and don't make too much of a mess" he said waving dismissively at them.
Sasuke bowed his head and mumbled "Why they chose to operate in the land of fire, I will never understand"
"They must have a death wish or something" Naruto turned around and began to exit the room. "Come on guys, let's hurry it up, I don't want to miss the festival"
Still baffled by the events she just witnessed, Moegi turned to Hinata standing next to her for answers. The kunoichi just shrugged with a blank expression on her face.
"Welcome to your first S class mission"
"Yeah, S for sightseeing" Sakura scoffed, drawing a small laugh from Hinata.
"Good one Sakura". The pair left the room leaving a dumbfounded Moegi behind.
"Come on Moegi, let's get this over with" Sakura poked her head back into the room, and her young student followed.
Fifteen minutes later, the three kunoichi found themselves seated on a snow-covered meadow, overlooking a valley. Sakura and Hinata were engaged in conversation while Moegi struggled to observe what was happening in the valley below.
Frustrated, she turned to Sakura. "When do we make our move? We've been keeping watch for ages now"
Sakura sighed and stood up to place a hand on her shoulder. "Moegi, we're better off seated here, trust me. It's much safer too"
Hinata added "It's not exciting but it can't be helped"
Moegi reluctantly sat back down with the two young women. Then the electric crackle of a giant dragon-shaped bolt of lightning directed their attention to the valley below them.
"Hmm, Kirin. I haven't seen that in a while" Sakura said, with an unimpressed look on her face. Then she turned to Moegi, who had her mouth open watching the lightning eviscerate a group of fortifications below.
"Like I said earlier, you're not going to learn much on S rank missions with those two onboard" Sakura was interrupted by Hinata handing her a drink.
"Thank you" Sakura accepted the beverage before continuing, "Here's how missions play out with this team: Step 1, Hinata looks around for a bit. Step 2, those two clear out the danger. Step 3, I check on Sasuke and heal any injuries he sustained. Step 4, we go home"
"Its really simple" Hinata sipped her apple juice.
[Chibaku tensei]
A massive rocky sphere took shape over the valley, growing in size as Moegi took note of what she had just heard from Sakura.
"My goodness, you two are stealing a living in this team Sakura" she said as she slumped her shoulders in disappointment.
Hinata shrugged. "S ranks are pretty boring for us, but it's not like it's our fault"
Sakura faced Moegi with a pout "Aww, cheer up Moegi" her face lit up with an idea. "You know what? I'll let you heal any bruises Sasuke comes back with….if he does come back injured"
Moegi's expression lightened up a bit. "And Naruto?"
"Don't worry, he's got that covered!" Hinata replied with a smile. "Brace yourselves"
Moegi's head tilted in confusion "Huh?"
[Bijuudama]
A huge explosion ripped the planetary devastation to pieces sending a shockwave to where the girls sat. Once it died down, Sakura picked a twig out of her hair and frowned. "Great, now I've got dirt in my hair"
"Our first casualty" Hinata joked.
"Well, I might as well just watch" Moegi got up to get a closer look at the 'battle' below.
"Knock yourself out" Sakura waved her off. Then she offered a food pill to Hinata. "She's lucky to witness an S rank battle to be frank"
"Yeah" Hinata accepted the food pill from her friend. Below, the towering figure of a winged purple samurai could be spotted swinging it's sword in the direction of what looked like a tent, splitting both it and the terrain for the next couple of miles in two.
"Hey Sakura, Naruto and I will be going to the movie theater in the festival with Shikamaru Temari, will you and Sasuke be joining?" Hinata asked her teammate.
"I'd love to, it would be a fun triple date!"
"That's great but are you sure Sasuke would agree to it?"
"Well, he doesn't have much of a choice" Sakura said with a smile.
"WOW!"
The two kunoichi turned to Moegi, who had her mouth open watching a giant yellow fox practically disintegrate what was left of the criminal gang's encampment with powerful swings of it's 9 enormous tails.
Sakura turned back to Hinata . "I assume you're looking forward to the festival Hinata"
"Yes, Naruto particularly likes it" Hinata replied with a giggle "It's got sentimental value to him"
"Huh, I thought you'd look forward to it for another reason"
Hinata tilted her head. "Which is?"
"Hinata, don't tell me you forgot?"
The Hyuuga rubbed her chin in thought. "Forgot what?"
Sakura face palmed and sighed in exasperation. "Your 20th birthday is two days after the festival"
Hinata paused for a second as the weight of her friend's words fully settled on her. "Right!"
"My goodness, you forgot about your own birthday?!"
The two kunoichi were interrupted by Naruto and Sasuke flickering to their resting spot.
"Did you see how incredible I was down there?" Naruto beamed a bright smile at the young women. Moegi scurried up to him with her mouth still open.
"Naruto, Sasuke, you were amazing!" the star struck shinobi clapped her hands together in admiration.
"Light work really" Naruto smiled, rubbing his neck. "I guess we shared the burden equally this time, bastard" he said to Sasuke.
"No we didn't" Sasuke sheathed his sword. "I got 21 enemies"
Naruto looked wide eyed at Sasuke, then at Hinata.
"You said there were 40 of them!"
His girlfriend rubbed her arm in embarrassment. "Oops?"
Ignoring Naruto's depressed ramblings, Sakura took a closer look at Sasuke to check for any injuries. A smile lifted at the corner of her mouth as she spotted a small scratch on his cheek.
"Sasuke-kun, hold on a bit". She reached up with her hand and healed his wound, then planted a kiss on his cheek where it used to be. "Good as new"
"Sakura-sama, you promised I'd be the one to heal Sasuke" Moegi grumbled, frowning at Sakura.
"Oh, sorry about that Moegi"
Naruto cleared his throat and addressed all the shinobi present. "Alright guys, let's head back home, the clean up team will be here soon" he then turned to Sasuke and gestured with his hands. "We're waiting?"
Sasuke sighed and stepped forward to open a portal with his Rinnegan for the team to take back to Konoha.