Chapter 8: Prodigious
Goku was grinning as he sprinted down the streets towards Training Ground 7 as a blur. Today was his first day of being trained under someones tutelage other than his own in over three months. Today would also be the day of his first mission. The preteen truly felt like he was ready to take on the world and he was happy about it.
'This is it...this is where my journey to avenge Upa's family begins!' He mentally declared as he was reaching the outer areas of Konoha where the training grounds were.
It didn't take much longer for the Saiyan to find the training grounds, beating the deadline by only a few minutes. Right after he settled down from his dash to the field, he faintly detected a source of energy land gracefully behind him. No doubt it was his new sensei.
"I know you're there sensei," Goku remarked, not bothering to turn around to face her. "Good morning."
"Nice, good morning to you too," was the response.
And then a moment of silence for nobody in particular.
"Well since we're both here, why not start now?" the boy asked to break the silence, "More time to train."
"Why not?" The Anbu/Jonin shrugged before using the Shunsin to appear in front of her understudy, looking him in the eyes to ensure his attention wasn't misplaced.
"So, this is how our daily schedule will function until I say otherwise. We will start each day with a warm-up, which will most likely be spent refining physical attributes. After that, we'll work on things such as teamwork between you and I, ki control, genjutsu counters, energy sensing, placing you in uncomfortable positions, and more. Given that you are officially a one man squad, it means you must be able to cover all areas of a mission. Assault, interrogation, and tracking, which is still unclear on how proficient you are at all three. After that, we'll both engage in a sparring session in order to ensure that our battle senses do not dull. When we finish, we will go visit Hokage-sama and see what missions are available. Is that understood?
"Hai," the genin replied. "I'm excited!"
"Wouldn't expect anything less," Yugao stated, the positive aura of the prodigy making her feel more pleasant than she's accustomed to being. "Now let's get to work with the warm-up..."
-One Hour Later-
What started off as a harmless, normal warm-up turned into a training session that was radically different from his experiences with Kame-sennin. While it was true that Goku still stood, even he happened to be a bit winded. While he was accustomed to long term stamina and endurance training, the thought of bursting inconsistently up and down the training grounds did not come into play until it was what he had to do.
Even with his physical prowess, Yugao kept him on his toes the entire time. If he didn't keep turning on and off the jets, he would have been sliced in half, punctured by kunai, or shredded by shuriken. Or caught in fuinjutsu traps that were unknowingly layered throughout the fields like a load of invisible mines waiting to be set off by the maestro herself. And the biggest rule was that he could only play defense, no offense allowed. This was nothing like the martial arts he was genuinely passionate about.
It was a totally different game with totally different rules. No honor or morals, instead you cheat and do everything in your power to ensure that you complete a task.
Not his preference. Oh well. Despite this, he was ready to go for more, grinning in the midst of his pursuit of greatness.
"That concludes our warm-up for today," The jonin told him with a smile. "Now, we focus on ki control and energy sensing. There's room be even more efficient."
"So you noticed?" Goku inquired, "exerting my full power is something I don't feel comfortable consistently doing."
"And why is that?" The older of the two countered, eager to deduce ways to bring out the best in her single student. She still didn't know much about his full range of capabilities and as such did not know too much in the ways of actually helping him improve. They would both learn from this experience.
"Firstly I'm trying not to blow everything up," he started, before scratching his hair in typical adorable fashion. "And I dunno, I guess I don't wanna hurt people too bad."
"What are you trying to insinuate, Son?" Yugao started, her pride beginning to break through her even keeled nature. "That you can harm me that easily?"
"Hai," Goku did not stutter. "Maybe if it was a year ago you could beat me...but I've gone through a lot since then!"
"I see...well that just means I'll have to get stronger myself, Goku-sensei. Teach me what you can."
"Huh? But you're the sense-"
"Everybody can learn from somebody. I'm not above criticism or taking advice, do not be mistaken."
"You're awesome, y'know that?"
"Indeed. But let us get started..."
-Three Hours Later-
The duo were both panting, with the alien obviously faring better than the human.
