3rd Person POV
One collective thought that the Genin had at the moment was that Naruto was a slave driver.
The training they had to endure for the past week was INSANE!
Naruto was not joking with the routine he had informed them of. He had done exactly what he had said the would. At the end of everyday, the Genin would return to Tazuna's home with scratches, bruises and some broken bones, only to have Naruto heal them to repeat the process the next day. Of course, they could not deny the results. Sakura felt her endurance increase as the days passed by, Sasuke's aim was increasing as each day passed by, and Menma felt his mind sharpen when encountering difficult scenarios.
The Genin were now, at the very least, high Genin level, low Chuunin at best.
Today, however, they were surprised by what Naruto was giving them.
"What is this, sensei?" Sakura asked as she eyed the piece of paper that had been handed to her, just as Menma and Sasuke.
"This, Sakura, is chakra conducting paper. This paper is used to learn what your natural affinities are." Naruto asked as he stood next to Kakashi, who was reading his little orange book, much to Naruto's chagrin.
"How will this help us learn what our nature is, Naruto-sensei?" this time, Sasuke asked.
"The beauty of this paper, is that, since it was grown with chakra, it is sensitive to the properties of your chakra. Let me give you a demonstration." with that, Naruto grabbed a paper and held it between his fingers.
"What you have to do is make some of your chakra flow through the paper, and it will automatically react to it." as he said that, Naruto's paper was sliced into three pieces, one catching up on fire, the other becoming wet, and the last crinkling, causing everyone's eyes, including Naruto's, to widen.
Last time Naruto checked, he had fire and wind as his main affinities, with water being his weakest. Lighting had not even been a result before.
"N-Naruto-kun, didn't you only have fire, wind and water as your affinities?" Kakashi asked, putting his book away to inspect Naruto's paper.
"It was... I don't know what could've triggered the lighting affinity this late into my development..." Naruto said with an analyzing look in his face.
"So, was that not supposed to happen, nii-san?" Menma asked.
"Menma, it's Naruto-sensei when we're on duty. As for your question, I'm not one hundred percent sure... there is still much to learn about chakra. So much that situations like this are impossible to categorize as impossible or just extremely rare... Now, with that out of the way, it is now your turn to do it." Naruto looked straight at them.
"Sakura, let's start with you." Naruto turned his attention to Sakura, who, all of sudden, felt very nervous.
"O-okay. Just make my chakra flow through the paper, right?" Sakura restated as she held the paper between her hands, focusing her chakra through them, until she felt the feeling of the paper change.
As she opened her hands, where the paper once was, now was a broken piece of earth.
"So your affinity is earth, huh? I was almost sure your affinity was going to be water, but it seems I was wrong. Very well, Sakura, well done. Earth is the most defensive affinity, so we will be training you on it. Lucky for you, Kaka-nii here has earth as one of his affinities." Naruto stated as Kakashi nodded next to him.
"Now, Sasuke, your turn." Naruto said as Sasuke responded with a "hai!"
Placing the paper between his hands, Sasuke made some of his chakra flow into it.
Feeling some warmth in his hands, Sasuke opened his hands to see a wrinkled piece of paper burning.
"Hmmm. I knew you were going to have fire as your affinity, but I am surprised that you also have lightning as one. Now, since it seems that lighting is your strongest affinity since it presented itself first, you will be training sometimes with Kaka-nii, whose second affinity is lighting, and when you have some proficiency with it, you will switch to me to begin your training in your fire affinity, since it is my second strongest affinity." Naruto concluded as Sasuke looked proud of himself.
"And last but not least, Menma." Naruto said as Menma looked excited to try.
Menma placed the paper between his hands and made his chakra flow through the paper like his teammates.
After a few seconds, Menma opened his hands to see his paper was shredded to pieces.
"It seems that your affinity is wind, Menma. And a strong one at that." Naruto stated as Menma looked a little crestfallen at only having one affinity as compared to Sasuke.
