บท 207: Chapter Seven: Missions
Kurotsuchi was honestly enjoying herself as a sensei. She got to spend time within the village more often, take care of easy missions that might as well be paid vacations from her normal A rank work, and mold the next generation to her liking. While Naruto would still throw up his attitude occasionally and Kurai seemed to lack one entirely, Hikari was a nice balance to the two and things were kept within reasonable comfort and enjoyment. It also helped that she shared Hikari's sentiment of proving that Kunoichi are just as, if not better, than their male counterparts.
The team was walking back into the village after a simple C rank escort mission to Kaminari no Kuni. Unlike Konoha, Iwa had the students in their last year at the Academy perform D rank missions. This was to get the used to the idea of working with others on missions. They didn't value teamwork as much as the tree huggers did, but they understood that it was either work together or you all fail. As such, new genin only really performed D ranks for a couple weeks after becoming ninja or as punishments from their sensei. It was highly embarrassing for a team of more than three months to be walking dogs or cleaning the streets.
The escort mission they had was to guard a merchant on his way to Kumo and then guard him and his caravan on the way back. Since Kumo and Iwa had a shaky alliance, they could do the mission in their lands without incident. Her students also got to see what another hidden village looked like, having been to Kumo herself with her grandfather the Tsuchikage. For the most part her students didn't seem to care though they were surprised to see that unlike the rest of the world, most of Kumo was dark skinned and there were fewer with the light complexion that they thought was normal. She did have a slight scare though when on the first night, Naruto told her that Kyuubi felt other demonic entities nearby. So she was forced to explain that Kumo had two jinchuriki of their own, the Nibi and Hachibi, and that they were the ones Kyuubi had sensed. She had ordered him to not seek them out and should he be confronted he was to be polite and refuse to speak and get her as quickly as possible. Yes, Iwa and Kumo were allies. But under the Sandaime Raikage, Kumo had orchestrated many kidnappings of ninja with Kekkei Genkai and even tried a couple on the younger jinchuriki. They didn't know, and weren't willing to risk, if the new Yondaime did the same.
Kurotsuchi banished the thoughts from her head though as she and her team left the man at his shop to go report a mission success. It was only a month since she had been a sensei and her team had grown stronger. Kurai had shown his skill and experience right away and currently she was the only one that could honestly match and beat him. Naruto was close and Hikari could give him a good run for his money but Kurai was still stronger than the two. Naruto though was the fastest, out running even her when they did races for speed training. Kurai and Hikari were both quite fast and could keep up with her if they exhausted themselves but she was still faster and made it difficult for them. But stealth was where Hikari shined. Anytime the boy's lost sight of her they'd find her with a blade to their neck. They couldn't find her unless she wanted to be found and Kurotsuchi actually had to try to find the girl as well.
And as for jutsu, she couldn't help two of her students and could only help her third. Kurai, as he had told them, was a fire element. However all his jutsu involve his weapon and he didn't need any help in that department anyways. Naruto turned out to be a wind affinity so she couldn't do much more than point him to Oonuki, who with his Kekkei Tota was a fire, earth and wind affinity. Hikari though turned out to be an earth affinity, which she informed them was common in her family as most were earth or water affinities. Though usually it was the men in the family with earth while the women had water. Still with one of her students sharing her affinity and needing help with it, Kurotsuchi did her best to train Hikari in the subtleties of Doton jutsu.
Walking into the Tsuchikage's office she smiled at her grandfather and gave a nod to Akatsuchi who was standing behind him like usual. While Akatsuchi was smart, he was slightly slower and more childish than a man in his late twenties, early thirties should be. As such, the Tsuchikage gave him an easy job; to be his personal guard. It had the added effect of an intimidation factor as the young man towered over just about everyone alive. Combine that with the fact that Oonuki himself was feared for his Jinton techniques and any non Iwa ninja, and some of the more cowardly members of their own forces, were hard pressed to keep their cool and confidence. "Team thirteen back from our C rank Tsuchikage-sama." She announced as they stopped and she handed the old man the mission scroll.
