01Apr24

Welcome back to this story, I have been neglecting all of my fics for a while due to a change in location. Same job, same company, opposite coast, so I have been acclimating to my new living conditions. So yay.

I don't own Naruto or Assassin's Creed.

Konoha's Phantom.

Ch.6 First mission

-Training ground seven, a week later-

Naruto was sitting up high in a tree watching the prospective Team Seven get their asses handed to them by Kakashi who was putting in little effort.

Naruto cringed as he saw Kakashi give Tatsuki nothing more than a glorified ass poke that sent her flying off into the nearby water. He knew that Tatsuki would be on a warpath after being humiliated like that. He could also see Satsuki's embarrassment from where he was sitting and he knew she would probably go after Kakashi without thinking now, making her an easy target.

Sakura on the other hand had been taken out by a simple illusion and it was kind of pathetic. Naruto also knew that they were on the path to fail the test. He had read about the bell test from his mother's journals, and it was meant to test teamwork. The test in itself wasn't bad, but the way Kakashi was using it was very flawed. No one would expect that a freshly put together team would even work well together. Though Tatsuki and Satsuki would probably be ok, Sakura on the other hand would not.

The twins had a massive dislike of the girl's fangirlish tendencies, and Naruto disliked her ways as well, but if she could get rid of that flaw, she could become a much better person and Kunoichi in the future. But from where Naruto was observing, that would be a long way away from now. Currently the bubblegum girl was flat on her back caught in a beginner illusion. Naruto deciding to take pity on the girl, snatched an acorn from a nearby branch and flicked it with a small amount of chakra at her large forehead. The girl immediately sat up after being beaned in the head by the chakra enhanced acorn.

"You know, it's not fair to them if you interfere with their test." Said Kakashi from a branch above Naruto.

"The test itself is already not fair to them." said Naruto.

"Oh? Do explain." Said Kakashi closing his book.

"That test is meant for a team who has been working together for a while, not one that was just formed not even a full day ago." Said Naruto as he was fiddling with a contraption that his master had giving him.

"You are correct, but this part of the test is a sham. It's meant to show them that they alone are not enough to beat me, a seasoned Jonin. After the time is up the one that performed the worst will get tied up to the post and the other two will get lunch while the other goes without. If they give the one that is tied up lunch, they pass." Said Kakashi.

"So it is still a test of teamwork, just really roundabout." Said Naruto.

"Yes, though with the twins on this team, I will probably be forced to pass this team even if they fail. If that does happen I will give them a test that will not be fun for them, but will be amusing for me, just to meet the requirements of passing the mandatory test to become a team." Said Kakashi.

"Can I watch?"

"Only if you bring enough popcorn." Said Kakashi.

The two watched as both Uchiha sisters were thrown away from what Naruto guessed was the cyclops's shadow clone. Sakura was hiding poorly in a bush nearby as well. The two Uchiha attacked the clone more ferociously this time and then Sakura joined in throwing shuriken and kunai at the clone's vital points.

"I suppose this counts as a pass?" asked Naruto.

"It's probably the best teamwork they're going to perform at this time, so yeah they pass. Though they haven't gotten the bells so I'm still going to perform the second part of the test just for fun." Kakashi said in his usual monotone.

"You enjoy other's pain don't you?" asked Naruto.

"Only when they have caused me trouble or if they will eventually cause me trouble." Said Kakashi just as the clock rang out.

"Ohhhh, Tatsuki was so close to the bells. Oh well, time to watch how this unfolds. What does that old taskmaster of yours have you doing now that you are out of the academy?" asked Kakashi as they both watched Kakashi's clone tie Sakura up to the middle post and gave the twins the boxed lunches.

"Well he has given me targets to take out, mostly criminals that are terrorizing the villagers and a few villages outside the walls. Though he has given me a few places to check up on. I'll do that after I have taken out my targets tonight." Said Naruto as he watched the sisters debate on giving their pink haired teammate any of their food. Eventually they both began feeding the pink haired girl, who looked to be in heaven. Naruto laughed as he knew that Sakura didn't know that her two crushes were actually girls.

