Naruto stood outside his new home and looked back, the dark red two story house surrounded by a wall of trees, the only entrance being the black iron front gate that had the Uzumaki Spiral in the center. He'd known about the place for a while but never thought anything of it. It had a decently sized front yard with a single apple tree in the middle of the left half of the yard and small white flowers around the base of the house.

Around the back was a small training ground with a single pond for training water walking or water Jutsu. After Yūgao-Sensei had helped him move into the place he'd made clones to explore the entire thing. He'd easily found his mother's journals, books on Fuinjutsu and her sword. Despite how much time had passed, the blade looked as if it had just been sharpened and cleaned, the hilt wrapped in crimson cloth, with the sheath painted to look like it was made of dark blue scales. After picking it up he made a clone who went out back to practice and get used to the blade's balance. In the meantime he studied the seas that were barely visible on the blade and smiled. The seals made it so that the blade was ever sharp, never needed to be cleaned, and when Wind Chakra was channeled through it, the blade moved through the air with little to no resistance.

Naruto smiled as he turned and left though the gate before taking to the rooftops, on his way to meet his team at the Hokage Tower.


The Mission Room was large and mostly empty with a single long table with windows behind it. At the desk a clone of the Hokage sat along with a couple Chunin. Taking a puff from his pipe the Hokage said, "Ah. Team Six. A little early today aren't we?"

"Team Six reporting for a C-Rank Mission Hokage-Sama," Yūgao replied.

"Really?" One of the Chunin asked, "They've only been Genin for about a month. Are they really ready for this?"

"They surpassed the requirements I set for C-Ranks last week," Yūgao replied with a smirk making the Chunin blink in surprise, "However they didn't feel like they were ready yet."

"And now they feel they are," Hiruzen said with a nod. Noticing Naruto shifting slightly he smiled, "It is nothing to be ashamed of if you felt you needed a little extra time. C-Rank missions can be dangerous. Let's see what we have for you shall we?" One of the Chunin handed the Hokage a large folder who began flipping through it, "Let's see… ah. There is a small bandit group harassing travelers, who travel between the Land of Fire and Land of Grass. They've been focusing on a small roadside inn and reports say there should only be about a dozen men however there could be more hiding in the nearby woods."

"We accept," Yūgao said and was handed a scroll with the details from one of the Chunin. Turning to her Genin she said, "Alright. Before we head out we'll head to a shop for Shinobi Equipment and go over what's needed on most C-Ranks," With that the group left the office. Taking to the rooftops as soon as they left the Hokage Building they soon arrived at the shop. The window displayed a couple katana, along with a full set of kunai and shuriken at the feet of an armor stand showing a high quality copy of Senju styled armor, the sign above saying 'Higurashi's Armaments'. Entering the store the group saw waist high walls section off parts of the floor with each section dedicated to different kinds of Shinobi equipment such as throwing daggers and different kinds of shuriken, standard weapons such as katana, wakizashi, tantos, bo staffs and the like. A section dedicated to armor, both obvious and hidden in normal looking outfits.

A section for camping and it even had a section dedicated to Fuinjutsu, with books dedicated to the art, bottles of the specially prepared ink, brushes, explosion tags and scrolls made from Chakra Paper. Naruto who'd gone to take a look at the scroll's eyes bulged as he saw the price. A single scroll was worth almost three times what a single stack of explosion tags cost.

"HA! Most Fuinjutsu users make that expression," A tall man with a couple scars on his face and arms, brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, black eyes crinkled as he smiled down at the blond. He wore a simple white shirt under a black smith's apron, "Chakra Scrolls like that are the best option for large complex seals as it slightly amplifies the power of the seal. The few people who buy it normally only do so after a couple back to back A-Ranks. It's a pain in the ass to stock but well worth it when it's sold."

Naruto nodded thinking about what the man told him, "Thanks. I'll keep that in mind. Perhaps I'll see if I can take some solo D-Ranks and save up."

The man smiled as he turned to Yūgao, "Gotta admit Yūgao. When I heard you'd taken a Genin Team I thought they'd turn out to be some snot nosed brats like most Genin are. If the other two are like this one then they'll go far. It's obvious the kid's already considering what the Chakra Scrolls can do and he's willing to work for his goals rather than expecting things to be handed to him now that he's a Shinobi."