Goku, of course, had endurance and stamina that was practically unparalleled. Initially, he had worked on his energy sensing ability with his sensei while blindfolded, and he was shellacked more times than he could remember by her or an object. He knew he wasn't proficient at sensing anything, but he adapted and improved quickly, even if only marginally.
And he knew that if he continued then he would be prolific at it in no time. Probably in a day or two.
'I just need to work on it more. After I get it down, I'll move onto expanding my control,' Goku thought excitedly.
And then afterwards, the two sparred in the realm of taijutsu only, and the younger of the two found himself holding back significantly, even more than yesterday. While he knew that Yugao was competent in the realm of hand-to-hand combat, nobody thus far compared to the fighting genius that was Master Roshi. If he didn't want to be hit, he would not be hit. She lacked the speed and strength to actually harm him, simple.
"That is it for training today," Yugao told him with the typical emotionless expression. "Just know that training won't get any easier from here on out."
"I look forward to it."
"But first..." Yugao told him with a sigh. "We must go on our first mission."
"Why do you sound so bummed about it?" Goku asked.
"You'll see," she curtly responded, leading the way to the Hokage tower.
What a drag.
-After The First Mission-
The young Saiyan had many expectations for his first mission. He reckoned that they would actually get some on-field combat experience. Not pulling weeds and watering the ground, which he actually did not mind.
He delivered milk and plowed fields with his bare hands for years after all
However, his thirst for combat could not be quelled and only intensified as he grew older and stronger.
"...this is stuff for academy students," the boy muttered sadly as he picked up another weed.
Yugao couldn't help but giggle at her subordinates'sorrow, completely understanding the boy's disappointment. As disciplined as she was with her emotions given her shinobi pedigree, even she couldn't believe just how mundane the mission was. As weird as it sounded, she would have rather been on an A-ranked mission where there were real stakes, real dangers, and real thrill of the hunt. Weeds were even scarier in their own way.
-With Team Seven; After A Week of Training-
The next day dawned and every member of Team 7 aside from Kakashi were quite sore from the training session the previous day. The weights that they received from Kakashi the next day after the test last week weren't massively heavy, but they were making their presence felt. And for Sakura whom had never exercised this much in her life, it was pure agony. Yet through the pain she clenched her teeth and completed her assigned morning exercise of twenty-five laps around the training field regardless.
The D-ranked mission of the day was pulling up weeds and cleaning up around a field. The mission actually finished quite quickly when Kakashi had Naruto use his Kage Bunshin technique. They were done in less than 2 hours which made everyone happy. Naruto felt like he had contributed the most with his technique, Sakura was just glad she didn't have to pull anymore weeds with her sore muscles and Sasuke was eager for more rigorous training for obvious reasons.
As the team finished the mission, Kakashi took them back out to their normal training spot. Kakashi told them that today they would learn about how to handle themselves as shinobi in a fight. Naruto and Sasuke were to sit and practice rotating leaves on their forehead while Sakura paced up and down a tree as they listened.
"I'm going to share with you some of the lessons I've learned both as a shinobi and as an ANBU Captain. Pay attention because these lessons are lessons that many shinobi refuse to learn," Kakashi looked at their expectant face. "The first and most important lesson is only two words. Ego. Kills."
All three looked puzzled.
"Shinobi can bend the elements. Some can travel further and faster than any bird. Some can break rocks with their bare hands. This leads to pride, hubris, arrogance and ego. Wielding this power, we feel invincible and that is when we take stupid risks. That's also when we end up KIA. The most danger you will ever be in is the moment you think you've won the battle. Never assume your opponent is defeated until they are truly dead."
Kakashi paced back and forth. This was a passion of his, and he couldn't stand the idiocy of other ninja. Why would you brag about your abilities? Why would you give information to your enemies for it to bite you in the ass later on?
"Along that same line of thought never and I mean never explain to your opponent how your abilities work or how you were able to defeat their jutsu or whatever. Pride causes shinobi to brag about how their Kekkei Genkai, special training or weapon makes them invincible. Such stupidity has led to strong shinobi actually losing to weaker and less powerful opponents."
