Naruto looked himself over in the mirror for nearly the third time. Even he had to admit, he looked pretty bad-ass. He wore the standard black Konoha combats, tied off at the ankles to prevent loose fabric becoming a hinderance. Upon each thigh he wore a kunai pouch, in order to exploit the fact that he was ambidextrous (A trait even he hadn't realised, until Jiraiya had spotted that he didn't seem to favour any particular side when fighting). Upon the insistence of his sensei, he also wore a third; this one larger than the others, and with more compartments within, strapped to his belt slightly behind him. Jiraiya still hadn't explained to him what it was for, merely that he was confident that Naruto would enjoy using what it was designed to contain.
Replacing his old jacket, he instead had a plain black shirt with full length sleeves, over a mesh shirt for added protection. The shirt, whilst being full length, had been tied up from his wrists, all the way up to his elbow with bandages. Even with the function of preventing loose fabric, this was still incredibly unusual, and once again Naruto couldn't figure out for the life of him why he required it. Only that Ero-sennin had insisted upon it.
Finally, was the 'Pièce de résistance' of his new uniform, or at least in his opinion. Jiraiya had asked him if he wanted any additional body armour, and initially he had said no and they were all set to purchase a plain jacket instead; when something caught his eye. In the far corner of the shop, almost completely hidden by racks of generic shinobi attire, was a mannequin. Naruto couldn't help but wander over to it, to get a closer look. It wasn't particularly flashy, or eye-catching. But to Naruto, it just screamed 'awesome'.
Upon the mannequin was a set of shinobi body armour, made to be light-weight and manoeuvrable; whilst still providing protection from all but the heaviest of blows, and the deadliest of ninjutsu. It provided a more complete form of protection from the basic ANBU garb, although looking fairly similar. Unlike the ANBU uniform, it provided full protection of the shoulders and the sides of the torso. Where it seriously differed however was the mechanism. The ANBU uniform, was two pieces of material strapped over the shoulders and at the hips, sacrificing protection for speed and manoeuvrability. However, the armour in front of him was constructed from multiple interlocking 'plates' of material, allowing maximum movement, with no gaps in the armour as the cost.
These 'plates' were concealed underneath a top layer of deep mauve material, in order to disguise the mechanism. Meaning that, at first glance, the armour was restrictive; ideally meaning that any potential enemy would under-estimate the wearers speed and agility, giving him the edge. The armour also had several attatchments woven into the top layer of fabric, including straps where a scabbard could be attatched both across the back and at hip-level, and places where scrolls could be attatched.
"Now, that is interesting." Naruto turned to find his sensei, looking curiously at the armour. "These front panels of armour, have specially designed sections in which seals can be woven into."
"But at the academy teaches that seals can be placed on most kinds of material?" Jiraiya nodded in the affirmative, before replying.
"True enough. However, shinobi armour is woven together using material infused with chakra by the person who created it. This means that seals cannot be placed on some-one wearing the armour, without having to make changes to the seal array to make it compatible with the individual chakra of the person who made the armour. As you can tell, this would be almost impossible in a practical combat situation." The Sannin reached out a hand, and began examining the armour closely.
"However, this armour, is designed to fuse with the users chakra once a seal on the inside is activated. This enables the owner to place seals on his own armour in order to aid him in battle; whilst bypassing the seal defence put in place by the person who made it, leaving the defence active, in order to protect him from the use of seals by the enemy. A little known fact is that my old armour, and the Yondaime's Jonin flak jacket are made in the same way, as we both used seals extensively."
That had settled it for Naruto. For him, it was another link to his Father. Another link to his family.
That, and it looked completely awesome.
Sarutobi found, that despite the presence of several of his subordinates, many of them in really quite senior in position; that he couldn't keep the proud smile that he currently wore, buried under his need to be professional and impartial towards all of his shinobi. He also found that neither Iruka, nor Jiraiya could either. Naruto stood before him, sporting a slightly sheepish grin, in completely new shinobi attire, looking every bit the professional shinobi.
"I take that you are here for your first mission, Naruto?" The Hokage enquired, garnering an excited nod from the blonde in front of him.
"Excellent news! Iruka over here has your assignment ready for you." The Hokage gestured to Iruka, who was unable to hold back a grimace as he extended the mission scroll towards the fresh Genin. Sarutobi sat back in his chair, and awaited the fireworks.