"And stop that train of thought. That Sasuke has two affinities means that he will have to work twice as hard to master either of them. You, on the other hand, will have the chance to hone your affinity to its fullest extend. Also, that your affinity is wind, doesn't mean that you cannot use other affinities." Naruto said, causing the Genin's attention to shift to him.
"What do you mean, sensei? Does that mean that Menma and I can use other elements?" Sakura asked in curiosity.
"Yes, however, it will be much more difficult to use them than someone who has that element as their affinity. Take Sandaime-sama as an example." Naruto began, making sure the Genin's attention was on him.
"Sandaime-sama's affinity was fire but he was able to use every affinity after decades of training." Naruto said, causing the Genin's eyes to widen at the information.
"However, before you even attempt to use jutsu from another element other than your affinity, you need to get proficient with using your main element." Naruto said as he unsealed some scrolls from a seal on his wrist.
"Catch." with that, Naruto threw one scroll to each of his students.
"What I just gave you are some jutsu that are tied to your affinity. Those scroll will only open when you learn how to channel your affinity through your chakra." the Genin looked interestedly at Naruto.
"Each of you will grab a leaf from any of the trees around us and follow one of my clones." at this, Naruto summoned three clones. "Sakura. For your leaf, you will need to remove all moisture from it until it becomes dust in your hands. Sasuke, for you, you will need to ignite your leaf in its entirety. Not from one end to another, but evenly. As for you, Menma, you will need to be extremely careful with you training, as you will be dealing with wind: the most volatile element to deal with. You will need to cut your leaf in half. Now, go. Kaka-nii and I will also be training as you go through yours." with a "hai", the Genin left with their respective clone.
"Anything specific you want to work on today, Kaka-nii?" Naruto asked, directing his attention to Kakashi, who seemed to be pondering on something.
"Actually, Naruto-kun, there is something I want to teach you..." Kakashi began as he looked at Naruto.
"What is it?"
"What I want to teach you, Naruto-kun, is..."
*with Tazuna*
"Tazuna, can I have a word with you?" one of the workers asked as he looked at Tazuna sadly, something the Naruto clone took notice of.
"What is it, Kazuto?" Tazuna asked as he wiped the sweat from his forehead with his towel.
"Sorry, Tazuna, but I won't be working on the bridge anymore." Kazuto said as he lowered his sight from Tazuna who looked at him in shock.
"W-what? What brought this on, Kazuto?! We have to keep working on this bridge to free us all!" Tazuna exclaimed.
"I'm sorry! Listen, Tazuna... Gato's thugs have been lurking around town lately, saying that they will kill anyone working on the bridge. I can't risk the safety of my wife and kids... I really am sorry, Tazuna, but their safety is my priority..." Kazuto said as turned to leave.
"Coward."
The word resounded throughout the bridge, bringing its construction to a halt.
"What did you say?" Kazuto turned to look at the source: Naruto.
"You're a coward." Naruto restated as he looked straight at Kazuto.
"What do you know, brat! You have no idea what has been happening here!" Kazuto screamed with rage.
"I might now know the full extent of what has happened here. But I do know that Tazuna-san here is risking his life to help this country flourish once more, and here you are, spitting on his hard work to save everyone, your family included." Naruto said with a cold tone, making Kazuto flinch and take a step back.
"People like you disgust me the most. Do you think your family's safety will be assured if everyone here stops working on this bridge? Don't be a fool!" Naruto's eyes began to glow an electric blue.
"Halting the construction of the bridge will be what Gato wants. He will have full reign to do as he pleases. What will stop him from setting his eyes on your wife or your kids?" Naruto spoke with authority, making the grown man's knees shake in fear.
"The only way to assure the safety of your family is to complete this bridge and to get rid of Gato. Only half of which is your responsibility. Are you willing to do what is needed?" Naruto asked, his tone even.
