Soul of the Seal: The Ninja Chronicles

SOTS-1-02-01

Soul of the Seal: The Ninja Adventures by MrDust

 Anime » Naruto Rated: T, English, Adventure & Friendship, Naruto U., Kyuubi/Kurama, Words: 221k+, Favs: 1k+, Follows: 1k+, Published: Feb 23, 2008 Updated: Dec 27, 2009

Chapter 8: SOTS,1,02,01

(AN: For disclaimer, see my profile.)

SOTS-1-02-01

Soul of the Seal - Story 1 - Arc 2 - Chapter 1

Arc 2 - "Everybody Stand And Do The Wave!"

Chapter 1 - "The First Step Into Darker Waters"

It had been a rather difficult and strange couple of months for squad seven.

It was difficult, almost solely due to the very chaotic and stressed way that the team had started out in the first place. Things had started out tense, and had remained so. Conversation was always a bit awkward. It might have seemed to an outside observer, that Sasuke was either sulking (in his emoistic fashion), or he was in denial about something. He said as little as possible to Naruto or Sakura, usually only about specific instructions given by Kakashi concerning training or missions, or something along those lines.

Sakura didn't like the fact that Sasuke seemed to be actively avoiding her as much as he was Naruto. She was genuinely trying not to snap at Naruto over every little thing, trying to always keep in mind that he was the reason she was a genin. But she was a little confused that Naruto didn't seem to show the same level of ability that he had during their genin exam, nor did he ever discuss the training or studying he did on his own when not with the team. If anything, he seemed a bit slower than normal, as if something were weighing him down, even when he wasn't wearing that boulder he called a backpack. She tried to ask him about it once or twice, but Naruto just said that when they were on duty as a team, they should all stick to what Kakashi covered, so as to minimize confusion or criss-crossing of instructions. It was a argument that made some sense, but Sakura still didn't like the feeling that Naruto was hiding something important, that she felt he should have been willing to share with the 'team'.

Naruto was getting more and more frustrated as time went on. He had thought that being an active duty ninja now meant that his training would become more efficient and intense. He thought that they would be spending days on end doing heavy sparring and tactical studying. But it was turning out to be the opposite. The team would waste precious hours waiting for their habitually late sensei, only to barely get any work done. Their sparring was often short and light that Naruto never broke a sweat, if you could even call it sparring, as they never faced each other. They would only take turns against a disinterested Kakashi who would always call it off before it got serious, or against training dummies that offered no useful feedback information as a live opponent would. These so-called 'team training' sessions would take up about half the day, or more, if you counted the time it took for Kakashi to slowly walk his team from place to place.

What made these weeks strange, however, was, for Naruto at least, due to the fact that he kept feeling like Kakashi was always staring at him with a strange look. But this was a little hard to confirm, of course, since only barely one quarter of the jounin's face was visible. Whatever it was, it made Naruto nervous at times, and made him unwilling to do any of his own personal training in front of the others, for reasons he couldn't understand. But Kyaena agreed that it was best, as long as Naruto was stuck with such an unfavorable group, to follow the ninth ninja principle: The most dangerous opponent is the one you know the least about. Kyaena reasoned, that if something bad did happen between Naruto and his 'team', the less they knew about his true level of skill, the better.

If all this wasn't frustrating enough, the D-rank 'missions' that the team were sent on, could not possibly be called missions, in Naruto, Kyaena, and surprisingly, Sasuke's, opinions. If Sakura had any thoughts, she kept them to herself. The 'missions' were more like 'errands'. So instead of wasted time with half-effort training days, they were wasting time weeding lawns, walking dogs, and other mundane things that ordinary people should have been more than capable of handling themselves, rather than bothering ninja.

Because of everything, Naruto was getting so angry that he was losing so much training time, that he was trying to push himself harder in what personal time was left him. Kyaena was worried about his attitude, despite understanding it, and had to constantly reign him in from doing things that would be too damaging to his body. No matter how resilient her energy made him, even she knew that being overly reckless would be pointless if he were knocked out for days due to the strain he was trying to place on himself. Then there was the matter of his studies, which were also limited, so much that Naruto wasn't even getting half of what he wanted done completed. Despite his frequent trips to the academy archives, his chakra training and jutsu studies were going far too slowly in Naruto's opinion.

With Naruto's patience wearing thinner and thinner, the D-rank missions they went on only became even more annoying, with more and more arguments occurring between Naruto and Sakura, and the rare derogatory quip from Sasuke. It didn't help that Kakashi forbade Naruto from using his shadow clones to try to get the 'missions' done quicker.

The latest 'mission' squad seven had completed, and in fact had completed three times previously already, involved a psychologically disturbed feline that didn't seem to know that domestic pets were supposed to be de-clawed. Such ignorance demonstrated when the freak of fur repeatedly managed to scratch up Naruto's face, despite his efforts to keep it away from his exposed skin.

The group were walking into the mission wing of the Hokage tower, Kakashi in front carrying the pet container that held the pissy pussy, and the three genin trailing behind.

'You know, I've never had a problem with animals before. I've always been careful not to provoke or threaten them, so they wouldn't have any reason to get nasty on me. I don't recall ever doing anything to that cat before the first time we had to catch it. And besides, it's a domesticated cat. Shouldn't that mean that it's more tame than wild cats?' Naruto thought as he listened to the frantic mewls of the caged beast... The cat, not Kyaena.

"Normally, I'd say yes, but there is something very disturbing about that... thing." Kyaena growled with an eye twitch. "I'm beginning to doubt that it really is a cat."

'But you said before that there isn't any demonic energy present. What else could it be?' Naruto wondered as Kyaena gave a snuff of aggravated thought.

A few steps to his right, Sakura was trying not to get caught as she kept glancing at Naruto.

'I wish Naruto would be willing to talk about it.' She thought. 'I saw that... cat, scratch Naruto's face to near ribbons not even an hour ago, and he's already completely healed! No marks or scars, just his normal whisker tattoos. Any ninja would consider that kind of ability to be invaluable, yet he acts as if it's taboo to even mention it!' Sakura tried to keep her face neutral as the team entered the briefing room. 'Since Iruka-sensei won't say anything about it, and mother won't talk about him, maybe I should try to ask Kakashi-sensei about it. After all, he does seem to have some kind of interest in Naruto.' She brought herself to attention as she stood in front of her superiors.

With their backs to the open wall balcony, sitting at a long table, were the Hokage, Iruka, and four clerks/records-keepers. In front of Sarutobi was an exceptionally wealthy-looking, and exceptionally... err... corpulent... woman, who looked up eagerly as Kakashi approached the table.

"Squad seven reporting in, mission: retrieve missing pet 'Tora', successful." Kakashi stated as he held up the carrier, and opened the latch.

The three genin tensed at the sudden action, thinking the little devil would bolt at the first opportunity. They knew how fast the fur ball could be, but they didn't count on how fast the woman could be. The cat had barely begun to jump out when the lady snatched it up into her arms, swinging it around, squeezing it like a plushy.

"Oh my sweet kitty-kitty! I was so worried about you, my precious little baby! I didn't know what I'd do without you!" The lady squealed as she swung the wailing cat around and around, squeezing and nuzzling it.

"Jeez, being treated like that, it's no wonder it keeps running away." Sakura whispered. She blinked when she heard from her left...

"Squeeze it tighter, squeeze it tighter, squeeze it tighter, squeeze it tighter..." Naruto was muttering. Considering what the cat had put him through for the fourth time, Sakura didn't blame him in the least.

The lady walked over to one of the clerks to pay for the completed mission as Sarutobi pulled open a scroll in front of him, and compared it to a sheet paper with notes.

"Alright then. For the next assignment for squad seven..." Sarutobi muttered in a somewhat bored tone as he puffed on his pipe with his free hand. "Hmm. There are several available tasks. An errand to a neighboring town to baby-sit the chief councilor's three year old, helping his wife do shopping, or there's the matter of digging up a crop of potatoes-"

"NO! FORGET IT! I REFUSE TO DO THIS ANYMORE!" Naruto shouted out, startling everyone in the room. Out in the hall, a loud yowl preceded the yelling of the rich lady calling out to her cat that had escaped... again.

'Oh dear. I had a feeling he was going to snap sometime soon.' Kakashi sighed, bracing himself for the trouble to come.

"This has gotten completely ridiculous!" Naruto continued. "If this is all your going to throw at us, I'm going to pass! I've got more important things that I could be doing than wasting time with this stupid crap!" Naruto crossed his arms in front of himself in defiance.

'What? What could he possibly have to do that's so important?' Sasuke wondered in sarcastic annoyance.

'Oh man, Naruto's going to get us in trouble!' Sakura tensed, then blinked. 'But then again, knowing Hokage-sama personally has got to be something in his favor. I still don't know how that happened.' She wondered quickly.

"NARUTO!" Iruka jumped up as he slapped his hands down on the table. "Don't be stupid! You're only a beginner! Everyone starts out doing grunt work! It's where you get experience so you can work your way up to the bigger things!"

"Experience!? What experience!?" Naruto shot back. "We've completed roughly fifty 'missions', and NONE of them have had anything to do with being a ninja!"

"Naruto, I think you-" Kakashi cleared his throat.

"Every mission is important to the village!" Iruka yelled over Kakashi, ignoring him. "You need to calm down and remember what your duty is!"

"My... WHAT!?" Naruto was twitching badly, his eye, his mouth, his hands.

"Naruto, I think you need an explanation about what exactly these duties are-" Sarutobi started to say, but Naruto cut him off.

"You can save your breath, Old-Man!" Naruto huffed. "I know all about the rankings, and the categories, and even the economic reasons!" Naruto rolled his eyes as he waved his hand in a rolling motion. "It's not like I'm asking you to send us on an assassination mission or anything! If you don't want to give use anything more dangerous, fine! Then don't! But stop wasting our time with these things!" Naruto managed to let out a tense breath. "Look, I thought when I became a genin, that it meant that I would be doing serious training to better my ninja skills. But since graduating, my training time has been reduced down to barely even a third of what it was before! What training our squad does manage to get in is hardly enough, and these ridiculous chores you have us do eats up nearly all my remaining free time!"

"But Naruto, these missions are important experience-" Iruka tried to say.

"If that's true, if they're really that great and productive, why don't you have academy cadets doing them? I have yet to see anything in these D-ranks that Konohamaru-kun couldn't do!" Naruto glared. "There's nothing dangerous or challenging about them, so why not give them a head start? Make it hands-on credit for the cadets! Heck, even my shadow clones could do these D-rank missions! Or rather, they could," Naruto shot a look at Kakashi who was innocently studying the ceiling rafters, "If I was allowed to use them, that is." He was angry at each time he tried to sneak his clones in on the work, Kakashi would appear and dispel them.

"Like you said, if they're so easy, why waste the chakra?" Kakashi shrugged.

"Because it's no waste for me. It doesn't even put a dent in my reserves." Naruto huffed at the cyclops before turning back to the Hokage. "How can you ever expect us to be serious ninja if you're not going to allow us to be serious about it?" He pointed out.

'He kinda has a point.' Sakura agreed to herself as she shifted in her sandals.

'I'm probably going to get a earful for this later...' Kakashi thought miserably as he scratched at the back of his neck.

'... He's just trying to show off...' Sasuke kept himself neutral and unresponsive. 'Not to mention he's a big fat liar, claiming that he can use an A-rank jutsu without getting exhausted.' He thought angrily. He had done some discrete investigation and inquiries after the bell test, and to say that he had been pissed when he found out that the Shadow Clone Jutsu was an A-rank, and a forbidden one at that, would be a surprisingly accurate statement. For reasons better left unsaid. And he was still trying to find a way to bring it up the matter to Kakashi without sounding like he did back during the bell test, since that hadn't gotten him anywhere.

Iruka and Sarutobi had shared a glance as they considered the situation.

'I was hoping that after becoming a genin, that Naruto would be able to calm down a little.' Sarutobi pondered. 'Since he saw becoming an active genin as a hurdle towards earning the villager's respect, I thought that now he had achieved that goal, he would ease off a bit until he had planned out his next goal. So either he already did so, and has decided it's an even bigger challenge, which I admit it would have to be... Or...' Sarutobi couldn't help but smirk, 'Or he's just being a normal twelve year old boy who is really stubborn, frustrated and annoyed.' He chuckled. 'In a way, it's nice to know that he's still a kid, despite having been forced to grow up faster than the others his age.'

