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‘What’s the distance between us and our target?’ Kakashi asked using Anbu-level sign language which he drilled into his students. Sasuke replied with his hands, ‘Five meters. I’m ready anytime!!’
Sakura and Naruto each gestured back, ‘So am I.’
Kakashi was proud that his team was finally starting to act like true shinobi before verbally whispering, “Okay, GO!!”
“URAA!!” came Naruto’s voice as he launched into the small clearing in-between Sasuke (on his left) and Sakura (on his right) as together, they performed a pincer movement to surround their target who was shocked at the surprise attack before Naruto, according to plan, grabbed their intended target before exclaiming, “Gotcha!!”
“NYAAA!!” cried the cat in his arms before trying to claw at his face. Sakura attempted to stop the cat, only for her long hair to get caught in its razor-sharp claws and even getting her fingers and hands bitten by the feline. Both the blonde and pinkette screamed, but kept the resisting cat at bay as Kakashi gestured in Anbu sign language, “Ribbon on the left ear…are sure this is our target, Tora-san?”
Sasuke came over and confirmed, “Yeah, we’re sure.”
Kakashi drew a sigh of relief before announcing, “Good, lost pet “Tora” search mission…complete! Let’s return the cat to her owner.”
At the Mission Assignment Desk, Team Kakashi brought the restrained cat over to a corpulent woman named Madam Shijimi with dark brown hair that she keeps in three separate poofs. She wears pink lipstick, pink nail-polish, and purple eyeshadow, and many different colored rings. “Oh, my cute little Tora-chan. I was so worried.” She began hugging the cat, suffocating it and Naruto only laughed. “Gyahahaha!! In your face, you stupid cat. Hmph!!” He turned as the cuts caused from Tora’s claws were disappearing whilst Sakura observed the scene between the cat and its owner, thinking, ‘No wonder it ran away. But still, it ruined my hair and bit me. I’ll never forgive it for that!!’ Sasuke and Kakashi did not pay too much attention as they wondered what mission was next. As Madam Shijimi provided the agreed payment of 50,000 ryō, the highest a D-rank mission could pay, she departed with her flailing cat as the Third Hokage wished the richest lady in Konoha could just learn to be more careful with her pet, otherwise the cycle will repeat once again. He then said to the genin and jōnin sensei, “Well, congratulations on another well-done mission. Now, Team Kakashi, your next duty for today is…” He quickly scanned the paper in his hand on the list of odd jobs available. “Hmmm…There’s babysitting an elder’s grandson, shopping in the neighboring village, and helping with the potato digging.”
“No!! No!! No!! Absolutely not!! No thank you!!” Naruto exclaimed, crisscrossing his arms as Sasuke, annoyed with Naruto’s loud tone of voice, inwardly agreed as he was also fed up with these missions which turn out to be chores and wanted to stretch his legs with something requiring him to test his own merits. Sakura only glowered at the blonde, thinking, ‘How annoying, geez!’
With a sigh, Kakashi said replied, “It looks like this was bound to happen. I knew it was about time for this…”
Iruka Umino was present and in a fit of anger replied, “Naruto-kun, you’re just a rookie. Everyone starts off with the simple duties and works their way up!!”
“Oh, c’mon, I want to do a more incredible mission!! Can’t you find us a better one? We’re getting the crappiest possible duties!” Kakashi smacks Naruto on the head, saying, “Be quiet you!!”
Naruto nursed the spot where a visible lump appeared before the Third Hokage let out a quick puff of smoke from his mouth. His grandfatherly tone was gone, replaced by his authoritative tone to address the blonde, “Naruto-kun, it seems I have to explain what these duties are all about. So, listen carefully. Every day Konoha receives countless requests, from babysitting to assassination. Each request is written down on these lists…” He held his pipe in his right hand that he used to point to all the papers and scrolls ranked from D to A, making Naruto follow along. “…and are divided into S, A, B, C, and D rankings based on difficulty.” He emptied his used tobacco and replaced it with a new batch as he spoke with the pipe in his mouth. “As for shinobi and kunoichi, our village is also ranked, but it’s based on skill instead. Start with me, the Hokage, followed by jōnin, followed by chūnin, and lastly genin. The missions are then handed out by us at the top of Shinobi Organizational System to lower ranked ninjas based on their abilities. Jōnin will always be assigned the most difficult and dangerous missions, followed by chūnin and genin getting relatively safer missions. And if the mission, or duty, is completed successfully, we receive payment from the clientele as you witnessed Madam Shijimi did earlier.” The old Hokage then took out his pipe whilst pointing at Naruto and his teammates. “You and your teammates just recently became genin. D-rank missions are perfect for you…” Naruto was on the ground, not paying attention as he muttered to himself, “Last night, I had pork ramen with nii-chan. I bet miso sounds good for―” He was interrupted when the Hokage yelled, “HEY!! LISTEN!!”