"I-I... y-you're right... I'm sorry Tazuna... I'm so sorry!" the man dropped to his knees.
"Don't apologize, Kazuto... I know how stressing this is. But this bridge will solve everything. And it is thanks to these shinobi that we will be able to succeed. If you're willing to do you're half, they will handle the other, right? Naruto-san?" Tazuna asked as he turned to Naruto.
"You got that right. Now, so you see I'm not all talk... Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" with that, a sea of Naruto's puffed into existence, causing everyone's eyes to widen.
"Assign tasks to these clones, Tazuna-san. They're solid and can lift heavy material. We'll assist with he construction." Naruto said with a smile which was mirrored by Tazuna.
"Thank you, Naruto-san!" Tazuna exclaimed as he bowed, causing a chain reaction when everyone else bowed as well.
"We'll liberate Nami together!" with this, everyone began to work with renewed vigor.
'A leader indeed.' Tazuna thought before turning to assign tasks to the clones.
*later that evening*
"Haaaaaaaahhhhhh... that was tiresome..." Menma complained as he was sprawled on the floor of Tazuna's living room.
"I agree..." Sasuke mumbled from his spot on the floor, with Sakura nodding in the same condition as his teammates.
"Hey, silver lining, you all did much better than what I was expecting." Naruto said from his spot on the table while sipping on a cup of coffee along with Kakashi, courtesy of Tsunami. Tazuna had opted for drinking sake as usual.
"Gee, thanks nii-san..." Menma mumbled as he turned, noticing Inari glaring at them.
"Why?" was all the boy said.
"Why what, brat?" Menma asked.
"Why do you try so hard?!" Inari yelled, causing Tsunami to scold him.
"Inari!"
"What, kaa-san!? Everyone who has tried to stand up to Gato end up dead! Why would this time be any different!?" Inari defied Tsunami, who was growing tired of her son's attitude.
"We try hard because it's better than lying around feeling sorry for yourself." surprisingly, the words came from Sasuke.
"You know nothing about us! You most probably come from a snotty family that has everything! You know nothing about suffering!" Inari yelled with rage, his face turning red and his voice rasping at the intensity behind it.
"That's enough!" Naruto silenced Inari and anything else anyone was planning on saying.
"Inari." Naruto's voice changed for the second time in the day.
"You have no right to assume what life anyone here has lead. Not when you've been doing nothing but antagonize everyone who has been trying to help in liberating this country." Naruto began with a sharp tone, making Inari feel fear.
"You have suffered, yes. But you're wrong in assuming that any of us came from a 'snotty family that has everything.' Sasuke here, had his entire clan massacred by the person he held most dear to himself. Kaka-nii here found his father dead in his home at a young age. I had to kill from the age of 7 to stay alive. You should never consider yourself as the person who has suffered the most in this world, because there will always be someone who has had it worse that you." with that, Naruto stood and headed to the door.
"Where are you going, Naruto-kun?" Kakashi asked as he followed Naruto with his eyes.
"I'm going to release some steam... Please, do not follow me." with that Naruto opted to flash away, not noticing anyone's eyes widen at the technique.
Inari took this as his cue to escape to his room.
"W-was what Naruto-san said true, Kakashi-san?" Tsunami asked with tears in her eyes.
"*sigh* Actually, Tsunami-san..." Kakashi began, unconsciously planting a seed of relief in everyone's mind.
"He said only the very tip of the iceberg to his story." and that seed was just incinerated.
With that, Kakashi proceeded to tell Naruto's story until now. Well, at least the bits he knew Naruto was okay with sharing... Anything else and he will be risking upsetting Naruto and it would most probably shatter everyone's mind to even try and comprehend everything Naruto has been through.
~with Naruto~
"Damn brat... shaking me up like this." Naruto growled under his breath as he unleashed jutsu after jutsu onto the poor forest.
'Kit... you need to calm down. If you don't, you may very well destroy the entire forest.' Kurama chimed in, knowing the brat had opened up some old wounds in Naruto.