Next to him, Iruka had his own thought.

'I'm getting a little sick of Naruto's angry rants always making so much damn sense.' The scarred chunin tried to suppress an eye twitch, even though he was grinning slightly as well.

"Well then, I suppose I could be persuaded to arrange something a little more relevant for you..." Sarutobi began, noting the surprised looks on all four of the members of squad seven, "That is, IF Kakashi believes you're ready to take on a C-rank." He looked at the jounin.

"Wh-what? You can? It is? If what?" Naruto blinked in total surprise as he, along with his equally stunned teammates, looked at Kakashi.

The squad sensei tried not to squirm under their combined stares, but gave it some real thought.

'It doesn't seem like Naruto was expecting this, so if I refuse, he probably won't cause too much trouble... Though I'd have to step up their training schedule, considering he brought it up in front of Hokage-sama that he doesn't feel challenged enough.' Kakashi rubbed his chin as he looked down at his three students. 'But then again, a C-rank isn't THAT dangerous. Part of the requirements state that there is no expectation of ninja confrontation.' Kakashi looked at the Hokage. "What type of mission would it be?" He asked.

"An escort mission. Security for a traveler heading to Wave Country." Sarutobi replied, to which Kakashi nodded in understanding, and the three genin perked up at the information.

Well, Sakura and Sasuke perked up, but Naruto went eerily still... Not that anyone noticed.

'So, most likely a quick jog out east, then right back.' Kakashi continued to deliberate. 'A person who's probably just nervous about bandits out in the areas of land between villages. That shouldn't be too bad.' The jounin took another glance at his students. 'And besides, if we run across bandits that Naruto and Sasuke can't take down with ease, well, then they really would deserve to go back to the academy.' Kakashi chuckled slightly to himself at the thought before turning an eye-smile to Sarutobi. "Alright. I think they can handle a little excitement. We'll take it."

"We will?" Naruto asked in slight disbelief. After a moment to register what was happening, he turned to look at Sarutobi himself. "Ok then... Who is it we're going to be escorting? A merchant noble? A celebrity, or maybe a famous actress?" Naruto asked with his spirits on the rise.

"Naru-kun, I'm sure a famous celebrity would pay for more than just inexperienced genin for security." Kyaena shook her head in slight exasperation. "And besides, you're already a better actor than most humans I could name." She smirked a fanged smirk, but was slightly concerned on the inside. 'This will be the first time he leaves the village... If only it was permanent...' She sighed, but then paused as what had been said a minute ago finally registered in her brain. 'Wait a minute... Wave Country? But... th-that's on the c-coast... coast... of... the o-ocean...' She went wide-eyed and ridged.

"Don't be so melodramatic, Naruto." Sarutobi chuckled at the boy's enthusiasm. "Alright. Then you can send in the client." He pointed behind the group, who turned to look at the door to the room.

The door slid open, and a somewhat ragged-looking old man with glasses and a backpack staggered in to brace himself in the door frame.

"What the-? It's just a bunch of snot-nosed brats!" The man mumbled with a fair amount of annoyance in his voice as he brought up a bottle he was holding to take several long chugs on it.

'Ok... He's a little off of what I might have expected.' Naruto pursed his lips a bit in reserved thought.

'Oh no, this guy's a drinker?' Sakura thought with displeasure as her shoulders slumped. 'This is a bad sign to start out on.'

'... If he wasn't at least somewhat important, he wouldn't be hiring ninja.' Sasuke thought without any reaction. 'And he's my first 'real' client. I'll need to pay attention on this mission, just in case something happens.' He lifted his head up slightly in anticipation of some serious work for a change.

"And you, the midget blonde in the disgusting orange suit," The old man continued after lowering his bottle again, "You really expect me to believe you're a ninja?" The man, obviously somewhat drunk, raised his bottle again, seemingly oblivious to the visual evidence of the Hitai-ate on Naruto's head. And the kunai and shuriken holsters on each leg. And the two ninkits on the back of his belts. And the sturdy backpack. Well, you know what they say, the eyes are the first to go.

'A midget, am I?' Naruto's eye twitched as Kyaena sniggled at the comment, which was one of her own favorite topics to tease Naruto about.

Whoosh-thunk-CRASH

"AHH!" The man gave a yell as a shuriken hit the doorframe not even a scant inch to the right of his ear, and his bottle shattered, dumping the remaining liquid over him as he quickly stepped away from the now broken glass. He froze when the small bit of rope that had been tied around his head like a cheap headband dropped over his nose.

"Naruto! You're not supposed to attack the man you're supposed to protect!" Kakashi scolded, but refrained from doing anything unseemly. After all, he was a jounin. An elite. Not some short tempered genin like Naruto. He had an image to maintain.

"I wasn't attacking him!" Naruto gave a huge foxy grin. "He would be dead if I had. I was just giving him a demonstration of the skills he was paying for!" He chuckled.

Sarutobi tried to hide behind his hat as Iruka thumped his head on the table a few times.

"Uhh... Th-thats... (ahem), that's alright." The man stuttered as he reached up to check himself, pulling two or three cut hairs from around his ear. But no blood. He pocketed the piece of rope as he adjusted his glasses a bit. "Well, my name is Tazuna and I'm a master bridge builder. You will be escorting me back to my home in the Land of Waves where I'm building my next bridge." Tazuna paused, then straightened up, completely serious, despite still being slightly wet from his drink. "No, that's not quite accurate. It's not just my next bridge, it's the most important bridge I've ever built. I have to get back safely to complete it, and you will protect me to do so, even if it costs you your lives!" He glared down at the youths.

Naturally, the three had their opinions.

'Wait a minute... Something about that statement sounded wrong...' Naruto frowned slightly to himself.

'So this really is going to be a real mission. Finally.' Sasuke almost smirked. Almost.

'I CAN'T BELIEVE NARUTO ATTACKED HIM! He is in SO much trouble!' Sakura and inner Sakura screamed out with a vicious eye-tick as she glared at the preoccupied blonde.

"Well then." Kakashi shrugged as he scratched at the back of his neck. It had become a nervous habit ever since the itching powder incident. "We'll meet you at the east gate in an hour."

"Make it two hours. And don't be late." Tazuna huffed as he turned to leave. Everyone looked at Kakashi, who sweat-dropped.

"Wait a minute, you seem to be in a hurry, yet you ask for two hours?" Sakura asked in confusion.

Tazuna paused and shot Naruto a glare.

"I need to wash." He picked at his shirt, then left the room to go find a place to wash up.

"Way to go, idiot!" Sakura snapped at Naruto, who just blinked at her. "That's not the kind of first impression you're supposed to give to a client!" She hissed.

"Well excuse me if I think it's inappropriate for the guy were supposed to be guarding to be drunk!" Naruto shot back. "If he's really so concerned for his own safety, then why jeopardize it by impairing his senses, and making it harder for us to guard him?" He jerked a thumb over his shoulder in the direction Tazuna had gone.

Sakura opened her mouth, but then shut it again. She got red-faces with anger as she fought to keep from fighting in front of the Hokage.

"Narutooooo..." She hissed outwardly. 'Why would him being right get me mad? This is SO frustrating!' She fumed inwardly. 'I've been trying to be nice to him, yet it seems everything he says or does sets me off!' She caught herself from tapping her foot.

"Alright, that's enough for now." Kakashi waved them down. "So, get going and pack for a trip that might last two weeks or longer. Make sure you bring enough supplies and weapons." The jounin looked at Naruto's gear-laden body. "Err... And as for you Naruto... Just make sure you bring enough food."

"No problem! This will be the perfect chance to test the ramen-flavored rations I got!" Naruto grinned, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

"Ramen flavored... Who in the world would want to make rations that taste like-" Sakura paused when she saw Naruto smirk in a direction past her. She turned to see Kakashi and Sasuke staring over at Sarutobi who seemed to be extraordinarily interested in cleaning his pipe. Her eye twitched. "Iruka-sensei, could you talk some sense..." She trailed off when she noticed Iruka fidgeting and studying the ceiling. "You've got to be kidding me..." She growled as her balled fists shook at her sides.

"If you don't want to try it, that's fine. More for me!" Naruto chuckled, giving a thumbs-up to the two men that had helped him with the edible experiment.

"Yes, fine, shouldn't you be going already?" Sarutobi mumbled behind his hat.

"We have other teams and ninja to give assignments, you know." Iruka pointed out while seeming to be fascinated with his pen.

"Yes, yes, that's fine. OK you three, out! Out, out!" Kakashi shooed his students out of the room and into the hallway, walking past other ninja that were waiting to go in to report to the Hokage. Once he had them out of the foot traffic, he paused them. "Ok, you know what to do. Go home, pack, east gate, two hours. And before you even say anything Sakura," He held up a stopping hand, "You don't have to worry. I'll be on time. Later!" Kakashi seemed to simply vanish in a blur.

The three genin stood blinking at the empty spot where their sensei had been only a second before, until Naruto gave a slight cough.

"I've got a hundred that says he'll still be late, even if it's only by a few minutes instead of a few hours." The blonde offered casually.

"I'm in. He's a moron when on our personal schedule, but this is a serious matter. I say he'll be exactly on time." Sasuke shrugged.

"What? You two can't be serious!" Sakura gaped at the two boys who just stared at her. After a moment, she turned slightly red. "Fine. I say he's at least an hour late." She mumbled under her breath.

The three split up to go to their own ways, and Naruto raced back to his apartment, where he quickly went down into his building's lower level, that is, the sealed-off ground floor warehouse, to reorganize his supplies.

He had his various packs laid out on a large table. His backpack, ninkits, kunai and shuriken holsters. All around him, on other tables, on racks, on the walls, on racks on the walls, in packed crates and boxes, were weapons and tools and ninja equipment of every variety that Naruto had managed to get his hands on in the past six or so years. And it was quite a collection. But interestingly enough, a great deal of it, that is, the shuriken and kunai and other basic weapons, he didn't even have to buy them. All he did was spend the nights of the week going to different training zones, collecting all the equipment that others lost, or left behind. It really was astonishing how careless, in both senses of the word, that other ninja could be. The things he had to get himself were things like explosive notes, or smelling salts. The kinds of things that you couldn't get second-hand, since to use them... well, would use them. You get the idea.

Naruto was quickly trying to figure out how to best fit his selected gear back into his backpack around the two compact boxes of food rations he had added. He had to make sure everything was packed in order of priority. That is, when he was wearing it, battle related items had to be the easiest to reach, with other items buried deeper in the pack that he could bother to take the time to dig out when not fighting for his life. So they could be placed dead center in the pack, where they would be hardest to reach. The problem was how to make everything else fit around them. Since each ration was supposed to give you the nutrition to last you three days, the twenty he had packed would last him two months, in theory.

'But then, if this lasts more than two months, then there's probably something wrong.' Naruto chuckled. 'I'm finding this a little hard to believe. I was definitely not expecting the Old-Man to give us a C-rank yet.' He shrugged to himself

"Well, ah, Naru-kun," Kyaena cleared her throat cautiously, "There's nothing saying you HAVE to accept the mission. You could always wait if you don't feel you're ready." She offered innocently. A little too innocently.

'I didn't say I don't feel ready, I just said I wasn't expecting it. Besides, it was Kakashi-s-sensei,' Naruto's mouth twitched at his still hesitancy to address the cyclops in such a manner, 'It was his decision that the team take the mission, and it's already done with, so I can't really back out now. Besides,' Naruto grimaced slightly, 'There's no way I would give Duck-Butt any opportunity to call me a coward if I tried.'

"Understandable." Kyaena growled briefly, then flicked at her ear with a tail. "But still, you don't want to be reckless. That man Tazuna hardly seems like someone you should risk your life over."

Naruto paused in his packing to frown.

'Yeah, and that statement still seems wrong for some reason.' He wondered as he put a pack of explosive tags into one of his ninkits.

