Bab 5: Chapter 4: C Rank Mission
Chapter Four: A C-Rank Mission
Naruto sulked as he sat in the Mission Office, watching the Daimyo's wife coddle her miserable cat, Tora.
"I really hate that cat…" he hissed, wiping blood from one of the scratches he'd earned from the feisty animal.
"You'd think you'd be good with animals, Whiskers," Ino chirped as she and her team clambered into the office. "Hi, Sasuke-kun!" The blonde kunoichi winked flirtatiously at Sasuke, who just groaned in frustration. Shikamaru and Chouji rolled their eyes while Sakura seethed at Ino's presence.
"He is, just not cats," Kakashi inserted, ignoring the potential fangirl clash that was threatening to occur. "You should have seen the foxes. The babies clung to Naruto like he was their mother and the adult males followed him like lovesick puppies." The amusement in his eye irritated Naruto.
"I'll get you for this…" the kitsune muttered under his breath, crossing his arms as everybody laughed. ~It's not like it's my fault I have a vixen sealed inside my body.~
Minato began to chuckle nervously. ~Eh heh… that's mine, actually.~
~Way to make me feel unwanted…~ Kyuubi grumbled.
~Maa, maa… You know we love you, Kyuu-chan,~ Minato said in a comforting tone.
~Tou-san wants Kyuu-chan to be my new Kaa-chan!~ Naruto teased, enjoying how flustered Minato became.
~Naru-chan should help his Tou-san out and keep his mouth shut,~ the Yondaime bit out, sweatdropping.
~Nooo, Naru-chan should keep on talking,~ Kyuubi stated in a teasing voice.
Naruto was distracted from his internal conversation when he was forced to dodge an irate Sakura's fist. "What?" he asked her with a raised eyebrow.
"Listen when the Hokage is talking to you!" she scolded him. "You were just standing there with that stupid goofy smile on your face!"
Naruto merely stuck his tongue out at Sakura playfully before turning to the Sandaime and Iruka. "So you were saying something?" he asked.
Sarutobi sighed. "I was giving you an option. Either you can continue D-rank missions in your separate teams, or you can do a C-rank mission alongside Team 10. Which do you prefer?"
"The C-rank," was Naruto's instantaneous response.
"Considering the others have also agreed on this path, there are two missions you can choose from," Iruka informed the two teams. "The first mission consists of you escorting a man back to Nami-no-Kuni and help him complete his bridge he's building. The second would lead you to escorting a caravan to Tsuchi-no-Kuni…"
"No!" the Sandaime and Kakashi exclaimed together in a rather vehement tone.
Iruka, Sakura, Sasuke and Team 10 looked at the two of them with puzzled expressions.
"Is there a particular reason why you refused to go to Tsuchi-no-Kuni?" Asuma inquired.
"Considering Kakashi's history with Iwagakure. It would be best for all of you to avoid going there," the Sandaime explained.
'There's more to it than that,' Shikamaru thought with a frown. He'd seen how both the Hokage and Kakashi's eyes had flickered to Naruto. Naruto was part of the equation… but how?
"So you'll take the mission to Nami-no-Kuni?" Sarutobi asked. Kakashi and Asuma nodded. "Then I'll invite your client into the room."
A drunken old man stumbled into the room, cradling a battle of sake. He stared at the two teams, not impressed.
"Two adults and a bunch of brats… I feel safe already," he said sarcastically.
"This is the carpenter, Tazuna. You know what your mission entails. Prepare for it accordingly. You have until tomorrow morning. I suggest you all try to get used to each other to some degree. If your teamwork is flawed, it's a recipe for disaster," the Sandaime stated.
"Like he needs to preach about teamwork, it's not like we haven't learned our lesson when it comes to that," Sakura grumbled as they all trudged out of the Mission Office.
"Well, perhaps if you actually showed signs of acting like a good team, he wouldn't have to keep preaching it," Kakashi pointed out. "You're better than you were during the Genin test, but you three still need to learn how to work together. Now you have more comrades that you will have to work alongside, so you better shape up."
"I would gladly try if it wasn't for the fact that Sasuke just refuses to get that stick out o his ass and collaborate with us," Naruto grunted. "That stupid pride of his makes him think he's better than us!"
"Don't talk about Sasuke-kun like that!" both Sakura and Ino screamed, pounding their fists into Naruto's head as punishment.
"Itai…" Naruto whined for effect. It hadn't hurt as much as it could have as he'd softened the impact with his wind, just enough to keep it from knocking his lights out but not enough for the two kunoichi to notice it.
"Why do you rile them up like that, Naruto?" Shikamaru asked, raising an eyebrow. "You know insulting their precious 'Sasuke-kun' is only going to lead you to getting hurt."
