Chapter 6: Starting points

Team Ten's formation was just about at the three week mark, and so far their journey had only consisted of the monotony of D-rank missions. With a large yawn, Naruto stretched from his bed as he woke up. Kicking his legs off, he jumped up and began preparing for his day. He traversed his apartment provided to him by the Hokage almost robotically, prepping a quick breakfast of eggs, toast and bacon that had been taught to him during his time with Tsunade and Shizune. Looking at the clock, he could see it wasn't even four in the morning yet, but due to his new routine it wasn't uncommon for him to be up this early. Finishing his breakfast, he prepared all of his gear before nodding to himself and heading out the door.

Locking the place behind him, he took in a deep breath of Konoha's morning air. The summer was soon approaching and that meant that the weather was going to be much warmer, not that he was complaining. Checking over his gear, he nodded one last time before heading out to training ground twelve.

This had been his routine since Team Ten was officially put into the shinobi rotation. To his surprise, Ino of all people called him out and asked for his assistance in training. She wanted to learn how to water walk, without Shikamaru and Asuma knowing. And so, at five in the morning, he and her had promised to meet at training ground twelve for the last two weeks in private. "A woman must have her secrets!" She had told him when they had made the agreement. He couldn't exactly argue.

Arriving at the training grounds, he was greeted with the site of said girl performing her morning stretches. Not wanting to disturb, Naruto tried to creep up on her silently but to his dismay, Ino was already aware of his habits. "Hey! Come out here already! I feel stupid doing this all alone."

Relenting to his fate, Naruto entered the clearing with the girl. Smiling, she motioned for him to join her. Naruto took a seat next to her, both of them facing the lake as Ino continued stretching. Naruto started to do some of his own, getting her attention as she clocked her teeth in dismay. "You know, I've been thinking this for awhile now but you're never going to get anywhere stretching like that. It probably explains why your movements are so stiff. Here, let me help."

Walking next to him, Ino motioned for him to lay down on his back, which Naruto reluctantly obliged too. Grabbing his leg, she began to push it towards his torso, ignoring the resistance and grumbles of complaints coming from her teammate. "Come on, if you want to get better at some of the moves I taught you, you're gonna have to become more flexible."

"I don't think that's possible for me." Naruto said, grimacing as she pushed his legs further back then he was used too. Figuring it was more trouble to argue than not, he allowed her to continue, stretching his whole body out before she stood up herself with a sigh, proud of her work.

"There, you should be good to go." Ino said, nodding her head at her work. She held her hand down at Naruto, who took it and allowed her to lift him to his feet as they faced the lake before them. "Now, today's the day I conquer this, don't you think?"

"Let's hope so," Naruto said with a supportive look. Frowning, Ino huffed to herself before walking to the water's edge. She stopped just as she reached the shore, taking a deep breath. "

Alright. Here I go."

Slowly, she stepped out onto the waters surface. Just as her control was beginning to loosen, Naruto grabbed her hand for support. "You've got it! Keep going!"

Nodding, Ino continued on, releasing Naruto's hand and eventually making it all the way to the middle of the lake. Turning, she gave Naruto a wide smile as she celebrated to herself. "Hey, I think I've finally got it!"

"Great job, Ino-chan!" Naruto yelled, joining her on the water for celebration. The two linked hands, jumping up and down in an exaggerated celebration. "Man, you learned this way faster than I did!"

"I am a genius, aren't I?" Ino said pridefully, placing her hand on her chest. "It was only a matter of time."

"With this you won't have to worry about getting soaked anymore." Naruto said with a grin. He dodged a smack coming his way, with Ino almost losing control and falling into the lake until Naruto caught her. "Well, maybe you still need a little practice."

"Shut it, idiot." Ino grumbled, righting herself. She was trying to hide it, but in truth she was extremely happy to have accomplished something that was pretty common place for shinobi. Asuma's words from their first meeting continued to ring in her head, and in truth she wanted to get much stronger than her current self. Naruto was already so far ahead. She couldn't afford to fall behind anymore.

"I guess this'll be our last time meeting like this. Waking up this early must have been hassle for you." Naruto said, rubbing his head with a nervous smile. Ino frowned at his words.

