I don't own Naruto.
"Special…Genin…?"
Naruto repeated those words with confusion, making Kakashi nod in return.
"That's right."
"What's that, sensei?" Sakura asked.
"As a special Genin, you will be needed to assist the current teams of Genin in their training at the behest of their respective Jōnin sensei. You will also be rostered as among the first selected when they are in need of additional non-critical support for B-rank missions and under."
Naruto frowned. "But why me?"
"Because Naruto, out of all of this year's Genin batch, you are the one with the most experience…Hokage-sama is also worried that you might become a liability." He finished mostly to himself.
The blond stared down at his bowl of ramen, the frown still present behind his mask. Something about all this was fishy.
"The most experience?" Sakura repeated.
"Will this come in the way of our own trainings and missions?" Sasuke asked.
Kakashi shook his head. "It shouldn't. He'll be able to prioritize team 7." His eyes moved back to Naruto. "You alright with that?"
"Do I have a choice?" Muttered the blond.
"Not really."
"Will this not overwork him though?" Sakura said with furrowed brow.
"Oh, no. It's not gonna be that often." Kakashi reassured. "Now come on guys, let's finish our meal and do a mission before training."
"Oh oh! Is it finally time for our first one!?"
Kakashi sent an eye-smile towards the excited girl. "Yup!"
'Oh no…' Naruto thought as he went rigid, causing Sasuke to look at him strangely.
'Looks like he's finally realized.' Kakashi thought gleefully.
—
"Your mission is to catch Tora." Hiruzen said as he handed Kakashi the documents.
"Who's Tora?" Sakura asked. She turned to the rest of her team and noticed that Naruto was already leaving the room. "Naruto! Where are you going?"
"Going to catch Tora." He said with a hint of annoyance in his voice. Sakura blinked. She'd…Never heard him talk in that tone before.
"Sensei? Who is Tora?"
Kakashi merely gave her another smile.
…
"Where the fuck is that goddamned cat!?" Sasuke cursed into his communication device.
"Hey now, no need for such language."
"Sensei, you can shove your opinion up your-"
"Target spotted. Eastern distributor near the bridge."
The two other Genin quickly moved into position after hearing their teammate's words. Within only a minute, all three formed a perimeter around the area, leaving no room for their target to escape.
"In position? I'll flash-bomb it out."
"No, Naruto. Target needs to remain as un-damaged as possible." Kakashi berated.
"Fine. Sasuke, Sakura. Bring up the rear."
"Roger."
"Got it."
The two landed behind the cat, making it jump up in fright and sprint away, but it skidded to a stop when Naruto landed in front of it and blocked its path.
"Weeeooowrr!" Tora screeched, almost like it recognized his old tormenter. Naruto fought off an evil grin and snatched it by the scruff of its neck. Tora violently thrashed about for a few seconds as it tried to claw him, but gave up soon once he realized it was futile.
"Does he have a ribbon on his right ear?"
"That's the target, there's no mistake." Sasuke confirmed.
"Good work team. Let's bring that bad kitty home."
"Ugh, finally…" the pinkette complained.
—
Clang!
From the sidelines, Sakura watched the high-speed battle between her two teammates in amazement. Sasuke was incredibly agile, very tactical and favouring acrobatics. But Naruto was quick. Very quick, and very strong. It was amazing to see. Each strike he did had a purpose and everything that Sasuke threw at him was easily countered. The two were now locked in a blade battle, with Sasuke using a kunai and Naruto using his short sword.
Sasuke flew at Naruto for the umpteenth time that match as he clashed his blade against Naruto's. The blond pushed back against him, making him have to lean forward and put more force behind it, but stumbled forward when Naruto disappeared from in front of him and kicked him from behind.
"Hm…That reminds me…" Kakashi rubbed his chin, making Sakura look away from the battle and to her sensei. "We still need to figure out what your chakra nature is." He finished as he began fishing around his pouch.
"Oh, right…" Sakura replied. "Um, just mine?"
"I already know what Naruto's and Sasuke's are. Naruto is a wind type, and Sasuke is a lightning type."
"A lightning type? Really?" She said with surprise.
"Yeah, that surprised me as well. It's fine though; I'm a lightning type too, so it all works out." He handed her a piece of paper. "Here."
Sakura took the offered paper and pushed some chakra into it, already knowing what to do. The two watched as the white surface slowly turned brown before it began to crumble to dust near the edges.
"Oh, an earth type huh?"
"Dammit, stay still!" Sasuke shouted as Naruto continued to slip away just out of reach. The blond ducked underneath a punch and kicked him away again, sending him sailing towards the two spectators.