"It's not my fault that they can't handle the truth," Naruto snorted as he continued to walk through the village.
Shikamaru shook his head before noticing the looks of hatred that were directed towards Naruto. He had always wondered what Naruto had done to earn such universal dislike directed towards him but no one would tell him. It was up to him to find out but the answer continued to elude him. For a while, Shikamaru had passed it off as too troublesome to look into. The last thing he needed was to have his attention focused on the equally troublesome blonde who was more trouble than he was worth.
What puzzled him the most, however, was how Naruto could keep on smiling despite facing such open hostility… not to mention why Kakashi, who had only been Naruto's teacher for a month or so, was intimidating the villagers who dared look at the kitsune the wrong way with a chilling glare.
Why was the infamous Copy Nin so protective of Naruto of all people? It just didn't make sense.
"I didn't think you would care this much about your students so soon, Kakashi," Asuma muttered quietly to Kakashi, so that the Genin couldn't hear him. He too had noticed the oddity in Kakashi's behavior.
"Naruto is… precious to me," Kakashi admitted, eye turning cold as he stared at the blind villagers.
"Quite a surprise. I had figured the Uchiha would have been your favored student…" Asuma commented.
"I will pay attention to him, but only out of duty," Kakashi said, thinking of Obito.
"So where are we going, Asuma-sensei?" Chouji asked curiously.
"To meet with Kurenai-sensei," the bearded Jounin-sensei exclaimed. "She will want to know about this mission." He glared as he heard Kakashi cough "whipped" under his breath.
"I can say hi to Hinata-chan!" Naruto cheered, glad that he could finally see his 'sister' again.
"Excited to see your girlfriend, Whiskers?" Ino teased.
"She's not my girlfriend, she's family," Naruto countered Ino's assumption.
"Making up your own family, dobe? Finally got sick of not having one?" Sasuke drawled, earning a vicious glare not only from Naruto but from Kakashi as well.
"Just because you like to brood over your last family and refuse to accept anyone else in to fill that hole you call your heart doesn't mean that you have to ruin everyone else's chances for a family!" Naruto declared. Sasuke glared before lunging at the kitsune, only to get flung away by a large of gust of wind.
'There it is again,' Kakashi thought with a frown. That hadn't been Naruto's chakra that had repelled Sasuke's attack, nor was it the Kyuubi's… but it felt familiar nonetheless. He pushed the niggling thought that was trying to make itself known into the back of his head. It couldn't be his chakra, he was dead.
"That's enough out of you two," Asuma said, sounding disapproving of the argument between the two teammates. He turned to Kakashi. "For someone who values teamwork so much, Kakashi, you certainly aren't enforcing it."
"Maa, they're normally good at keeping their arguments out of their shinobi work," Kakashi said, sending a warning look to the two chastised Genin.
~It's not like I was the one who retaliated,~ Naruto mused. Minato had the grace to look a little sheepish.
~He was out of line,~ Minato justified his actions. He was furious with Sasuke for his callous talk of Naruto's family.
The group walked in silence until the point that they arrived at the training grounds where Team 8 was currently working.
"Hinata-chan!" Naruto cheered as he approached the shy Hyuuga girl. She smiled at him softly.
"Hello, Naruto-kun…" she greeted. Naruto had helped her overcome her stuttering problem during the years they had known each other but she was still a little too shy for her own good. He intended to change that.
"Guess what? We're going on a C-ranked mission with Team 10. It's about time that Hokage-jii-chan let us go!" the kitsune cheered.
"That's great," she said with a smile, happy for her friend.
"Why does she talk so easily with him and not us?" a put out Kiba asked as he joined Sasuke, Sakura, Shikamaru, Ino and Chouji on the sidelines alongside Shino.
"Well, they were friends during our days at the Academy, weren't they?" Chouji pointed out. "When Naruto wasn't causing trouble with us, he spent his time with her."
"Oh yeah…" Kiba remarked, still looking a little envious.
Naruto and Hinata caught up with each other for a while before the presence of a newly arrived nin.
"Hinata-sama, your father requests your presence back at home," Neji said coldly, staring at Hinata as if she was lower than dirt. Naruto glared at him. He hated how mean Neji had always been to Hinata.
"H-hai, Neji-nii-san," Hinata acknowledged with a bow. She bid everyone goodbye before leaving with her cousin.
"Who was that?" Sakura asked curiously. 'He was kind of cute.'
"Hyuuga Neji, Hinata's cousin. He's never been really nice to her," Naruto said, still glaring after the cold boy.
~He's still not over the Kumo incident,~ Minato mused. Both he and Naruto were well aware of what had happened that fateful day… considering that they had attempted to take Naruto away from the village as well.
