"Stay low, move fast. Kill first, die last. One shot, one kill. No luck, pure skill."
- Anonymous
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"Hokage-sama," Kakashi said. "I have a request for my team."
The elderly man looked up from under his wide-brimmed hat, eyes calculating. He did have an idea on what it would be, but he wanted to hear it from the jonin himself. "Go on."
"Their first kill." Kakashi continued quietly. "Just a mission for their first kill."
Hiruzen Sarutobi would deny forever, but he choked on his pipe and it fell out of his mouth. The corners of Kakashi's lips twitched as the Hokage fumbled for his pipe, managing to catch it before it hit the ground.
"First kill?" Hiruzen's voice was higher than it's usual pitch. Clearing his throat, the Hokage eyed his right-handed man with uncertainty. "Are you sure?"
Kakashi nodded. "Yes. They need to learn. From our last D-rank missions, there was no whatsoever killing involved. But with the C-rank-turned-A-rank mission to the Land of The Waves which was two weeks ago, they need to be more prepared for death."
"I trust you, Kakashi. I really do." Hiruzen rubbed his temples. "So I will allow you on a B-rank. Just...I hope you know what you're doing."
"Arigato." Kakashi bowed, before accepting the mission scroll and was about to leave to tell his genin about their next mission when Hiruzen called out his name.
"Don't push them too hard, Kakashi."
"I won't."
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"When do we arrive?" Sasuke asked, following his sensei and teammates as the four of them flew from tree to tree, in the direction of the Waterfall country.
Sakura pointed out in the distance. "We already have. See?"
Naruto suddenly flashed a hand sign, and all of the shinobi were alert. Kakashi was proud that Naruto had sensed the enemy ninja, but he was concerned as to which shinobi they were. Training with ninken made Kakashi's senses sharper, and his sense of smell could rival a dog's, and so he sniffed the air discreetly.
Naruto's hands continued to move as the boy sensed the chakra nearby. Seven enemy ninja, heading their way. Five chunin level. Two jonin level. Approximate ten minutes before arrival.
Kakashi's sense of smell also picked up on a rather distinct smell of...acid? Ah. Must be Otogakure ninja. The newest ninja village always smelt like acid.
The jonin made a hand symbol for Otogakure and all of his students nodded subtly to show they got the message. Naruto's mind was whirling, and Kakashi wondered how on earth the Academy teachers were so dense to think that Naruto was dumb. He was one of the brightest strategists out there!
After communicating via hand signals, the plan was set into motion.
"Maaaaa, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto said obnoxiously, and Kakashi's left eye twitched at his childish tone. Thank Kami that he had trained Naruto to act like a shinobi.
Kakashi sighed. "Yes?"
"Let's go faster! I'm sooooooooooo tired!" Naruto drawled. "And I don't want to run next to this baka!"
Sasuke looked genuinely offended. "That's the insult you come up with?"
Kakashi had to stifle a laugh. Of course, that's what Sasuke was offended about. Naruto narrowed his eyes and his hands flashed another sign; five minutes before arrival.
"Shut up, you dobe!" Naruto returned into his character.
Sasuke smirked, very like the boy he graduated as from the Academy. "Make me, usuratonkachi."
Three minutes before arrival.
"Oi, you-"
"Naruto, stop it."
Two minutes before arrival.
"Hai, sensei."
"Don't make faces behind my back, Naruto."
"How did you see?! Sensei!"
One minutes before arrival.
"I'm all-knowing, you see?"
Just as Kakashi was doing his jazz hands while leaping backwards, seven ninjas appeared around the genin team, closing in around them.
Kakashi sharp eyes picked up on something. The scroll they were meant to retrieve for the mission. It was with a jonin ninja.
"Take care of the chunins," Kakashi commanded. "I'll take care of the jonins."
"Hai!" Team 7 replied, and Naruto instantly summoned ten clones to help within the battle. Sasuke and Naruto wasted no time in combining their attack together, while also covering for Sakura, who slipped behind trees and lay traps.