The three sat in stunned silence. All of them could see the appeal of showing how they defeated their enemy, but when they really took a moment to think about it they realized it was pretty idiotic. Kakashi let the words sink in and then continued with his lesson.
"On a mission when it is time to kill. Kill. Do not 'toy' with your enemy. Do not mock them. Do not 'test their abilities'. Do none of those things. Kill them as quickly and as effectively as possible."
Sakura swallowed heavily. There it was, talk about killing. Naruto and Sasuke were not as affected by it. Naruto had been ready to kill Mizuki for trying to murder Iruka-sensei and himself, and Sasuke had made it his life's mission to kill a certain...someone.
"It may not always be appropriate to use your most powerful jutsu, especially since the more powerful the jutsu the more it may drain your chakra. If there is a significant probability of additional opponents, you may want to save your chakra. Maybe. All is contextual, but I'd rather you were on the side of overkill. And for the love of Kami, don't sit there and admire your jutsu. If your opponent is injured by your attack, follow up immediately. Before your attack even lands, start preparing for your next strike. Constant motion is required. Attack swiftly, relentlessly and without mercy," Kakashi stopped and met each of his student's eyes.
"Constant motion will keep you alive and your enemy unbalanced and out of sync."
Kakashi went on for some time, explaining common sense rules that most shinobi seemed incapable of following, yet it boiled down to some very simple truths.
Hide your strength.
Kill swiftly.
Never assume that you have won until your enemy is truly dead. Kakashi repeated the lesson until he felt that all of them had learned them. He caught Sasuke's eye when he spoke of arrogance. Naruto's eye when he talked about boasting. And every time he mentioned the word kill he practically glared in Sakura's direction.
"Disobey any of my rules and I'll make you do D-rank missions until I decide to retire. Got it?"
"Hai sensei!" his genin squad shouted at once. Kakashi allowed a small thrill of pride to percolate across his body. It had only been a week, but his genin were already turning into moderately obedient shinobi.
'Alright, rant over, time to see their progress on the tree walking exercise.'
"Alright, you two up the trees," Kakashi ordered.
Naruto and Sasuke both raced up the tree, their skill had improved greatly ever since before they became genin. They were actually able to run up the tree with ease, a combination of momentum, athleticism, and chakra control allowed them to do it. Both boys felt triumphant, Naruto with a massive grin and Sasuke with a subtle smirk.
"Impressive that you've mastered tree running, but I'm afraid you'll need to master tree walking before you get any jutsu from yours truly."
Both genin sagged in disappointment. Another day and no more jutsu to add to their already small repertoire.
Kakashi gave them an eye smile, "I'm going to go work with Sakura on the next level of chakra control, try not to keep her waiting too long."
Sakura glared at her sensei, was he trying to get her Sasuke-kun mad at her? Sasuke was many things but stupid was not one of them.
Kakashi eyed the glaring kunoichi and pointed in the direction of a large pond. "There's a pond about five miles away from here, start running to it."
Sakura whimpered as she picked up her laden feet and started to jog. Kakashi then fired a kunai that scraped her calf due to her lack of intense movement. The girls panicked stricken face whirled toward her sensei as she saw him heft another kunai in his hand.
As he lifted it to throw, Sakura redoubled her efforts and Kakashi laughed to himself.
Once they made it to the pond, the Hatake had Sakura begin water walking. Once again he was impressed by her ability to pick it up so swiftly, her chakra control was really something else. She had only fallen in twice and now was standing on it as easily as she stood on the earth.
"You really need to improve on your stamina and your chakra reserves. That means you get to do your taijutsu forms for the next two hours on the water!"
Sakura shivered, if she had known this is what it took to be a shinobi she would have never signed up! She wouldn't back down now though, she would prove that she could be a shinobi too, she would prove that she was worthy of her Sasuke-kun!