"Good." Oonuki stated as he took the scroll and after making sure it had the clients signature to verify completion, looked over the students. "So how did you three enjoy Kumo?"
"The place sucks ass, Tsuchikage-oji-sama. Iwa is ten times better." Naruto remarked casually. Kurotsuchi rolled her eyes at the boy's blunt attitude but said nothing since she was of the same opinion. Kurai was silent and made no motion towards feeling anything towards their ally while Hikari just grinned.
"They had some good calamari though. Gotta admit that much." Much like how Naruto, to Kurotsuchi's horror and disgust at times, was addicted to ramen; Hikari couldn't get enough of seafood. She'd have some kind of fish, squid, crab or ocean food every single chance she got. It wasn't much of a problem since she made sure to include other foods in her meal plan and get enough of everything for a balanced meal, but seafood still made up a good half or so of all her diet. "I'll get some more next time we visit."
"That's fine; I'm quite partial to their sake myself." Oonuki commented. "Did anything I should know about happen on the mission or was it the standard fare?" he asked as he turned his attention to his granddaughter.
"Naruto told me Kyuubi sensed Kumo's jinchuriki so I had to warn him to be cautious and find me should he be alone and confronted by them but otherwise nothing." Oonuki looked at Naruto who just shrugged his shoulders with an indifferent look on his face.
"That's fine. You're all dismissed then. Come back for another mission in a couple days." The three kids gave a short bow and then left while Kurotsuchi simply had a quick word with Akatsuchi before leaving herself. As she exited the building she found her students waiting for her.
"Okay you three, go home and rest up or whatever. Just meet at the training grounds tomorrow morning at nine." They nodded as she then vanished in a Shunshin (Body Flicker) for whatever she was going to do. Kurai said his goodbye's and left for his apartment. It always seemed to go that way. After training or missions, Kurai would simply go off to be on his own. He was always polite and kind, but his monotone voice and constant blank face made it seem like he just didn't care for anything. More than once Naruto had joked that he was just a moving statue and tried to agitate him and provoke an emotional response just to fail every time. The boy had no feelings or worries it seemed.
"Well, I'm off for some ramen before I go home." Naruto said as he started walking off. Not surprisingly Hikari shrugged her shoulders and just started to walk with him. Usually after Kurai would split for his own devices, Hikari or Naruto would mention going to get something to eat and the other would just go with out of boredom. Hikari spent as much time as she could get away with as far from her clan compound as possible since she hated a good ninety percent of the members while Naruto just didn't really care and figured spending time with a teammate was better than wandering the village alone. The two walked in a comfortable silence until they came up to a small eatery. The owner was a man that used to hate Naruto, since his brother had been a ninja killed by the Flash. But since the boy had become a regular that literally filled his wallet every visit, he'd tolerate the boy. And over the years he stopped hating him for his father's actions.
"Hey Naruto, back from your mission huh? You having the usual?" He called out as he and Hikari sat down at a booth. The man came over to talk for a moment as the shop was having a slow day. He was bald and had multiple wrinkles on his face but they only seemed to draw attention to his contrasting bright green eyes. He wore a simple brown kimono top and black pants.
"Yep, easy deal to. Thanks Kenji."
"And what about you Hikari?" The girl stopped in with Naruto a lot over the past month so he had gotten to know the Hanamaru heiress a little better as well. "Shrimp like always?" He joked, knowing she likely would get that very meal.
"You know it. Thanks." She replied with a simple grin he just chuckled and walked back to the kitchen to get started on their orders. As he left Naruto and Hikari just turned to each other.
"So anything new with the asses back home?" Naruto asked. He called her family a bunch of asses for two reasons. One was she did so she obviously didn't care. And the other was because they were staunch 'Namikaze Haters' and wanted to stick a knife between his eyes every time they looked at him.
"The usual. I suck compared to my male cousins, I should kill you on one of our missions and make it look like an accident, and I should learn how to actually fight. Nothin' new from them." She replied. Naruto just scoffed.