Kakashi leaned back as the Uchiha flew in between the both of them and impacted against a tree, but Sakura was shocked when the boy merely picked himself up again and ran back into the fight.
"These two are intense…" She said in awe. She watched her blond teammate with fascination. Even though she couldn't see his face, she could just tell that he wasn't even breaking a sweat. While Sasuke was giving it his all, Naruto was pulling his punches yet always made sure to be slightly better than Sasuke. It made her wonder just how strong he really was.
"Are you curious about Naruto?" Kakashi questioned, making Sakura blush in embarrassment.
"He was an enigma in our class…Everybody was curious about him. He rarely spoke to anyone and mostly kept to himself. If I'm being honest…He…Scares me a little." The girl admitted.
"Mmh." Kakashi hummed. "I can see that. Though, I wouldn't worry so much. Naruto doesn't bite, he just…Has a certain way of dealing with things."
"I see…" She replied. "The way you say that, it makes it seem like you two have known each other for a while. Is that true?"
Kakashi remained silent for a few moments, before giving her one of his trademark smiles. "Maybe you should ask him yourself?"
"Huh? A-Ask him?"
"Sure, why not?"
"But…"
"He's not gonna shoot you down or anything. He doesn't talk a lot, but he's not a rude guy. He's just not used to people taking such an interest in him. If you don't initiate something, chances are he'll just assume that you don't care." "Kakashi clapped his hands once, drawing her attention back. "Let's get back on topic. Now, to train your earth ability…"
—
After a few hours of rigorous training, team 7 began making their way back towards the rural section of Konoha. Sakura sighed as she dragged her feet on the ground, a tired look plastered on her face.
"Man, I'm beat…"
Kakashi gave her a smile. "All that means is you worked hard. You should feel proud Sakura."
The girl sighed again, not able to muster up the courage to even celebrate. Constantly pushing your chakra control to the limit felt like running a marathon.
The team rounded a corner and entered the shopping district where they would split up for the day. Walking past a shack selling varying types of fish, a bald man with a thin rope tied around his forehead blinked and stared at the team passing by.
"Hm?" The man said, recognizing some of the members. "Why if it isn't Kakashi-san! And…Naruto, was it?"
The group turned towards the man who sent them a wide smile. Naruto frowned. He'd seen him before, but he couldn't quite put a name to his face.
"Sakana-san, it's been a while."
Ah, now he remembered. This was the fisherman that had hired them to fix his shack after a storm had ransacked it. They were also hired to find his father shortly after, but…
"Naruto, who's this guy?" Sakura whispered to him, but the bald man heard her regardless. He crossed his arms with a big grin plastered on his face.
"Aw c'mon girly, you don't remember me? I hired you guys to do some work on my…Uh…" He blinked and tilted his head to the side at the two unfamiliar faces. "Now that I think about it, you two look different. And Kakashi wasn't there, was he? It has been a long time."
"You're thinking of Naruto's other team." Kakashi supplied helpfully catching the two other Genin by surprise. They looked over at Naruto who was avoiding everybody's gaze.
"Ah, that makes sense. I hope that all of you are doing okay!"
"They're doing fine…" Naruto muttered in reply. The man seemed genuinely friendly, so he didn't have the heart to tell him the truth.
After a brief exchange, the group continued on its way. Sakura looked at Sasuke in worry as the Uchiha burned a hole in the back of the blond's head with his stare, which said boy did his best to ignore. After a few minutes of silent walking though, Sasuke suddenly stopped, a frown present on his face.
"Naruto." He called out, making the team stop and turn their attention to him. "You were already a genin before us, weren't you?" The question sounded more like a statement and Sasuke was asking for confirmation. Naruto nodded, making him frown more and cross his arms. "Since when?"
"C'mon Sasuke-kun, there's no way that's possible! Naruto was in our class at the academy!" Sakura attempted to reason. But Sasuke wasn't convinced.
"Yeah, but he joined halfway through. So before that?" Again, all he received in response was a nod.
"But…That's crazy…You would've been nine years old, right?" Sakura said.
Naruto looked over to Kakashi, who had decided to sit this one out for now, before looking back at his two other teammates. "It's not that weird. There's been younger Genin than that in the past."
Sasuke shook his head. "There's something I don't understand. If you were a Genin, then why were you at the academy with us? And why are you teamed up with us? What about your old team?"
Naruto exhaled slowly and closed his eyes. This conversation was starting to give him a headache.
"Things happened. We disbanded."