"It's not like I mind it. You're helping me get better after all...you know, you should have a little more confidence in yourself." She said as the two returned to ground. "I mean, outside of Sasuke, you're the strongest genin from our class by far. You can be a little less humble, you know."

"I don't think I'm all that to be honest. There's people out there much stronger than me," Naruto said. Though he was talking to Ino, the girl could tell that his thoughts were far away from either of them. "I have to get much stronger if I want too..."

Trailing off, he was broken from his stupor and remembered who he was talking too. Laughing nervously, he tried to evade the conversation. "Either way, I've never been one to like the spotlight all that much."

"Well you better get used to it, cause I doubt you'll be able to hide your talents for much longer. I've been thinking, and I reckon it's time we take on a C-rank mission. If I have to do another D-rank chore around the village, I might kill myself. It's time for something different!" Ino said, smiling mischievously.

"Shikamaru's not gonna' be happy about that...but I can't exactly disagree. You really think Asuma-sensei is going to go for it though? He's almost as lazy as Shikamaru, after all." Naruto replied, matching her grin.

"And here I was thinking I was being a good sensei by overseeing your secret morning practices. Glad to know what you two really think of me."

Jumping at the voice calling out to them, both genin turned to see Asuma entering the area. Ino, recovering the fastest, was the first to speak out. "A-Asuma-sensei, how long have you been there?"

"Since the beginning. It'll be bad if something was to happen to the heiress of the Yamanaka clan under my watch, after all. Inochi wouldn't let me hear the end of it if he found out I was leaving his daughter all alone with a boy." Asuma said walking up to the two. "Though in truth i've only been watching you two for the last three days. I must say, you've impressed me missy. Learning both tree and water walking to this degree in just three weeks is pretty impressive. Your chakra control's better than most."

"That might be the nicest thing you've ever said to me. It's almost hard to believe." Ino said dryly eyeing the man. Asuma laughed heartily, ruffling the girls much to her irritation. "And stop doing that!"

"That bad attitude of yours is why you're not more popular with the guys." Asuma teased. Growling, Ino lashed out at the man, but he effortlessly dodged to the side. "Now, now. Settle down, I'm only teasing. You're plenty popular, right Naruto?"

"Huh? Me?" Naruto asked in surprise, now noticing Ino was watching him as well. "Well, I guess if Ihad to say if you were popular or not...I-I mean if it was up to me-"

"Just shut it, dweeb. Are we done here? I need to go shower." Ino said, walking off with a huff.

"Hold it. I didn't interrupt you guys just for some fun. I overheard you talking about being interested in a C-Rank mission. Well, I'll do you even better. How about a A-rank?" Asuma called out. Both Ino and Naruto stared at him with glints in their eyes.

"A-rank?" They both said in unison. Asuma nodded to confirm their hopes.

"Take it you're interested then?"

"You bet! When are we leaving?" Naruto asked jumping in place near the man.

"Calm down. At least hear the mission out before you accept it. Though it'll be a hassle explaining all of this to Shikamaru again..." Asuma grumbled.

"Don't worry about him, we'll fill him in on the deeds later. Now spill!" Ino said impatiently.

"I guess he is outvoted already." Asuma replied. "Ok then. Simply put, it's an escort mission. One of the Fire Daiyo's daughters is going to be married off and he's requesting an escort for both her and himself. It'll be a joint mission with Team Eight."

"Team Eight?" Ino questioned. "Oh, now I get it."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Asuma questioned. She ignored him though, so reluctantly he continued. "Whatever, that's pretty much the gist of it. If you guys are sure about it, I'll put the word in to the Hokage."

"We'll take it." Naruto said. Smiling, Asuma nodded before turning to head out.

"We'll be leaving it out in two days, do what you need to do to prepare and don't forget to tell that other teammate of yours." Asuma said, disappearing from the area. Turning to Ino, Naruto grinned excitedly.

"Oh man, a A-rank for our first official mission. Sasuke's gonna' be so jealous." He said. Ino scoffed at his words.