"I know... but I am livid! That brat had no right in running his mouth like that! And I should be more professional than to lose my cool like this!" Naruto kept complaining as he dropped on his knees and began panting.
'I know kit. But you need to calm down... All that progress you had done has now reverted two steps back...' Kurama said with a slight whine in his voice.
"I know... sorry, Kurama... You're right... I'll just lay down and try to relax before I head back..." Naruto mumbled as he took a seat at the foot of one of the trees he had not destroyed, slowly letting sleep take over.
~Tazuna's home~
"As you can see, Naruto has not had the easiest life. However, he does not let anything stop him from improving himself and helping others. He truly is the epitome of the word: resilience." Kakashi ended as he took in the condition of everyone in the room.
Sakura and Tsunami were bawling, Tazuna looked down at his sake with a thoughtful look, Sasuke looked distraught and in thought, and Menma... Menma was the worse of them all. Menma had opted to cover his face by hugging his thighs as he released sobs and subtle screams at the thought of everything his precious older brother had been through.
"H-how? How can he be so calm after dealing with all that?" Tsunami asked as her eyes turned to look directly at Kakashi.
"Because he has many goals in mind, Tsunami-san. He's willing to lay his life on the line if it means saving one life. He smiles because he has many precious people waiting for him at home. Also, if he were to die, his mother would bring him back to kill him herself for dying." Kakashi joked, hoping to relieve some of the tension the conversation had created. It worked.
Tsunami and Sakura released small giggles, Sasuke and Tazuna snorted a little, trying to hide their laugh. The only one still down, was Menma.
Kakashi knew he would need to inform Naruto to speak with Menma... It seemed the information had been too much for him.
"Menma, follow me to the roof." with that, Kakashi shunshined to the roof, followed by Menma who opted to exit the house and jump to the roof.
"What is it, sensei..." Menma said in a sullen tone.
"Stop what you're thinking, now." Kakashi said as he turned to look at Menma.
"Naruto never has allowed anything to bring him down. Feeling sorry for him now will only make him push you away. Do you want that?" Kakashi asked seriously, causing Menma's breath to get caught up in his throat. To think of Naruto ignoring him or pushing him away made Menma panic in fear.
When Menma found out that Naruto was his older brother, Menma was over the moon. He had always wanted a brother to play and train with. To have it all taken away was too much for him.
"He always founds a way to push through, just like he did with everything he has been through. Don't discredit it by feeling sorry for him. He's never liked that from anyone. Use what you now know to be the strongest you can be to protect those who care about you like he does. Do you know he has killed for you as well?" Kakashi asked, making Menma's eyes widen.
"H-he has?" Menma asked.
"He has. Being the Hokage's son, and one of the strongest shinobi in the world paints a giant mark on you. There are those who would not hesitate to kill you just for being Minato-sensei's son. And it did not stop those who knew about it to take your lifeless body to enemy villages. Naruto has stopped over 50 assassination attempts on you since he became a shinobi. And he does not plan to stop. Follow his lead and become strong to protect your loved ones. There is no doubt that at some point, Mito and Natsu will have attempts on their lives for being the Hokage's children. It may happen that you will have to stain your hands even further to protect them, just like Naruto does now. Push past these thoughts, Menma, or they will come back and bite you later." with that, Kakashi went back into the house, leaving Menma to his thoughts.
~next morning~
"Damn it... I'm SORE!" Naruto complained as he headed back to Tazuna's house.
'Well... I warned you and you did not listen. So now, I won't heal you until you learn your lesson.' Kurama scolded Naruto with a satisfied smile, causing Naruto to groan.
"Fine. Besides, it helped to let all of that out. I feel much better..." Naruto pondered on what had transpired last night. He had let a lot of pent up anger and revealed some things that probably opened a new can of worms to torment him with.