Naruto turned and continued walking, prompting the others to follow after him.
"How long were you a Genin for, Naruto?" Sakura asked. Naruto tilted his head and held his chin in thought.
"Hmm…I forgot."
"6 months." Kakashi said.
"That short? I thought it was longer…"
"What were your teammates like?"
Naruto looked down as a small, melancholic smile adorned his face. "They were very reserved. Sensei was the exact opposite though. He wore his heart on his sleeve."
Sakura and Sasuke looked at each other before looking at the blond again. "Are they still alive?"
Naruto suddenly stopped, the two Genin nearly crashing into him as a result. He attempted to find the right words to say, but it was kind of a tough situation to explain.
"Some of them are…"
Well, it wasn't like that was a total lie. Tomoda sensei was dead, but Sho was still alive. As for Yuna…Well, until they found her, she was both either alive or dead.
Now that he thought about it, this reminded him of story about an experiment with a cat. He couldn't remember the name though.
"Okay…But why did you disband?" Sasuke insisted.
Kakashi noticed Naruto hesitate and decided to finally intervene. "Alright, I think that's enough questions for the day. I don't know about you guys but I'm starving!"
At the mention of food, Sasuke and Sakura's stomachs began making noise causing Kakashi to give them his signature smile. "Well say no more, because I know a great place!"
2 months later…
The very first thing he noticed was the lack of weight on his face.
Two hands reached up hoping to be met with the familiar feeling of his mask, but only touched cold, soft skin instead. His hands lingered for a moment, before dropping down at his sides.
"Where…Am I…?"
Blue orbs slowly opened and was met with the sight of a long corridor, with at least a dozen doors on each side. He took a lazy, measured step forward, followed by another, before suddenly stopping once more. He turned towards the mirror attached to the wall, almost like some kind of zombie and gazed at his own reflection. Half-lidded eyes and a pale, skinny face looked back at him.
He continued to stare for a few more minutes before continuing down the corridor. Once more, he stopped in front of the first of many doors. He watched as his hand slowly came up and weakly grabbed the doorknob before turning it and opening the door. His eyes fixed on the ground; he walked forward then stopped.
Slowly raising his head again, he looked down the corridor. Another…Corridor? Was it the same corridor?
He looked back behind him only to be met with nothing. The door he'd just gone through had disappeared. He continued forward, unperturbed and walked past the same mirror and up to the second door, the one next to the previous one he'd just walked into.
Again, here he was… He looked to the side at the same mirror…The same reflection. He moved on and continued forward, opening the third door. No…That one was wrong as well. The fourth. No, wrong. The fifth? Not that one either. Not the sixth, not the seventh, nor the eighth…
Before long, he'd gone through all the doors and he was struck with the sudden realization that he was stuck here. No matter what he did, he was sent back here, at the beginning. Was he cursed to wander this hallway for eternity? With no way forward, no way back, no way out? He was stuck. Stuck with nowhere to go. It felt suffocating. He slowly closed his eyes and sat down on the ground in grim acceptance.
No matter what he did…He always ended up back here.
"Wake up, fool!"
Naruto's eyes snapped open and came face to face with a single red eye. He blinked and looked around his surroundings, fearing that he'd be met with the same corridor, but only saw an annoyed looking nine tails instead.
"Oh." He said, standing up from his foetal position.
"If you're going to toss and turn, then at least do it where I can't hear you" The fox growled. "Why are you even here?"
The blond sighed and reached up to rub his hair. "I…Don't know…" He admitted. His hands suddenly shot up to his face and was relieved to feel the hard surface of his mask.
He pushed himself to his feet and walked over to one of the many mirrors that now littered his mindscape. He stared back at his own reflection, finding comfort at the sight of the white surface. Closing his eyes, he walked back to the spot he'd awoken from before. Kyuubi watched through narrowed eyes as the boy sat back down before laying on his back and staring up at the infinite void that was this space inside his mind.
"These dreams of yours are becoming more and more confusing." The fox said carefully.
"Oh…You see them too?"
"I didn't 'see' them. I felt the emotions they gave you through the seal."
Naruto didn't really know what that meant, but that didn't matter that much. "I've stopped trying to figure them out a while ago."
"…" Kyuubi gave another huff before falling back into silence.
"What does all of this mean, Kyuubi…?" Naruto said, an uncertain tremor in his voice. "All these things I've been seeing…All these dreams…What's happening to me?" He was met with silence, prompting him to tilt his head from his laid down position to look at the fox. "You're thousands of years old, right? Have you seen anything like this before."