Yūgao returned the grin, "I got a good set, Tenchi. In fact these three are about to go on their first C-Rank and we came so I could teach them what items they'd most likely need," Looking at her Genin she said, "This is Tenshi Higurashi. A retired Elite Chunin and one of the best blacksmith's in the village."

"Glad you're not half assing teaching them," Tenshi grinned, "It's still surprising how many Jonin Sensei don't even go over what the Genin need on C-Ranks until after they've already gone on one," Tenshi gave the three Genin one last nod before going back to the counter.

"Alright. So for this C-Rank we'll be gone for a week or two. Do any of you already have camping gear?" Yūgao inquired, her Genin shaking their heads, "So we'll get a full set for each of you then. You'll want to get your tents and sleeping bags checked at least twice a year to make sure they're still water tight. Shino's Kikaichū can take care of any pests that try to harass us but we won't always have an Aburame with us so you'll also want some insect repellent. Field rations are also a must as you won't always get a chance to hunt for food," The Genin nodded. While they hadn't gone camping before, they had learned the ins and outs of hunting. Yūgao then went over everything else the Genin would need on most C-Ranks.

After making their purchases which included a tent for each Genin even if they would likely only require two for this mission, they headed for the West Gate, signed out and left Konoha, taking to the tree's only a couple minutes away from the village's walls. It took a couple days to get to the inn, but before they entered Yūgao had them take civilian disguises as they didn't know if the bandits were spying on the inn. It was run by an older couple and their grandson. After speaking to the grandson, they learned the bandits would come every two weeks and the next attack would most likely be in a couple days so for the next few days Team Six helped around the place, mostly keeping to the background. Early in the morning before the attack Yūgao put security seals on the door and window to her's and Hinata's room, "Alright. Let's review the plan," Yūgao said.

"I shall hang back and support you all with my Kikaichū," Shino said as he adjusted his glasses, "Along with some of Naruto's explosive tags tied to wooden darts," Shino had come up with the idea of making wooden darts to throw as metal kunai were both costly and as one would expect useless after the tag went off. However these darts were easy to replace, as even just a single branch from Konoha's tree's could make several throwing darts. Kunai were better as daggers or all purpose tools, "While also using some Earth Jutsu to hinder their movement," He was slightly annoyed that he hadn't mastered any Wind Jutsu to the point they'd be useful in battle, however he knew that in time he would. He'd already gained a good deal of Chakra from all the training. He simply needed to be patient.

"I will disable as many bandits as I can with my Juken," Hinata stated, "I am also to use my Water and Lightning Bullets when I have a clean shot."

"My clones and I will also support Hinata," Naruto declared seriously, his katana strapped to his back and his wakizashi on his waist, "Along with protecting the civilians. We also need to let at least one bandit escape so a clone can follow them back to their camp. Once we know their camp's location we move in and strike before they can retaliate, dattebayo."

"And if any nuke-nin appear?" Yūgao asked.

"You'll step in. If we're attacked before you do, our goal is to evade and survive," Shino replied.

"Very good," Yūgao said with a small smile, very proud of her Genin. Each one had blossomed under her teaching, especially Naruto but that could also be due to the fact that for the first time in his life he had a proper teacher and friends to support him. She hoped that their first kills wouldn't affect them too badly.

A few hours later Naruto made four clones, who using the Transformation Jutsu, taking the forms of Team Six in their civilian disguises and had them leave the inn and move west as if continuing on their way to the Land of Grass. The four Shinobi waited in the shadows for the bandits to appear. Ten past noon the bandits charged through the archway to the road only to be met with Hinata blocking their path quickly followed up by Shino's Kikaichu and four wooden darts, two of them with paper wrapped around them forcing the bandits to make a circle. A hoard of Naruto's clones wielding katanas and wakizashis appeared out of bursts of smoke preventing their escape.

"Throw down your weapons and surrender," One of the Naruto's ordered making the bandits sneer.

"Surrender? To a couple snot nosed brats?" One of the more muscular bandits snarled, his bare arms covered in scars showing how long he'd been a bandit and how many fights he'd been in, a slightly chipped kusari-gama in his hands, the heavy round weight spinning before him as a makeshift shield, "You brats are decades early if you think you can beat us. Get them boys!" With a roar the group surged towards Hinata, moments before the explosion tags went off, taking out the couple bandits at the back, the men screaming in pain as the explosions made their legs useless. The Kikaichū then surged inwards, easily darting past the bandits awkward swings. One of the lookout clones burst, letting Naruto know that there was one more in the tree's who'd just bolted, with a second lookout clone in pressuit.