"Either way, we now know what Gato is planning next. I need to be as ready as I can be. I am strongly worried about what's coming our way..." Naruto said, worried sick of what was lurking on Gato's hideout.
~Gato's hideout~
"So, you're doing this, for free?" Gato's rough voice sounded unconvinced at the people standing before him.
"That is correct. We have our own agenda to follow. That the people you want to kill are the ones we need is mere coincidence. That alone, however, helps us out on the long run. Leader-sama does not care about what you do with Nami. We just need those from Konoha." The voice standing before Gato spoke.
"Very well. I won't look a gift horse in the mouth. I do, however, expect you to be efficient. At the first sign of failure, I will have you killed by my goons." Gato spoke before falling onto his desk, gasping for air.
"My, my. The pig sure thinks highly of his piglets." Came a second gruff voice.
"Stop. We need him alive, if at least for the benefit of Nami's demise." the first voice spoke, lifting whatever pressure was keeping Gato down.
"Fine. Let's go now. I'm looking forward to this fight." The voice spoke, scaring Gato and his goons at the sharpened teeth before them.
"Very well. You know the rules, however. Don't let loose like usual." The first voice spoke once more as he disappeared in a murder of crows, the last thing Gato and his goons saw, the fluttering of the red clouds on the cloaks.
"A-are you sure this is safe, boss?" one of the goons asked, completely terrified of the people that had just left.
"Shut it! Let's just be thankful that those monsters are on our side." Gato said as he wiped the sweat of his forehead.
"For now, all you, get the army ready. We're taking down that bridge builder tomorrow morning." Gato ordered, receiving a resounding 'hai'
~with Naruto~
"Nii-san! Where were you?! You had me worried sick!" Menma attempted to scold his older twin.
"Tone it down, Menma. You'll wake everyone up. What are you doing up, actually? You usually sleep in." Naruto asked as he took a seat on the table, trying to analyze what his next steps will be for the mission.
"Because I was worried about you, Baka!" Menma scolded again, looking tired and the signs that he had cried quite visible on his face, making Naruto feel guilty.
He knew what Kakashi was going to do. Kakashi was always one to give insight into other people's lives when the need arose. Clearly, he had done just that last night.
"N-nii-san... Kaka-sensei told us somethings last night about-" Menma was cut off by Naruto.
"Don't ask about it, Menma. What happened in my childhood will remain in the past. At the moment, we need to have a team meeting. Wake Sasuke, Sakura, and Kaka-nii up. It's quite urgent." Naruto spoke in his "Kage Voice", stopping whatever Menma was about to say.
"H-hai..." with that, Menma went to gather the team, leaving Naruto to his thoughts. If what his clones had found was true, it could mean the mission was in grave danger.
~once everyone settled~
"Now, I'm sure you all have questions, but that will have to wait. An emergency has come up." Naruto began, making everyone tense.
"What is it, Naruto-kun?" Kakashi asked with worry. Naruto rarely ever deemed anything as 'dangerous', so to hear him say anything about an emergency... it was nerve wracking to say the least.
"Do you remember what I told you after killing Zabuza and the fake hunter nin?" Naruto asked, looking directly into Kakashi's eye.
"You said you would tell me about the spy your Yoko told us about in Hokage-sama's presence. What does that have to do with this?" Kakashi asked.
"Unfortunately, I won't be able to wait until then. All of you, listen up." Naruto spoke, making the genin tense at the tone.
"This mission has officially exceeded the previous rank." Naruto said, making Kakashi's eyes widen.
"B-but sensei, you had said the mission was ranked A already... what could be more-" Sakura began only to be cut off by Kakashi.
"Are you serious, Naruto?" Kakashi asked, dropping the -kun from Naruto's name, scaring the genin at the seriousness in Kakashi's and Naruto's eye and eyes, respectively.
"I am. This mission is officially an S-Rank mission, bordering SS-Rank." Naruto said, making Kakashi's eye widen again.
The genin were very confused.