Kakashi attempted to salvage the situation, rubbing the back of his head. “I…I apologize, Hokage-dono.”
Naruto grew angry before saying, “Geez…all you give are lectures like that. But you what?! I’m not the troublemaking brat you think I am!! Kakashi-sensei has taught us a lot more things over the past month and I want to put truly our skills to the test and prove I’m not some weakling and can be a great shinobi.” Iruka smiled at Naruto’s determination, followed by the Third Hokage smirking at the blonde’s resolve and manifestation of Konoha’s Will of Fire. Sighing, Kakashi thought, ‘I’m definitely going to get yelled at for this, but…’ He stood at attention before the Hokage. “Sandaime-sama, I humbly request a higher-ranked mission as I, too, wish to test my team’s merit on a mission and D-ranks nor sparring with one another never allows them to use what they’ve learned. I believe a higher-ranked mission where I could supervise them help Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun, and Sakura-san in their development.” The Hokage was happy to see Kakashi wishing to truly test his students at such a brief period and could tell just from looking at Naruto that he was stronger than before graduating from the Academy. ‘Hehehe…He used to express himself through pranks and tenacity, but it looks like he’s changed. This was bound to happen, but I’m proud of him!’ he thought before making a fateful decision. “Ok.”
This caught Iruka, Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, and everyone else present in the room by surprise at the Third Hokage’s word. “Huh?” Naruto asked with a confused, dumbfounded look.
“If you want it that much…” He rested his head upon his enclosed fingers, his elbows atop the table as his pipe in his mouth let a steady stack of white smoke escape as the old Sarutobi smiled. “I’ll give you a C-rank mission. For this, you’ll be protecting a certain individual.”
“YAY!! So who is it? A princess? A feudal lord?” Naruto exclaimed with a beaming smile while Sasuke smirked a little at the small change of pace. Finally, a mission where he can utilize his prodigious prowess and face worthy enemies. Sakura was a bit nervous as she was used to D-rank missions at this point and the baka had to complain and get his way. Kakashi was only surprised and at a loss for words before regaining his composure before the Third Hokage turned serious again. “Calm down, I’m about to introduce you to him.” He turned to the nearest door. “You may enter now.”
The door opened as everyone stared as a grey-haired, bespectacled, and tanned man with a large beard and dark eyes. As for attire, it comprised of a sleeveless V-neck shirt with an obi, pants, and a pair of sandals along with carrying a white towel on his neck. His appearance was anything but pleasant as he wreaked of alcohol as he finished taking a swig from his sake bottle when he looked at his protection detail with mild irritation. “Huh, what’s this? They’re just a bunch of brats. I asked for a squad of shinobi, not children and what appears to be a scarecrow with an eye missing.” He took another swig as he leaned into the doorframe. “I especially don’t like the short one with those weird markings on his stupid face. Are you really a ninja?”
Naruto laughed and asked, “Hahaha, yeah, who’s the one with the shortest one with the…” He cut off his own sentence as everyone looked at Naruto before in a burst of speed startled the older man before grabbing him by the scruff of his shirt. “Listen here, pal!! I’ve worked hard to get where I am and I’m not going to be insulted for my size or for being ME, UZUMAKI NARUTO, BELIEVE IT!!” Kakashi then forced the blonde to let go of the man’s shirt and hold him above the ground by the back of his tracksuit’s collar. “Baka, we’re supposed to protect the client, not rough him up. Calm down or I’ll have us do more D-rank missions.” That shut Naruto up quick as he reluctantly relaxed enough for Kakashi-sensei to put him down but keep an iron grip on his collar. Kakashi also did not like this man insulting his genin and personally despised intoxicated clients and decided to set up some boundaries. “What’s your name?”