"Yeah right, if you need to learn how to fight then I need to learn how to run. You kick ass as it is and they're just pissed cause you won't kill me. They really hate that we're friends don't they."
"That's half the reason I keep hanging out with you Naruto. They hate me, I hate them; and it's fun as hell to do exactly what pisses them off." Hikari responded cheekily. Naruto just chuckled. She had told him after following him for food the third time that besides actually getting food cause she was hungry, she also hung out with him more than needed because it pissed her clan off that their heiress was close to the Flash's bastard son. They hated the Flash because in the battle where he slaughtered over two hundred men single-handedly, they lost over twenty members. And now their heiress was on the same team as him and she refused to kill him in his sleep. Rather she was friends with him! It was the ultimate insult to them and Hikari knew it. And when she told Naruto they shared a good laugh at their frustration. "Anything up with sensei or Tsuchikage-sama?"
"Not with Oji-sama that I know of. But I'm pretty sure Kaa-chan is gonna be looking for excuses to stay in the village soon. I mean, Dei-nii-san should be getting back soon from his mission if not already." During one of their after mission/training meals, Naruto had told Hikari of how Kurotsuchi seemed to be seeing Deidara in secret. In fact it was so secret, that even Oonuki didn't know. The only reason Naruto did was because he had accidentally come across them making out on three different occasions over the course of two years before he started the Academy and they always threatened him to keep silent about it. At first he didn't get it, but after the school taught Sex Ed, it all fell into place for him. He was just happy he hadn't actually come across them in the act. He didn't think his mind would be able to take seeing his mother figure and brother figure going at it.
Their thoughts and conversation were put on hold as their meals came out. Like he normally did, Naruto had five bowls placed in front of him of various flavors and was told the other ten would be coming out soon. Hikari only had a single bowl of shrimp ramen and started eating at a slow pace as Naruto practically inhaled his food with a smile.
Unknown to them, watching from the other side of the street was Kurotsuchi and Deidara. "See Kuro-chan? You didn't believe me when I said the gaki has a girlfriend." Deidara taunted with a grin. Kurotsuchi scoffed as they watched.
"Please, she hasn't shown any interest in him and he doesn't care either. She's just using him to get away from her clan duties and he just likes the company. Nothing romantic at all." She argued back. They hadn't shown any romantic interest in each other at all during their team meetings so she was hard pressed to believe there was any like Deidara argued. There hadn't even been any hintings of a blush when they put the other in compromising situations during spars and training. The two didn't have any 'feelings' for each other as far as she could tell.
"So you say but I can just tell those two are gonna start makin' out one of these days. You just can't see it like I can un." Kurotsuchi deadpanned at him as he had a slight grin.
"And what makes you so damn sure that I'm wrong and you're right?"
"Well considering you didn't even notice I was flirting with you until we got drunk at that one party four years ago and I kissed you, I'd say you're clueless about this sort of thing un. Just trust me will ya? They'll be getting together soon or I'll proclaim I'm wrong about art being an explosion to all of Iwa. No matter how wrong that opinion is un." He then shook his head and started walking away. "But that's for another time un. Now come on, I thought you wanted to see that new Princess Gale movie." Deidara had to make sure he hadn't fallen asleep and gone to dream land as he suddenly found himself in front of the theater with Kurotsuchi holding onto his arm.
"Well come on then! You're paying!"
"Of course I am un."
"Alright you three, we've going to get another mission today rather than training so let's all get going." It had been a week and a half since they returned from Kumo and the team had met at the training grounds like they normally did every morning. It was the same training ground they had met in since becoming a team and the act had become routine to them. Kurai would usually be first, sitting on the large rock at the middle of the grounds, staring at the sky as he waited for the others. Then would usually be Hikari, coming in a few minutes after he did and she'd just sit down and wait with her eyes closed. And finally Naruto and Kurotsuchi would show up at the same time since they lived together. Then would come training or a mission, depending on the day. Today was a mission apparently.
A few minutes later and the team was standing in front of the Tsuchikage as he went over some paperwork. He looked up as they entered and gave a grin. "Here for another mission already? I figured you'd wait the rest of the week first."
