Inheritance

An S-Ranked Mission!

This led Naruto to a conclusion that he had been trying to avoid, he would have to go back and learn the basics. The blonde let out a groan in between mouthfuls. This was exactly what he had been so happy to get away from, all the boring reading; he couldn't see the point. Stuff from books can't be that important for being a ninja. That stuff was for posers like Sasuke who cared about class rankings. But then a thought crossed his mind.

His Father. The Yondaime had graduated top of his class, and two years early on top of that. Which would have meant that he would have had to have been really good at everything. Even the book stuff. His Father had told that he was proud, but would he still be proud if he could see him now? Still in denial about one of his most glaring faults? Naruto stood up as he finished his last mouthful of ramen. He had promised more than once to surpass all the previous Hokages, including his own Father, and he wasn't going to stop until he had. And besides, since when did Uzumaki Naruto break his promises?

-----

Uzuki Yuugao was staring open mouthed at the Hokage. An S-ranked mission? She had never been on a mission ranked as high as that, even with ANBU. And the Hokage had already told her that it would be solo and outside of ANBU, which meant it would go on her official record and be public knowledge that she had completed such a mission. She didn't know whether to be ecstatic or terrified.

"Now Yuugao-san, I would suppose that you are wondering what your mission objectives are. Correct?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama" Yuugao nodded slowly as she spoke, her anticipation gradually rising the longer the Hokage drew out the conversation.

"Before I state the mission objectives, I want to let you know that this mission is of great importance to the village as well as being of great personal importance to me."

Yuugao visibly gulped, she couldn't fail this mission. She would give her life for both the village, and Sarutobi, many times over.

"Your mission, is to firstly train Uzumaki Naruto for the next month. This will go down as one S-ranked assignment in itself. For the second part of this mission, you are to protect Uzumaki Naruto whilst he is both in and outside of this village. Any questions before I proceed to explain the mission parameters in more detail?"

This was not what she had been expecting. She naturally wouldn't say no, not after the emphasis the Sandaime had placed on its importance. She also knew why she had been selected to undertake this mission. She had already spent six years in ANBU protecting the child, and had formed some kind of attatchment to him, even though they had never actually met face to face. But, she suspected the reasoning behind choosing her was more to do with the fact that she bore no grudges against the boy. Not to mention the fact that she had noticed similarities between Naruto and a certain village leader, and when confronted the Sandaime had simply said,

'What a ridiculous suggestion. And even if it was true, such information would be an S-ranked secret.'

It wasn't the words the Hokage had spoken that gave it away, but rather the ten foot grin he wore where his mouth should have been.

Despite this, she had her doubts. She had never taught before, and had no idea how she would go about it. Not only that, but she didn't have a clue what Naruto's ability level was and so had no idea what she should teach him.

"Hokage-sama, what exactly would I be expected to teach Uzumaki-san?"

"Ah, I will explain that when I talk about the mission parameters in more detail. Was that your only question?"

Yuugao nodded once more, and the Hokage smiled. He was giving her plenty of time to turn down the mission, but she showed no sign of wishing to say no.

"So for the first part of the mission you will be expected to tutor Uzumaki Naruto for the coming month. Currently, his academy report states that his skills are way below average in most of the shinobi arts. He has not been able to learn any taijutsu style, his ninjutsu is non-existent and genjutsu is completely out of his reach due to awful chakra control. Finally, his basic academic knowledge is quite frankly appalling." Sarutobi breathed out slowly before continuing.