Scoffing, the gray-haired bespectacled man answered, “Tch, I am Tazuna the Master Bridge Builder (橋作りの超名人タズナ, Hashizukuri no Chōmeijin Tazuna). I paid all the money I have for your protection, and I expect you to do so diligently until I return home and complete the bridge, my greatest creation―” He was cut off with a hiccup before struggling to hold in the contents in his stomach as he had been drinking too much. Kakashi could only facepalm as this might be the worst C-rank mission ever, but at least he will have his students to keep him company. “Okay, all of you,” he let go of the angry Naruto, “we’re meeting up in two hours while I try sobering up our client so we may start heading out. Don’t be late or it’s D-rank missions for another month. Do I make myself clear?”
“HAI!!” all three genin said in unison before Kakashi departed with the now sickly Tazuna using the Body Flicker Technique.
Two hours later, Team Kakashi met on time at Konoha’s Eastern Gate as their sensei instructed. For once, however, Kakashi-sensei was there along with Tazuna who looked to be somewhat sober but clearly was still slightly nauseous due to his earlier intoxication which Kakashi needed to get him to the nearest toilet. Now recovered, the team was set out and Naruto exclaimed, “ALL RIGHT, LET’S GO!!”
“What’re you all excited about?” Sakura asked, annoyed.
“Beause…I’ve never been outside the village before and am excited to explore what’s out there,” Naruto said, scanning the outside of Konoha’s walls and gate.
Tazuna pointed at the blonde while facing Kakashi. “…Hey!! Am I really going to be safe with this brat?”
This got under Naruto’s nerves but before he could scold the older man, Kakashi intervened. “Hahaha…Well, I am a jōnin, so don’t worry about it. They’re my students and what teacher doesn’t have faith in their students, you know.”
“Hmph, all right,” Tazuna grumbled before securing his large pack on his back and his pointed hat unique to his home country. Naruto crossed his arms in a pout, thinking, ‘Damn it!! This geezer is the worst client ever. I should give him a piece of my mind. Maybe a shot in the face should make him think twice about my shinobi skills.’ He then pointed at the old bridge builder and yelled, “Hey, old man!! Don’t you ever mess with shinobi!! I’m awesome and I’ll prove it to you on this mission!! One day, I will take on the super elite title of Hokage for my name is Uzumaki Naruto!! BELIEVE it!!”
“Hokage? Isn’t that Konoha’s number one ninja?” Tazuna asked, wishing to have a bottle to drink but Kakashi ensured he did not have one while traveling back home. Naruto nodded in response before Tazuna retorted, “I doubt someone like you could become Hokage…”
“SHUT UP!! I am prepared to do anything to become Hokage!! Once I become Hokage, I’ll be acknowledged by everyone including you!!” Tazuna, however, did not believe anything the blonde brat was telling him and retorted again, “No, I won’t, you brat. Even if you became Hokage.” Naruto gritted his teeth and rolled up his sleeves to give him a piece of his mind before Kakashi stopped him by clutching the back of his collar again. “I’LL KILL YOU!! LET ME GO, KAKASHI-SENSEI!!”
“Stop it, you’re causing any trouble for us again. Just calm down and focus on the mission at hand.”
Naruto only scoffed with pout, but he begrudgingly said, “Fine, but I’m not tolerating this old geezer’s crap anymore from here on out.” Kakashi sighed as Naruto can be a bit of a handful and wondered how Shindō Shunsoku kept a lid over Naruto.
Naruto walked in front of Tazuna with Sasuke being the furthest from behind, Sakura next to Kakashi whilst both were walking directly behind the bridgebuilder. “Umm…Tazuna-san?”
“What?” he asked, hiding his annoyance.
“You’re from another country, right?”
“Yeah, what about it?”
“Well, I was wondering if there aren’t any ninjas in your country?” Kakashi’s visible eye turned towards his female student and began his lecture about the shinobi world in a nutshell, “No, not in the Land of Waves. But…in most other countries, even smaller ones, have their own means of protecting themselves. Both culture and customs may be different, but other hidden villages exist too, as do ninjas.”
