Capítulo 18: Danger
"Naruto was that idiot"
"Oh..." Nodding with understanding, Sakura asked "What would you want so many balloons for?"
"Training"
"And with balloons?"
"I filled them with water"
"Training with balloons filled with water?"
"Chakra control"
"Oh... if I buy balloons, will you teach me?"
"Half are for me... and if you accept, also buy yourself rubber balls, but only for you, I'm done with that part of my training"
"Deal!" With a smile blooming on her face, Sakura quickly turned and ran off into the distance while shouting "See you at the door!"
"Well... I guess I'll save money" With a satisfied smile, Naruto turned to Sasuke and asked "You'll train on the road too?"
"I think it's only fair that I now use of your balloons"
"You're rich, why be so stingy?"
"I have just enough money for the mission"
"How much is that?"
"20,000 ryo"
"So little?"
"It's normal to lose money in a confrontation, it would be stupid to carry more"
"And while you're at it you can steal from your enemies" Nodding, Naruto yawned and continued walking towards the market "How do you feel about this mission?"
"I think it's perfect for the occasion" Taking his time to think, Sasuke continued "Even though we've only trained for a little over a week, I feel much more confident compared to my old self...I think it wouldn't hurt to test my strength in real combat"
"You know Sasuke, you're pretty nice when you don't act so arrogant" Nodding, Naruto chuckled and continued "The Sasuke from the academy was really annoying"
"You really have the nerve to say that to me?" with his eyebrows twitching as he smirks in annoyance, Sasuke snorted "Just knowing that I had to see you every day made me seriously want to skip class, even Sakura was more acceptable than your shrill voice"
Chuckling as he looked around, Naruto walked over to one of the shops and looked at the prices of beef jerky, then shook his head and muttered "Everything is so expensive"
"Are you really that poor?" With strangeness in his gaze, Sasuke continued "Aren't you the only Uzumaki in the village? I understand that the Uzumakis had a large fortune from the seals they sold and much of it was invested in the village, and since they were wiped out, it's the norm that you would have been the one to take at least a portion of that fortune"
"Better not even ask why I get angry every time I think about it" Shaking his head, Naruto continued "You know what's next after this mission?"
"More training?"
"Chuunin exams"
"Chuunin exams?" frowning slightly, Sasuke continued "I understand they usually give us a year to prepare"
"So it usually is" Nodding, Naruto continued "But Kakashi-sensei isn't like the other Jonin, so I have a slight assurance that he'll have us participate this very year"
"That's... nice" With a slight smile tugging at the corner of his lips, Sasuke murmured "I thought I'd have to miss a year"
"That's why we might as well train while we can, even if it means taking risks to train during missions" Nodding, Naruto continued "It would suck to get our asses kicked"
"Speak for yourself" Snorting, Sasuke continued "I don't plan on losing"
"Neither do I, but in the face of a superior force, what we want or think is of no use" Shaking his head, Naruto continued "Listen to this well, Sasuke... there is no worse evil for a ninja, than falling into complacency and believing that you can handle everything easily... after all even ants can take down an elephant if they set their minds to it"
Hugging his arms while looking at Naruto quizzically, Sasuke commented in disgust "It's really creepy to hear you talking in such a serious manner, please stop"
"Tsk" Clicking his tongue, Naruto snorted "Then let's go buy some food and while we're at it let's get some ramen, I have to fill up while I can, after all who knows when we'll be back...if we'll be back at all"
"I don't plan to pay"
"Don't worry, today it's on me" Pulling out four tickets for free ramen, Naruto smiled and continued "Enjoy it while you can, because it won't come around again"
"I don't understand how you can eat so much ramen so normally, I already feel like ramen is already coming out of my ears" Sighing, Sasuke muttered to himself.
***
"Fuck, I knew I shouldn't have trusted him" Rubbing his face while looking boredly at the clouds in the sky, Naruto muttered in annoyance.
"Maybe the customer hasn't arrived yet?" Hugging her legs as she sat next to Naruto, Sakura asked.
"The client should wait in advance at the mission office" Shaking his head, Sasuke continued "But it should be Kakashi-sensei who brings him, and from how he hasn't arrived yet, I guess he made even him wait"
"Do you think he'll cancel the mission because of the delay?" with concern, Sakura asked.
"He won't" Shaking his head, Naruto continued "If the mission starts today, it means the client must leave today and a delay is hardly feasible. Even if he tries to change the team taking the mission, it's not easy to find a team ready and willing for a mission that takes so long, even more so if you consider that they have to leave at the same instant"
"Sigh That's good" With a sigh of relief, Sakura smiled.
"Though if they can take away our pay..." Sighing sadly, Naruto muttered to himself "I promise that, if I don't get paid for this, I'll rob Kakashi-sensei's house"
"..."
"..."
"Here it comes" After a few minutes of dull silence, Sasuke stared at the duo quietly approaching from a distance and sighed as he rubbed the training weights over his arms "We're finally leaving"
"Sorry, a black cat crossed my path and I had to change the whole route" With a totally relaxed voice, Kakashi arrived in front of the trio and continued "What are you waiting for? Stand up and let our client see you"
Getting up with an exhausted groan, Naruto yawned and stared at the old man in front of him, easily noticing the blush on his face as a strong scent of alcohol flooded his nostrils 'Seeing him in drawing and in person is so different... it really makes a bad impression... even I would cross the street to see him'
Looking closely at the trio in front of him while taking a swig from a bottle of alcohol, the old man staggered from drunkenness and pointed his thumb towards his chest while exclaiming "I am the great expert bridge builder, Tazuna!"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Once I arrive in my country, your job will be to protect me with your lives until the bridge is finished!" Blinking rapidly, the old man shut his eyes tightly and forced himself to steady his body, then frowned slightly and opened them again as he shouted "UNDERSTANDING!!!?"
"..." Bringing his hand to his face and touching the saliva that splattered on it, Naruto looked down at his wet fingers and turned his gaze towards the old man, then sighed and thought 'In my memories he looked like a nice old man... god, his saliva really stinks'
"With the introduction done, we can go" Nodding towards Tazuna, Kakashi put his hands in his pocket and started walking towards the exit of the village, being instantly followed by everyone.
Walking in silence for a few minutes as the giant wall surrounding the village was lost behind the trees, Naruto yawned and looked around.
-Naruto-
"I know" Muttering inaudibly, Naruto continued "But I don't know from which direction"
-Since they left the village they've been followed by two ninjas with murderous intentions, they're on your right-
"Thank you" Nodding while slyly looking at the ground around him, Naruto thought 'I don't know at what point they decide to attack nor do I know if they will attack like in my memories'
"Hey, Tazuna-san"
"What do you want?" taking another drink of alcohol, Tazuna asked.
"You're from the land of waves, aren't you?"
"Yeah, so what?"
Ignoring the talk between Sakura and Tazuna, Naruto put his hands to the back of his neck and walked nonchalantly, but always being fully around her as the worry he had ignored these past few days, surfaced.
Although Naruto knows a lot about the future and many of the secrets of the ninja world, he could never solve the emptiness in his mind about certain things that he finally ended up ignoring due to his training.
But today, finding himself face to face with a mental void, he couldn't help but tense up.
While he knows that he will be ambushed by two people who will hide in a puddle while seeking to kill the old bridge builder, he knows nothing but that Kakashi defeated them somehow and the only memory he has of that moment is of himself having his hand cut off while his blood flowed freely.
He doesn't know how they defeated them, he doesn't know how dangerous they were, just like he doesn't know how the heck his hand ended up damaged, causing his inexperienced mind to constantly flow into numerous extremely pessimistic situations that end up making it impossible for him to let his guard down, even for a second.
"Don't worry, there won't be combat between ninja on a C-ranked mission" Gently patting Sakura's head, Kakashi ended his talk in his typical relaxed voice.
With a smile, Sakura nodded "Then there's no need to worry about encountering outsider ninja."
"Of course" Nodding, Kakashi chuckled lightly and continued his pacing.
'This went on just as they were in the memories' Hearing the end of the conversation between Kakashi and Sakura, Naruto thought.
Following the path for another couple of hours, while Naruto and Sasuke already had their arms hanging limply from the exhaustion of carrying so much weight, Kakashi just looked at them sideways and shook his head at their obvious bad decisions.
"Mn?" Hearing the sound of rushing water and noticing a small stream in front of him, Naruto's pupils shrank and he slowly began to slow his pace, then stepped over the bridge and noticed a small pool of water in the distance.
Looking at Kakashi and then at his team, Naruto instantly thought of dozens of ways to cope with this trying to minimize the risk, but after a final thought, he ended up shaking his head and hurried his pace to position himself next to his team while thinking 'Even if I can't use my chakra properly, Kakashi-sensei somehow brought this situation with the damage to a minimum... let's trust him'
Although Naruto has a large amount of memories about what will happen in the future and no doubt his current ability is far superior to the version of him that he has in his memories, it is inevitable for him to worry even in situations that in his memories seem as trivial as this moment.
After all, unlike the people in the world where these memories come from, for him, this whole situation has an extremely different meaning from what his memories imply.
Here, not only can the character from some anime or manga die, let alone someone fictional created by the imagination.
No, if something goes wrong in this situation, it is Naruto who will lose the few loved ones he has, and he will be the one who will have to risk his life to survive in this harsh and cold world.
But not only the fear of loss is what keeps him extremely tense, but, although he has memories of many years of life and no doubt those memories considerably influenced his personality, nothing takes away the fact that this is not only his first mission where he will have to risk his life, but it is literally the first time where he will have a real fight with another ninja where with just one carelessness, all his plans and dreams will end tragically.
Approaching Sasuke slowly as they got closer and closer to the puddle, Naruto whispered softly "You know it hasn't been raining lately, right?"
"Yeah..." With confusion, Sasuke whispered back "Why do you say that?"
"Look in front of us"
"Mn?" Quickly scanning his surroundings, Sasuke instantly noticed the puddle of water and his pupils shrunk to the minimum, then looked at the serious Naruto who nodded at him silently "What do we do?"
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