"I have to deliver...groceries? What the he-!" Naruto's tirade was cut short as his sensei grabbed him by the mouth with one arm, gesturing to the elderly Kage with the other.
"I think I'll explain the 'merit's' of D-ranks to him, Sarutobi-sensei. Save your ears the trouble." Jiraiya stated, before hastily exiting the mission room with a still struggling, and evidently outraged Naruto under his arm.
As they left, the room's occupants burst into laughter. In truth, they had been waiting for the blonde to turn up all day. To most in the room, although they had no animosity towards Naruto (in fact some were rather fond of the Genin), the mission assignments was but a small vindication for the many pranks the blonde had pulled over the years.
"What the hell hind of mission is this Ero-sennin! Deliver groceries? This isn't a mission it's a chore!"
Jiraiya sighed heavily, already having anticipated his apprentices reaction to. For a start, the reaction of his first apprentice had been exactly the same.
"D-rank missions are an exercise used in order to promote the growth of teamwork, before you actually set out into the field. They give Genin an insight into how they're team mates think, and what kind of people they are. Without this prior bonding, sending Genin into a combat situation would be utter suicide." Jiraiya paused to check his student's understanding before continuing. "However, as I'm sure you're aware, you are not part of any team; and whilst you will be participating in joint missions with other teams, you will be doing a great many of these D-ranks yourself, as well as while working with one of the other Genin teams."
"But why do I have to do them by myself as well?"
Jiraiya grinned at his students question.
"We will be using them as a training exercise. One of the clever things about how the D-rank missions are set up, is that they all simulate a higher-ranked mission. For example, you are being asked to deliver groceries, correct? Well when we do this, you will take this to mean that you will be leading a mission, in which you and your team are to deliver valuable intel or cargo to a location, whilst protecting the cargo from external threats. Understand?" Naruto thought for a few seconds before answering.
"You said that I would be leading a 'team'. If I'm doing these missions independently, who will be my team? And how can there be any 'external threats' for me to protect the cargo from?" Naruto asked, his curiosity genuinely growing.
"You'll be using Kage Bunshin to simulate ninja under your command, and yours truly will act as the external threats. It's your job to command your ninja effectively, in order to complete the mission without sustaining any casualties amongst your subordinates. I want you to understand, that I'm not training you to be 'just another powerful shinobi'. I training you to be a leader. Someone who can lead a unit deep into enemy territory, on what most would consider a suicide mission, and return with everyone alive. You have to understand how to command shinobi effectively, and whilst minimising harm to your ninja. As Hokage, you will have to do this constantly. And often you can't be there to protect the ninja you have sent. As a result, your orders have to be spot on, or you will have an ally's blood on your hands. A friends blood on your hands. "
Naruto scanned the tree's around him intently for signs of his 'enemy'. Once they had collected the groceries he was supposed to deliver, Jiraiya had given him a map, planning his route for him. It had been explained that he would be allowed to plan his route for some missions, Jiraiya would do it for others in order to simulate occasions where only one route is available to him, and him and his team would have to take it, regardless of the danger. Typically, his sensei had given him the longest route through the village to his destination, cutting through many rarely used alleys and area's of park; each and every one a perfect location for an ambush
He returned his eyes to the Kage Bunshin convey he had ordered ahead of him. He was at placed the back, to enable him, in theory; to observe and react to the events that unfolded around him, hopefully giving the orders in time to save the lives of his 'comrades' as well as ensure the success of the mission. That was another condition that Jiraiya had laid out prior to beginning. His clones were only aloud to take action based on his orders, and were not allowed to act independently in any other capacity than self-defence. He had set his first clone at the front of the convoy, in order to act both as a scout and in order to initially engage with any threats. Two more were at the rear, enabling them to support and defend any threats to either the convey, or the first Kage Bunshin. The 'cargo' itself was being carried by a separate Bunshin, henged in order to appear as a traveling merchant. A further Bunshin, in order to maintain an element of unpredictability, even when being ambushed; was traveling underground using the Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu that he had learnt from Kakashi. He had provided this Bunshin with extra chakra, in order for him to maintain the jutsu; under the premise that for a similar mission, a ninjutsu specialist would be assigned to the squad.
Naruto was made to wait for almost the entire route around the village before Jiraiya struck. It was part of the way through a particularly tight alley, just a few minutes away from the delivery location; when the leading Bunshin raised a hand, simultaneously signaling to the rest to stop and that he had heard something. The original strained his ears, trying to hone in on the low rumbling sound that seemed to be growing in volume. '...Shit! Behind us!' The original span round, and was greeted with the sight of a powerful Fuuton technique; spanning the breadth of the alley, tearing up the ground as it sped towards the group.