"You're all giddy too. I guess it's a two for one on that end, that sly dog Asuma." Ino said. She rolled her eyes at Naruto's confused look, instead turning to head back to the village. "Come on, now comes the hard part. We've got to convince Shikamaru to go along with this."

"You think he'll be against it that much?" Naruto asked catching up to her. Again, Ino rolled her eyes.

"You don't know Shikamaru."

"Alright! Let's call it quits there!"

Stopping at the words of Kakashi, Sakura released an exhausted sigh and dropped to her knees. Nearby, Kiba released one in similar fashion while lying on the ground, though he was trying his hardest to keep up. Seeing Sakura's state, he smirked and decided to gaud the girl. "Keeping up, princess?"

"Shut it, dog boy." Sakura breathed out, borrowing an insult from her blonde haired friend. Still short of breath, while gripping her knee she managed to stand up to her full height, which was at the moment a better feat than Kiba was able to do still on the ground. Across from them stood Sasuke, unblemished and clearly dissatisfied with what had just transpired.

"Why are we stopping?" Sasuke questioned. Kakashi came to stand in between the group.

"I've got something to take care off so we'll be ending early today. You're more than free to stay here and continue working together as unit, you know? It would certainly do some good." Kakashi said. Sasuke scoffed at his proposition, closing his arms over his chest and looking away dismissively.

"As if that would be any help..." He mumbled out, though Sakura and Kiba could hear him quite well. Shrugging, Kakashi turned his back on the group, given them one last look before he left.

"It would, actually."

Disappearing from the clearing, he left the three shinobi alone. Sighing, Sakura gathered her things and began to leave herself, much to the disbelief of Kiba. Since the Team had come into formation, she spent the early days attempting to prod Sasuke into hanging out with them, or her specifically. Eventually, after being shot down enough, this turned into silently watching him leave with a solemn look on her face. This, however, was the first time she had did neither.

"What's wrong, princess? Not feeling up to kissing Sasuke's ass today?" Kiba asked playfully. He flinched however when the girl turned to glare at him angrily.

"I'm not a princess, and it's not like there's much of a point. He clearly wants nothing to do with us, after all." She said, turning her attention to said boy. Over hearing them talking, Sasuke clicked his teeth and looked away.

"I have no interest in playing around with you guys. It's a waste of time." He said. At that moment, something in Sakura completely snapped.

"Waste of time? Hanging out? The last few times we asked you to stay, it was so we could continue going over the things Kakashi-sensei has been trying to teach us!" Sakura yelled, garnering shocked looks from both Sasuke and Kiba. "I mean, if we're so far below you, why don't you offer to help us get better for once?! The real waste of time is just complaining about everything and brooding around all the time. At least be man enough to do something about your situation! Idiot!"

With a 'hmph!', she turned on her heels and made her way out of the training grounds. Sasuke was still stammering over his words, while Kiba just silently looked between the two with his mouth agape. Regaining himself, he stood up and came to stand beside Sasuke, resting his hand on his shoulder and shaking his head.

"Man, you managed to piss off Sakura. Do you know how hard that is for you specifically? If I were you, I'd take a long look in the mirror." Kiba spoke out, with Akamaru barking in agreement. Scowling, Sasuke shook off the boy's hand and started to leave himself before stopping hesitantly.

"...You're movements are way to wide. You look like an idiot."

Turning, Sasuke continued out of the training ground, leaving the bewildered Kiba all alone.

"...I mean, I guess it's a start?" Kiba asked his partner, giving him a head scratch. "Don't worry buddy, we're gonna' make it through this. You and me together. How about we practice that again, yeah?"

Barking happily, Akamaru hopped off from underneath Kiba's hood and landed on the ground excitedly. Getting into stance, Kiba followed suit as both of them aimed at one of the training logs present.

"Ready? Go!"

In the dark corners of a room, the sound of squelching and metal clanking could be heard ringing out. A scalpel was placed down on a tray, and into the cut open chest of an apparent cadaver went a pale, white hand. From it came a fresh heart, still passively pumping its last blood as with a yank the remaining tendons and veins were pulled from it. Holding it up to eye level, a reptilian eye peered at it inquisitively. A sickly smile formed on the individual's face, and the organ was placed in jar next to him filled with a green substance.