Kakashi left a clone there and went back to monitor the progress of the other two members of his team. He worked with them on their chakra control and by the end of the two hours, they had made significant progress. Both boys simply oozed with potential, and with their fierce competitive nature they were giving it their all each and every time, the adult in the room not even having to encourage them once.
Sakura had been forced to run back to the training ground by the Kakashi clone and she fell down panting once she arrived. The man was a damn monster!
Kakashi motioned for Naruto and Sasuke to stop and eye-smiled at them. "Well done all of you. You should all be at the level of chakra control needed to start learning jutsu. And in preparation for that, I need to determine your elemental affinities."
While they had been briefed in the academy, there were things they didn't seem to know yet, or at least in Sakura's case. Kakashi explained how most shinobi had an affinity with a specific element and it made learning jutsu from that element much easier.
Sakura had then asked an obvious question. "Can you have more than one main affinity?"
Kakashi shook his head. "Not without a Kekkei Genkai. However, that does not mean you can't learn jutsu from another element. It's just more difficult. Each element requires molding chakra in a specific way. Learning jutsu that you have an affinity for is like studying a complex problem written in the language you know. Learning a jutsu that you don't have a natural affinity for is like studying a complex problem written in a foreign language. You can learn a second language, but you typically will always think in your native tongue. Difficulties in learning multiple jutsu elements increases on an exponential level."
Sakura understood this concept, "So learning a second element is twice as hard but learning a third element might be four times as hard?"
Kakashi gave her an eye smile, "Right concept wrong degree. It's not precise but for most shinobi learning a second element is typically ten times as hard as the first." His students looked at him with wide, round eyes. "And learning a third element is then one hundred times as hard as the first element, and you can do the math to figure out the fourth and fifth elements."
Kakashi held up his hand as they gawked at him, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves, the first step is learning your affinities."
The Hatake then had Team 7 channel their chakra's into special chakra paper. Sakura's paper dampened, becoming very soggy, and then crumbled up into wet dirt. Sasuke's paper wrinkled and then burned to ashes. Naruto's paper sliced itself into numerous pieces. Water, earth, lightning, fire, and wind, perfect.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," Kakashi said, crossing his fingers and creating two Shadow Clones. "Okay, Sakura you're with me. Naruto, Sasuke, you're with my clones."
For the rest of the day, Kakashi oversaw the elemental training, primarily focused on Sakura as she needed the most help.
Naruto and Sasuke were a bit miffed that they wouldn't gain any training on Raiton/Futon jutsu. They wouldn't learn anything new until they got their elemental chakra control up to Kakashi's liking, as it still needed work. The good thing is that they were learning far faster than most traditional genin squads ever learned. Based on what they had learned from the academy when they did bother to pay attention, most genin were not taught elemental jutsu until they made chunin.
Sakura was actually very surprising, as her chakra control happened to be outright magnificent, being able to form traces of her chakra element after only one hour of practice. She could actually even form everything right on a simple Suiton jutsu, the only dilemma being she lacked the chakra to actually make it work properly. It was rather eye opening, especially considering that it normally would have taken several days or even weeks to learn how to properly mold chakra into traces of water.
There was one specific reason why Kakashi had opted to genuinely train his team to a much greater degree than he normally would like to. The existence of Son Goku and potentially others out there that were just like him, given his status as someone with unknown origins.
He would do everything in his power to ensure that his team were as prepared as possible for what the world would inevitably throw at them.
-Later With Sakura-
Sakura watched Naruto head off on his own after training again. Although she had been working very hard the past week and she felt like she was making progress, it felt like she was standing still in comparison to Sasuke and even Naruto.
Granted Naruto still screwed up from time to time, but she believed it had more to do with his competition with Sasuke rather than idiocy on his part.
For Sakura, shinobi life was falling far short of the romantic fantasies she used to have growing up. It was literally only intensive training to the limit every single day. It would primarily consist mainly of sparring, harsh chakra-building workouts, and elemental chakra training. Although Sasuke was easily the best of the three with his Sharingan, Naruto was making great strides when it came to his own taijutsu.