"These three work well together and I don't really have much I need to truly teach them. All they really need is experience and to strengthen their basics and they'll be ready for Chunin in no time at all. So, got anything for us?" She explained with a smirk. While the Genin made no indication to care for her words, Hikari and Naruto were inwardly smiling at how she felt they were pretty much ready for Chunin so quickly. Kurai was emotionless and couldn't care less one way or the other, like usual. His teammates still hadn't found out why he was like that.
"Alright, take this one. There's a group of bandits harassing people near our border with Ame. Kill them or chase them into Ame's territory so we don't have to worry about them. Do not cross into Ame's territory yourself. Start searching for them by the town of Kisai, that's where we received the last complaints about them." Oonuki gave out the details as he pulled out a scroll with the official mission specifics written on it and tossed it to Kurotsuchi. She gave it a quick glance and noticed it was pretty much what Oonuki had just told them, only worded differently. She nodded and then turned her attention back to her students.
"Okay you three, gather what's needed and be at the south gate in an hour." They all nodded and left to get their supplies and Kurotsuchi left in a Shunshin. Oonuki turned back to his paperwork and read over a few things and signed what was needed before a certain form caught his eye.
"Oh? The leader of Otogakure is requesting a meeting? Hm… let's see how this goes."
"Another mission Hikari-sama?" Hikari had headed back to her clan compound, which was conveniently on the edge of Iwa near the south gate, to get her supplies. She paused as the voice called out to her and turned around to see the only person in her clan she hated more than her own father.
"What the hell do you want Yamai?" Yamai was a young boy a year younger than her that was the son of the clan head's brother. He had black hair that was slicked back and cut off just above his neck. He had dark black eyes and wore a red kimono top with black trim as well as black hakama with red tribal designs running down the sides. On his feet were the basic shinobi sandals colored black while around his left wrist was a small black gauntlet baring the Hanamaru clan crest; a red rose with a silver stem.
"Just curious as to what our heiress is going to be doing Hikari-sama." His voice was dripping with sarcasm and Hikari knew it. In fact Yamai didn't even bother trying to hide it. "You know, Daisuke-sama is disappointed in you."
"I don't give a shit if Tou-san were to come here himself and tell me that. You're just waiting for your chance to take me out so you can be the heir and since you can't do it in a straight up fight you're hoping I'll die on a mission." Seeing him grit his teeth brought a smirk to Hikari's face. "Oh, did I touch a sore spot weakling?"
"Listen here, by our clan's traditions I should be heir! Not a weak little girl like you!" He shouted. The Hanamaru clan was extremely old fashioned in that they still treated women like they were inferior and as such the clan head was supposed to have a male heir. However his wife had produced Hikari before dying from the childbirth. Normally this would get them to just have the head have another wife and hopefully get them to produce a male. But another tradition of theirs was that they can only marry once, and none of them would break this rule. As such, when the head's brother managed to have a male child he was to become the heir if he proved stronger than Hikari. Yamai had been training his entire life to take over the clan as most felt the clan couldn't be led by a weak woman. However Hikari had defeated her cousin in every contest they tried to put her in. She was smarter, faster, stronger, and had a better mastery over their clan techniques than he did and she frequently rubbed his face in it since he refused to admit he was weaker than a girl.
"If I'm weak, then what are you? In case you still haven't learned it yet, you haven't beaten me. Ever. In fact, you haven't even come close." She taunted, getting him to flush red in anger. "Now go away Yamai, I have a mission to prepare for." She said as she turned and started walking away calmly, having nothing more to say to her weaker cousin. The boy was seething at her common dismissal and was about to throw himself at her to kill her but a sudden spike of killing intent froze him where he stood.
"What's going on here?" Both turned to see a man in a formal black kimono with the Hanamaru crest on the right side of his chest walking up. He had black hair that was thinning slightly and a scar that went across his forehead, a memento from a Konoha ninja he fought in the war. He turned his steel gray eyes on Yamai before locking them with Hikari's own gray eyes.