"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)!" Sasuke summoned his chakra, before letting out a huge ball of fire.
Naruto grinned. "Boufuu Kyouzuu no Jutsu (Gale Surge)."
A gust of wind added to the fire, fueling the huge missile and making it already bigger than it was. Two chunin was trapped behind it, and start to run back to avoid the huge flaming weapon.
"Doton: Gou no Doro (Earth Release: Mud Moat)!" Sakura orders, slamming her hands onto the ground. The ground underneath the Oto chunin turned into mud, making it very hard to walk on it. Not even the water walking technique using chakra would work, because of its mud nature.
"Whoo-hoo!" Naruto pumped his fist into the air. "Two down, three to go!"
A chunin had snuck up on Sasuke, deeming the Uchiha the biggest threat. Sasuke, who was too hooked up on his huge fireball success, didn't see the danger until he felt the cool metal of a kunai against his neck.
"Surrender." A raspy male voice commanded.
Sasuke scowls. He should've sensed the chunin, but it didn't matter. He was going to take down the ninja. "No thank you."
Flipping over the chunin with ease, the genin engaged in a battle of taijutsu. Seeing as the Oto-nin had an advantage over him with extra experience, Sasuke opened his trump card, and his onyx eyes morphed into a ruby red.
"Sharigan." The Otogakure ninja gulped but increased his speed in attacks. Maybe he could be too fast for the genin -
Wishful thinking. Really. Sasuke had embedded a shuriken in the Oto-nin's stomach when he saw his chance. But his opponent didn't stop. Continuing to roundhouse kick and throw punches, Sasuke had to do something to stop his opponent.
What did he do?
Slice the Oto-nin's throat of course.
While the events of what Sasuke had done caught up to the young Konoha-nin, Naruto was having the same dilemma. There was a talented genjutsu user targeting the Jinchuriki, obviously because Naruto's ninjutsu couldn't be rivalled with the shadow clone technique in Uzumaki's arsenal.
"Kai!" Naruto called out for the seventh time, cursing himself on how he could fall into a genjutsu so easily.
[Kurama, I need your help.]
The fox yawned and stretched inside the mindscape. [Hit me with your worst, Kit.]
[Where is the goddamn genjutsu user?]
[Four o'clock. Seems like a girl.]
[Thanks.]
[A word of advice? These people are Oto-nin. Last time I heard, they were run by Orochimaru. Anything related to Orochimaru spells 'danger'. Get rid of her.]
[Like...kill her?]
[Your choice, Kit.]
Thinking over his choices, Naruto had to deal with the girl quickly. She was depleting her chakra pretty quickly and the way she stood so shakily; she wasn't big on taijutsu.
Knock her out...knock her out...
But when the Oto-nin lashed out, Naruto acted on instinct and spun his own kunai in his hand, deflecting the shuriken and it turned in a one-eighty degree spin, nailing itself back at the Otogakure ninja.
The shuriken landed in her forehead, killing the girl instantly.
"AHHHH!" Sakura's shriek broke into both boys' thoughts and they snapped their necks towards the last member of Team 7, to see the girl summon a Jutsu in self-defence.
"Iwa Toge Fushido no Jutsu (Rock Thorn Bed Jutsu)!"
Spikes of stone shot up from the ground and pierced the last chunin through the chest, making the Oto-nin scream out in pain before cutting off abruptly.
"I...killed him." Sakura was pale.
Team 7 stood together, the scenes from earlier replaying over and over again in their heads. This was definitely a moment to remember.
Kakashi stood up in the trees, blood on his hands. He had used Chidori four times today, and he was tired. But he kept an eye on his genin as they comforted each out, though in silence, and he played with the scroll they had to retrieve.
Mission complete. Retrieve the scroll.
Actual mission complete. Let them have their first kill.
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Author's Note
Whoo-hoo! Chappy 'leven! YAY! Onto the Chunin exam arc now...this is exciting!
Please vote and comment!
~ Magica2007