Training would generally start early in the morning since Kakashi was a slave driver and always pushed his team to the limit.
Speaking of limits, the "loser" on their team appeared to have bottomless energy compared to his teammates. While Sasuke would typically dominate sparring sessions, the relentlessness of the blonde would eventually overtake even her crush when it was all said and done. It didn't fit the description of Naruto as she knew him from the academy.
Maybe had the other instructors been more on the ball, Naruto would have been giving Sasuke a run for his money more often.
It just raised more and more questions which really bothered her. Sakura noticed again how everybody went out of their way not to notice Naruto, which she felt should be a difficult thing to do since the kid was dressed from head to toe in orange. A stray memory flashed in front of her of a young Naruto crying in a market place alone and what made it all the more potent was nobody stopped to ask why.
She had been with her mother and had tried to stop, but had simply been pulled along, leaving the boy alone.
Heading home, Sakura couldn't really explain her sudden interest in her blonde-haired teammate, but it was definitely there as she wondered why his life was so lonely. Granted his pranks could be annoying, but they were for the most part harmless. From time to time, she could see that something weighed Naruto down, but she was positive whatever it was it was something he had just learned as she couldn't ever really remember seeing him looking so serious before.
She also wondered why Naruto hadn't asked her for any dates recently. She realized why a moment later and felt her hand come up to her chest as it clenched with emotion as a result of her understanding. He was stepping aside for her happiness. He was doing what she had always wanted him to do during the academy, to leave her alone to pursue Sasuke.
Sakura returned home to get some sleep of her own, figuring it would be another long day tomorrow. She had a dream of her two teammates and was surprised by how real it felt. In the dream she saw her two teammates walking ahead of her getting further and further away. She ran to catch up, but no matter how fast she ran she simply couldn't catch up to the seemingly impossible pace they were walking.
-The Next Day-
Kakashi eye-smiled as he watched his team do the D-ranked mission of doing chores on a nearby farm. The silver-haired man had been pleased with Naruto today although he had been worried at first as the blonde had a habit of screwing up. He had been more mindful of him after Naruto's mistake had cost him a day's pay when the boy had destroyed a garden of priceless herbs because he had thought they were weeds and wanted to outperform Sasuke. As a result, the Third Hokage had docked him seeing as he believed it was Kakashi's job to make sure such mishaps didn't happen. He wasn't mad at Naruto as the boy reminded him too much of Obito to make that a possibility, but he had been eerily annoyed.
However, today when Naruto was about to get ramped up into another of his must beat Sasuke moods, Sakura had approached him and admonished him. She wouldn't have done that if it weren't for her Sensei's constant lessons about teamwork and helping each other up. Although he didn't hear what she had said, it had done the trick as Naruto visibly calmed and went about doing his tasks in a more thoughtful manner. Watching the pink-haired girl struggle with a bag of feed for the livestock, Kakashi knew she was probably berating herself, since both of her teammates were still going much stronger.
Finally, she couldn't hold it anymore and dropped the bag. Sasuke had noticed it, but didn't stop repairing the fence he was working on, but Naruto whom was painting a barn stopped and created a clone to continue his chore so he could walk over to her.
He was about to pick it up when Sakura said, "I can do it Naruto, I don't need your help!"
"Don't worry about it Sakura-chan," Naruto replied picking it up, "I don't mind helping at all."
"But-"
"Besides," he interrupted kindly. "Because of your advice, I'm actually almost done with my list instead of struggling to keep up with the teme. So take it easy and come back when you're rested, I got this."
Sakura thanked him begrudgingly before moving towards a tree to rest in the shade. Sitting down, she admitted it felt good to rest. She was seeing improvements in her shinobi skill, but she still felt like she was standing still in comparison.
She was pulled from her thoughts by Kakashi as he said, "Taking a load off?"
"I'm sorry Kakashi-sensei, I'll get right back to work," Sakura said promptly, moving to get up.