"And the Land of Waves has terrible weather this time of year, I hear." Kyaena continued in a strange manner as if she hadn't heard Naruto. "It's humid and muggy, with lots of fog that just gets in the way of everything."

'It's an island country almost completely surrounded by ocean. Of course it's going to be a bit moist, no matter what time of year it is.' Naruto commented as he was strapping his shuriken holsters onto his legs.

"Y-yeah. The... o-ocean." Kyaena gulped. "Say, Naru-kun, you're still going to have a little time before heading out. Why don't you practice your water walking while you wait?" She suggested, though her voice seemed a little higher than normal.

Naruto stopped with his kunai holsters in hand with a totally confused look on his face.

'My water walking!? Kya-chan, I mastered that years ago! It's so automatic for me now that I can't fall in water unless I consciously choose to!' Naruto stated with a bit of irritation. 'What's with you? You're always saying that I'm tough enough to take on more stuff than most others, yet as soon as something a little tougher does come up, you start lead-footing, almost as if...' Naruto trailed off as his eyes widened. Kyaena whined as she cringed back in her admittedly comfortable confinement. 'You're... afraid?' Naruto was struggling to breath through his shock. 'B-but, your NEVER afraid! Of ANYTHING!'

"EXCEPT THE OCEAN!" Kyaena screamed out with a sob.

Naruto dropped his kunai as he fell back onto his butt.

'No, no, no, no, no! This can't be happening! You're never afraid! Because there's nothing that can hurt you! Your a force of nature!' Naruto's jaw was hanging open, and his eyes were bulging out.

"Remember the lesson: 'The only thing that can match a force of nature is...?'" Kyaena prompted as she pawed at a tail in embarrassment..

'Another force of nature.' Naruto responded automatically, before catching himself. 'Wait, what? How does that apply!? How can you sit there and tell me, after all the times you've had me go fishing, or swimming, let alone the waterfalls in my chakra control training, you're telling me you're afraid of water!?' Naruto's mental voice shouted as he jumped back up and furiously strapped on his kunai holsters.

"No, I did NOT say I'm afraid of water, I said I'm afraid of the OCEAN." Kyaena snapped back with indignation. "Rivers, streams, waterfalls, even lakes. Those are easy. No problem. Because they're small, limited. I can see and/or touch the bottoms. I could boil them away, or just step over them. Hell, even I admit that I love a good hot-spring soak now and again. The sulfur does wonders for me." She swallowed a nervous lump. "But the ocean... is different. It's... huge. Effectively limitless. Deep. Cold. Merciless. Deep. Unpredictable. Cold. Filled with things that could eat me as easily as I could eat them. ... ... Did I mention deep and cold?" She fidgeted with her claws a bit.

'Oh come on! You are, for all practical examples, a living volcano with fur! You-' Naruto quickly attached his two ninkits to the back of his weighted belt.

"Even volcanoes drown in the ocean! That's how islands are created, remember!?" Kyaena screeched before burying herself in pillows, with only her muzzle poking out. "The volcano tries to burn, tries to rise up and spread it's fire to the heavens... and the deep, dark water crushes down, smothering the heat... freezing the fire... trapping it in a tomb of rock... killing it." She whimpered.

Naruto paused as he was closing up his backpack.

'... You had to stand by and watch someone drown, didn't you?' Naruto's face fell.

"No... Not exactly. It's just... Demons may be extremely long-lived, we may be tougher than most creatures, we may have powers and magic that humanity lost touch with millennia ago... but we're not immortal, despite what humans think." Kyaena shuddered. "And It's terrifying to face something that reminds me of that fact. The ocean is one of the only things in the world that really could kill me. Please promise that you won't go swimming in the ocean, Naru-kun."

Naruto pulled on his backpack and set about straightening up the loose equipment before he could leave his apartment.

'Absolutely. And you know that there's nothing in this world that can make me break a promise!' He smirked.
___________________

Sakura had gotten back to her house, and was finishing her own backpack packing. Even as she was stuffing an extra change of cloths and her own rations into her pack in the kitchen, her mother happened to come in.

Mebuki Haruno, being a retired special jounin, instantly took notice of Sakura's backpack.

"Sakura, honey? Where are you going? I was going to start lunch in a few minutes." Mebuki stated as she set down the bag of groceries she was holding.

"Sorry mother, but I don't think I have time for it, but I already had a sandwich." Sakura said as she buttoned up her pack. "I'm going to be gone for awhile, on my next mission."

"What mission? Didn't you just have a mission this morning?" Mebuki asked worriedly. "Why do you need that much?" She pointed at the backpack that Sakura pulled onto her shoulders.

"It's a security escort mission to Wave Country." Sakura explained.

"An escort... But that's-" Mebuki's eyes widened.

"Yeah, its a C-rank, and it might last two weeks or more-" Sakura was saying, reaching for a carrot on the counter.

"WHAT!? But you're not ready for a C-rank yet!" Mebuki snapped in blatant disapproval.

Sakura froze wide-eyed for a moment, before drawing up stiffly.

"Well, Kakashi-sensei thinks we're ready." She retorted angrily.

"... Hatake-sempai requested it?" Mebuki asked cautiously after a moment.

"He accepted it when Hokage-sama asked him if he thought we were ready." Sakura corrected.

Mebuki seemed to relax a bit.

"Sorry. I'm just surprised. I guess I haven't been paying attention lately, to not have noticed if you progressed this far already." Mebuki sighed, then chuckled a bit. "Then again, my mother didn't want to see it either." Mebuki's face turned serious. "Just remember though, even though you're 'legally' an adult, you're still going to have some growing up to do in time. Things are going to get harder and harder, and there are going to be very... upsetting matters, eventually." Mebuki said solemnly. "Make sure you listen to Hatake-sempai, and you can always talk to me about anything."

"... Uh, ok." Sakura cleared her throat awkwardly. "But I don't think there's anything to worry about on this. It's just one old man we're going to be escorting. Although," She made a face, "I think he's a drinker. He seemed half-drunk in the mission briefing room... That is, until Naruto sobered him up." She couldn't help but smirk slightly at the thought.

Tension slapped Mebuki like a rock across the skull.

"Sakura..." Mebuki stepped up close to Sakura, who took a step back on reflex. "You're going to be away from the village... with Uzumaki. Be very, very careful, and don't let yourself be alone with him. Make sure Hatake-sempai or Uchiha-dono is always within earshot." Mebuki ordered.

"Why!?" Sakura snapped. "Why in the world are you so afraid of Naruto? Sure he's excentric, and way too loud, and he's hard to understand even on the best of days, but he's a goof-ball otherwise!" Sakura fumed. "If you just tell me-"

"No! Don't ever ask that!" Mebuki shouted with increasing impatience.

"Well I can't do what you want! I have to obey orders, and if during the mission, Kakashi-sensei orders Naruto and me to do something-" Sakura tried to argue.

"Then refuse! And if Hatake-sempai asks why, tell him because I said so!" Mebuki was hitting full-on 'mad mother' mode. "I'll deal with any problems with him once you get back!"

"You're going to get me in trouble!" Sakura yelled. "And although Kakashi-sensei does seem interested in Naruto, he doesn't seem to think he's dangerous! If I try to do what you're telling me to, it will be the same as saying that I don't trust my sensei's judgment!" Sakura said, though it reminded her of what Naruto had said after the bell test. 'Naruto said to always think twice about what Kakashi-sensei says, but it wouldn't make sense to say that in regards to himself, would it?' She wondered in confusion.

"No it won't! Hatake-sempai will know why! You have to listen to me!" Mebuki shouted.

"How can I listen if you won't tell me why!?" Sakura screamed. "Forget it! I've got to get going or I'll be late!" Sakura yelled as she ran out of the room.

"Sakura! Get back here!" Mebuki shouted as she started to follow, but stopped when she heard the door slam. She sighed and slowly sat down, putting her face in her hands. 'I'm sorry, Sakura. I wish I could tell you, but we'd both be punished if I did. I'm only trying to make sure you're safe.' She thought to herself as she looked up at the pictures of her family on the wall. 'Naruto Uzumaki. If only I knew more, if only I could be more sure about what is or isn't, one way or the other. I just don't know how to feel about you, so all I can do is try to prepare for the worst, and look out for Sakura.' Mebuki stood up and went back to put away the groceries and make her own lunch. 'But then again, the worst would mean the obliteration of the entire village, and my efforts would be meaningless. I just need something, something to help me understand what you are, Uzumaki. I just don't know. But I wish I did...'
_____________________

Sasuke was packing his backpack in his own, private apartment. It was on the opposite side of the village from the old Uchiha compound. It was the best he could do, despite not being far enough away for his tastes. It was also quite spacious. Not as much as Naruto's apartment, since that was an entire building, but Sasuke's apartment was as big as any high-paid jounin would take, and it had been given to him as a gift. No strings attached. Sasuke didn't even have to pay rent or for utilities.

Sasuke zipped up his pack as he took one glance around his nearly empty bedroom that was devoid of any personal or sentimental objects. He considered for a moment to think if he had forgotten anything. Deciding he had what he needed, he pulled on the pack.

'Maybe this mission will be an opportunity to get a few answers.' He thought to himself as he exited his apartment, locking the door. 'And maybe something more than that, as well.' He began thinking up plans to squeeze as many benefits for himself out of the mission as he could.

He headed onward to the east gate.

Tazuna and Naruto were already at the east gate as they waited. Tazuna didn't really feel like talking as he adjusted his new straw hat, and Naruto was keeping an eye on the time in order to see if Kakashi was going to be late.

Naruto looked up when Sakura and Sasuke approached, but before he could even say anything, Sakura came up and bashed him on the head.

"OW! What was that for!?" Naruto yelled, staggering a bit as he held his head.

"Nothing!" Sakura snapped, turning away with a huff. "This is a serious mission, so I just figured I'd get it out of the way now!"

Naruto stared at the pink haired girl incredulously as Kyaena clicked her tongue.

"So now she's hurting you as a matter of practice!" Kyaena snarled as a scraping sound punctuated her statement. "That's a major mark for her record of cruelty!"

'Muzzle it.' Naruto snapped, then checked his clock in his jacket collar. "Ok guys, he's only got two more minutes before he's late!" Naruto announced.

"He'll be here." Sasuke stated simply as he turned away carelessly.

"Sure, he'll be here, but he'll be laaaaaate." Naruto smirked.

"What are you talking about?" Tazuna asked with slight irritation.

"Oh, nothing. We just had a little bet about how late Kakashi is going to be this time." Naruto shrugged as he watched his clock count down. "He has an average of two and a half hours."

"WHAT!?" Tazuna shouted.

"Don't worry, Tazuna-san, he'll be here... eventually." Sakura stated, trying to compose herself. 'Damn it, mom, why'd you have to get me so angry!? This is just going to make things tougher! This is a bad way to start a mission!' She fumed to herself. 'And I didn't want to hit Naruto! I'm supposed to be trying to be nicer to him!'

"Ten seconds..." Naruto stated. "... Five... ... That's it, he's officially late." Naruto smirked as Sasuke huffed and tossed him a crumpled up ryo note. Naruto turned a wary glance to Sakura. "Ok, so it's between you and me now. I said he'll be along soon, you said it will be at least another hour."

"I remember, idiot!" Sakura hissed with an eye twitch as her hand reflexively reached into her pocket. She didn't really have all that much money most of the time, and the hundred in her pocket was no small chunk of her allowance. 'I can't believe I agreed to this.' She thought sourly.

"Ok, Ok! Jeez, take it easy!" Naruto took a step back.

The group only stood in silence for a minute before a figure seemed to drop out of the sky from nowhere.

"Yo! Am I interrupting anything?" Kakashi waved merrily. When nobody said anything, but rather, Sakura stomped over and slapped Naruto in the chest, dropping some ryo in the process, Kakashi blinked. "Or did I miss something?"

"Ah, nothing." Naruto quickly pocketed the money.

"Hmm. Well, ok then, we'd better get going." Kakashi shrugged, and waved them on casually.

The group started out of the gate, but they hadn't even gone a hundred steps when Sakura noticed Naruto had stopped.

"Hey, Naruto! Move it already!" Sakura yelled.