"Want to go burst their bubble real quick?" asked Naruto grinning.

"Yup, though before I go, what is that contraption that you have?" asked Kakashi as he once again closed his book and put it away.

"Mentor told me it was called a pepper-shot, something that launches a small round projectile at a target, but it is really loud. So it is something to use after I'm done being stealthy. Mentor told me to inspect the device and tell him what I thought about it before he would teach me how to use it." Said Naruto putting the object away. "Give me a minute, I want to scare them as well." Said Naruto as he traversed through the trees like a phantom and eventually he landed silently behind the three posts listening to the girls talk.

Naruto watched from behind as all three tensed up as Kakashi appeared in front of them along with storm clouds that shot out bolts of lighting. Naruto assumed that was the work of an illusion, but it had the desired effect as all three Genin looked scared.

"You disobeyed my instructions, why?" asked Kakashi sounding menacing.

"We all need to be at the top of our game to even have a chance to beat your game, if she went hungry we would have had a greater chance of failing. Pass or fail we do this as a team." Said Tatsu sounding nervous.

"And both of you went along with this knowing that I could fail you anyways for disobeying my instructions?" asked Kakashi.

Both of the other Genin nodded.

"WELL YOU….Pass." said Kakashi as the dark sky cleared immediately and all three Genin looked gob smacked. Naruto had a bit of difficulty restraining his laughter at the reactions the three of them had before he cut Sakura lose.

"W-what?" stuttered Sakura shocked before falling flat on her face.

The three looked behind them shocked to see Naruto cloaked in his newly dark grey dyed robes. The only thing that they could see was the bottom half of his face which sported a grin. "You all did well, I look forward to possibly working with this team in the future. Said Naruto before he threw down a smoke pellet obscuring the general area around him and causing the group to cough. As the smoke cleared Naruto was nowhere to be seen.

"Who was that Sensei?" asked Sakura who was now sitting up against the log that she was once tied to.

"That was one of the village's more obscure special operatives." Kakashi said inwardly laughing at Sakura's face as she scrunched it up in displeasure of the mostly uninformative answer.

-Just outside the walls of the village many hours later-

Naruto watched as his target leave the village though the gates and the old guy looked nervous. This man was responsible for the abduction and sale of orphaned children, and Naruto had been hunting down his lackeys for the past few days. Naruto's mission that was handed to him directly by the old Hokage along with a few others that had been sent to the Hokage by his Mentor. Currently his goal was to track down where the trafficker was keeping the kidnapped kids. It just so happened that a few of his now deceased targets had been in league with the kidnapper and the deaths of his cohorts had frightened the man.

Naruto dropped from the roof of the building he was on dashed by the gate guards tossing an envelope that smacked one of them in the face. Once he was clear of the gate and a few yards into the forest Naruto took to the massive trees to follow his target.

Eventually the man led Naruto to a poorly hidden rickety building. Naruto landed silently beside a broken window and heard the man talking to who Naruto guessed was one of the building's guards.

"Sho and Aoi are dead, we need to move the operation." Said the kidnapper.

"How are they dead?" asked the guard.

"I don't know who but Sho's body was hung in the market for all to see and Aoi is missing his head."

Naruto had indeed beheaded the one called Aoi and he still had the head with him. He intended to use a shock an awe in taking the rest of the group out.

Naruto unsealed the head and stuck a roll of flash and concussion seals in the mouth of Aoi and chucked it through the window shattering what was left of the glass.

"What the fu-" -BANG- the seals went off blowing the head apart creating a blinding light and deafening sound in the room, along with a little shrapnel from the head taking down the two in the room, but not outright killing them. the seals were a concoction that his mother created and used with deadly efficiency.

Naruto hopped though the window and walked up to the fat old man and picked him up by the collar of his shirt.