"Relax Sakura," Kakashi said, eye-smiling at her, "that is what Naruto wanted after all." His statement raised by the slightly embarrassed look that appeared on Sakura's face but he put her at ease as he told her, "Actually I wanted to know what you said to him. As I'm sure you've noticed he can be a bit of a handful, but today's he's been pretty calm and rather collected."
"I didn't say anything really Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said, "I just said he would probably do better if he didn't worry so much what Sasuke-kun was doing."
"Well it seems to be working," Kakashi said as Naruto was feeding the livestock. Crossing his arms he added, "But maybe you should consider the same thing."
"What do you mean Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked surprised.
"Well, why didn't you stop when you were tired?"
"I…I didn't want to be a burden," Sakura said still disappointed in herself.
"Does Naruto look burdened?"
Staring at the yellow-haired boy as he put a little feed in his hand to feed one of the animals, Sakura shook her head and said, "He actually looks happy."
"I'm sure he is," Kakashi said giving an eye-smile at the scene, "It's a nice change."
Sakura looked up only to see that her sensei had taken off, leaving her to wonder if Kakashi knew what it was about Naruto that people didn't like. He obviously knew that Naruto was or had been lonely in the past if what he had just said was any indication.
'But what changed?' Sakura asked herself. 'We did,' she thought almost feeling like she wanted to smack her forehead, 'Sasuke-kun and I have acknowledged him.'
Granted, Sasuke and him still didn't get along as if they were harmonious best friends, but even then their rivalry meant greatly to Naruto, and even to Sasuke himself. As for her, she had been trying to be nicer to the blonde although she still had to rain punishment down upon his skull from time to time. Yet even then, he would look up at her whilst rubbing the knot on his head, smiling that smile that could brighten anyone's day no matter what happened.
Feeling rested, she got up to go finish her share of the chores as she knew otherwise Naruto may do them all. And she wanted to contribute to the team as well.
-Later With Team Four-
Weeks have passed since the first day of training. The two members of Team Four Star eventually fell into a routine that had produced immaculate results up to that point. Each day, they would meet up at the training ground and upon completion of said training, they would perform a D-Rank mission from the Hokage before being dismissed for the day.
Yugao couldn't help but notice that both her and her underling were indeed progressing at a wild rate. Physically, the warm-ups were grueling and conducted a blistering pace, led primarily by Son Goku as he was the physically superior of the two. Millions of push-ups, sit-ups, laps, sprints, rock pushes, bursts, katas, jumps, and more, the two had fun throughout it.
It was as if Goku's positive nature began to reawaken the humanity within Yugao. Fuck Danzo.
Anyways, Goku, despite his growth being stunted physically due to the lack of a genuine challenge, managed to improve his overall skill, technique, and most importantly his versatility. His training with Yugao had made him damn good at distinguishing energy signatures, catapulting him to the title of best sensor in the world.
A life force was a life force, and despite the title of said force he could sense all of it, which gave him an advantage over pure chakra-sensors. This was came to be through numerous repetitions of Goku being blindfolded and deafened through fuinjutsu seals, rendering him incapable of relying on anything other than his sixth sense to keep his head on his shoulders.
After numerous close calls and lost hair strands, he completely adapted to those conditions. After this evolution, it became harder and harder for Yugao to properly land a strike on the Saiyan, which inevitably forced her body to try to adapt as well for compensation.
On top of this, they worked on genjutsu and the counteracting of it. Initially, the theory was that Goku would be vulnerable to those types of attacks due to his natural lack of chakra. However, the fact that he lacked chakra meant that there was no effect whatsoever. Even if Yugao attempted to inject her own chakra into his brain or limbic system, it was instantly overpowered by the flame that was Goku's ki.
The kid was 12 years old. He couldn't be touched, injured if touched, or manipulated in any way possible thus far. And he was stronger and faster than practically anyone in the village, as he was. It was mind boggling.
She moved fast because she processed things fast. He moved faster because he processed nothing and just moved. Tactical vs Instinctual.
The only other thing she thought to teach the boy was meditation, which happened to be something that she held an advantage over him. Despite his physical gifts, it was not in his nature to be calm and just flow with the wind at all times beyond the troughs of combat itself. If his spiritual and mental game ever caught up to his physical prowess...
He would be god-like as a grown man.
And Yugao still couldn't help but marvel at Goku's Kame styled taijutsu; the boy was absolutely terrific, and only continued to improve. He was a fighting genius!
She herself arguably got the greatest benefit out of the training regimen, as trying to match the kid's fervor only made her that much more powerful. While she was the lead instructor, she managed to receive tips on just how Goku managed to manipulate his ki to form short and long-ranged attacks.
While the concept of chakra control was actually one of her strong suits, there was a difference between elemental kneading and outright creating offensive attacks from chakra itself. Only people such as the Yondaime, Jiraiya-sama, and her ANBU mentor Hatake Kakashi were able to pull that off as far as she knew with a specific kind of jutsu: the Rasengan.
Through a month of quiet, unseen practice, she was able to approximate that jutsu. While the ease in which Goku was able to manipulate his energy was something literally out of this world, she was a genius shinobi in her own right. At first, she could only summon chakra to her palms and see a faint blue glow to signify an aura. That was the easy part.
The next step was to hone that chakra into a sphere, and this took over two weeks to get down. Eventually, by virtue of Goku summoning cerulean ki into a sphere on his right hand in front of her, Yugao managed to imitate the boy. Two weeks following this achievement, she found herself able to form the sphere easier and easier until she could create explosions dealing far greater damage than an explosive tag.
While her newfound technique was potentially not combat ready and did not have the grinding affect of the legendary Rasengan, it was akin to packing multiple explosive tags into a single devastating attack. And given her rising chakra reserves due to the Son Goku effect, the jutsu did not take as much of a toll on her as it would have before she became a sensei.
Tsuki Kyu. Moon Sphere. Her own original jutsu in the making.
'I appreciate you, Son Goku,' Yugao mentally noted with a smile at their handiwork.
Days turned to weeks, which turned into a month and they continued to develop chemistry. That being said, the duo had been stuck doing D-Rank missions since their inception. Both reckoned that they were ready for a dangerous mission...to show off the fruits of their labor.
-In The Hokage's Office-
"Ah! Back for another mission?" Sarutobi Hiruzen asks the "team" cheerfully as the two members walk into his office.
"Yes, we are."
The Hokage then nods at the woman's words and immediately looks at a list of all the available missions for the team.
"Hmm...well, there are some houses that need to be painted in the southern part of Konoha. And it seems like the Daimyo's cat has escaped once again..." He mentioned as he looked over the list.
Goku smirked at his sensei's well-hidden anxiety at the thought of the infamous cat mission, and spoke up for both of them. "Come on Hokage-sama, we can handle a lot more than that, give us a real mission!"
"So a C-Rank?" The Hokage asked. "Do you think you can handle one?"
"Hai, Hokage-sama, we have done plenty of missions over the past month. From my observations, I do believe we can handle one." Yugao informed him.
The Hokage seemed to nod in understanding. He took out another list of missions and started to look at it, to see if there was an appropriate mission...
"Hmm...I think I found one!" He declared as he pointed to one. He then started digging through a scroll with the mission contents in more detail.
"Your mission is an escort mission to the Taki no Kuni. You'll be escorting the wealthy heiress from Capsule Corporation, who was traveling in Hi no Kuni to search for an unspecified object, but failed in her endeavors. You will ensure she reports back into Mirai Toshi safe and sound, which is located in the Taki area."
"So, when exactly is the mission? And who exactly is our client?" Yugao inquired.
"Your mission starts tomorrow. That's the day the client is expected to depart Konoha by. As for who she is, I will have you Yugao, meet with her in her hotel room after we're done here. Goku will meet her tomorrow." Sarutobi informed him. "If there are no more questions, then you Goku, are dismissed!"
Goku happily said goodbye to the Hokage and his sensei before leaving the room.
-The Next Morning-
Goku stood anxiously, awaiting for his first true mission to begin.