Kakashi, however, noticed how Naruto was looking back up at the gate. The jounin walked over next to the blonde.

"Are you ok, Naruto?" Kakashi asked quietly, not wanting the others to hear.

"Yeah. It's just... a little strange. This is the first time I've ever been outside the walls." Naruto muttered. "Kyaena-chan tried for years to get me to leave the village-" Naruto didn't notice Kakashi tense up, "-And now that I am going to be gone, at least for a while, she almost didn't want me to go."

"Oh? Why is that?" Kakashi asked with some surprise.

"Well, when I told her where I was going-" Naruto started to say.

"Whoa, wait, hold it!" Kyaena jumped up. "You're not going to tell him-!"

"-She had a bit of an anxiety attack. It turns out that Kyaena-chan is afraid of the ocean, and was less than thrilled about me going to an island country." Naruto sighed. Kakashi's eye widened.

"WHAAATT!? You told him!? How could you!?" Kyaena screamed out in hurt.

"Hmm. So I guess that means she wasn't going to come see you off." Kakashi rubbed his chin a bit as he glanced back into the village.

"No, she wasn't. Not that I would have expected her to. Pervert." Naruto huffed as he turned to walk on. Ever since he had found out Kakashi thought he really had met Kyaena that day of the bell test, he had been having lots of fun denying the jounin's attempts to try to meet her again. And fortunately, Sakura had seemed to have forgotten what he had told her about it, that it was his Transformation Jutsu. He wanted to milk the joke over Kakashi's head for as long as he could.

"Oh come on!" Kakashi nearly whined as he followed along. "She can't possibly still be mad about that! I thought you explained to her what happened!"

"Sorry Kakashi, but you should have been more careful with your first impression!" Naruto shrugged. "Now let's get going! Hitting the road! Seeing the world!" He shouted out eagerly. "Ain't nothing going to stand in our way!"

Tazuna glared at the blonde before turning to Kakashi.

"Are you kidding me? Am I really supposed to trust my life to this runt? He's a joke!" Tazuna snorted as he pulled a bottle from his backpack. But before he could take a drink, he noticed Naruto eyeing him and fingering a kunai that had appeared in his hand. With a gulp, Tazuna quickly put the bottle away.

"You don't have to worry. I'm an elite jounin, and I'm coming along too." Kakashi said with slight amusement at the exchange.

"What the heck is your problem?" Naruto snapped as he put the kunai away. "Do you really think it's such a good idea to keep insulting a ninja? Let alone one that's going to be Hokage one day? Even if it is a job to stick around you, the least you could do is try to show a little respect for our skill!" Naruto growled.

"Ha! You, becoming Hokage?" Tazuna scoffed. "The Hokage is supposed to be powerful and wise. You are puny and brainless. I wouldn't respect a little snot like you even if you become Hokage ten times over, because to me you'd still be nothing. I'd sooner sprout wings and fly." The engineer turned and walked on.

"You wanna fly!?" Naruto shouted angrily as he started forward. "It doesn't take wings, just my foot up your ass!" He tried to rush forward, but was stopped by Kakashi, rather difficultly, holding onto his backpack.

"Stop it Naruto, you can't attack the man you're supposed to protect." Kakashi sighed with embarrassment. 'Well, this is going to be a fun mission.' He grumped to himself.

After that little outburst, the group moved on at a brisk pace. Naruto keeping ahead of the others, grumbling with the occasional glance back at the elder man, who kept trying to sneak out his bottle for a drink, but with little success. The lull was interrupted by the only person present who was sporting roman-twenty-jeans, and didn't even wear a belt.

"Excuse me, Tazuna-san," Sakura said. "But your country is the Land of Waves, right?"

"Yeah, what of it?" The old man grumphed.

"Kakashi-sensei, aren't there ninja in that country?" Sakura asked to her teacher.

"Oh, yeah, sure, there are TONS of ninja in that country!" Naruto's sarcastic voice reached back to the others. "That's why he had to come and hire some from Konoha! Jeez!"

"I wasn't asking you!" Sakura shouted back with an vein throbbing on her forehead. "How would you know anyway!?"

"Geography may have been one of Iruka-sensei's more boring classes," Naruto shrugged, "But it's an important field of knowledge for a ninja!"

Kakashi decided to intervene before things got out of control.

"Settle down you two." He ordered before addressing Sakura. "But Naruto is correct. There are no ninja in the Land of Waves. But as a general rule, even with all the differences that exist in local customs and cultures, most other lands have their own hidden villages where ninja reside. For most countries, the hidden villages represent military strength-"

Naruto tuned out Kakashi's continuing explanation as he turned his thoughts inward.

'That was a little odd. With her high grades, I thought Sakura-san would have known about the lands that have their own ninja villages or not.' Naruto thought in consideration. But only silence answered him. 'Kya-chan? Did you hear me?' He asked, but still heard no reply. 'Hey, is something wrong?'

"I can't believe you TOLD him about my fear!" Kyaena growled out at last. Naruto resisted the urge to flinch.

'I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything, I was just talking.' Naruto apologized.

"I'm the queen of all kitsune!" Kyaena ranted. "I'm a para-elemental fire demon! I'm feared and respected throughout both worlds! My power is the heart of stories and legends throughout time! And you go and make me sound like a-"

'Person.' Naruto interrupted. 'I made you sound like a person. A real person. I'm sorry if you didn't want me blabbing about your fear, but by telling Kakashi that, which he'll probably tell others when he talks about you, it makes you sound more normal, more realistic.' Naruto explained. 'You know it's been getting harder talking to Old-Man-Hokage and Iruka-sensei about you, and why you're never around. Every little bit that helps make you seem more real... Well, I mean of course you're real, but to make you seem more human-'

"Now you're insulting me!" Kyaena snarled with her fur fluffing slightly.

'Damn it, Kya-chan! What do you want me to do? Say: 'Oh, sorry, you can't meet my friend face to face because she's sealed inside my guts!?'' Naruto snapped in annoyance. 'I can just imagine the old man's reaction to that! Well I'm so sorry for trying to keep us from being dissected by the irrationally paranoid tail-hunters who would love to have the opportunity to torture you!' Naruto growled as his steps became harder, almost stomping along.

Kyaena was silent for a moment.

"... I still don't have to like it. It is MY fear we're talking about, after all." She grumbled, though mollified from the legitimate reasoning from her container.

'Yeah... Ok, I'm sorry, alright?' Naruto mumbled as he started listening to Kakashi again.

"-No ninja combat in a C-rank. So you don't have anything to worry about." The jounin eye-smiled as he patted Sakura on the head.

"Oh good. That's a relief." The pinkette smiled. "Say, out of curiosity, why are the five shinobi nations named the way they are? How did that get started?" She asked.

"Well, there are several popular stories that have a few different opinions about that." Kakashi said with some amused interest. "Some think the names just came from the obvious landscape qualities of each region, such as the Land of Wind's tendency of high winds of the desert sand storms." He gestured airily to their surroundings. "Then there are some that think that the nations wanted a symbolic name of power, so they each chose names in a way to associate themselves with one of the five natural elements-"

"Ten." Naruto commented without thinking.

Kakashi looked over at Naruto with a bit of surprise.

"What was that, Naruto?" The jounin asked.

"Ten. I said ten." Naruto continued in a bored tone, not even looking back at them.

"Ten what?" Kakashi asked.

"There are ten elements. Well," Naruto paused to correct himself, "Ten, plus one more as of yet unfinalized one. One that hasn't really been agreed upon by the various-"

"Naruto! What in the world are you talking about?!" Sakura yelled out of habit.

"Now hold on a minute." Kakashi held up a halting hand to forestall the girl's usual outbursts. This was something he wanted to hear. "Naruto, who told you there were ten elements?"

"Kyaena-chan, of course." Naruto replied, slowing his step a bit to fall in line with the others.

"And why did she tell you that?" Kakashi continued.

"Uh, because she had to?" Naruto said with sarcastic confusion at the question. "Kinda hard for her to teach me about elemental energy without talking about elements."

'That's right... He found out his elements from Iruka, so she's probably been helping him with it the last couple months.' Kakashi realized. 'But why hasn't he asked me about it? And why hasn't he shown any evidence of that during our training sessions?' He tried to keep his face unreadable. A pretty easy thing for him.

"Teaching you?" Sasuke spoke up for the first time since they left the village. "It's no wonder you're so-"

"SO, Naruto," Kakashi spoke up, giving Sasuke a momentary glare to which the Uchiha just looked away with a frown. "Perhaps you could tell us about what you've been learning about these 'other elements'. It's something to pass the time, anyway." He shrugged to the blonde, who seemed a bit taken aback by the suggestion.

"I..." Naruto hesitated.

"Don't do it, Naru-kun. I don't want that Uchiha filth knowing anything important." Kyaena warned with a low growling hiss.

"Unless you're just bragging like usual, and don't know what you're talking about, like usual." Sakura scoffed. It may have sounded like an insult, but in truth she was actually just trying to bait him to go along with it, in a way she was fairly certain would work. She was curious about the elements, and Kyaena's teachings, as well.

"What are you waiting for!?" Kyaena snapped angrily. "Go ahead and show these puny parasites what a genius you are! Stuff Pinky's words down her throat!" She hissed as she whipped her tails around.

Naruto had to stop himself from rolling his eyes at his friend's 180.

"Fine. You obviously know about five of the elements, wind, fire, earth, water and lightning, right? Everyone knows them. Well the five everyone else always seem to overlook are light, darkness, metal, crystal and 'wood', or the natural life force energy of the world that takes the form of plants." Naruto began.

"Wood? That was the legendary power of the Shodai!" Sakura's eyes widened in surprise.

"Yeah it is. So it's a little confusing to me why no one realizes that it's supposed to be included." Naruto shrugged.

"How the hell could plants be considered an element?" Sasuke demanded in irritation. 'The more I keep him talking, the more insight I get into how to keep him in his place.' He thought, trying to plan ahead.

"The term 'element', in this case, refers to the naturally occurring parts or qualities of the world that exist independently of human influence, that is, the things have existed long before humanity came around, and continue to exist regardless of what we do." Naruto said, a bit smug that he knew a little... ok, make that a lot more, than the Uchiha. "And the trees and grass have been around a lot longer than you. So why don't you just listen and do what you do best, be quiet."

"Don't tell Sasuke-kun to be quiet!" Sakura snapped out of reflex.

"HEY! You guys asked me to explain this, and I can't do that if you keep interrupting me!" Naruto shouted back. After a moment of silence, he resumed. "Ok then. Metal is not the same as stone, so is separate from the earth element category..."

Kakashi sighed at the exchange as Naruto continued, and Tazuna was taking the opportunity of Naruto's distraction to sneak a drink or two.
_________________________

In Konoha, at the grand hot springs/bathing complex, Tetsuko was, with some reluctance, making use of the sudden off-duty time she had found herself with. She had come from a meeting with the Hokage, where she had been informed that Naruto's team had left the village on a mission. With no other pressing ANBU matters to deal with at the moment, Sarutobi had suggested she 'take the opportunity to rest from Naruto's hyperactive schedule'.

It wasn't that Tetsuko disagreed or disapproved of the break, she just didn't like the idea of having to rely on Kakashi's report for observations about Naruto. And she also wasn't sure that the team, or Naruto, was ready for a C-rank after only two-and-a-half/three months of training. It wasn't the physical part she was worried about... It was the mental part.

Tetsuko left the soothing heat of the spring bath area as she headed into the showers. She entered the tiled wash area, noting the complete lack of other people, save for a single long haired woman who was alone under one of the shower heads. But as Tetsuko glanced around, the rest of the area was still all wet, as if it had been active just a few minutes ago before everyone abruptly left. Looking up, she couldn't see anything obviously wrong with the shower heads or the temperature knobs.

"Excuse me, is-" Tetsuko approached the other woman.

"What do you-!?" The woman started to shout but stopped when she saw her company.

"Oh, it's you." Tetsuko blinked in surprise when she recognized the fellow kunoichi that she had gotten to know a little in the past months. She didn't know if she could call them friends yet, but they had yet to have any problems with each other. Mostly due to their shared distaste for Kakashi.