"If you're all done socializing, I'd suggest you start getting ready for our mission. We'll be away from the village for a while," Asuma said. The six Genin nodded, said goodbye to Kurenai, Kiba and Shino and headed off to their own separate homes.
~It was nice to see Hinata again. It looks like she's learning a lot under Kurenai's eye,~ Naruto said, sounding pleased. It was nice to be around the one person who knew that he was not the idiot everyone perceived him to be. He'd grown tired of having to live a lie.
~So it would seem,~ Minato agreed. ~You should prepare for the mission. Considering this will be your first time out of the village, you should be weary.~
~You worry too much, Tou-san,~ Naruto sighed with a shake of his head.
~With good reason. You have a lot of enemies out there,~ Minato remarked. Naruto snorted.
~I've just become a Genin and I've already got so many enemies?~ he scoffed.
~Well, not only are you the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, but you are my son as well. If anyone was to learn that...~ Minato began.
~Then I'd be in a shit load of trouble. I know,~ Naruto drawled. ~I'll be careful.~
~I know you will,~ Minato agreed. ~But anything can happen during a mission.~
~We'll just have to be ready for the worst, now won't we?~ Naruto responded.
~You're not even worried... I should have expected that,~ Minato remarked with a shake of his head.
~You should have,~ Naruto agreed. Minato just ruffled his hair.
~I've got something for you,~ he commented. Naruto's eyebrows rose in interest.
~You do?~ he asked. ~What is it?~ Minato smiled before a three-pronged kunai dropped in front of Naruto, completely solid despite having originated from a spirit.
~Consider it a promise,~ Minato commented. ~Do well in this mission and I'll start training you in the Hiraishin. Granted it will take a long while. Your body isn't yet prepared to handle the Hiraishin. Even with how quickly you learn things, it will be difficult.~
Naruto beamed at his father, eyes shining with excitement. ~I can handle anything you throw at me, Tou-san,~ he said.
~That's what I'm counting on,~ Minato responded.
"Let's go!" Naruto cheered the next day once everyone had met up in front of the gate to the outside of the village.
"What are you so excited about, dobe?" Sasuke asked with a frown.
"I've never left the village before," Naruto exclaimed, looking left and right. "I can't help but be excited!"
"Am I really safe with this brat?" Tazuna hissed under his breath to Kakashi. He didn't look very convinced of Naruto's battle prowess.
"Maa, Asuma and I are both Jounin. You are quite safe, Tazuna-san," Kakashi encouraged the drunken bridge worker.
Naruto just glared at Tazuna, miffed before continuing to walk.
'Weird… I was so sure he would have spazzed out, screaming about becoming Hokage and all of that…,' Ino thought, surprised by Naruto's self-control.
"So… did you guys learn anything interesting yet?" Chouji asked as they all walked away from the village.
"Not really… Kakashi spends a lot of time training Sasuke though," Naruto drawled.
~I'm still annoyed by that…~ Minato admitted before smirking. ~Then again, it doesn't matter. You've got the better sensei as it is.~
~Cocky, aren't you?~ Kyuubi sneered without malice.
~Hey, I've got every right to be,~ Minato shot back with a smirk.
~Careful, Tou-san… you're beginning to sound like an Uchiha…~ Naruto teased. Minato looked affronted.
~Take that back, brat!~ Minato exclaimed, materializing and proceeding to chase his hysterical offspring around the place.
"Is he alright?" Tazuna asked Kakashi, raising an eyebrow at the boy who seemed to be running around for no reason. He looked to be suffering from ADHD.
"Don't worry, he's just being Naruto, it's perfectly normal," Kakashi said, eyes gleaming with mirth at Naruto's bright attitude.
"Stop being so immature, Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed, ashamed by her teammate's behavior. She aimed to punch him but found her efforts blocked by a mysterious wind that appeared out of nowhere. It cushioned the blow enough that Naruto was only pushed off his feet.
Shikamaru's eyes narrowed. 'That's the second time today that wind has saved Naruto from injury. Now is it Naruto himself that's producing it or someone else?' he thought.
"What did you do that for, Sakura-chan?" Naruto pouted.
"You were making us look bad," Sakura glowered. "Why can't you be more like Sasuke-kun?"
"Not everyone wants to be an emo bastard," Naruto grouched, dodging both Sakura and Ino's indignant swipes.
"Why do you bait them? It's so troublesome," Shikamaru sighed as Naruto settled in between him and Chouji.
"Simple… I'm waiting to see when they'll outgrow their fan girl tendencies. From what I see… they have a long way to go," Naruto said.
"Don't you have a crush on Sakura-san?" Chouji asked Naruto curiously.
"No, not really," Naruto shrugged.
"Then why do you flirt with her?" Shikamaru asked with a raised eyebrow. Naruto grinned foxily.