"I do not worry myself with such trifling matters. Humans are weak and are walking contradictions."
"Hehe…You're probably right about that…" Naruto said softly. The fox made a noise that sounded something like a scoff, but it held no malice. Little by little, it felt like he was starting to tolerate him more. "You know…This one time when I went out of the village, it felt like I saw the future."
"The future? Don't be stupid."
"No, I swear it happened! I was in one of Orochimaru's lairs and some kind of monster appeared. I was so surprised that I wasn't able to react in time when it attacked me. Then it jumped at me and…I died." Naruto paused and frowned. "At least, I thought I did. Somehow, I was standing in front of it again right before it jumped and this time, I was able to react before it could kill me.
Kyuubi listened to the boy in half interest. He normally did not care about human drivel, but this boy wasn't the type to lie. One of the perks of being the nine tailed beasts was being able to feel people's emotions, and his jailor so far had only been telling him the truth. Or at least, what he thought was the truth.
"Hmph. You were probably so afraid that your mind conjured up images. Pathetic if you ask me. The warden of the mighty nine-tails, terrified of such a petty creature."
A small smile appeared behind his mask. It almost sounded like Kyuubi respected him. His eyes landed on its massive frame again. The fox was laying down as usual, head resting on his hands and his eyes closed with his large tails idly swishing behind him. The same fox that never debased itself with talking to a human and proceeded to immediately kick him out the very first time they'd met had nearly just given him a compliment. How times had changed.
"Well, I should get going." The blond said once they'd fallen into a comfortable silence. He pushed himself to his feet and was about to perform the sign to leave, but was interrupted by his inmate.
"Naruto, wait."
"Huh?" Naruto said in surprise. He couldn't remember the last time that Kyuubi called him by his name. He appeared to be thinking hard about something.
"You're still trying to find that mask, aren't you?"
Naruto blinked slowly at that. "Nothing's changed." He replied simply.
"I expected as much. Don't."
"…Pardon?"
"It's a fool's errand. There are too many unknown variables at play. And even if you do find that mask, there is no telling whether or not it will work. The Shinigami isn't just going to hand over the other half of my soul. He might kill you, or even take your soul instead."
"Aw, are you worried about me Kyuubi?" Naruto joked, something that now felt alien to him.
"I am being serious, idiot." The fox growled. "If you die, then I'll die as well. The last thing we want to do is draw a God's ire."
Naruto stared into the eyes of the nine tails. "I made you a promise, didn't I?"
Kyuubi gave a snarl. "Promises…A human's word. They mean nothing to me, or to a God. Humans lie and deceive. Promises can be easily broken."
"Then I'll just have to prove it to you, won't I?"
Kyuubi's frowned angrily at that. "Why? Why are you doing all this? Why are you going so far to help me?"
Naruto tilted his head to the side and brought a hand to his chin, almost like he was thinking hard about it before shrugging. "I dunno." The fox's brow twitched irritably. "All I know is that I want to help you and your siblings. And once I make a promise, I never go back on my word."
Kyuubi scoffed. "And what can you do? You are just a human."
"…" Naruto eyes fell to the ground before looking back up and meeting Kyuubi's. "Then help me."
"Help you?" He repeated incredulously.
"If I'm just a human like you said then I'll need help, won't I?" He clenched his hand and stared at his fist, getting a sudden urge. He looked back up at the demon and held his fist forward, feeling a strange sense of familiarity from the action. "What do you say?"
The fox stared at the extended fist in bewilderment. For the first time, he had no snide remarks or mocking retorts. He was at a loss for words.
Naruto held his fist out for a moment longer before he finally lowered it. "Well, think about it. This will be much easier with you."
With those final words, the nine tails watched his host fade away, back into the real world. He frowned in confusion and stared down at his own hand, before clenching it into a fist as well.
"Sensei…Are you sure this is alright…?"
"Relax, it's fine."
"…"
"Come on Sasuke, hurry up."
"Tch."
Naruto's eyes opened and lingered on his ceiling for a moment before he slowly turned his head towards the door. Voices could be heard coming from the other room. He pushed himself to his feet and opened the door to his bedroom. As he walked into his living room, he was greeted with the sight of his team standing next to an open window.
"Yo." Kakashi greeted with a smile after taking notice of him, causing the others to turn to him as well.
"…What are you doing?"
"H-Hey Naruto! This was Kakashi-sensei's idea I swear!" Sakura suddenly said. Naruto looked over at the girl, making her recoil nervously, before looking over at Sasuke, who had his hands stuffed in his pockets with an embarrassed look on his face. Finally, he looked over at Kakashi, before rubbing the back of his head and turning away.