"Bunshin-1, get the cargo to the rooftops! Bunshins 2 and 3, cover them!" Naruto barked out his orders as he himself took to the roofs, using the walls of the adjoining buildings to ascend. A glance towards the lead Bunshin told him that he had been successful in avoiding the initial attack. He then checked, below. Fortunately, the Fuuton technique hadn't torn into the ground enough to unearth the final Bunshin; leaving Naruto with an important tactical advantage, should it be needed.
"Boss, straight ahead!" The cry from his clones stirred Naruto from is slight lapse in focus, and he set his sights on Jiraiya; whom to his astonishment, was running up the wall vertically to get to their position, whilst being henged in order to look like a Kumo-nin.
"Clones 2 and 3, use Raiton: Kaminari Muchi, try and catch his legs!" The two clones acted almost immediately, firing off twisting bolts of electricity towards the enemy. Jiraiya reacted almost immediately, launching himself from the wall he had been climbing to the opposite one; but the chakra whip persisted forcing him to take to the air in between the two buildings again to avoid the tendrils of lightning.
"Fuuton: Goukuuhou no Jutsu!"
Jiraiya looked up to see the original Naruto in the air inhaling deeply, and sending several spheres of vicious wind chakra down at him. Reacting at incredible speeds again, he raced through his own hand-seals, and used 'Doton: Doruku Gaeshi' without even needing to speak the name of the technique. A stone slab emerged from the building, seemingly using the mortar holding the brickwork of the adjacent building together as it's source material, defending Jiraiya from the attack. However, the henged Sannin was now in free-fall; having had to defend himself mid-leap meant that he was prevented from gaining a foothold on one of the buildings.
"Raiton: Kaminari Muchi."
The Sannin calmly intoned the name of the jutsu that Naruto himself had used but a few minutes ago; using the lightning whip to grasp the stone slab he had just created, and swinging to the wall of the building Naruto was on, and instantly began moving towards the blonde again.
"Bunshin 4, now!"
Jiraiya looked towards the ground, far too late to be able to do anything about barrage of wind chakra that was just about to impact his chest. Just as the spirals a slicing chakra began to impact Jiraiya, he exploded in a puff of smoke.
'A Kage Bunshin? But that would mean- Oh, no...'
The blonde broke out into a desperate run, towards the final destination of his cargo, whilst signalling the fourth Bunshin to follow. Because, during the fighting he had used the opportunity to order the other Bunshins to press ahead, using the combat as cover to slip away. But they had been kept busy by a Kage Bunshin, leaving the convoy under-protected, with no knowledge of a second enemy.
He soon caught sight of both his Bunshin, and the henged Jiraiya; with the Bunshin running along the top of the rooftops carrying the 'merchant', and the Sannin running alongside of them on the wall beneath. The blonde watched as the Sannin ran through some hand-seals, too fast to do anything about it. Suddenly, the ground beneath his Bunshin transformed into some kind of swamp, dragging them waist deep through the roof of the building supporting them. Then, the jutsu stopped, leaving them trapped at the waist in the concrete of the building. Naruto made to move towards the Bunshin, but was nowhere near fast enough as Jiraiya walked up behind the entrapped Bunshin; and casually threw a trio of kunai, implanting then in the ground around his Bunshin. It took Naruto longer than it should have to figure out why Jiraiya had jumped from the roof with the Bunshins on.
The kunai had explosive notes on them. Naruto skidded to a halt as they detonated, and his minds flooded with the memories of his Bunshin. The blonde made to move to where his clones had been, only to be stopped by a voice from behind.
"I waited until you had made it into an area of the village that is waiting to be developed, so the explosive notes couldn't have harmed anyone."
"But I-, I-" Naruto began, shaken by the fact that he had failed to protect what could have been Konoha ninja, if this was a real life situation.
"Don't worry about it for now. We are gonna go to our training area and debrief, figure out what went wrong for you, and how you could have done things differently. You are only a fresh Genin, Naruto. I'm not expecting you to pull every thing off perfectly at the moment. This is a learning exercise, so we can make sure that this doesn't happen in the field." Naruto felt his Sensei's s hand on his shoulder and nodded.
"But first, we're gonna have to go back to the shops. I blew up that man's groceries..."
***
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