As they continued walking, Kakashi explained aloud to his students, “There are many countries on this continent, but not all of them have shinobi villages as both their military power and government. Smaller countries that are islands or archipelagos, like the Land of Waves, if any, interference from shinobi villages compared to more landlocked ones. It may be the reason why there is no shinobi village in the Land of Waves but instead a feudal lord with an army of non-shinobi. There are five larger countries which are more prominent and prestigious: The Lands of Fire, Lightning, Earth, Water, and Wind.”
“Hey, just like five basic nature transformations!!” Sakura exclaimed, making Kakashi eye-smile. “Precisely, Sakura-san.”
Kakashi kept his senses sharp as he continued, “The Lands of Fire, Wind, Lightning, Earth, and Water are more powerful both militarily and economically and are often called the Five Great Shinobi Countries. Each are ruled by what is called a Kage (影, Literally meaning: Shadow) which reserved only for the great five. There’s our country, the Land of Fire, ruled by the Hokage from our village Konohagakure no Sato.” Naruto’s attention while Sakura replied, “Wow!! Hokage-dono is the best then!!” Inner Sakura, however, crossed her arms and replied, “That lame geezer is that powerful? Sounds fishy…”
With a sigh, Kakashi continued, “Historically, the Hokage and all shinobi from Konoha have proven themselves to be the strongest out of the five, but that doesn’t mean the other four are weak as they’re really strong too. There’s the Kazekage from Sunagakure no Sato in the Land of Wind, followed by the Raikage from Kumogakure no Sato in the Land of Lightning, the Tsuchikage from Iwagakure in the Land of Earth, and the last one being the Mizukage from Kirigakure no Sato in the Land of Water; however, Kirigakure has becoming infamous as “Village of the Bloody Mist” (血霧の里, Chigiri no Sato, English TV: Blood Mist Village) because of its academy which is far more barbaric than ours.” This seemed to frighten his genin and Tazuna, all of them sweated nervously as they kept walking at a civilian’s pace. “Wait, so that means we’ll come into contact with foreign shinobi?”
Kakashi only placed a hand on her head affectionately. “No, don’t worry. There won’t be any foreign shinobi to fight against since this is a C-rank mission. There should be only bandits or common thieves which I know you all can defeat with little difficulty.” Naruto nodded with a megawatt toothy smile, Sakura nodded with a nervous smile, and Sasuke just simply nodded with his stoic demeanor. Inside, he was disappointed as there may not get a worthy opponent, but he can at least fight and showcase his prodigious without holding back. Tazuna, however, was now sweating more bullets than usual after hearing Kakashi’s last statement, clearly hiding something crucial from everyone as he might have doomed everyone and himself.
Team Kakashi passed by a puddle of water on the side of the road. When the cycloptic jōnin turned his attention to the puddle on the ground, he saw two individuals launch themselves out of the shallow puddle in a burst of speed, connected by a long, spiked kusari which they used to entrap Kakashi before he could move or react. One of them has shoulder-length, wild dark-brown hair and dark eyes. He wears a rebreather covering the lower half of his face and a large, clawed, metal gauntlet on his left arm with a chain coming out of it that had the other end attached to the end of his partner’s gauntlet. He wore a camouflage suit with bandages around his waist, dark-colored, knee-length sandals, several pouches around his waist, and his Kirigakure forehead protector around his head with two horns on it. He said with a gruff but cold voice, “One down…” Kakashi’s body was torn to pieces by the long, spiked chain when both assailants, on cue, pulled the spiked chain. The scene terrified everybody present, even the stoic Sasuke Uchiha was sweating bullets from the ordeal as Sakura screamed in horror, “Kakashi-sensei!!”
Naruto froze in place when felt two assailants behind him, hearing the other one talking earlier say, “Two down…” The duo readied their gauntlets to wrap the blonde Uzumaki in their spiked chain, only for Sasuke Uchiha to act quickly and throwing a shuriken from his holster around his right thigh, accurately pinning the spiked chain to a nearby tree before throwing a kunai in the circular hole in the middle of the metallic, four-pointed star etched into the trunk of a tree before effortlessly landing on both the assailants’ metal gauntlets. All this happened in the blink of an eye, before Naruto or Sakura could react as the latter stood in front of Tazuna with a kunai but unable to know what to do as this was not a drill but a real life life-or-death scenario.