"Take em down!" All the Naruto's roared. Half of them surging forward while Hinata let loose with a half dozen elemental bullets, the Water Bullets detonating before reaching the bandits, coating the lead bandit and the man right next to him in water and with how close the two were and the lead bandit losing control of his weapon due to surprise the chain wrapping around his comrades arm, when the Lightning Bullets slammed into the bandit wielding the Kusari-Gama the electricity traveling through the water and chian shocking both enough that they collapse to the ground twitching and unconscious. The rest of the bandits fell just as quickly,

"Naruto leave some clones to remove their weapons and restrain them!" Yūgao ordered the remaining clones from the battle saluting and quickly getting to their task while the rest of Team Six bolted into the woods following Naruto who was leading the way to the camp. Once there Hinata scanned the place with her Byakugan and signaled that the bandits didn't have any captives, before releasing another volley of water and lightning bullets at a trio of bandits all of whom wore metal plated armor and had higher quality weapons, signaling they were most likely the leaders of the group. Just as it had done with the first two bandits, the trio went down quickly, though one of them managed to force himself to a knee before Shino's hive swarmed him and started draining his chakra.

Naruto's clones were dealing with the few other bandits, however one member of the armored trio had managed to get to his feet and was about to use his heavy mace to bash Hinata's head in when she spun around, her hand lashing out and closed a couple of the Tenketsu on his arm making him drop the weapon before shooting an already charged Lighting Bullet directly into his face, the bandit falling back dead, though Hinata didn't focus on that yet as there were a couple bandits left.

Once the camp had been cleared out, and the bandits either dead or safely contained in stasis scrolls, the Genin sat around the remains of the bandit's campfire as they processed their first kills, "Who… who got the first kill?" Naruto gulped. It was one thing to kill a deer or lynx but another to kill a human.

"Shino did," Yūgao replied making the Genin give her curious looks, "I left a clone back at the Inn and one of the bandits he got with the explosion tags died of shock. Then Hinata got one of the bandit leaders with a lightning bullet," Hinata nodded, recalling the man who'd attempted to hit her with a mace, "And finally one of Naruto's clones cut down a bandit who was about to throw an ax at Shino. There were others but those were your first kills. Now I know this is hard. Believe me every Shinobi who isn't mentally unstable goes through this."

"Is killing always this difficult?" Hinata asked as she fought to prevent herself from throwing up.

"No. It gets easier but that's both a blessing and a curse," Yūgao sighed, "Many Jonin who focus on combat missions tend to get to the point where killing is barely noticeable, but that's not a pleasant concept to talk about. So I'll tell you the same thing Kushina-Sensei told me and my teammates when we had our first kills," Yūgao held back a sigh. It still hurt remembering her teammates, "Every time you take the life of a bandit or nuke-nin. Don't just think about their life. Think about the lives of the innocents they took, how you avenged them. How you gave them peace, and also think about the lives of the people that if you didn't put the bandit down would be in danger. Shinobi life is not easy, nor is it glamorous. We're soldiers, spies, assassins and thieves. While other villages and even others in Konoha might see it differently. In many ways we are the shadows in the night who keep even worse shadows at bay. We fight so the civilians don't have to. We fight to protect those close to us. We fight to keep whatever evils this world might have, from getting a foothold and causing untold havoc."

The three Genin sat in silence contemplating Yūgao's words. After ten minutes they looked at each other and nodded, "Eternal Peace might never come…" Naruto started, holding out a fist.

"But that doesn't mean it's not worth fighting for," Hinata continued, knocking her fist to Naruto's.

"Nore does it mean that fighting for whatever form of peace we can get is a worthless pursuit," Shino stated as he copied Hinata's actions.

"After all!" Naruto said with a grin.

"Nothing in life that's worthwhile is easy to get!" The three said simultaneously. Yūgao fought hard to keep herself from crying out of sheer pride. These three who had started out barely knowing each other had become the best of friends. She couldn't wait to see how far they'd go.