"... What?" The kunoichi frowned after a moment.

"Wha-, oh, sorry." Tetsuko apologized when she realized she had been staring. "For a minute there, I didn't recognize you. What with your-"

"Yeah, whatever." The kunoichi sighed as she resumed to what she had been doing, trying to get a knot out of her jet-black hair that hung down to her shoulder blades.

"Well, as I was about to ask, is there something wrong with some of these showers? It looks like-" Tetsuko asked as she cautiously turned on a shower for herself.

"No, there's nothing wrong with the showers." The kunoichi answered stiffly, combing fiercely at her hair. Tetsuko coughed slightly. "What about you? Did Naruto run through a stinkweed field, or did he pass out again while training to give you enough time for a hot spring break? That hyperactive boy never sits still." The kunoichi asked as she rinsed her hair.

"No, neither... this time." Tetsuko snipped with slight annoyance in her voice. "Squad seven left the village earlier today on a C-rank mission." She adjusted the water temperature to her liking.

"What!?" The kunoichi spun around to glare in shock. "Hatake took them on a C-rank!? But they've only been active for barely three months-"

"Believe me, I feel the same, but there are two things you have to keep in mind. One, it was Hokage-sama that offered them the chance." Tetsuko said as she was rinsing.

"... It was?" The other kunoichi blinked with hesitant surprise.

"Yes. After Naruto-kun lost his temper over the D-ranks, Hokage-sama asked Hatake if he thought the team was ready for a C-rank." Tetsuko confirmed.

"Oh, of course." The kunoichi snorted. "I should have known Naruto would blow his top over those ridiculous chores." She shook her head. Then she frowned. "But Hatake still shouldn't have accepted it. I doubt they were ready for it."

"And that's the second thing." Tetsuko sighed. "No matter how much we may disagree with it, Hatake IS their sensei. It's his call on whether or not he thought they were ready." The off-duty ANBU said as she examined her fingernails to see if they needed trimming.

"Perverted lazy-ass slime bucket." The kunoichi hissed quietly. "It should have been me. And it would have been me if Naruto wasn't so damn... honorable." She muttered. "Hey, toss me the shampoo."

"Truthfully, I don't know whether that's a good trait for him or not, being a ninja after all." Tetsuko pondered as she reached for a red bottle on a rack that was set up on the wall with various soaps for customers to use.

"No no, the purple one." The kunoichi corrected. "And I'm sure Naruto is perfectly aware of how to treat enemies, but is loyal to the village and his fellow leaf-nin." Her mouth twitched slightly. "A lesson more than a few people could learn from him."

"That's a possibility." Tetsuko conceded as she paused to look at the label of the bottle in her hand. She looked at her companion, then the bottle, then her companion again. "Oh, so that's why-" She tossed the bottle.

"Yeah, so what? It's not like it's anything bad." The kunoichi shrugged, catching the bottle and proceeding to start washing.

"Still, you could at least try a different type." Tetsuko offered as she took a bottle for herself from the rack.

"Why? This stuff works great. Mud, paint, blood... Hell, even gum. It can clean anything out your hair." The kunoichi smirked.

"No way, not my hair. I'm fine with it just the way it is." Tetsuko waved off in defense.

The two washed in silence for a moment before the kunoichi who had been there first turned to look at Tetsuko.

"Saaaaay..." She said in a sneaky voice that Tetsuko didn't like at all. "Being Naruto's sentinel, you wouldn't happen to have a key to his apartment, would you?"

"... No, but I know how to get in if it's an emergency." Tetsuko stressed the word, trying to head off a potential disaster.

"Hmm. Really?" The kunoichi smirked. "You know, it would be pretty funny if you were to switch this shampoo with his-"

"NO WAY!" Tetsuko shouted in slight panic, taking a step back. "If you want to risk your sanity, you go do it yourself! There is no way that you're going to talk me in to pulling anything on Konoha's Prince of Pranks!"

"Aww, come on! Do you have any idea how many people would praise you for pranking him? After all the ones he's pulled?" The kunoichi urged playfully.

"And do you know how many people have tried to prank him? One! Just one!" Tetsuko said with determination. "And why is that you may ask? It's because of what Naruto did to get back at that person afterward."

"What did he do?" The kunoichi asked with a curiously raised eyebrow.

"Do you remember the infamous day of The Great Paper Flush?" Tetsuko asked, and smirked when the other kunoichi paled. "Exactly. That's why no one is willing to risk trying to prank him. What Naruto does on his own to others can be pretty sneaky and imaginative, but they're nothing compared to what he does for payback!" Tetsuko shook her head in pity for any fool who would be so foolish. "Even his pranking rival classmate Kiba Inuzuka has never tried to get him!"

The kunoichi paused with a very unhappy thought.

"So he's all for getting payback for a stupid prank," She hissed in disapproval, "Yet he won't fight back when people try to kill him..."

Tetsuko shifted uncomfortably at the comment.

"I have a hard time understanding it too. But it's not so bad anymore. That bastard Mizuki was the last one to try." She said with a touch of hatred. "I think that now that he's a genin, no one is willing to risk it. They'd probably sooner try to prank him." Tetsuko blinked then glared. "But as I said, that's sanity-suicide. Naruto is merciless with payback."

"Well," The kunoichi cleared her throat and set her jaw in defiance, "We'd just have to make sure he never found out it was us!"

"What's this 'we' stuff? It won't work. He'd find out. Believe me, he'd find out, some way or another." Tetsuko warned.

"No way! Come on, we could do it!" The kunoichi pleaded.

"No!" Tetsuko refused.

"Please?"

"No!"

"Please!?"

"NO!"
_______________________

Squad seven had been moving continuously as they listened to Naruto's explanation-turned-lecture about elemental qualities, despite the occasional interruption of his sneezing attacks.

Tazuna didn't know anything they were talking about, so didn't really listen. Instead, he tried to sneak drinks when Naruto wasn't looking, but had already lost all but his last bottle to the blonde's twitchy hands.

Sasuke had been keeping silent, but was getting frustrated at how hard it was for him to keep up with Naruto's explanations. Part of him wanted to just accuse Naruto of lying and making everything up, but with the way Kakashi was paying attention, he knew that such a wish was unlikely. So it just annoyed him all the more that Naruto seemed to know such advanced material.

Sakura was also being quiet, uncharacteristically so, but it was due to the fact that her jaw was hanging loose, and her eye's were threatening to pop out. Any doubts she had harbored in the past about Naruto's study habits were being slowly smashed away as she listened to her teammate's lecture, which although obviously covered very advanced theories that she would most likely forget later, she was drawn in to listen even easier than any of Iruka's classes.

Kakashi was stunned at the information coming out of Naruto regarding never-before-considered elements. He was trying hard to memorize everything his student was saying, so at least he could write it down if he got a few minutes to himself later. But this was proving difficult, considering that his mind kept wandering as he fantasized about how incredible the lovely Kyaena was for teaching Naruto so much, and how he would try to ask for 'private lessons' when they returned to the village. If Naruto would cooperate in helping him with the matter, that is.

Said blonde in question was nearing the end of his initial summaries, having covered most of the others, and finishing up his portion on crystals.

"-And it's because of that self-growth capacity that crystals can be considered a natural bridge between finite stone and living plants." Naruto was saying.

"Well, Naruto, I have never heard of any ninja, from anywhere, ever utilizing the crystal element. Or the metal element, for that matter." Kakashi commented thoughtfully.

"Just because it's rare, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. According to Kyaena-chan, it's a fairly difficult element to control, since even a small amount of energy can cause crystals to grow exponentially." Naruto shook his head. "And metal is the opposite, being the most resistant to most forms of fast change beyond that of prolonged super-heat that makes it temporarily malleable."

"Hmm." Kakashi nodded. "When you started explaining these, you said there was ten elements, plus one more 'un-finalized' one? What was that?" Kakashi asked.

"Oh that. Well, there's a lot of debate about the concept that 'cold' is an element." Naruto continued. "Since there are parts of the world that are always naturally cold, some say that those places 'create' cold. Generate it somehow. But others argue that cold is only the lack of heat, or the absence of the fire element. But then the counter argument is that darkness could be considered only the absence of light, yet it is considered an independent element." He shrugged.

Kakashi was, overall, quite surprised by the whole situation. The longer Naruto talked, without negative interruption, the calmer and more focused he became. And the more Kakashi was seeing what he had suspected all along.

'Now he is really like Minato-sensei.' Kakashi was thinking to himself. 'The serious, hard-working, genius of a ninja. It's almost like his usual hyper and loud self is only a reaction to the hostility and intolerance of others that pressure him. But if just given a little patience and respect, a whole other quality of him is allowed to emerge.' The jounin was trying to resist grinning like a maniac, even if you couldn't see it behind his mask. 'I wonder if this is how he is all the time when he's with Kyaena-chan?' It was a pleasant thought, but it led to a less pleasant one. 'But then, it just means that Naruto can't be himself around others. I need to try to get him to open up more to us. I'll plan some more team exercises when we finish with this mission.' Kakashi decided to himself as he listened to his blonde underling, completely forgetting that it was those 'team exercises' that had led to the current situation to begin with.

"Another matter of debate is that so many confuse cold with ice, thereby mistakenly associating cold with water. Ice is water with cold applied to it, but is not the force of cold itself-" Naruto continued, but was interrupted by his true teacher.

"Speaking of water, Naru-kun," Kyaena spoke up, "Look over there. Ahead of you."

'Huh? Where?' Naruto paused and blinked to refocus his sight that had been on autopilot while he had been walking.

"Right there. Isn't that a puddle?" Kyaena asked with mischief in mind.

'What? A puddle?' Naruto peered ahead.

"Naruto?" Sakura asked questioningly. "Is something wrong? You just stopped talking suddenly." She blinked at her blonde teammate.

Kakashi looked to where Naruto was looking, and saw the puddle in the middle of the road.

"Hold that thought." Naruto held up a waiting finger to Sakura without even looking at her, then dashed off in a sprint.

"What!? Naruto what are you-" Sakura gave a startled squeak.

"PuddlePuddlePuddlePuddlePuddlePuddlePuddlePuddlePuddlePuddlePuddlePuddle!!!!" Naruto and Kyaena chattered in a delighted squeal as Naruto took a high jump into the air. "YEHAAAA!"

The others gave a collective sweat-drop.

'That is one weird kid.' Tazuna thought.

'What a loser...' Sasuke frowned.

'From sensei to clown in ten seconds or less. That's what I call predictable unpredictability.' Sakura thought with surprisingly subdued irritation, even as she fought down an amused smirk.

Kakashi only watched intently as Naruto's jump arc slowed, and he began coming down.

"Vile portal to the abyssal deep!" Naruto shouted as he was falling fast towards the puddle. "You shall be crushed in da'feet of the great Na-"

Nine feet from impact, the puddle moved.

Naruto gave a squawk of surprise as he slammed into the ground with a tumble, rolled, and sprang back to his feet in time to see the puddle explode up as two figures appeared out of the water. They were fast, cloaked, and had some kind of chain between them attached to clawed metal gauntlets on one of each of their arms...

Everyone barely had time to gasp as the two unknown figures whipped the bladed chain around Kakashi with at least five loops and pulled it tight, pinning him in place.

"First for the wolf..." One of the two, both wearing mechanical masks and Hitai-ate, growled out. Then they pulled.

There was a tearing sound, a distortion, and pieces were shredded as they fell to the ground in a kick up of a dirt cloud.

Sakura screamed in horror, Tazuna gasped with a look of panic.

But Naruto stood limp and motionless, staring blankly at the obscured debris cloud.

"S-...Sensei...?" Naruto's voice was barely a whisper as a strange feeling washed over him. There was something wrong...

Iruka, hunched protectively over Naruto, coughed up a trickle of blood that fell on the boys face from the giant shuriken in his back. "...If only I had been more responsible, maybe we wouldn't have come to this. I'm so sorry Naruto!" Iruka sobbed with tears.

Naruto didn't move, didn't speak, didn't blink.

"Naru-kun! Naru-kun, what was that!? What's wrong!? NARU-KUN!" Kyaena screamed out franticly, scrambling back and forth in the cage.

As the blonde stood motionless, he didn't even seem to notice when the two attacking ninja rushed around behind him, pulling their chain whipping towards him.

"And now for the sheep..." One of them chuckled with vicious maliciousness as they rushed at Naruto.

The sound of metal on metal brought them up short as Sasuke somersaulted through the air, throwing a shuriken that caught the chain in mid air, pinning it to a nearby tree at the side of the road. Sasuke chucked a kunai that intersected the shuriken through it's grip hole, effectively locking the shuriken and chain to the tree for the moment. The two ninja jerked to an abrupt stop barely six feet from Naruto as the chains were attached to each of their gauntlets.

"It won't come loose!" One of the two grunted as he tugged.

Naruto wasn't even aware of what was happening behind him.

'Not supposed to be... no one... no one... only one... pain... one in pain... only one pain... no other... NO OTHER!' Naruto's thoughts echoed through his body as his face began to contort, and his fists clenched. Kyaena was freaking out.

"Naru-kun, snap out of it! You're under attack! You have to fight ba-... What's happening?" She paused, despite the situation, when she felt Naruto's chakra beginning to surge, building up in his system... and it seemed to be pulling at hers as well, as trickles of her demonic chakra began to be drawn through the bars of the cage seal.

Sasuke had landed on the two momentarily stunned ninja, grabbing at their restrained arms and kicking them in their faces. Unfortunately, even as his kicks landed, his hands inadvertently hit the release mechanism on their gauntlets, letting them loose from the chain between them with a hefty clang. The two attackers immediately dashed around the two boys heading for Tazuna. Sakura, more from reflex than conscious thought, jumped in front of Tazuna with a drawn kunai in an attempt to defend him. Sasuke, seeing that they were going for their client, managed to leap/dash and place himself in front of Sakura to ward off the attacking pair. Only it wasn't the pair. One was still going for Tazuna, but the other had done a fake-out shift, and was charging back at Naruto.

But the sound of the chain release had finally got through to Naruto as he whirled around to confront his assailant with a guttural growl. With his focus back to the present, Kyaena finally identified the feeling that was building inside him.

Rage.

The ninja thrust out his clawed gauntlet hand, aiming at Naruto, but was surprised when Naruto lunged for him.

"YOU-!" Naruto growled as his left hand came up and grabbed the ninja's gauntleted right arm, getting a claw scratched to the back of his hand in the process. "MONSTER!" Naruto shouted as he crushed the gauntlet like a soda can, followed by a crunching snap sound of the enemy ninja's arm breaking just below the elbow as Naruto twisted it down. Naruto snarled at the screaming ninja with darkening eyes. "YOU-ARE-DEAD!" Naruto howled over the ninja's screams, his right fist heading towards the shocked ninja's face with enough chakra packed in it that it glowed faintly blue, even in the daylight...

WHAAAMM!

Naruto yelped as he tumbled forward, his haymaker punch whiffing through suddenly empty air and throwing him off balance. But he landed in a handspring and flipped up, whirling around to find his escaped prey...

Only to stop in surprise when he saw Kakashi standing calmly in the midst of their group, holding the two enemy ninja. One was held up from the waist under Kakashi's left arm, while his right arm was wrapped around the neck of the second one from where he had close-lined the man, thereby pulling him out of the path from Naruto's attack.

"Yo." Kakashi said casually.

"Kakashi-sensei! You're alive!" Sakura squealed in joyous relief as she lowered her kunai.

'Hmph. He's just showing off...' Sasuke glared at the jounin, but cast a moment's glance at Naruto.

Naruto was having a bit of trouble realizing what had happened, as his surprise had interrupted the flow of rage inside him. He blinked a few times as his mind refocused and he became aware.

'Wait, but, I saw him get...' Naruto thought in confusion as he spun around to where he had 'seen' Kakashi get killed, only to see a bunch of sliced up pieces of logs scattered on the ground. 'He... He used the Substitution Jutsu?' He slowly stood up straight. 'Why the hell did he cut it so damn close?'

"Naru-kun! Naru-kun, are you ok!?" Kyaena screamed frantically, making Naruto flinch slightly from the volume of her voice.

'Yes! Yes, I'm fine! What is it? Are you ok?' Naruto tried to calm the vehemently vexed vixen.

Before she could say anything further, Kakashi, who had been watching Naruto for a moment, cleared his throat.

"Naruto, I'm sorry I didn't step in sooner. I didn't mean for anyone to get hurt." Kakashi said as he looked the boy up and down in worry. 'When he froze up... That wasn't just regular shock or fear. There was something else. Something was wrong. He really was going to kill the man. He had a focused intent to kill...' He thought with considerable concern. 'And his chakra... It spiked violently, but it seems it was too brief for the others to have noticed...' He turned his attention to the other three. "But I guess things are ok now. Nice work in guarding our client you two. Good footwork." He nodded to the members of his squad.

Tazuna gulped slightly as he regarded everything, and was sweating a bit as Kakashi glanced at him.

Naruto took the pause to readdress his furry friend.

'Kya-chan, what were you saying? Is there something wrong?' He asked.

"Something happened, Naru-kun. Your chakra surged up almost out of control. I was having trouble getting through to you. You were so angry." Kyaena, trying to keep calm, explained. "There was some kind of flash, something in your memory that I didn't quite see. And there's something else. When your chakra surged, it-"

"Hey." Sasuke called over to Naruto, interrupting his private conversation.

"Huh? What?" Naruto blinked looking over, but raised an eyebrow when he saw the look on his teammate's face.

"Did you get hurt?" Sasuke was full-on grinning, smirking and sneering all at once with an undisguised smugness of victory. "You scaredy cat!"

"... What?" Naruto narrowed his eyes at the other boy. Sakura was looking back and forth between them with apprehension.

"You finally showed what a coward you are." Sasuke's smirk became even sharper. "You totally froze with fear."

"WHAT!?" Naruto tensed up as his eye twitched in severe annoyance, and Kyaena let out vicious threatening growls. "I did not! How dare you-"

"SASUKE, STOP IT! NARUTO, CALM DOWN!" Kakashi shouted out with a loudness that was most unusual of him. "Naruto, you have to stay calm. Keep your heart rate down." He hefted the ninja in his arms once. "The claws of these ninja are poisoned. We need to get it out of you wound quickly."

Naruto gave Kakashi a confused look.

"What? What wound? I'm not-" Naruto stopped when he suddenly felt a numbing stinging sensation in his left hand. He brought it up and blinked in surprise at the moderate cut and blood on the back of his hand.

"We'll have to open the wound to let out the poison. Don't move around so much, or it will circulate in your blood." Kakashi was saying as he eyed a tree to tie the enemy ninja to. "By the way, Tazuna-san," He said over his shoulder with a slightly darker tone.

"Wh-what is it...?" The builder gulped nervously.

"We need to have a little talk." Kakashi toned as he set the two ninja's down at the base of a tree, pulling out some wire quickly as he proceeded to tie them up, being careful not to further damage the one ninja's broken arm and mangled gauntlet. 'Naruto's strength is almost unbelievable. That gauntlet looks like solid die-cast steel, and he crushed it like an egg.' Kakashi thought with slight awe, even as the two enemies were beginning to regain consciousness.

Sakura was edging closer to Naruto. She was looking at his wound, waiting for something...

Naruto was still examining his hand.

'Poison? Well now, this is something we haven't had to deal with in a while.' He thought as he pulled his red kunai from his primary holster. Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"See? You didn't even know you were hurt. We're lucky this isn't anything serious." Kyaena scolded as she directed her chakra into Naruto's arm, pushing back the poison that had been trying to spread, and isolating it all in his hand. "I don't know where they got this poison, but it doesn't seem that bad. We need to sit down and try to figure out what happened just now, Naru-kun. We'll need some quiet time." She instructed as Naruto directed her chakra to begin to destroy the poison.

'Alright. But I didn't notice anything strange. They attacked, I attacked back. That's how I saw it.' Naruto replied as he brought up his kunai and stabbed it into his wounded hand to accelerate the dissolution of the poison.

"AAHHH! NARUTO, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Sakura screamed at the unexpected action, causing everyone's attention to whip to the blonde, who looked up at the terrified pink haired girl in startlement.

"Naruto?" Kakashi question with wide-eyed surprised concern.

"What?" Naruto blinked innocently, even as he allowed blood to drip from his wound. "I'm just neutralizing the poison. That's what you told me to do, right?" He asked.

"Uh, yeah. I did." Kakashi nodded slowly.

"Naruto," Sakura swallowed a lump, "Doesn't that... hurt?" She pointed at his hand meekly.

"Eh. Just a bit, I guess." Naruto shrugged. The warming of his hand via demonic chakra indicated that the poison was completely gone, so he removed the kunai, and the gash healed perfectly in three seconds flat. He pulled out a rag, wiping off the blood left on his hand, then wiped his kunai off before putting it away. "There! Good as new!" Naruto beamed, giving his hand a few clenching flexes for good measure.

'Naruto's healing power is... amazing!' Sakura didn't realize she was staring as she finally witnessed what she had been expecting. 'I've got to talk to Kakashi-sensei about this!' She vowed. 'And Sasuke-kun was so cool, taking on those enemy ninja without even batting an eye! He totally rocks! CHA!' Inner Sakura cheered.

Said 'cool' boy was also staring at Naruto.

'What the hell!?' Sasuke's earlier grin was long gone as he glared at the blonde. 'I thought that rib thing during the bell test was some kind of trick or deception! But that... That just isn't possible! I didn't see him use a jutsu, so how did he do that!?' His face was stone as he tried not to even dare consider a most unthinkable possible explanation for what he had witnessed first hand...

Kakashi blinked twice at Naruto's actions, and took note of how the other two youths were gawking/glaring at him.

"Well... Ok, glad you took care of that so quickly, Naruto." Kakashi said, before turning his attention to his prisoners. "Now, about these two..."

The others walked over to stand alongside Kakashi, looking at the tied up duo, the one of which had become aware of his mangled arm, and was straining and grunting to fight down the pain. He glared at Naruto with anger, disbelief, and maybe even a little fear.

"You... (argh)... You freakish runt... (grunt)... Damn it! How the hell did you know about our ambush!?" He growled out in severe aggravation.

"Actually, I didn't." Naruto admitted with a shrug. "I just wanted to splash a puddle. Although, now that I think about it, you two being here does make sense, and thereby, is somewhat expected for this unexpected turn of events." Naruto's mouth twitched in consideration.

"What?" Sakura turned a confused look to the blonde. "What are you saying? Did you know we were going to be attacked?" She asked with a hint of accusation in her voice.

"Sakura, he couldn't have known. This mission wasn't supposed to involve conflict with other ninja." Kakashi said, giving another glance at Tazuna. "Emphasis on, it wasn't supposed to."

"Yes, but since we were attacked, it makes sense that they're mist-nin." Naruto said pointing out the Hitai-ate on the two tied up men.

"How does that make sense?" Sakura asked with confusion and interest. Naruto gave her a slightly surprised look.

"Uh, Sakura-san, what's our mission?" Naruto prompted.

"To escort Tazuna-san back to his country and provide security while he finishes building a bridge." Sakura replied easily.

"Right. His country. WAVE Country. On the ocean. To build a bridge. And what do bridges usually cross? Water. So, with all that water around, anyone who would want to cause trouble would have the best advantage if they can utilize that water to their advantage." Naruto droned out with an tone of obviousness. "Of the major and secondary villages that are know for having talent in water jutsu, there are Rain, Waterfall and Mist. Rain and Waterfall are in the west/northwest, on the opposite side of Fire Country from Wave Country. Whereas Water Country, in the ocean to the east of Wave, is not only closer, but has a more direct, unimpeded access to Wave in terms of travel, and the fact that there's less chance of interception on the open ocean." Naruto crossed his arms on his chest. "If I were someone who wanted to hire ninja to go Wave Country, I'd seek out the Village Hidden in the Mist first, both for the factors of efficiency and to minimize the likelihood of interference by anyone else, whether they be ninja or civilian." Naruto finished his little rant, not noticing Sakura's bug-eyed expression.