"Whatever…" He muttered as he walked back to his bedroom.
'Huh…Thought he'd be more uncomfortable but, this is fine too."
With Naruto gone, Kakashi made himself at home as he rummaged through Naruto's kitchen cabinet. Meanwhile, Sakura looked around Naruto's place in curiosity. She wasn't really sure what she'd been expecting, maybe an empty white room with a single bed? But no, this place was surprisingly…Normal. It wasn't too messy or too tidy. There were no dirty dishes and no dirty laundry to be seen, but books and ninja supplies were strewn about half-haphazardly. She walked over to a coffee table and bent down, reading a few of the titles from the stack of books before moving along and picking up a roll of metal wire.
"What are we doing here Sensei?" Sasuke asked Kakashi as he too glanced around the room. He'd never been here before after all.
"Well, Naruto wasn't at the meeting spot so I figured he was probably sleeping in. I just thought we'd meet up here instead. We've completed our quota of 50 D-ranks, so we're now eligible for a C-rank mission."
"Oh, that's a thing?" The girl placed a finger against her chin in contemplation. "Our first C-rank… I know I should be excited but I can't help but feel a little nervous" She anxiously pressed a hand to her cheek and stared down at the floor. "What do you think Sasuke-kun?"
Sakura turned towards her teammate when she received no reply. "Sasuke-kun?"
The pinkette's words were lost to the Uchiha as he frowned at an object that had caught his attention. A picture frame sat next to a stack of books on a bookshelf, a picture of Naruto and three other Shinobi he didn't recognise. Naruto seemed much younger and his mask was absent. But what surprised him the most was Naruto's face. He seemed…Happy. Gone were the empty eyes and the tired lines, the blond in the picture seemed carefree. He wore a stupid grin on his face, one that he'd never seen on him before. Sasuke continued to stare at the item with interest. Could this be the team that he'd told them about the other day?
Sakura approached Kakashi, who was still busy digging around the pantry for something. She watched him take out tea bags and sugar, then opened the fridge in search for milk.
"Huh, didn't expect Naruto to be a tea drinker." She said as she absently clasped her hands together behind her back.
"He isn't." Kakashi opened the carton of milk and peered inside before tipping it upside down, but was disappointed when nothing came out. 'How old is this milk?'
The door to the bedroom opened and Naruto walked out, sporting his tanto and the rest of his equipment.
"Naruto, I was just telling Sasuke and Sakura that we'll be taking our first C-rank mission today." Kakashi said as he turned to look at the boy. The blond froze for a split second, just as he expected. But he quickly recovered and took a seat on one of his dining table chairs.
"I…See…" Naruto said softly, memories of his last C-ranked mission played in his head.
"Apparently we've fulfilled our quotas for D-rank missions." Sakura said.
"We did 50 already?"
"Wait, you knew about that?"
"Ahem." Kakashi cleared his throat to regain their attention. "As I was saying, once everybody is ready, we can collect our mission details from the Hokage tower. Depending on the assignment, we'll have a short break to gather the equipment we'll need before we head out."
"Right!" Sakura said with a nod. Naruto stared down at his table, his thoughts still muddled from the news.
"Naruto." Kakashi said, catching his attention. "This is part of the job."
"I know." The blond replied. Sakura blinked as she and Sasuke watched the exchange in confusion.
Kakashi nodded and took a sip from the tea he'd made. Sakura looked at Kakashi, back at Naruto, then back to Kakashi before finally looking down at his tea cup.
"Selfish jerk…"
—
"A C-ranked mission?" Hiruzen repeated in surprise, before frowning and riffling through some documents. "Well, I suppose that you have indeed completed your quota…Ah, but I'm afraid that the Jōnin sensei of team 8 has requested that you assist in their training today, Naruto-kun."
Naruto opened his mouth to reply, but Kakashi beat him to the punch. "I believe Kurenai and her team can wait, Hokage-sama. As per our agreement, team 7 takes priority. Naruto can go take care of the request once we come back."
Hiruzen's sharp gaze met with Kakashi's calm eye while the three Genin looked between the two in confusion. "Very well." The third finally conceded and opened up a folder on his desk. "This just came in today; I believe it will be right for you. This assignment requires the protection of a certain individual." Hiruzen turned to the door. "Hey, will you come in here?"
The door creaked open and the stench of alcohol made the nose of the Genin twitch in discomfort.