Asuma's frown deepened. Just as he thought his team was ready for a C-Rank Sasuke went and proved him wrong. Before they'd even started the day's training the Uchiha heir had almost attacked Kiba after the Inuzuka asked how the therapy was going and if the Uchiha wasn't going to run off at the first sight of his target for revenge like a wild boar. As punishment Asuma had Sasuke running through a course that included a tall wall for tree walking and the training ground's pond for water walking along some other things that would trip the arrogant kid up a little.

"Sheesh," Kiba said after he finished his set of push ups for the morning's warm up. Asuma had doubled his normal set as punishment for the way he'd phrased the question "I get he wants to go after his family's killer but he really needs to learn that he's nowhere near ready to fight an Elite Jonin, let alone an S-Ranked Jonin."

"That's rather surprising coming form you Kiba," Shikamaru drawled as he laid on his back instead of doing crunches, "Most of the time you're more hot headed then him."

Kiba shrugged, "Chalk it up to pack logic. Right now we're near the bottom of the ranks for Konoha's pack, so going up against someone good enough to be Konoha's Alpha is damn near suicidal until we get closer to his level. On top of that do you think the killer has stopped training?" Akamaru let out a couple barks of agreement

Asuma let out a bark of laughter, "So you do use that brain for more than just tracking, fighting and food!" Kiba just flipped their Sensei off though there wasn't any anger behind it as this wasn't the first time Asuma had made that kind of joke.

"I've been meaning to ask," Shikamaru said as he sat up and looked at his Sensei, "Why did the Hokage split up the Ina-Shika-Cho team this time?"

"I was wondering when you'd ask," Asuma chuckled before shooting a quick glare at the Geinin who groaned but started doing crunches, "Your families might have been allies even before being brought to Konoha but that's also made the combination predictable. Enemies might still struggle against your parents, but as things are you, Choji and Ino wouldn't be able to keep up with someone who expects those strategies. The three of you will train together in the future but for now we need to get your individual skills up first. After all, the three of you are not your father's who could work perfectly together even as Genin," Shikamaru paused his exercise to give gus sensei a quick nod. While he and Choji could work perfectly together, the two boys could only barely tolerate Ino's bossy attitude. Shikamaru still pitied his best friend for being on a team with both the blond and pink haired harpies.

"So do you have anything special in mind for our training?" Shikamaru asked one he completed his warm ups, "A couple days ago Choji said that cousin Ensui was considering a couple weapons for him."

"Yeah I remember Ensui saying something along those lines," Asuma mused as he stroked his beard, "Let's see… Kiba's feral style wouldn't mesh well with most weapons as he needs his hands free… however there is something that might work. Ever hear of a bola?"

"Nope," Kiba replied as he looked at his sensei curiously.

"They're two weighted balls connected by a cord or chain that you throw at the enemy to either tie or trip them up," Asuma explained, "You mostly find them in areas like the Land of Grass or Sand as they work best in wide open areas. Too many trees and they'd either crash into one or wrap themselves around it."

"Hmm…. So a ranged weapon that would hinder my opponent's movements letting me and Akamaru charge in?" Kiba asked, getting a nod form his sensei, "Yeah I can see that working with my family's style. Would it even work when hunting?"

"For larger game it should," Asuma said, "Doubt it would work on wild boar and the like since their legs are so short."

"Makes sense for Kiba's style but what about me?" Shikamaru asked.

"Oh I got something in mind for you don't worry," Asuma chuckled, "You are going to learn archery."

"Archery?" Shikamaru repeated, "Why?"

"Simple. What would happen if with the aid of one of Naruto's seals you could attach some thin wire to the arrow? You wouldn't even need to hit your target! You could just use the wire to attach your shadow to him. Something that would exponentially increase the range of your family's unique Jutsu."

Shikamaru was stunned. Why had no one in his family thought of that yet? Even something as simple as a fishing line could be used for this. And if what he'd heard about how quickly Naruto was advancing was true, then he had no doubt that the blond could easily whip up a seal to connect the line to the back of the arrow! "Is that why you've been focusing on my arm strength recently?"

"Got it in one," Asuma replied as he pulled a scroll out of a vest pocket and tossed it to the Nara, "That's your training bow, along with a quiver of twenty arrows. I set up some targets a short distance away that a clone will lead ya to. I know a little about archery so I can at least teach you the basics. Kiba it'll take a bit for the bola I ordered to get here but once they are we'll see just how compatible they are with your family's style."


Might Guy watched his team train though honestly, only Lee and Tenten had grown. Neji was digging his heels in and barely training the Jutsu that Guy had given him to learn and for the life of him Guy didn't know what to do. Earth Release: Mobile Soil was a basic C-Rank Jutsu but versatile due to it being able to be used in just about every environment. The Jutsu was used to alter the ground according to the user's will to make it difficult for enemies to keep their footing and with Neji's Byakugan the chances of this Jutsu tripping him up was incredibly low. It's not like he was asking him to master an A-Rank like the Rock Dragon. Tenten however had already learned not only the Earth Bullet and Rock Wall Jutsu to augment her skills but also Gale Palm Jutsu to increase the speed of her thrown weapons, the Wind Cutter Jutsu which she could easily perform with one of her swords for a ranged attack or could use it to make her blades far sharper than they'd normal be so even a humble kunai would be just as dangerous as her sharpest sword. For lightning she was studying the Lightning Bullet and Lighting Whip to give not only more options but a weapon the enemy couldn't just take and use themselves.

Lee learned how to sense when he was under mid to low ranked Genjutsu and had found that by using the original hand signs now known as the Kuji-In and chanting their names it helped him focus his mind to the point he could throw off most low ranking Genjutsu with ease. He'd also started learning how to use a couple weapons such as tanfa and the bo staff. Sadly he didn't have the skill or desire to use the nunchucks in battle, but he had taken to training with them to improve his hand-eye coordination. It baffled Guy that Neji would stick to his clan's tradition despite there being very easy ways to augment the Juken. Even something as simple as a glove with chakra metal wires would work as with their mastery over their chakra they could turn those simple weirs in additional 'fingers' to shut down Tenketsu at range… hmm… perhaps Hinata would be interested in the idea. As a Water Element, a weapon as flexible as the wires could be at least a decent match. Yūgao had already asked him for scrolls on some Water and Lighting Taijutsu styles that would mesh well together. While he didn't know of any shinobi who used wired gloves, that didn't mean it was impossible or hadn't been done before.

He was curious if the young Hyuga Heiress would rise to this challenge, or if she couldn't. See if her children could if they shared her elements.


"And that's all I have to report Sir," Yūgao said as she stood before the Hokage's clone who as usual was in the Mission Room.

Letting out a little smoke that became the leaf symbol, the Hokage nodded, "Very well done. Your Genin handled themselves very well," Looking at the Genin and giving them a grandfatherly smile he continued, "Each of you will receive the bounties of the bandits you killed, as well as a fifth of the bounties of the captured bandits as is protocol for when a bandit camp is taken care of."

"Thank you Hokage-Sama," Shino and Hinata said while Naruto said, "Thanks Jiji!"

"Hinata, Shino you two are dismissed. Meet me at our training ground tomorrow at the normal time," Yūgao said, "Naruto, you and I need to see the Hokage in his office for a small talk."

"Yes Sensei," Hinata and Shino said in unison. Both figuring the Hokage just wanted to know how his surrogate Grandson's first C-Rank went in person.

"See you tomorrow Naruto," Hinata said.

Shino nodded, "Indeed. Father would also like to speak to you next time you are at the compound."

"Got it. I'll make sure to speak to him before getting to work with Orchid-Sensei," Naruto nodded.

"Speaking of your work with Fuinjutsu," The Hokage said, "My son mentioned Shikamaru wishing to speak to you about some possible seal to aid in his training. He's being very tight-lipped about what those seals might be, though he promises that whatever it is, they're working on would make even Shikaku annoyed that he never thought of it."

"Oh this I've got to see!" Naruto snickered, "This might be the first time that Shikamaru's pulled a prank on his old man!"

"That's one way to put it," The Hokage agreed, before Naruto and Yūgao turned and left the room.

Inside Naruto's mind, the caged being once more stirred. Things had been going well for their host. The being had a feeling on what the old monkey wanted to talk about, and if they were right… well they just hoped the kit would make it through the latest hurdle in his life.


Author's Notes:

And there's the first C-Rank. I plan to have at least one more before the trip to Wave. As for on, the bow works perfectly with the Nara's Jutsu as even a thin wire makes a shadow. Plus Choji's always been a physical powerhouse so why not make use of that?

What did you all think of the first C-Rank?