Kakashi once again found himself feeling a little pride at having such a knowledgeable student, and a little jealousy that it seemed he would have a hard time thinking of something to teach him that Kyaena hadn't already.

"I'd say these two are about C or B level chunin. Ninja from the Mist are known for their relentless attacks, continuing to fight on, even at the risk of their own lives." Kakashi noted, and turned an eye, as he only had one, to the prisoners.

"Determination is all well and good, but if I were in their position, I wouldn't have attacked a group so far inland. Especially considering we're not even that far from Konoha yet!" Naruto stated with a frown.

"So they're brainless. Just makes it easier for us." Sasuke snorted.

"That's hardly an appropriate or accurate appraisal of the situation." Kakashi said to the Uchiha, as he brought a hand up to rub his chin. "But the method of your ambush. A puddle? On a clear day? When it hasn't rained in weeks?" Kakashi shook his head in a pitying manner. "That was so obvious. Maybe you're only D level chunin. Freshly promoted, perhaps?" He asked with mock interest as the two men glared. But the one was looking pale, and was loosing the fight against the pain of his injury.

"Wait a minute," Tazuna spoke up, "If you knew as well, why'd you leave it to the gakis to do the fighting?" He frowned in disapproval.

"I could have taken them out before they even started trouble. But then, I would have learned nothing." Kakashi turned his eye-glare to Tazuna. "I wanted to know who their target was, and what they were after."

"Wh-what? What do you mean?" Tazuna fought to keep his voice gruff, and keep his stuttering nervousness out of it.

"I mean, I wanted to know if they were after us, ninja attacking ninja... Or if they were after you. The master bridge builder." Kakashi turned to full-on face the older man. "When you made your request to Konoha, you asked for standard protection... from robbers or highwaymen and the like. You never mentioned that there were ninja hunting you. If we had known this, it would have been designated a B-rank mission or higher." Kakashi's gaze tore into the man who had the sensibility to look a little guilty. "Our task was simply to get you to your destination, and guard you while you finish constructing your bridge. If we had known we would be fielding attacks from ninja, we would have staffed a different squad and charged for the cost of a B mission. Even if you had your own reasons, lying to us about the mission is unacceptable, not to mention a bad idea when you're asking for help. As it is, this task falls beyond the boundaries of the job we were assigned."

"Yeah, you miserable old coot!" Naruto jumped in. "See what lying gets you!? You not only endangered yourself and put your own mission at risk, but put our lives at unnecessary risk as well! How are we to protect you from things you don't warn us about!? If we get killed, you get killed!" Naruto stamped a foot. He really disliked liars, especially stupid ones who endangered his comrades.

Sakura decided to try being a little more gentle in her argument.

"Please understand, we're only genin. This is too advanced for us at our level of training." She appealed in a somewhat pleading voice. "I think we need to return to Konoha while we're still intact."

"What?" Naruto blinked at her. "I didn't say we should go back, I was just saying he should have told us everything from the start. As long as we know what we're in for, we can keep going."

Sakura looked at Naruto in surprise.

"Naruto, we can't keep going! You heard Kakashi-sensei, this is beyond what we were assigned for this mission! We're not supposed to get missions of this danger-" Sakura was saying, only to be interrupted by a huff from everyone's favorite emo.

"Don't be ridiculous." Sasuke said, drawing looks from everyone. "If those two are really chunin, then there is no danger here. It's clear that we're capable of dealing with any threats. If that's the worst to expect, I say we keep going."

"No, your sensei is right." Tazuna sighed in defeat. "It was wrong of me to put you in danger. I should have backed out when I first saw you were just kids. You have no business risking your lives-"

"HOLD IT!" Naruto shouted, startling everyone. He marched up to Tazuna, once again drawing his red kunai, leveling it to point straight at the old man's face... from a safe three foot distance, of course. "Now you listen to me, Tazuna-san." He said, his use of a proper address getting everyone's attention. "We are ninja. It is the path of life we have chosen, not you. Whether now or later, our lives will always be in danger. It is the way it is. You asked for protection. I swear, on this kunai that is stained from the blood of my labors, that I will continue to protect you as is my duty as a ninja of Konoha! But you have to want it." Naruto said, narrowing his eyes slightly with his last sentence. "Running away from your problems won't make them go away. Trust me on this." He finished slowly as he purposefully put away his kunai.

"Are you sure about this, Naru-kun?" Kyaena asked warily. "If this old guy can't be trusted..."

'I'm guessing he has problems. This is why he was so concerned over the mission before. It's not wrong to be afraid of your troubles. I think he just made a mistake, and he has yet to explain why he did this.' Naruto responded quickly as he kept eye contact with Tazuna.

The others were all regarding Naruto and his little speech.

'When will he learn, he only makes himself look all the more lame if he tries to act cool.' Sasuke grunted to himself. 'And that kunai? Stained with the blood of his labors? Who the hell does he think he's fooling?' A nasty thought occurred to him. 'He'd probably be heartbroken if it were to be... lost.'

'I... I don't know...' Sakura fidgeted nervously. 'I don't feel too good about this... But Naruto does have a point. Ninja live dangerous lives. I should try to get used to it as soon as possible... And besides, Kakashi-sensei is here in case there's more trouble...' She pondered.

'Hmm. Maybe this kid isn't all talk after all.' Tazuna thought as he stared into Naruto's unflinching blue eyes. 'I've never seen any kid that could stab themselves like that. Also...' Tazuna glanced over at the enemy ninja, specifically, the one with the broken arm that had passed out. 'He's got one hell of a temper. As long as he's going to vent it against them...'

Kakashi was suffering a serious conflict of desires.

'The fact that Tazuna lied about the mission requirements is technically all the reason needed to call it off. In fact, I'm effectively required to call it off, as per the directives regarding rookie genin.' He glanced at the enemy ninja. 'But Sasuke and Naruto are clearly advanced enough to take the risk of this mission. Sakura may need a little more work, but she did move to defend Tazuna when the ninja attacked.' Kakashi looked at Naruto who was still in his staring contest with the bridge builder. 'I should ask Naruto about why he froze up, but there's no telling that it wouldn't happen in any dangerous situation, now or later. If we hadn't taken this mission, which was supposed to be minor, then later, if we were given a more serious mission and he had frozen then... No, it's better that it happened now. I just need to think about how to talk to him about it.' Kakashi's gaze drifted to the last of the Uchiha clan. 'And maybe, just maybe, if this mission is just dangerous enough, it might be enough for Sasuke to...'

"Kakashi-sensei? What do you want us to do?" Sakura asked, breaking the jounin out of his deliberations.

"Hmm. This is a bit complicated." Kakashi rubbed his chin in thought. "How about, I call for an official vote. What do you think we should do? Sakura?" Kakashi looked at the young kunoichi.

"I... I would prefer to return to Konoha..." She said after a moment, "But I'll stick with the team, whatever you decide."

"Hmm. Sasuke?" Kakashi looked at the expressionless boy.

"I say we continue." Sasuke stated firmly.

"Ok. And Naruto?" Kakashi asked the third genin.

"I say..." Naruto paused, still looking Tazuna in the eye, "That we do the right thing."

'A most interesting answer. Especially for a ninja.' Kakashi mused, then nodded. "Alright then. For now, we will continue on. We should pick up the pace a bit however," Kakashi motioned to Tazuna, "I want to reach the coast no later than nightfall of the day after tomorrow. I can carry you a part of the way if need be." Kakashi turned to the enemy ninja, narrowing his eye at the one still conscious, who had been watching and listening. "I just need to deal with these two. You guys go on, and I'll catch up in a minute."

"Oi!" Naruto spoke up, "I got first dibs on their equipment!" He grinned.

"Fine. I'll pack up anything intact for you." Kakashi replied. Sakura huffed as she rolled her eyes, as Sasuke grunted slightly, upset he hadn't said anything first.

Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke and Tazuna walked quickly down the road. Just as they were barely out of sight, Kakashi approached the enemy ninja, drawing a kunai...
________________________

In the middle of woods. In a large, heavily fortified structure suspended between the trunks like a glorified tree house, two groups were having a meeting.

In the room, a tall man with a half-bandaged face lounged on a large sofa, his Hitai-ate turned slightly sideways on his head. To his left, three of his subordinates knelt, awaiting instructions, should they be needed. Standing across from the tall man, was a much shorter man in a suit, and his one subordinate.

"What!? You're telling me you failed!?" The short man yelled with outrage. "I paid a lot of money to hire your group! I thought you were supposed to be some hot-shot former ninja assassins!"

"... Stop your whining..." The tall man growled, picking up an enormous sword by his side. In a blur, he whipped it around to point it at the short man, the tip of the sword only scant inches from his throat, even though he stood over nine feet from his associate. "The next time, I'll go myself, and kill the target with this... The Head-Cleaver. It will be the last thing he ever sees..."

"W-well," The short man gulped nervously, not having enough men with him to defend him if his associate got nasty, "Are you sure about that? It seems the target has a high level ninja guarding him, and now that the Akuma Brothers have failed, they'll be on their guard for another attack. It will take some extreme skills..."

"Just who do you think you're dealing with?" The tall man growled again, never once lowering his massive sword. "I am Zabuza Momochi, the demon of the bloody mist."
___________________________

Team seven had rushed for the remainder of the day, and now with it getting dark, they stopped to make camp.

"Good work, people." Kakashi nodded to everyone. "But we still have a ways to go yet before we reach the coast. So rest up. Oh, and here's the stuff you 'dibbed', Naruto." He tossed a scroll to the boy.

"Great. I'm bushed." Naruto caught and pocketed the scroll as he yawned. He wandered over to a giant tree, and plopped down in a nook between roots, not even bothering to remove his backpack as he just sat there with his head drooped, seemingly asleep within seconds.

Sasuke didn't say a word as he unrolled his thin bedroll and lay down, with his back to the rest of the group. Tazuna spread out his own and lay down with a thin blanket from his backpack. Giving an acknowledging nod to Kakashi, he lay back, placing his hat on his face as he settled.

Kakashi was sitting on a rock as Sakura moved over and paced her sleeping spot next to him. She sat down but didn't move to go to sleep. After a few minutes of silence as she looked at the other guys to make sure they were asleep, she turned to look up at Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei, I want to ask you something." Sakura spoke as quietly as she could, effectively whispering.

Given the obvious fact that she didn't want to talk in front of the others, hence why she waited for them to got to sleep, Kakashi turned to speak to her quietly.

"Hmm? And what would that be? Still have some concerns about the mission?" Kakashi whispered back.

"No... Not really." She shook her head. "Actually, it's about Naruto."

"Oh? Feeling a little bashful around him now, are we?" Kakashi eye-smiled.

"... For the sake of the mission, I'll pretend I didn't hear that." Sakura growled low with an eye twitch. Forcing herself to take a calming breath, she tried again. "I wanted to ask you about Naruto's healing ability."

Although he showed no outward reaction, on the inside, Kakashi's senses went into high alert.

"What about it?" He asked casually, but was worried. 'He obviously couldn't know, but I should have warned him not to let that be seen after the bell test. A little late to fix it now.' He admonished himself.

"Well... I'm more than a little curious about it. I never knew he had it while we were in the academy. After the bell test, and in these past weeks, I've tried to ask him about it, but he acts like it's taboo to mention it." Sakura said with all seriousness.

"If that's the case, he must have his reasons. I don't believe his ability can apply to anyone else. And to tell the truth, I have no idea how it works." Kakashi stated, and it was, in fact, the truth. Sure, he suspected why Naruto had the healing power, from the power of the Kyuubi, but he honestly didn't know how it worked in healing him.

"Oh." Sakura looked a little disappointed at the lack of information. "I had asked Iruka-sensei about it once, and he said it was a difficult personal issue for Naruto."

"He said that?" Kakashi raised his eyebrow in mild surprise that the chunin would even say that much about the matter.

"... Does it have something to do with why adults seem so tense around Naruto?" Sakura asked, and now Kakashi did tense up.

"What do you mean?" Kakashi asked cautiously.