"Just for fun," he said impishly. Shikamaru smirked. Naruto never ceased to amaze him.
That's when Sakura started asking Tazuna about Nami-no-Kuni and Kakashi and Asuma began to explain to them about the Five Great Nations and the Kages.
"Hokage-sama is that good?" Ino asked in surprise.
Asuma nodded, thinking of his father. "He's held the longest time than all four of our beloved Hokage. He was trained by the Shodaime and Nidaime and trained the three Legendary Sannin: Jiraiya, Tsunade and Orochimaru. He was known as the Professor when he was young because he knew every jutsu in Konoha," he explained.
"If you think he's impressive, you should have seen how strong the Yondaime Hokage was," Naruto said, beaming.
"Sensei was quite impressive. Even as I am today I would have had no hope of defeating him in battle if he was still alive today," Kakashi said, his eye gaining a far off look.
~You better stop talking about him before Mina-chan gets a swelled head,~ Kyuubi remarked, sounding quite amused.
~Mina-chan?~ Minato repeated, his nose scrunching up in displeasure. ~Sounds like a girl's name.~
~Welcome to how I feel when you call me Naru-chan,~ Naruto said, feeling no pity for his father. Minato just pouted.
As they walked and chatted, they passed by a puddle, but only Minato, Kakashi, Asuma and Shikamaru noticed the oddity of it.
As they walked past it, two black clad figures appeared out of it, wrapping shuriken covered wire around Asuma and Kakashi, tearing them apart in front of the shocked Genins' eyes.
"Two down…" the two nin intoned together.
"Kyaaa!" Sakura and Ino exclaimed in horror at the graphic sight.
Naruto remained stunned for a moment before he sensed both the rogue nin behind him.
"Three down," they whispered simultaneously.
Eyes wide in surprise, Naruto was quick to retaliate, surrounding himself in a wind barrier before Minato punched the two Kiri nuke-nin away from his son.
'His wind acts like it has a mind of its own. Not even Asuma-sensei's acts like that,' Shikamaru thought as he observed Naruto, moving quickly to immobilize the rogue nin using Kage Mane no jutsu.
He only caught one of them.
The other lunged for Tazuna. Ino and Sakura leaped in the way, trying to protect him.
Sasuke butted in at that moment, tackling the nuke-nin to the ground and engaging him in a Taijutsu battle.
"Someone do something soon. I can only hold this guy for so long," Shikamaru grunted.
"Fuuton: Daitoppa!" Naruto cried and the gale of wind knocked the nin Shikamaru had just released into a nearby tree with a sickening crack.
There was a grunt from behind Naruto and everyone looked to see that Kakashi had knocked out Sasuke's opponent. Asuma was leaning on a nearby tree lazily.
Ino and Sakura stared at the two Jounin-senseis in shock.
"We thought you died!" they chorused together.
"You don't think that would have been enough to defeat us, did you?" Kakashi asked. "You have such little faith in your senseis…"
"Well, how were we supposed to know any better?" Ino grumbled.
"Well, they are Jounin," Naruto pointed out. "That's not just an empty title."
"Oh be quiet, Whiskers," Ino exclaimed. "Stop acting like such a know-it-all… you were the dead last of the academy."
"This dead last did more than you did to defend us," Naruto huffed.
"That you did," Kakashi agreed. "I wasn't aware that you knew an elemental jutsu like that, Naruto. When did you find out your elemental affinity?"
"A while ago. I haven't really been hiding it, Kakashi. The wind's been protecting me from everything, if you recall," Naruto pointed out.
"That's right…" Kakashi realized. 'A wind affinity just like his father…'
"A wind affinity is a rare one…" Asuma mused. "Not many would be able to teach you how to use wind-style jutsus. Other than me, the only other wind user in Konoha had been the Yondaime Hokage himself and he's been dead for nearly thirteen years as all of us know…"
"I've been learning from scrolls," Naruto lied. "Once I learned that wind was my affinity I was quick to try learning how to use wind-style jutsu."
'Since when has Naruto ever learned from scrolls?' Shikamaru thought to himself with a small frown.
"Now that you're finished interrogating Naruto about his newfound skills," Sakura said impatiently. "Can you tell us who these guys are?"
"The Demon Brothers. They're nuke-nin from Kirigakure," Asuma explained. "We knew they were there the moment we noticed a puddle on a sunny day like this. We let them believe we were dead so we could observe who they're target was: us or our client."
Kakashi stared at the sweating Tazuna gravely. "I think you haven't been completely honest with us…"
~I knew this mission was going to get nasty… it would be just your luck,~ Minato hmphed.
~Seems exciting to me,~ Naruto shot back, eyes wide in excitement.
~That's what I'm afraid of,~ Minato muttered.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone