Knowing that the road to becoming Hokage would be a long one, Naruto had always had faith in his own patience. But as he chased down the Fire Lord's wife's pet kitten for the umpteenth time that afternoon, he found himself entertaining thoughts of premeditated murder.
"It's little wonder it's always running away," muttered Rai.
With varying looks of pity on their faces, they watched the pig of a woman press the squirming kitten against her folds of chin fat in a show of fervent adoration. As the woman pulled out several crisp bills of ryō from her handbag, the kitten wriggled out of her grasp again and began to race for freedom towards the exit. Noting the look of extreme terror on its small face, it was only half-heartedly that Naruto grabbed the animal and returned it to its owner's claws.
It had been several months since Team 7 had passed Kakashi's test, and in the days following, they had carried out a long, repetitive series of D-rank missions. Most of these missions involved mundane odd-jobs that posed little to no risk to their lives, and they were getting restless.
Nonetheless, Naruto was pleased with their jōnin sensei. The man understood the significance of chakra manipulation, and when Naruto demonstrated his own experimentation with his wind affinity, seemed willing to teach him how to refine his control. It turned out that most jōnin were able to use at least two elemental chakra, with Kakashi suggesting to Naruto that he could begin training in another nature once he had mastered his Wind chakra.
Despite his lax appearance, Kakashi was quick to correct any flaws or inefficiencies in their forms and never seemed to lack for experience or knowledge in anything. After the trial with the bells, Naruto had never again managed to get the upper hand against their sensei. Though it was frustrating at times seeing the huge difference in their skills, it was still gratifying to know that he was learning under one of the very best jōnin Konoha had to offer.
Everything about having a jōnin instructor was new for Naruto. But if he had to say, the strangest part about it all was that sometimes, it seemed to Naruto that Kakashi held no bias against him. Though the man's gaze was piercing and unapologetic, Naruto had never detected even the slightest glimmer of resentment or revulsion.
He couldn't quite rule out the possibility that the jōnin's capability to control his emotions simply exceeded his own ability to detect them. But despite his apprehension, sometimes Naruto even thought that Kakashi seemed...interested in teaching him. It was an odd feeling. Naruto tried to quash it, and yet, against his will, he found himself going out of his way to approach Kakashi.
Gradually, as Team Kakashi grew more experienced, they began to be given C-rank missions. C-rank missions were missions anticipated to have some combat involved with the possibility of injury, and the three genin eagerly snapped up every opportunity they got.
To Naruto's perplexity, the three of them worked well together. Despite his initial apprehension regarding Rai in particular, after their success in Kakashi's bell test, Rai had proved to be responsive and willing to follow Naruto's directions. And while Mayu had yet to directly address Naruto, she silently followed Rai.
In terms of their abilities, they were a well-balanced team. Mayu was their scout, being easily the best at stealth and having a certain affinity with birds that allowed her to transmit messages over distances.
Her strength in genjutsu was also promising, and Naruto could think of a variety of uses for it, such as being able to detain the target before he or Kakashi arrived. Rai on the other hand specialized at handling long-range weapons, and was able to provide a steady stream of backup artillery on all their missions. Meanwhile, Naruto, who preferred close combat, was their main offensive power in taking down the target. He had begun receiving kenjutsu instruction from Kakashi, and had taken to strapping a tantō across his back.
Their first two C-rank missions involved capturing dangerous wild animals that had been spotted around the lands of Konoha. Their third mission, however, was their first ever bodyguard duty. The mission's objective was to escort the caravan of a wealthy silk merchant and his family to the village of Yugakure in the Land of Hot Water.
...
Mayu and Rai flanked the caravan, with Naruto at its lead and Kakashi watching over from the back. Though the three genin were initially enthusiastic about their duties, the energy that had been bubbling within them at the start of their trip had all but dissipated by the fourth day. Having reached the last leg of their journey with little incident, the three were now dirty and tired.
It was a matter of unfortunate timing that it was their sensei's turn to sleep when the rogue bandits attacked the caravan. It was the middle of the day, and everything seemed normal; Rai was laughing with the merchant's children, while Mayu watched them with a smile smile on her face.
From his place at the front, Naruto was listlessly still scanning the distance in search of anything that looked out of place. He hadn't slept in over a day, and he was really looking forward to switching positions with Kakashi. When he noticed a slight disturbance in the distance, he paused and focused on it. However, after nothing had happened for several minutes, he dismissed the disturbance as a false alarm.
He had only just returned his attention to the immediate vicinity, when suddenly, with an exploding sound, a wagon behind him burst into flames.
Immediately leaping to his feet, Naruto converged on the burning wagon while Mayu and Rai rose up protectively around their patron's family. Kakashi joined him a second later looking completely alert, and together, they used water techniques to douse the flames.
Even as the last flame sizzled out however, two more wagons had burst into flames. Sensing several shuriken spinning directly towards him, Kakashi flipped out of the way. As he did so, Naruto deflected several kunai away from the main wagon. He missed one that had been sent later than the rest, and the kunai embedded itself into the glass of the window, cracking it. From behind it, Naruto could see the shivering pale face of the merchant, a corpulent old man with thinning hair.
Suddenly, there was a flash of black as a cloaked man leaped at the merchant, his eyes gleaming with the intent of murder. Before Naruto could react, the jōnin besides him had disappeared. There was a cracking sound as Kakashi twisted the man's head in midair, instantaneously killing him, before jumping up to the top of the wagon where two more figures in black holding daggers waited for him.
It had been so sudden, that Naruto jerked back; it was the first time he'd ever seen somebody die. He followed with widened eyes as the body landed on the ground with a thump. It was still.
Kakashi's voice shattered through his reverie: "Naruto, the others are getting away!"
While he'd been distracted, two figures swathed in ragged cloaks had begun to head into the woods. Shame rushed warmly to his face and Naruto immediately leapt into the air.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)!" Making two more shadow clones of himself, Naruto and his clones followed the remaining two bandits into the woods besides the road.
They were evidently trained, and had some experience in dealing with other ninja. Naruto's first clone was taken out by the shorter man within seconds, though judging by the way the man reacted when the clone disappeared, he had never dealt with shadow clones before.
However, they were no match for Naruto, and he had caught up to one of them within a minute. Ordering his remaining clone to follow the other bandit, he removed the tantō from his back. The man's eyes widened as he flew towards him with the tantō in hand, but before he could cry out in alarm, Naruto slid the blade across the front of his neck.
A stream of red spurted out, spraying his face with warm blood. With a gurgle, the man fell to the ground.
======================
If you want to support me, Or just want to read ahead of the public release, you can check my p atreon :
p atreon.com/sybife