"I know Naruto has a loud mouth, and that it gets him into trouble a lot. And if it were just that, I wouldn't really have noticed. But ever since we became a team, my mom has been really... disagreeable, whenever I mention Naruto's name. She keeps telling me that he's dangerous, and that I should never let myself be alone with him. Not that I would do something like that anyway..." Sakura paused with that last statement with a hint of annoyance before continuing. "But every time I try to ask her why she says those things, she refuses to say, and only seems to get angrier about it."

"Does Naruto seem dangerous to you?" Kakashi asked, making a mental note to have a... chat, with Mebuki Haruno when he returned to the village.

Sakura paused, looking over at the sleeping blonde. She thought about how he had crushed the enemy ninja's arm, and how he had reacted that morning of the bell test...

"Well of course he's dangerous, he's a ninja." Sakura said, though unconsciously bringing a hand up to her throat. "But I've never seen him act in any way that would indicate that he would purposely hurt me, I-I mean, any of us." Sakura stuttered slightly to correct herself.

"Then you shouldn't worry." Kakashi eye-smiled again, pleased with her response. "But as for his healing ability, sorry, but you'll have to ask him. That is, if he even knows anything about it himself. It seems more like an automatic thing. He might not have any control over it, and he might be a little embarrassed to admit it."

"But it's such an amazing power!" Sakura whispered fiercely. "Don't you think you should talk to him about it? To be able to heal that way would be a boon for any ninja, and he... Well, like I said, he act's almost taboo about it. Even if it can't be used to help the rest of us, that's no reason why he shouldn't try to develop it as much as he can."

"Perhaps your right." Kakashi shrugged. "But it's late. It can wait for another time, preferably when we're not in the middle of a potentially serious mission." He eyesmiled as Sakura pinked slightly from the embarrassment of the obvious. "Get some sleep. We'll be moving quickly again tomorrow."

"Good night, Sensei." Sakura said as she laid down facing away from him.

Kakashi looked over the group once before turning his attention to the surroundings for watch duty. But didn't stop thinking about the events of the day.

'I hope this was a first time/one time thing for Naruto.' He thought. 'I might have to tell him to keep his healing power better concealed, but that's not really something that could cause trouble if he doesn't, so that's not much of an issue. The real issue is his vicious response to the attack. I'll have to keep watch to see if he shows any other similar reactions. He was a bit on the quiet side the remainder of the day after we left the ninja.' Kakashi's brow tensed a bit. 'When I get to the point of talking to him about his behavior, I'll have to be careful. He's obviously smarter than he usually lets on. I wouldn't want him to get any more bad impressions of me.' He thought about the group in general. 'It seems Sakura is trying to understand Naruto better, and of course he has considerable patience for her occasional outbursts. But it seems that there's still some bad tension between Naruto and Sasuke. Unfortunately, Sasuke is progressing much slower in acclimating to the team, with him and Naruto always butting heads. Naruto seems to try to tolerate him, but there's always some underlying distrust that is coming from somewhere that I can't identify.' Kakashi sighed. 'Well, I knew this was going to be hard when I asked to be their squad sensei.' He looked down at the motionless form of Sakura. 'And I'll have to remember to talk to Mebuki-san when we get back, and keep an ear open if she tells Sakura something she shouldn't.' Kakashi looked up at the stars. 'With her mother like that, I wonder what Sakura really thinks of Naruto at this point?' He mused to himself

Kakashi didn't know that Sakura had yet to fall asleep. She had been staring over at Naruto, thinking of same.

'I guess he's getting easier to be around.' She was thinking. 'And it seems he gets smarter with each passing week. That lecture on elemental properties was... Well, it was so strange to here him talk that way.' Sakura's thoughts turned to the attack. 'It was our first real battle. I don't know if I reacted the right way. But Sasuke-kun and Naruto went at it like they were used to it. Even if Naruto took a moment to get himself into it. So what if he had a moment of hesitation? I was scared too. And Naruto's strength...' The mental image of the screaming ninja with the broken and crushed arm popped across her thoughts. 'That was a little intense. I felt is chakra spike, like it did during the day of the bell test. I'd hate to be on the receiving end of that. Yet another reason I need to keep working on my temper around him. If I ever got him mad enough... It's obvious he has more chakra than I do...' Sakura peered over at Naruto who was slumped against the tree. Her eye's widened when she noticed a slight sparkle in the dark as the moonlight reflected on something on Naruto's down-turned face. 'He's... He's crying again...' Sakura realized in uncomfortable shock. 'How many times does this make? How can he be so optimistic and energetic all the time if he has nightmares every night? I don't think I could endure that. Part of me wants to know what he's dreaming about... and the other part of me is scared to find out.' Sakura finally closed her eyes as one last thought drifted through her head. 'I wonder if mom would still think he's so dangerous if she saw him like this...'
________________________

Within Naruto, in the mystic domain of the mental representation of the seal, Kyaena had been very preoccupied.

Having spent the day going over the event several times, Naruto had shown that he really didn't know if something had been out of place. To him, the ninja's had attacked Kakashi, then came after him, and he had attacked back. But he trusted Kyaena's word, and so had been thinking over events repeatedly to try to remember anything else, with no real results.

Kyaena was not satisfied with this, and was extremely worried. She had something she wanted to check, but had to wait.

Kyaena sat at the bars to the seal, looking out into the great hall. Naruto's mind was his castle, and all things were represented as such. All throughout the stone halls were the rooms that all held memories or different properties of his mind. But the seal was the center room, the main hall. Kyaena's cage was barely that, with the giant bars of the seal being the only out-of-place factor. Her 'cell' was full of fantastic pillows and comforts of sorts that made it more than easy to relax in. The hall beyond it had all the symbolic furnishings of a great lord's home. At this point, there was still only one main door to enter or exit the room, but there were windows up on the walls, that did not include the cage, that allowed light/darkness to show through to represent Naruto's awareness of the time of day. There were many large bookshelves with some of the knowledge and memories that he had accumulated. There were tapestries, upon which were written/depicted Naruto's primary beliefs and goals. There were a few tables/desks that he used for studying when he had his lessons from Kyaena, upon which were trinkets, scrolls and other items of use. A few chairs were around too, of course, with one grand plush chair in front of the cage. No, not a throne, despite Kyaena's attempts to insist that Naruto make it so, but just one of elegant comfort for Naruto to sit. And in the center of the room, the key object of all, was a giant circular and solid-based conference-like table, whose surface was pure polished crystal. It was a means for Naruto or Kyaena to utilize/visualize his thoughts, memories, senses, and even imagination in either a mirror portal view, or fully 3D projection style. This was what Kyaena had been watching for several minutes, waiting.

At last the light of the table crystal faded to blank nothingness, indicating that Naruto had fallen into his dreamless sleep. Slowly and carefully, Kyaena allowed two streams of her red chakra to reach through the bars of the cage over to one of the largest bookcases. The chakra formed into two large hands, delicately pulling the shelves in their entirety away from the wall. Behind the bookcase was another tapestry, but it was more like a piece of the night sky, with silvery specs that one could think of as stars. The chakra hands lifted the tapestry out of the way to reveal a door. A door that Naruto had no conscious knowledge of. One that Kyaena had kept secret from him. And it was no ordinary door. It was not wood, but rather a dark heavy metal. It was partly corroded and rusted. But still solid, with no gaps around the edges. It had no handle or knob. It had no keyhole. There was only one symbol etched into it's surface. A symbol that glowed red. A symbol that Kyaena had placed there. A symbol, that in the written language of the kitsune, meant: forgotten.

Kyaena meticulously examined the door, checking every inch of the surface and edges for damage. Cracks, dents, anything. But there was nothing.

Giving a sigh of relief, Kyaena let the tapestry fall back into place, and quietly pushed the bookshelves back into position as well.

'So, at least what happened today had nothing to do with THAT, thank blessed Arceus.' Kyaena shifted away from the bars as she drew her chakra back into herself. 'But I must find out what happened today.' She cuddled up with some pillows. 'Anything that can interfere with my connection to Naru-kun must NOT be tolerated!' She laid her head down as a tail brought a little Naruto plushy up to her. 'I thought he would be able to handle true combat with ease. But if there's some factor that I've overlooked... I won't let him die... Never...'

Kyaena slept, but did not rest.

_______________________
   END OF CHAPTER   

Author's Notes:

My writing has been delayed due to an immediate family member discovering they have a serious (potentially fatal) medical condition.

Having given it some thought, I decided to go with this, the beginning of the Wave Arc. The fist time gap was not that significant. However, there will be extra material that I add to the end of this arc, between it and the chunin exams.

Since I decided how to run the chapters, that poll was ended, and the kunoichi identity poll has resumed.

I'm afraid I can't really explain too much about this chapter, because there are numerous things that I don't want to give away. I think it will be better if you readers examine it yourselves. The only thing I think is safe to mention, is to take note of Sakura's improving attitude about Naruto. It will be affected by this, the Wave Arc. Especially by the end of the arc.

As for the rest, you'll just have to give me your impressions about this chapter. But explanations will only come in time.

To the next batch of reviews:

JadeJin-Obi1: I thought Obi-wan was human, and Yoda was the alien. It was Obi that said the quote, wasn't it?

Ksai: Sorry that things seem a little on the extreme side. I was under the impression that Sasuke was even more isolated in my story timeline than in canon, thereby making him a little nastier. As for Kakashi, he's more complicated, and his attitude will shift a number of times. Plus I think he's a very misunderstood person. And as for the 'baka' count, I don't need to, because people are idiots a lot of the time. I'm just pointing it out. (grins)

Fritter: I don't think that taking my time to build up the plot is all that bad. I assure you, when the chunin exams get rolling, things will start changing more drastically. And believe me, the Wave arc is important to my story. The explanation of why will come at the end of the arc.

hamenpt: The issue of Naruto trusting Kakashi is half dealt with in this chapter, but the actual reason will be said in the next chapter in the way of a Kakashi's Flashback.

Dragon Man 180: Why, thank you very much for that opinion of Kyaena. Unfortunately, there will be a lot of trouble for their life before they are able to really find happiness. You have a long wait, sadly. (cries)

nim istar: Maybe, maybe not. You'll have to wait until Naruto's next birthday to know for sure. And as for Naruto's mental condition... It's harsh. And will get worse.

Thozmp Corris: The parents thing is complicated and delicate. I will be touching on it again and again throughout the story. And the chapter/arc thing, well, here it is. Just like you thought! (grins)

Keigai O Yain: You seem pretty sure of yourself in the kunoichi's identity. It could have just been a regular toothpick, you know. Or maybe I was being 'obvious' to throw you off? Think about it. (snickers)

DrejoCadal: Hmm. Again, another one that is so confident with the kunoichi identity. And who says Anko is the only one with a bad past? How much background do you know about the other women in the series? I know very little. Maybe I decided to add some background to an existing character. Ever consider that? I did. (laughs)

RPFarseer: Yes, the part of Hinata angry at Iruka was a personal favorite of mine as well. I'm a little surprised that so few people commented on that. And don't jump to conclusions about the kunoichi. Just a warning. (shrugs)

Hongthay: Yes, the element test was something I had considered before. EVERYONE knows that wind is Naruto's primary element. But even when people write stories that say 'his element is stronger than others', they still keep the test that it just splits in half. I say, it should react in a way that reflects not only if they have an element, but how strong it is. Like if it's a weak fire element, the paper just singes or smokes a bit. Or a really strong earth element has the paper literally petrify into stone instead of crumbling to dust. So that was my take on his wind element strength. But there's more to it than that, and will be revealed in time.

DaxLP: Sorry, you'll just have to keep waiting on the identity. Like everyone else. (gives thumbs-up)

Cervani: I would have neutered myself if I hadn't fixed the kiss scene. It was mandatory as far as I'm concerned. But pairings are not definite. It takes time.

roxxihearts: No, I've never seen one of those commercials. But I understand your meaning. But as far as Sasuke is concerned... What's an 'arsehat'?

Thanks to all those who read, extra thanks to those that review, and royal thanks to those that enjoy.

Thank you all for your attention, time, and most of all, patience!

...I wonder if I'll top 300 reviews with this chapter?

This chapter edited:

5-21-2013

REDD: That puddle scene tho <3 lol

Edited:

6-8-2017