'I can't wait to test myself,' The boy stated inwardly, shifting and twitching in excitement.
Yugao then showed her face, accompanied by a slender teenager who looked to be in her mid-to-late teens. The girl had her hair in a braided ponytail with a red ribbon and wore a very short pink dress with her name 'BULMA' on it with blue sneakers and purple socks.
The grown woman in the room didn't get the chance to speak before Goku blurted out the obvious.
"Who's she?" He asked.
"This is our client: Bulma. In case you might have forgotten, she is the heiress of Capsule Corporation, which is located in Mirai Toshi, and it's our job to escort her back to her home within the city, understood?"
"Hai!"
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Bulma spoke up, after seeing the boy nod. "I wasn't ready when your sensei showed up, but now I'm here and ready to go!"
"We've wasted enough daylight as it is, so let's get moving."
"Right on," Goku remarked with a grin on his face as they strolled out of the gates.
Team Four Stars first C-Rank mission had now officially begun, little did they know what was to come.
-With The Unknown-
Ten silhouettes stood atop large rocks situated in front of a large statue inside a large cave just outside of a prime Red Ribbon Army base. Seven of the silhouettes seemed blurry and almost see-through, as if they were not truly present.
"Zetsu, the alien is leaving his village soon, correct?" One of the figures asked in an authoritative voice.
"Yes." Another figure, Zetsu, responded. Unlike the other nine, this figure took the shape of an anthropomorphic Venus-fly trap. It then changed its voice before speaking again. "He and his team will be heading near Taki no Kuni toward Tenchi Bridge, where they'll escort the infamous client Bulma Briefs back to Mirai Toshi."
"Good." The first figure spoke. He then the turned his attention towards two more figures, standing next to each other. "Kakuzu, Oroka, I have a mission for you both. As you two are the closest in the area, you will engage the extraterrestrial during his travels. Confront him and test his abilities to see what the boy is capable of. If possible, try to capture him alive. Pin his 'disappearance' on the Taki shinobi to create tension between the two villages. Also, make sure there are no witnesses."
"Understood." One of the figures replied in a bored, uncaring tone of voice. "Anyhow, if that's all the orders you have for me, I'm out."
With those words, the figure disappeared from view on his rock.
"Didn't even wait for any more orders...that imprudent, stupid little..." The figure that was standing next to him hissed under his breath before he turned to face the leader. "My partner is getting on my last nerves, and has been doing so for the past few days. Expect me to need a new partner, as I will kill him and turn in his head for the bounty of Iwa."
"That'll be the fourth one, Kakuzu." Zetsu replied nonchalantly.
"We can look into that for you Kakuzu, but for now, just work with him and complete your mission. There are no further orders for you." The leader stated. He then turned his attention to Zetsu.
"Zetsu, keep track on the Jinchuriki's as well. Find out everything you can about them and their current positions."
"Understood!" The plant-figure replied, his voice back to the way it originally was.
"Konan and I will work on recruiting a new member into the organization, a man who claims to be immortal. Perhaps this would be the best suited partner for you Kakuzu?" The leader asked in monotone.
"If he pisses me off, I'll just dig and find some way to kill him too." Kakuzu responded simply.
The leader seemed to ignore the man's response and turned to the entire group. "As for the rest of you, you all know and have your individual assignments. This meeting is thereby dismissed. We shall reconvene when Kakuzu and Oroka complete their mission."
With those words, all silhouettes disappeared without a trace, leaving the leader to glance at a small rice-cooker floating onto the shore of the riverbank with an encryption on it. It read 'Makai Pikkoro', which meant Piccolo Daimao, or Demon-King Piccolo. It also had a seal on it, that translated to 'Mafuba' or Evil Containment Wave. Glancing at it with circular irises, the leader thought back to what he had learned from his former sensei Jiraiya, and realized it was from something of the legends. He was a Demon King of some sort, maintaining dominion over the world for decades over three-centuries ago, nearly wiping out the world's population. Intriguing. He could prove useful to the Akatsuki's purposes soon, if he was truly required...