A loud noise rang out. Looking over, they noticed that the tray had been knocked down to the ground as the body convulsed next to him. The effects of the paralysis mixture provided must of been wearing off. Unbothered, they continued to tend to the heart in front of them, but the smallest brush of wind along their skin alerted them to someone else's presence.

"As sharp as the rumors say, to notice me without that being my intention." A voice called out. Stepping from the shadows, a male branded in a black cloak and a gray mask with striped lines designing it came into view. "It took quite the effort to find you, Orochimaru."

"Finding this location is one thing. To make it this far without alerting a single guard or trap however...," Replied a raspy voice. Turning, Orochimaru gave a small smirk. "Though I guess with that, It's not all that surprising now is it?"

Spinning in the lone hole of the mask, a red eye watched Orochimaru's form. The famed sharingan, once the pride of Konoha, was currently right in front of the Sanin. And from his knowledge, there were only three people it could possibly be.

"I have a proposal. A temporary alliance for a common enemy. A common goal." The man spoke out. Orochimaru's smirk deepened.

"I can't imagine many with a goal in common with mine. You should have stopped at the first." He replied. "And you should also be careful who you decide to align yourself with."

Slowly from the ground, a snake began to coil around the legs of the masked man, eventually covering his entire form and hissing near his face. Unflinching, the stranger continued.

"I wouldn't be here without my reassurances, nor if I didn't believe it was necessary. From a beneficial standpoint, at least," he said. "It just so happens that it would serve both of us to work together on this. That's all."

"Hmm." Orochimaru hummed. The snake retracted from the man's body, and retreated back into the shadows of the room. "And? What's this 'benefit' for the both of us?"

"Revenge on Konohagakure." The man said. "And the chance to become what you've always wanted too. That'll be up to you, however."

Contouring his face into a twisted smirk, Orochimaru's tongues slithered from his mouth similar to the serpentines he favored. "To whom do I owe the pleasure of such a gift?"

"Names matter little." The man replied. Once again, his lone visible eye with three tomoe's began to spin.

"But you can call me...Madara Uchiha."

"Absolutely not."

"Come onnn, this'll be an amazing opportunity! You'll have a A-rank on your record this early as a genin!" Naruto yelled back to Shikamaru. "This can be our way out of the D-ranks forever! If we do well on this, there's no way that won't give us even better ones from then on."

"And that's the problem. I for one don't mind the D-ranks. Doing them is a drag, but taking care of some snobby noble and an equally snobby princess? That sounds like pure hell." Shikamaru said, stuffing a cut of meat in his mouth. "Not happening."

"Told ya'." Ino said smugly, looking over at the deflated Naruto. A mischievous smile appeared on her face however as now it was her turn to talk to the boy. "That's why I never even gave him the option. We've already talked to Asuma-sensei and accepted it. We'll be leaving two days."

"The hell we are!" Shikamaru said, standing up angrily. "I'm not gonna' let you run rampant like you usually do. I'm going to Asuma-sensei right now and putting a stop to this."

"I don't know, Shikamaru. I mean, we've already accepted it. It's a great opportunity, and besides, it's a wedding. At most, we'll just be standing guard the whole time. Kurenai-sensei says the likely hood of anything happening is pretty low." Choji spoke out. Shikamaru looked back at him irritably, Choji returning it with an apologetic shrug. "Our dads agree too."

"So even they're in on it. Great." Shikamaru said, slumping back down in his seat. "Guess I've got no choice at that this point."

"Relax, from what I've heard it'll be a pretty relaxed mission. It's only really A-rank because of the people involved, there's not expected to be any real conflict. The Fire Daiyo has already married off plenty daughters with no issue." Ino said, taking a sip from her drink. "Piece of cake."

Shikamaru wanted to complain further, but figured at this point it would just be more of a waste of energy, and judging on what he had just been told, he would need to conserve as much as possible. "It's a Fire Daiyo we're talking about, I think you all are being a little too unserious about this. Though it's not like my word matters much anyways."

"It doesn't," Ino said, poking at her food. "Next topic."