"I have a mission to prepare for when Yamai came and started spouting shit like usual. When I dismissed him to gather my supplies, you came up Tou-san." Hikari explained calmly. Her father made no motion to either anger or shock at her blunt description of Yamai's 'conversation' with her. The two hated each other and to be honest, Yamai pretty much talked like that all the time and even the more supportive clan members have said he needs to learn to hold back the attitude if he wants to be a better clan head.
"If she has a mission then you cannot bother her Yamai. Leave us." He ordered. The boy glared at her before spitting out a 'Hai, Daisuke-sama' and walking off. Hikari smirked as he left before turning back to her father.
"So what do you need? Telling me when his next challenge is going to be or how much better a male heir would be?" She said as her smirk turned into a scowl. Daisuke again made no motion towards giving away his thoughts at his daughter's words. In reality, Daisuke loved his daughter dearly. However by clan tradition and his own beliefs, a woman was not meant to lead so he supported all the motions to remove her from heir status. So long as they wouldn't involve killing her. He kept trying to break her spirit or find some way to make her fail a challenge as by clan law, she couldn't be removed from her title of heiress without failing a challenge or by doing harm to the clan's reputation. Some had tried to argue her friendship with the Namikaze brat was harming their reputation but Hikari herself had countered that being friendly with teammates was not harming any reputation and that by allying herself on a personal lever with the jinchuriki to the Kyuubi no Yoko, she was assuring them that the boy would never have any reason to hate the Hanamaru clan. Thus she proved being friends with Naruto was not only helpful but that if they tried to make a fuss about it then they would be harming the clan's rep and not her. Another victory for her and another failure in the 'push her out of heiress status' movement.
"I'm merely curious about your mission Hikari. I do care for you daughter." Hikari scoffed.
"Barely." She muttered before shaking her head. "We're heading out to take care of a bandit problem near Kisai. That's all. There shouldn't be any trouble at all so don't worry. I'll be back for the clan to hate in a few days. So if that's all…" She trailed as he nodded his head. She turned and left back for her room as Daisuke merely sighed and walked back to his office. His conflicting thoughts draining him. On one hand, Hikari was perfect. A skilled ninja, an intelligent and outgoing woman, and a perfect model for the next clan head. But on the other, tradition dictates that she should not take over should her cousin prove superior in a single matter. It frustrated him to no end that the clans' needs and wants were costing him a friendly and loving relationship with his daughter. But the needs of the many come before the needs of one. And that frustrated him to no end.
"Alright, everyone ready to go?" Kurotsuchi asked as Hikari showed up at the gate. Despite living so close, she was the last to arrive. Kurai used nothing more than his weapon which they had learned he kept hidden through a special jutsu until needed, so he was the first to arrive, merely sealing a few bento's of food into a scroll and placing that in a pocket before waiting at the gate. Naruto had gotten his stuff together and then waited for Kurotsuchi before they just headed to the gate together and waited. Hikari was last and they knew it was likely some clan issues, the sour look on her face practically assured it. When they all nodded Kurotsuchi turned around and led them out. "Alright then. Let's go kill some bandits."
Omake – The First Taste
"Okay gaki, seeing as I have to watch you while Kuro-chan goes and does that quick mission with Oonuki-sama, we're going out to eat. Cause we both know I can't cook un." Deidara said as he led a young four year old Naruto through Iwa's streets. The boy had on a simple black t-shirt and tan shorts as Deidara was in casual clothes; a long sleeve tan shirt with Iwa's symbol in the back in black along with black pants. Naruto nodded with a grimace at the memory of the last time Deidara tried to make something harder than a sandwich. He had puked it right back up in under a minute.
"So where we going nii-san?" The boy asked with a bright smile on his face. Deidara suppressed the urge to smack the boy for calling him nii-san when he didn't like the kid that much. But then he'd complain to Kurotsuchi and she'd go all 'protective mom' on him even though the boy wasn't hers at all. She really fell into the mother role quickly he noticed. He shook his head clear of those thoughts as he turned his attention back to Naruto.