"What's this? They all look like a bunch of super brats! I wouldn't be surprised if they still wore diapers!" A fisherman holding a bottle said as he wiped his lips with the back of his hands.
'Grr…Who is he calling a brat!?' Sakura thought with gritted teeth.
'…Was he just waiting behind there the whole time?' The Uchiha thought incredulously.
The man walked up to the group and stared down at the mask wearing blond in disapproval. "I'm supposed to trust you lot with my life?"
"…" Naruto stared back up at him as the man leaned away and placed his hands on his hips.
"Listen up! I am the super bridge builder, Tazuna. I expect you to provide me super protection until I get back to my country and complete the bridge!"
"…Quite." Hiruzen muttered. "Well team 7, I'll leave this in your capable hands."
Kakashi turned towards his students after having finished reading the mission details. "Alright, pack for at least two weeks' worth. We're heading to Wave country and will be guarding this man until he completes a bridge in the land of waves. The trip there will take a day or two. We'll meet back at the gate entrance in 30 minutes. Dismissed."
"Yes sir!"
The three dashed away and disappeared, making Tazuna blink and scratch his head as he looked around. "Where the hell'd they go?"
—
After the allotted time had passed, the three Genin met up with Kakashi and the client in front of the village gates. The team checked out and soon were on their way.
"Woohoo! Let's go!" Sakura exclaimed happily with her arms in the air.
"What are you so excited about?" Sasuke questioned.
"It's just, this is my first time stepping out of the village, this is exciting! Everything ahead of us will be an entirely new experience!" She looked between her two teammates. "Have you guys been past the gates before?"
"I have." Was all the blond said. Sakura blinked at the tone before opening her mouth in realization.
"Oh, that's right." She turned her attention towards the Uchiha.
"My older brother used to take me there, sometimes…" Sasuke admitted after a moment's silence.
During the two months that the three of them had been together, the team had grown a bit closer. All the sparring sessions and the missions they've experienced as a group looked to have strengthened the bond between them, and Kakashi could see it clearly. Sasuke was less aloof, he would sometimes take part of a conversation unprompted, which never happened before. And Naruto…Well, baby steps, as they said. It was difficult for Naruto to let his guard down after what had happened to his previous team, but despite that, the copy nin could see progress, as was evident by the morning's interaction.
Sakura was the one that had changed the most. With how far the two boys took it whenever they sparred, she was forced to attempt to keep up or be swept away by the storm. Her obsessive tendencies still reared its head every now and then, but she was able to focus on her training despite that. And much to his joy, since the conversation they had all those days ago, she's also began to open up with the Jinchūriki.
"That reminds me, what did you guys' pack?" She continued. Sasuke hummed and re-adjusted the pack on his bag at her mention.
"I have essential tools, wires, explosive tags and some rations. And a sleeping bag."
Naruto nodded, indicating he was carrying the same. Sakura suddenly froze and went pale, making the two others stop and turn their attention to her.
"What's wrong?"
"I-I forgot my sleeping bag."
"…How could you forget the most important thing?"
Kakashi sighed and shook his head. "Well, I've got an extra one, so you can use that one. Just don't forget it next time Sakura."
"Really sensei? But your bag is so small."
"Storage scroll."
"Oh."
"Is this their first mission? Am I really gonna be safe with these brats…?" Tazuna thought as he nervously took a gulp of his drink.
"Hey Tazuna-san, you're from wave country, right?" Sakura suddenly asked.
"What about it?"
"Umm…Do they have ninja in that country too?"
"No, not in Wave. The cultures and customs are different. Kiri holds most of the Land of Water's military power…- "
As Tazuna continued to tell the Kunoichi about Wave country, Sasuke turned his attention towards a small puddle on the path. 'A puddle…?' He thought before looking up at the clear blue sky. He looked over towards Kakashi and noticed him give it a passing glance but seemed to ignore it and continue on unperturbed.
The puddle of water shifted and melded into two beings, both wearing gas masks and wielding a metal gauntlet connected by a spiked chain. One of them shot forward and wrapped the barbed links around a surprised Kakashi, before yanking on it and ripping him to shreds.
"One down…" One of the brothers said darkly. Sakura's eyes widened in horror as she watched Kakashi's body erupt in a shower of blood.
"S…Sen-"
"Sakura, protect Tazuna!" Sasuke shouted as he moved in to intercept one of the brothers. Sakura gasped as the one with the long shaggy hair threw a shuriken at the old man. She jumped forward and deflected the metal star with a kunai before quickly standing in front of him.
"Please stand back sir!"
"R-Right…!"
The man with the spiky hair twisted a contraption on his glove, causing the chain on his end to come undone. His brother swung his arm and aimed the chains at the blond. Naruto raised his hand as a golden chain of his own materialized in front of him and moved in to intercept the threat.
"…?" Naruto's eyes widened as his chain dissolved into golden dust before it could fulfill its job, and it was all he could do to backflip out of the way of the sharp links. The demon brother laughed and took pursuit, but was blindsided by a large fireball sent out by Sasuke.
"What!?" The missing ninja exclaimed and crossed his arms in front of his face. The fireball set him ablaze, making him scream in pain and roll around on the floor.
"Meizu!" Gozu yelled before gritting his teeth. "Damn you! You're gonna pay for th- "
His voice died in his throat as the blond flashed in front of him, faster than he could react and delivered a crushing strike to his face that broke his mouth guard. His eyes rolled to the back of his head as he fell to the ground, unconscious.
Tazuna watched the fight happen with wide eyes. It had all happened so quick! In the world of Shinobi, when one fighter was clearly stronger than the other, fights usually barely lasted more than a minute. "Those kids are strong…" His eyes moved from the two Shinobi to where Kakashi had been slaughtered. "But your sensei is…Huh?"
The remains of the scarecrow had been replaced by pieces of a shattered wooden log, taking the bridge builder by surprise. In front of his very eyes, Kakashi landed besides them, his typical smile on his face and with nary a hair out of place.
"Well done guys! You all did amazing. Naruto, Sasuke. Good job on taking down those two and keeping them alive. Sakura, well done for protecting our client."
"W-Wha!? But you- "
The pink haired girl gave her teacher a relieved smile. "Kakashi-sensei! You're alright!"
Sasuke turned to his blond teammate with an annoyed expression on his face. "Oi, what's up with you? It's not like you to freeze up in a fight."
Naruto stared down at his hand with a frown. "I'm not sure…This never happened before." His chain had disappeared against his will. Even now, he could feel his chakra fluctuate strangely It was as if it had a mind of its own.
"N…Naru…To…"
His eyes widened as he spun around. All colour had disappeared from the world. The sky, the trees, the ground, everything had become black and white.
"W-What's going on…"
He trailed off as he turned to look at his teammates. Sakura was sitting on the ground, her back resting against a tree. Her clothes were stained red, countless cuts littered her body. A large amount of blood gushed out of a large wound on the side of her neck. Her eyes were open, lifeless, staring at the grass that was now dyed red.
"S-Sakura…"
A loud, agonized scream drew his attention. Somebody was on fire next to her, rolling, trashing around in an attempt to put the flames out. His body was blackened by the fatal burns, his face almost unrecognizable.
"Sasuke…"
He could do nothing but stare at the scene with horrified wide eyes. He took a step back and frantically looked around. Kakashi! Where the hell was Kakashi-sensei!? How could he have let this happen to his students!?
He shakily raised a hand forward, as if he was attempting to reach out to them. But before he could do anything, a pair of hands clasped his outstretched one. Colour returned to the world as pink hair obstructed his vision. Sakura looked at him with worry on her face, her previous fatal injuries nowhere to be found.
"Naruto? Are you okay?"
"Sakura?" He muttered in shock. "A-Am I okay…? You…" He looked behind her and saw Kakashi and Sasuke also looking at him in various degrees of concern. He attempted to calm his breathing and slowly pulled his hand out of the girl's grasp. "I'm fine…"
Sakura however, looked unconvinced. "You sure…?"
"Were you grazed by one of their attacks? Their gauntlets seem to be laced with poison."
Naruto quickly shook his head. "No, I didn't…Sorry, I just thought I saw something but…It was just my imagination."
"Mmh." Kakashi gave Naruto a once over before shrugging and turning around. "Alright, we're going to interrogate one of them. They should be able to tell us just who else is after us. Tazuna, you have a lot of explaining to do as well."
"Eek!" Tazuna squeaked in fear.
Sakura gave one last worried look towards Naruto before turning around and following after Kakashi. The blond took in a deep breath and looked up at the bright blue sky.
He didn't know what this meant, but he didn't like it.
—
"These guys are Chūnins from Kirigakure. Why would they be coming after us, so close to Konoha territory?"
"I thought for sure that we killed you…Did you already know that we were here?"
Kakashi lazily looked over to Meizu, the one that was still conscious and covered in burn marks. "On a sunny day like this when it hasn't rained in weeks, a water puddle looks very out of place."
"Why did you let these brats fight if you already knew that?" Tazuna asked.