“ARGH! I’m stuck, Gōzu-chan!!” said the assailant with the two-horned Kiri forehead protector.
“Meizu-chan, detach and keep the shinobi busy, I’ll intercept our target!!” said the named Gōzu with shoulder-length, wild dark-brown hair and dark eyes. He wears a rebreather covering the lower half of his face and a large, clawed, poisonous gauntlet on his right arm with a chain coming out of it that had the other end attached to his brother’s own gauntlet. He wore a camouflage suit with bandages around his waist, dark-colored, knee-length sandals, a ragged black cape, and a Kirigakure forehead protector had a single horn on it. His named partner did so as he was told and faster than Naruto could react, the spiky chain detached from their respective gauntlets. Meizu charged towards Naruto, intending to rip him apart with his metal gauntlet and Naruto could have sworn to see his life flashing before his eyes. Gōzu, meanwhile, ran past Sasuke and towards Sakura and Tazuna. Suddenly, Sasuke stood in front of the scared Sakura and Tazuna before Kakashi arrived to effortlessly knock out both assailants, interlocking their heads in his arms.
“K-Kakashi-sensei, b-but YOU’RE ALIVE?!” Sakura exclaimed. Sasuke scoffed at their sensei being a showoff. Naruto forced himself to move again, relieved to see Kakashi-sensei alive and unharmed as the latter calmed Sakura and Tazuna down, explaining, “Calm down, I used a B-rank technique known as Substitution to move out of the way and replace myself with that log over there,” Kakashi pointed to the many broken pieces of wood strewn across the spot where he had been before continuing, “but not before simultaneously using a subtle genjutsu to make it look like I died. It is derived from the regular Body Flicker Technique but heavily relying on illusions to make it work; however, using this technique takes a huge amount of my chakra so I can’t use it more than three times every twenty-four hours. Otherwise, it will take that much time to fully recover my chakra and strength.” Everyone, including Naruto, understood his explanation and all three genin were interested in learning such a technique. Kakashi’s visible eye turned into his trademarked eye-smile. “Good work, Sasuke-kun, for acting quickly. Sakura-san, excellent work on reacting by physically protecting the client despite the danger involved and standing your ground.” He then looked at Naruto who was still shivering in fright before his left eye was filled with disappointment. “Naruto-kun, I’m sorry for not helping you earlier, but I believed you could’ve moved and did something. Next time, I hope you don’t freeze up when facing enemies as I won’t always be there to help you. You or your Shindō-kun.”
Naruto remembered his nii-chan telling him the exact same thing so many times, but now he completely understands what his brother meant. He nodded before Sasuke stood with his hands in his pockets; his head turned towards him with a mocking smirk. “Hey, are you all right, scaredy-cat?”
That snapped Naruto out of his frozen state, and he pursed his lips in rage and embarrassment, trying not to cry. ‘I couldn’t do anything. I mean, look at Sasuke-teme! He looks like as if nothing happened and he doesn’t even have a speck of dust on him…He even saved me…AAAARGH!!’ he thought.
His thoughts were interrupted when Kakashi finished restraining the two assailants with wire strings to a nearby tree when he turns over to Tazuna with a narrowed eye. “Tazuna-san.”
Said man was now nervous as he stuttered, “Y-Yes, w-what is it?”
“I need to have a serious talk with you. But first, I should tell you all that these guys were chūnin from Kirigakure no Sato. They’re Gōzu and Meizu who are infamously known as the Demon Brothers, according to the Bingo Book and are now C-rank missing-nin with a high bounty on their heads. They’re known to keep fighting no matter what, so why would they be here I wonder?”
Gōzu struggled against his binds before saying in as gruff a voice as his brother, “H-How did you read our movements?” Kakashi then nonchalantly said, “On a sunny day like this when it hasn’t rained in days, a water puddle shouldn’t exist.”
Tazuna chimed in, “Wait, why did you let those brats fight these two shinobi when you knew that?”