Shikamaru pointed his chopsticks ominously at her, to which Ino did the same back. Choji and Naruto shared a look before laughing at their two companions relationships.

Naruto, for one, had high hopes for the mission.

The two days passed without incident, and in the morning of the mission Naruto found himself trekking to the front gates in the early morning. He was running through a mental list of everything he had with him, wanting to insure nothing had been left behind. Expecting to be first one there, he was surprised to see all of Team Eight had already gathered.

"Looks like you're the first to arrive, Naruto." Choji said coming up to the boy. The two shared a quick handshake and Naruto smiled warmly at his friend.

"Not earlier than you guys, I'm used to being the first one to arrive. Punctuality isn't exactly our strong point." Naruto replied back.

"Kurenai-sensei is big on being early for everything. 'Proper preparation', she calls it. Supposedly it's really important." Choji said, shrugging his shoulders. "Personally, I don't get it."

"Sounds rough." Naruto said sympathetically. Looking over Choji's shoulder he caught eyes with both Hinata and Shino, who looked away embarrassingly and nodded back to him respectively. Smiling, he gave a wave to Shino before making his way over to Hinata. "So, so. Aren't you excited for an A-rank? It's gonna' be great, don't you think?"

"It's not exactly something to be celebratory about. A lot of responsibility comes along with it, we're going to be representing Konoha on a pretty important stage as genin. You shouldn't take this so lightly." Hinata said, folding her arms. Seeing Naruto's face fall at her words however, she cleared her throat and looked away with a blush. "I have been looking forward to it, though. It'll be a great test of our skills."

"Right?" Naruto said, perking back up. Hinata took a step back as he had unknowingly gotten close to the girl. From behind both of them came a taller woman, her striking red eyes staring back down at Naruto's.

"You must be Naruto. It's a pleasure to actually meet you, Hinata-chan here speaks very highly of you." Kurenai said as Hinata began to fume from the side.

"Kurenai-sensei!" Hinata hissed out, glaring at the older woman.

"I see what they say is true, you haven't shown this much emotion in the entire time if known you." Kurenai said, stifling a giggle. Naruto cocked his head to the side in confusion, looking between the two at a loss from their conversation. "Ohh, it looks like the rest of your comrades are beginning to arrive."

True to her words, in came a yawning Ino. Grinning, Naruto ran off to greet the girl. "Hey! You're late!"

"You're early." Ino mumbled, wiping some crust from her eye. "Since we haven't been meeting in the mornings, I was finally able to sleep in. So much for beauty rest."

"Beauty rest? Why do you need that?" Naruto asked, throwing his hands behind his head and squinting his eyes. "You're pretty enough."

Blushing slightly, Ino gave him a soft punch in the chest and walked away. "Flattery will get you no where."

"Looks like you have some competition," Kurenai said smugly watching the two. Hinata frowned in disagreement with her words, though her eyes were watching them as well.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Kurenai-sensei," Ino said, walking up and giving a short bow. "I'll be in your care."

"Who knew Inochi's daughter would have such manners. You certainly didn't inherit them from him, that's for sure." Kurenai said. Looking over, Ino also gave a head nod to Hinata.

"It's been awhile. Hope things are a success." She said.

"Likewise." Hinata replied, giving a short nod in return. Smiling, Ino turned and joined in with Naruto and Choji, who had both moved over to pesker an unsuspecting Shino.

"Look's like everyone's here." Asuma said, walking behind the two girls. Behind him was Shikamaru, who still looked as if he was asleep. "Had to make sure this one here actually showed up. We should be all good to go."

"Then let's get this show on the road. It should only be a day's worth of travel to meet the Daimyo, so hopefully we won't have to spend the night out in the wild." Kurenai said, turning to face her students. "Team Eight! Let's go!"

"Same for you Team Ten!" Asuma said, as Naruto and Ino gather infront of him. Smirking, he looked down at the three. "Ready?"

"Ready!" Naruto and Ino said back. Shikamaru stayed quiet, but at the very least his eyes were open.

"Alright then. Team Ten's first official mission starts now!"

if you care about my rambles, check the next mini chapter!