Chapter 11: The First Mission

"Ahhh, this sucks." Musket said as he laid in bed, still uncomfortable from his injuries with Hiashi. Even after two days of rest he was still no were near fully recovered.

"He messed me up. It usually shouldn't take this long." He raised his hand and looked at it as he looked over the fight. "Hm. He's even stronger than Rex. No that's not it. He's not as fast or physically strong. But his attacks. They're different."

A knock at the door got his attention as he got up and opened it only to see an Anbu looking at him, no expression could be seen thanks to their mask hiding their face. "Let me guess, the Hokage wants to see me?" The Anbu nodded and then disappeared in a cloud of leaves.

'You'd think everyone can do that' Going to the bathroom, Musket put on some of his clothes he had gotten for missions, consisting of black pants, his usual black shoes, a white shirt and a crimson jacket. Zipping up his jacket he went out and went for the door. That was when he noticed his flank jacket and headband in the closet next to the entrance.

"Meh, why not." Musket put on the flank jacket and tied the headband over his right bicep. "That should do."

XXX

Musket arrived at the doors to the Hokage's office with a bored expression. Many had watched him enter with a look of surprise for someone they didn't recognize. Some seemed curious while others seemed suspicious, while others still didn't seem to care. 'Sounds about right.' Opening the doors, Musket was greeted by Minato and Kushina's smiling faces.

"Took you long enough." Kushina said with her hands to her side while Minato had his hands on the back of his head with just an amused smile.

"Had to get ready. Sorry if I wanted to try something new." Musket said as he got a cigarette out of his pocket and looked at the Hokage who was sitting in his chair. "May I?"

Hiruzen nodded at the man with an amused expression. "I don't mind."

Musket grabbed his lighter and lit his cigarette, taking a drag from it. "Ahhh that's better. So what's up?"

Hiruzen chuckled at the man's behavior. "We are still waiting on the rest of your team."

"Ah." Musket said as he stood just away from the door as he smoked, waiting patiently. After ten minutes the rest of the team came into the room including Fugaku, Hiashi and Shikaku. Musket gave Hiashi an angered look while the Hyuga only smiled smugly at the blond man.

'Tch, think's he's all that.' Hiruzen began to speak, snapping Musket out of his thoughts.

"I'm glad you all came so quickly. I know you might be a little confused as to why I called you five, especially since a majority of you have genin teams, but there has been some murders near the border of Grass and Fire country that have been thanks to the rogue shinobi named Jūgan of the Ryōmen clan. It seems he has a group of Lightning ninja with him causing these massacres and if that's the case then this could be serious trouble. As a result I'm sending you six to stop him and his group before they can cause anymore damage. Any questions?" The group with the exception of Musket were shocked to hear of a Ryōmen clan member in allegiance with Kumo as they thought of the implications. Musket guessed by their reactions that this Ryōmen clan was very dangerous and that was enough for him. Suddenly Hiashi spoke up.

"Lord Hokage, why is he joining us on this mission?" He said while pointing to Musket. Hiruzen didn't show any emotion as he just looked at the Hyuga, already knowing of the two's battle two days prior.

"He is coming so that you all have a ranged combatant against Jūgan." 'And to see what he can do on a mission.' Hiashi looked unsatisfied at that answer as he looked at Musket.

"Hm, what can he possibly do against a monster like Jūgan. I've already seen what he's capable of and I can say it really isn't much." The room went quiet as all the others in the room looked to Musket, who only took another drag of his cigarette as if trying to ignore the Hyuga, but Hiruzen could feel that Musket was fuming on the inside.

Finishing his cigarette, Musket flicked it into the air and had it fall into his hand. Many expected to hear a sizzle from now burnt skin but nothing was heard as Musket opened his hand to show the cigarette was gone as he put both hands in his pockets. "I'd like to ask what this Ryōmen clan is."

Hiruzen nodded as he explained to the man. "They are a clan that is well known for having the natural ability to collect nature chakra, going into a sage mode like form similar to what Minato can go into. However they are special since they can go into a ravenous state that makes them very dangerous to be around. Luckily this clan has always had a small amount of numbers but in recent years they have started to become endangered. It's very likely that Jūgan may be one of the last of them."

Musket nodded. 'So this may be the death of an entire clan. Hm, well if he's as dangerous as they say it may be better to get rid of them.' his mind made up Musket came to be with the others as they all accepted their mission.

XXX

The group jumped through the forest, Musket a little behind as he didn't usually do something like this. They all were silent as they moved, knowing if too much noise was made it could ruin any chances for surprising the enemy.

Suddenly Minato stopped and held up his hand which had everyone else stop as well, Musket nearly falling off his branch at having to stop so abruptly. Minato looked around and started doing signs towards the others on where he wanted them to go as they obeyed without question. Turning to Musket he spoke in a whisper as the man didn't know sign language just yet, being the newest of the group and still learning from Minato himself.

"We have a group of ninjato the west. Can you tell me who they are?" Musket nodded as he grabbed one of his guns and got a scope from behind his back, placing it onto the gun before looking down range.

Searching in the direction Minato was pointing too, Musket noticed seven shinobi setting up camp. Looking at their headbands Musket noticed that they were not from Konoha.

"They have three clouds on their headbands and four of them have darker complexions than us. All of them have the Cloud uniforms on. Three have swords on their backs, one has what looks like sai's and one has a bo staff. I have one in my sights, want me to take the shot?"

"One second." Minato looked to the others and told them to engage once Musket made his shot and one of the shinobi was down. Everyone waited with anticipation as Minato looked back at Musket. "OK, go ahead."

Musket waited a moment, taking in a breath Musket lined up his sights and put his finger on the trigger. His target got up and Musket waited until they were away from the others. Soon his moment came as he pulled the trigger. The bullet whizzed through the air as it went through the man's skull, dying instantly. The others watched their teammate fall dead as they realized too late they were under attack. Musket's group came out of the bushes and attacked, killing the enemies quickly. Keeping watch from the shadows, Musket used his sights as he noticed that several ninja were approaching his squad.

Taking aim, Musket shot towards Minato's feet to get his attention. Once the Jonin looked at their sniper, Musket signaled to Minato that others were approaching as Minato told the others.

They got ready to fight as eight more Cloud ninja came out of the bushes and a battle ensued. Musket watched the fight, taking shots at some of the ninja wounding them as one of his squad would finish them off. Suddenly one ninja came from out of nowhere and slashed at Fugaku, wounding him. Musket was shocked as he killed the man with a shot to the heart before yelling to the others. "GET OUT OF THEIR NOW!" Minato noticed that Musket was charging up a fireball from the front of his gun's barrel. Minato signaled to the others to move as Musket prepared to use his spell. The ball condensed to the size of a pea as Musket put his finger to the trigger.

Taking a breath Musket pulled the trigger and the blast raced through the forest, being carried by the bullet. Landing in the middle of the group of Cloud ninja an explosion erupted as they were all disintegrated by the inferno.

Taking his eye away from the sight, Musket jumped down from the trees and looked at Fugaku. "You ok?"

"Yeah, just scratched me is all." Fugaku looked down at the flesh wound on his left arm. "Luckily it wasn't poisoned."

"Yeah that would have been bad." Minato said as he came up to them. "Let's hide the evidence and move on before we're spotted." The others nodded as any clues of a fight vanished and they continued on their way.

XXX

As night approached they made camp to rest for the night. They were deciding on shifts for the night when Musket said he could watch the whole night. When the others tried to argue, Musket told them he would t get tired and told them it would be better as they would all be well rested. All but Hiashi knew why Musket wouldn't become exhausted as Minato allowed it and they went to sleep. Musket set up for his watch as he looked over the day. He didn't know how that ninja had hidden from him and attacked Fugaku and that startled him. He didn't want to fail the team and so he took this as an opportunity to show he won't fail them again. Resting his head against a tree, he thought of his previous team and how he failed them. Not this time. Never again.

END OF CHAPTER