Kakashi answered while still facing the Demon Brothers, “If I wanted to, I could have killed these two instantly. But…there was something I needed to find out who was their target.” He then paused to keep his growing anger in check, but it was still present in his tone.
“What do you mean?” Tazuna asked nervously.
“Meaning…were they after you, me, or my students?”
Tazuna was now beginning to slightly panic as bullets of sweat were rolling down his face and body as Kakashi glowered at the bridgebuilder, “This has now become at least a B-rank, probably an A-rank, mission if there’s more powerful shinobi involved. This was supposed to be providing simple protection for you until you complete your bridge.”
Tazuna was shaking in his sandals because Kakashi was getting closer to the truth. Kakashi’s expression did not change, neither did his tone. “If it was known that shinobi were after you, this mission would been an expensive B-rank mission or higher. I’m sure you know the reason, but it causes problems when you lie about the mission details. We’re now operating outside of our duties.”
Sakura saw the worsening condition of the still bleeding cut on Naruto’s left hand and said, “Um, Kakashi-sensei, we aren’t ready for this mission. Let’s quit!! We need to get Naruto treated by a doctor and we can simply go back to the village to treat his wound.” Naruto could not believe Sakura was willing to give up just because he was hurt. He might also be to blame for this mission being a failure, and Sasuke’s demeanor was clearly not happy as he wished to continue as he did well against enemy shinobi and believed he could keep going.
Naruto looked at his bleeding hand that was cut from the claws of Meizu’s gauntlet he quickly fished for a something in his weapons pouch with his right hand, getting Kakashi’s and everyone else’s attention. “Naruto-kun, don’t move! Those gauntlets that the Demon Brothers used are poisoned. It will spread throughout your body if you move too much. We need to open it up and drain the poison from your blood.” Naruto, however, found a kunai from his holster before quickly stabbing the tool into the area to open up the wound and let the poison get out of his system. He gritting his teeth at the soaring, burning pain as everyone―even the restrained Demon Brothers were shocked at Naruto’s reckless actions. “Naruto-kun!! What are you doing?!” Sakura scolded. Naruto, however, remembered all the training he and his nii-chan went through as he thought, ‘Damnit! Why am I always…Why there is no much of a difference between me and nii-chan? And Sasuke-teme? I should be stronger than this, and yet…I froze when it really mattered. I’ve completed many lame missions for this moment and even practiced chakra control with my shadow clones and with nii-chan whenever we could do it together! Most of the time, I did it all by myself as I didn’t want nii-chan to know everything I could do so I can finally beat him. Am I…am I going to have to be saved every time like this…because I froze up, afraid to die?’ he thought before he said through gritted teeth, “I promise, on this kunai and on my blood, to protect those I hold dear.” He turned to Tazuna with a determined smile. “Old man, I WILL protect you, that’s a promise of a lifetime. BELIEVE IT!! We’re continuing the mission, Kakashi-sensei, no matter what!!”
Sasuke agreed with a nod, agreeing with the dobe for once as Sakura was staunchly against continuing, but her Sasuke-kun was intending on going so she will go too. Tazuna was grateful this blonde brat will stick his neck out for him along with the impressive Uchiha. Kakashi sighed before telling Naruto, “Naruto-kun, it’s good that you are releasing the poison, but…” He flashed his eye-smile. “…you’ll die from blood loss, maybe even infection. ♥ Seriously…” Naruto began sweating and was about to scream obscenities about how he cannot die when Kakashi said, “Let me see you hand. Hmm, Naruto-kun, are you a masochist by any chance? I mean, what were you thinking?!” He held the blonde’s hand for a closer look before taking out some white medical tape before seeing the poison not only gone, but the cut was vanishing before his eyes. Naruto was scared of his sensei’s current expression, reminding him too much of his nii-chan when he was angry when the blonde physically hurt himself because of his occasional bouts of stupidity. Kakashi snapped out of it, remembering Naruto’s burden and attributed the blonde’s accelerated healing factor to the Nine-Tails sealed within him. “You should be fine now, Naruto-kun,” he said as he finished wrapping one long white medical tape around the area which had a cut. “Um, Kakashi-sensei?” came Sakura’s voice as Tazuna walked closer and said, “I…have to talk to you. The truth I mean…”