"We're heading to a little ramen shop I stop by occasionally after a mission. The food's good, and it's cheap too. So come on un." Deidara led him to a small little shop and sat down at a table as Naruto took the seat across from him, his legs dangling over the edge as he was still short. A few minutes later and a man walked up to them.
"What can I get… you?" He asked as his eyes noticed Naruto. Deidara instantly saw the hatred in the man's eyes and cleared his throat to get his attention back on him. Naruto didn't notice the dark look as he turned his attention back to Deidara before the boy looked at him.
"Two bowls of miso to start with. If we want more we'll order it afterwards." He nodded and turned to leave when Deidara grabbed his hand and gave him a hard look before letting go. The man walked off and read the note the older blonde had slipped into his hand with a shudder.
Try anything on the boy and I'll blow you and this shop to bits before Tsuchikage-sama brings you back just to dust you himself.
Needless to say the man would stick with just glaring at the young Naruto from now on. Within ten minutes their orders were brought out and Deidara started eating as Naruto seemed to stir it around a bit with his chopsticks before tentatively bringing a small bit to his mouth to try. He never had this ramen stuff before; his Kaa-chan would tell him he needed to eat a healthy palate of foods to make sure he got the nutrients he needed to grow strong. Whatever that meant, his four year old mind only understood that she made 'good' meals so he'd be big and strong like his Aka-nii-chan. Since he had never had ramen before, it likely wasn't on that 'good food' list his Kaa-chan talked about. But she wasn't here and his nii-san would sometimes slip him candy, which he knew was 'bad' but it tasted great. Maybe this ramen stuff was the same way?
Naruto placed a few noodles in his mouth and mulled the taste over for a bit before stopping and staring at the bowl with wide blank eyes. Deidara froze for a minute thinking his warning wasn't enough and the man had poisoned Naruto's bowl when suddenly the boy started devouring the ramen like it was his first meal in years. The older blonde sighed but had a grin on his face as he watched the boy pretty much inhale the noodles. He was bout halfway finished with his bowl when suddenly Naruto put his down. "More please!" He cried out. Deidara stared at him for a moment but then shrugged and waved the man over and asked him to bring out two more bowls. He was planning on having a second himself. A few minutes later and the bowls were set on the table and Naruto started digging into one of them as Deidara was still finishing his first. Just as he finished his first bowl he reached to take the other bowl of ramen he had asked for when Naruto snatched it and started devouring it himself. Deidara looked at him with disbelief on his face as he saw the two bowls Naruto had already devoured and then back to the third the four year old was shoving down.
"That was mine un." He muttered but Naruto didn't hear him. A few seconds later Naruto set the bowl down and let out a small burp.
"This stuff is really good nii-san! Can I have some more?" The Iwa nin stared at him blankly before sighing.
"Sure gaki, have as much as you want un. Oi! We're gonna need more over here!" He called out to the cook. He had no idea what he just unleashed.
When Kurotsuchi got back that night she saw Naruto sitting on the living room floor playing with a few toys with Deidara sitting on the couch with a torrent of tears running down his face as he stared at a small leather wallet in front of him. "So how were things?" Naruto perked up upon hearing her voice and ran over and hugged her.
"It was great Kaa-chan! Dei-nii-san took me to get some ramen!" Kurotsuchi suppressed the urge to laugh since it was known Deidara didn't like being called that before what Naruto said dawned on her.
"Wait ramen?" She asked as she pulled back slightly and looked at the boy. He nodded with a huge grin on his face before turning to Deidara. "What the hell? I had leftovers in the fridge you could've had! I'm trying to give him a healthy diet Deidara. I don't want you taking him out for junk food like that."
"Don't worry un. I'll never take the gaki out for ramen again." He then looked up and opened the wallet showing it was empty. "The little gaki ate an entire B rank paycheck away! Never again! If he wants the shit he's paying for his own un!" The elder blonde shouted. Naruto pouted at how Deidara was promising to never take him out for ramen again as Kurotsuchi started laughing at his misfortune.
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