"W-what's an S-Rank mission, Naruto-sensei?" Sakura asked, feeling quite freaked out at the reactions of their sensei.
"Listen up really well, team. This mission is way too dangerous to go on with you three." Naruto said, making the genin gasp with wide eyes, feeling offended.
"B-but you said you would prepare us for anything that could come our way! What changed?!" Sasuke asked, livid at what Naruto was saying.
"Silence, genin." Naruto spoke. He did not raise his voice or lash out, but the way in which he said it made Sasuke tense in fear.
"H-hai... Sumimasen..." Sasuke apologized, ignoring the look his teammates were sending him.
"Let me paint it to you this way. Do any of you think you'd be able to go head to head with Hokage-sama?" Naruto asked, making the genin look at him as if he were crazy.
"O-of course not, sensei. Hokage-sama is the strongest shinobi in the village. How could we go against him?" Sakura asked, thrown off by the question their sensei asked them.
"Exactly. The shinobi we will be encountering are able to go against any Kage... and be able to give them a difficult fight." Naruto said, making the genin feel internal panic at the thought.
"And it's not only one person. They're two." now the genin were frightened.
"These two missing nin are part of a group called the Akatsuki. The organization is comprised of only S-Rank Missing Nin that were banished from their village for committing the most horrible crimes you could think of. Gato is not playing around anymore. This mission has exceeded you three's abilities by decades." Naruto spoke, planting the full situation in their heads.
"H-how do you know of this, Naruto-kun?" Kakashi asked, feeling nervous for the first time in years.
"Because I have clones scouting the area 24/7, and they reported two individuals matching the clothing of the organization. Who they are, I have no idea. Going forward, we're going to go in blind." Naruto spoke, leaving the genin looking at them as if they were crazy.
"What do you mean we're going forward?! We should escape while we still can!" Sakura snapped under the pressure.
"Sit down, Sakura. You three are officially out of the mission until further notice. Your mission now, is to gather the village to flee however possible. I have requested reinforcements from Konoha, but I do not believe they will be here in time. Furthermore, the bridge could very well be destroyed by those two if they wished to do so. I might not know who they are, but the fact they're part of the Akatsuki proves my fears. So, today, you three will recruit the village and try and leave as fast as possible. I will have clones create boats throughout the day so you all may reach land before the fighting begins. Immediately, take them to Konoha. You three will be taking on the roll that Chuunin usually take, so I expect you to be responsible and mature with this, is that understood? Menma? Sasuke? Sakura?" Naruto asked, looking into the Genin's eyes, seeing them deep in thought, until all three pairs of eyes snapped to look at Naruto.
"HAI!" was their resounding response.
"Very well. Team 7! This mission I have assigned you is a B-Rank mission. Make me proud." Naruto ended with a smile, which was mirrored by everyone else.
"Also, I almost forgot." Naruto said as he bit his finger, making the genin look at him in confusion.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" with that, sealing runes, followed by a smokescreen blinded the room for a moment.
"Ahh, Naruto-sama. It has been a while." came a deep voice from within the cloud of smoke that the genin could not see.
"It certainly has been, Katsu." Naruto responded as the smoke began to clear, revealing a three tailed Yoko and 5 small kits looking around in alert.
"This, team, is the Blast Squad of the Yoko Clan. They're specialized in fire jutsu and explosions and tend to have... explosive reactions when angered, so be careful. The leader is Katsu, the white Yoko, Hikari is the white Yoko, and Kuro is the black Yoko. The kits are their apprentices." Naruto introduced the Yoko to the team.
"They will be assisting in protecting the villagers while you move them to safety. Your priority will be to move fast and ensure no one is left behind and to serve as a last barrier in case anything or anyone gets through the Blast Squad. Is that understood?" Naruto asked, receiving a 'hai' from the genin and a nod from the Yoko.
"Tomorrow will be a long day for us, Kaka-nii..." Naruto said as Kakashi could only nod in thought.