"Tell me where the kids are and I'll see that you get the help you need." Said Naruto lying though his teeth.

"What kids?" Naruto flicked out a hidden blade and plunged it into the meaty part of his left thigh causing the man to scream.

"I can continue to make this very painful for you, just tell me what I want to know and this will be all over." Said Naruto twisting his blade.

"FUCK! ALRIGHT! They're in the basement." Said the man squirming on the floor.

"Ok, and I can assume you already sent some kids off, where did you send them?" asked Naruto.

"To the land of Waves." The man gasped. "I was contacted by a middleman that there was a loaded client that was interested in buying slaves."

"And who is this client?"

"I don't know, I never got a name, with the kind of money I was getting paid, I didn't care to know." Whimpered the man.

"Where can I find the middleman?"

"The same place as the client."

"Thank you, you may rest now." Said Naruto before plunging his blade in the man's throat. Naruto then turned his attention to the guard who was trying to crawl away.

"Oh no, don't think I forgot about you." said Naruto grabbing the man by his hair and dragged him over to the only other door in the building. He kicked the door open and chucked the guard down the revealed staircase.

Naruto walked down the stairs and saw the guard sprawled out on the ground with groaning in pain due to a few of his limbs pointing in unnatural directions. Naruto didn't care and again drug the man across the ground by his hair to edge of a row of disorganized cages. Many of those cages were stuffed full of kids. Naruto dropped the man and then swiftly kicked him in the head rendering him unconscious.

Naruto looked in the cages and saw that the kids while healthy-ish, were dirty and looked fearful.

"Hello, I'm here to free you all, is there anyone hurt?" asked Naruto kneeling down to the first cage.

"Y-yes." Said one of the young boys in the cage and pointed towards a cell down at the end of the basement. "The girl o-over there put up a fight and they beat her badly."

"Are there any other guards?" asked Naruto grabbing the keys from the guard and unlocked the cage.

"They all went away with a group of older kids. We've only seen him." said the boy pointing at the injured guard.

"Well that makes no sense… I would have expected there to be more people guarding this place." Said Naruto handing the boy the keys. "Here, can you release everyone else? I am going to check on the girl." Said Naruto handing the boy the keys.

Naruto walked over the cell and what he saw sickened him. The girl was curled up into a ball sobbing, and from what Naruto could see, the girl was littered in bruises and scabs. Her clothes were tattered and she looked starved. Naruto, with the help of his tools broke the lock and swung open the door.

Seeing someone approaching her she scooted away from them and started shaking.

Naruto kneeled beside the girl and started to check her over. From what he could see the girl was a few years younger than him and she had red hair along with violet colored eyes. Naruto also found to his relief that the girl didn't have any obvious signs of broken bones, but with all the bruises, it was hard to tell if she had any other damaged bones or other issues. Naruto then flipped his hood down and that caused the girl to gasp.

"A-are y-you and U-Uzumaki?" asked the girl.

Naruto cocked his head to the side and then smiled. "Yes, may I ask your name?"

"Nariko Uzumaki." Said the girl.

"My name is Naruto, how about I get you out of here." Said Naruto holding out his hand. The girl took his hand but she couldn't get up.

"Is there something wrong with your leg?" asked Naruto.

"I can't move it and it hurts so much." Whimpered the girl.

"Well let's get you and everyone else to the hospital." Said Naruto picking the girl up gently.

"Have you seen my brothers and sister?" asked Nariko looking around at all the kid milling around the basement.

Naruto froze, there were more Uzumaki here. Naruto looked around and spotted another tuff of red hair, but only one. "What are their names?"

"Shoko, and Sakai." Said the girl as Naruto waded through though the large group of kids who's ages ranged from five to ten, and eventually they reached the child that Naruto believed was the other Uzumaki child. The little girl had short dark red hair, bright green eyes, and looked to be about five years old. The girl also looked frantic as it looked like she was searching for something or someone.

"Hello little one, can I assume that your name is Shoko?" asked Naruto, gaining the attention of the little girl.