"Because, I wanted to see who their target was…"
"W-What do you mean?" Tazuna nervously replied.
"Did they come all the way here to kill a few Konoha ninja? Or were they after someone else…Maybe…Somebody who's hired protection from someone?"
Tazuna gulped nervously as Kakashi continued. "You see, we were hired to protect you from normal thugs or thieves. As such, the mission was marked as a C-rank, and you received fresh Genin in return." Kakashi's eye turned cold as the temperature suddenly dropped. "Tell me, what do you think would happen when inexperienced kids faced trained and dangerous killers?"
Tazuna shivered as Kakashi took a step forward, causing him to back away. "If it was known that ninjas were after you, this mission would have been a B-rank, or maybe even an A-rank. I am sure you had your reasons, but this causes problems for us. And I don't take kindly to people that attempt to put my students in danger."
"So…Is this mission too soon for us?" Sakura asked in worry.
"I'm sorry…" Tazuna said and closed his eyes in resignation. "It's true…Yes, I am being targeted. By a tyrant named Gatou."
"Gatou…? The shipping magnate? He's said to be one of the wealthiest men alive…"
"Yes. Officially, he runs a large shipping company. But, he's part of a large underground business. He sells drugs and illegal items to shady people and uses ninjas and gang members to take over countries. He's a very bad man."
"Hmm…"
"Through money and violence, he took control of the country's shipping industry. Gatou has a monopoly on all business traffic in the country. The only thing he has to fear now is the completion of the bridge."
"So, with the bridge in place, you'd be able to then trade with other countries." Kakashi confirmed.
"What stops Gatou from just blowing up the bridge once it's built?" Sasuke asked aloud.
"It's another avenue for him to extort money from." Naruto said suddenly.
Tazuna nodded. "That's right…Blow up a bridge, the bridge can be rebuilt. Kill a person and he stays dead. The bridge would end up being Gatou's symbol. He wants complete control over Wave. By seizing the bridge, he can directly dictate what crosses it and apply any tolls that he'd want. Blowing it up would make no sense for him, as the bridge means a massive influx of cash, ripe for Gatou's taking."
The team remained silent as they processed the information. What should they do? On one hand, if they returned home they'd probably send this man to his death and let Gatou turn Wave country into ruins. On the other hand, they could continue on and help him, thus saving it and its villagers. But were they ready for that?
"But don't worry about it! If I die, my cute 10-year-old grandson will only cry for a few days! Oh yeah, and my daughter will live a sad life hating leaf village ninja forever!"
"…"
The last time Naruto went on a C-rank mission, they were suddenly ambushed by a psychotic Sannin. And now, here they were walking into dangerous territory once again. Naruto looked over to his teammates as a bead of sweat trailed down the side of his head. He didn't think he'd be able to take it if the same thing happened again.
Sasuke met his eyes and gave him a confident smirk. "What's with that look? You afraid, mister scaredy-cat?"
"As if…" Naruto replied.
Kakashi turned around to look at each of his students. "Well, what do you guys think? This is your decision."
"I say we do it!" Surprisingly, it was Sakura who said that. She seemed nervous, but her mind was set. "We can't just leave this country to die like that!"
"I agree." Sasuke added with a nod.
Kakashi turned towards his final student, who still seemed to be debating it, though Kakashi couldn't exactly blame him. After a short pause though, Naruto looked up and met Kakashi's eyes.
"Let's do it."
Kakashi's eye curved up. "Well, if it's all the same for you all, then this mission is officially a go. However!" He said quickly before Tazuna could celebrate and pointed a finger at him. "Once the bridge is finished and Gatou is gone, you will pay the leaf village in full."
"Hah, yessir…"
Kakashi nodded and continued his walk towards Wave. "Well, what are we waiting for?"
"H-Hey! You're not just gonna leave us here are you!?" Meizu called out from his tied up position, but was promptly ignored by the rest the team.
Tazuna followed after Kakashi, and the three Genin looked at each other. Yeah, whatever this mission had in store; they would be able to handle it.
They were ready for this.
Hey everyone, thanks for reading another installment of "I promise", and thank you for being so patient. Really sorry this took so long, some stuff got in the way of me writing. But if you'd like to stay updated, please consider joining the discord server for mine and TheOrangeSpark's stories. There you can see how much we've written so far and estimate when new chapters will come out, or even just talk to us and the community. I hope to see you there!
Here is the discord invite. Fanfiction doesn't like links so just copy and paste this into google and remove all the spaces.
disc ord.g g/j7cr uwQ Q9E