"Y-Yeah? How did you know my name?" questioned the girl looking a little frightened.

"Your sister told me." Naruto answered, surprising the girl.

"You found Nariko?" asked Shoko looking around, finally seeing the girl in Naruto's arms.

"Yes, but she is in bad shape, do you know where your brother is?"

The girl looked glum. "He was taken with the last group."

"How long ago was that?" asked Naruto.

"Ummm, I don't know." Said Shoko.

"Ah, I suppose it would be hard to tell time in a basement with no windows." Said Naruto looking around and noticing that all the kids were looking at him. "I suppose it's time to take everyone to the hospital."

Naruto with Shoko beside him and Nariko was passed out in his arms. The rest of the kids which numbered a little more than a hundred were following behind Naruto and they were in a much better mood. Once again Naruto flipped up his hood and eventually the group meandered to the west gate of Kohona.

The guards seeing a large group approaching the gates, alerted the Anbu that something was up and Naruto was greeted by a squad of Anbu before the group could walk through the gates.

"State your business." Stated the lead Anbu which had an eagle mask.

Naruto just used one of his hands to dig around in one of his pouches, which caused the Anbu to tense, but Naruto drew out a scroll with the Hokage's stamp on it and tossed it to Eagle.

"So, you're the new one. Do you need any help?" asked Eagle after he skimmed through the scroll.

"A few more hands wouldn't hurt, trying to heard around a hundred small kids is absurdly difficult. Though it would be great if someone could warn the hospital that we are coming.

"Will do, Mouse, go warn the hospital staff that they will have a large group of children arriving soon, Rat, go inform the Hokage that the assassin has completed his mission." Without a word said, both Anbu operatives vanished, leaving only Eagle and a lizard masked Anbu. "We will help keep the kids from wandering off." Said Eagle allowing the group pass through the gates and slowly meander towards the hospital.

Eventually Naruto stepped though the entrance followed by the kids and two Anbu, and Nariko was swiftly taken from his arms and she vanished along with Shoko down a hallway. Naruto watched as all the kids were rounded up by the staff and whisked away to be checked out.

"Well you really stepped in it eh brat." Naruto turned to see Samuel walking up to him.

"It would seem so Mentor, though I completed the main part of the mission, I still have a few loose ends to tie up." Said Naruto crossing his arms.

"Oh, do tell." Said Samuel.

"It would be easier to show you, follow me." Said Naruto as he led Samuel down the hall to a room where both Shoko and Nariko were being cared for.

"Don't tell me those girls are who I think they are." Said Samuel looking distressed.

"They are sisters and part of my clan, and apparently they have a brother that was taken to the Land of Waves." Said Naruto.

"One of you Uzumaki is trouble enough, but….. they are welcome at the compound if they have nowhere else to go." Said Samuel sitting down in a nearby chair. "You said that their brother was taken to wave…. I assume that you will be going after him?" asked Samuel.

"Yes Mentor, getting him back will be my main goal. Though I will also hunt the client and middleman if the chance arises." Said Naruto sitting right beside him, watching as the nurses milled around both girls.

"I will allow this, but you will need to stay here a few days before you can leave." Said Samuel.

"But Mentor, I should leave as soon as possible." Said Naruto.

"I understand your hastiness, but you will need to help them get acclimated, and I wish to teach you a few more things before you go." Said Samuel.

"Where do you think all the children came from?" asked Naruto.

"Probably the streets, many are probably orphans, and some were probably taken from their parents while they were out and about." Said Samuel. "Though I do recognize some of the kids from the orphanage that you used to be in…. I will probably investigate the orphanage while you are tracking down your cousin." Said Samuel standing up and walking down the hall. "Remember to report to the old monkey before you come home."

"Yes Mentor." Said Naruto still watching over the girls, not wanting to lose sight of his new found family.

-End-

This is shorter than the others, but I have been busy and needed to drop a chapter as it's been too long since I put one out

28Apr24