Mission To Wave Pt. 2

Team seven- along with naruto- were walking down the dirt path that lead towards wave. Sakura and sasuke were walking in front of everyone with tazuna following behind them, behind tazuna was kakashi- who was reading his icha icha book with a lazy look in his exposed eye. Naruto was walking next to the silver haired jonin and was writing something down on a scroll, he had a focused look in his ringed eyes as his hand seemingly glided the brush across the paper.

Sakura had to admit, it was pretty awesome to be outside of konoha for the first time. Granted she was still pretty nervous about this whole mission but she chalked it up to it being her first time being so far from her beloved home.

Sasuke was indifferent. Yeah it was pretty cool to finally be outside of the village but it was also not what he expected. So far they hadnt fought anyone and that annoyed him. He wanted to fight a strong opponent in order to test himself. He knew that he had no chance against someone that was on kakashis or – as much as he didn't wanna admit it- narutos level. But he also believed that he could at least take down someone that was mid-chunnin.

He and sakura were broken from their thoughts as naruto clapped his hands." Alright, finally done!" The blond stated with an eye-smile as he held up a rolled up scroll. Kakashi looked at the scroll curiously.

"What is it?" He wondered, unknowably asking the question that was on everyone else's minds. 

Naruto nodded towards the scroll." I wrote down the water style training instructions." He replied." They're gonna help my beautiful hime-chan complete her affinity training." He explained passionately. He lazily snapped his fingers and much to the shock of two genin and one civilian, a large orange fox popped out of the ground and landed next to naruto.

The blond handed the scroll to the fox. Said fox grabbed it with his mouth before looking up at the blond." Take it to hime-chan, tell her I wanna see how far she comes when I get back to the village, oh and if she needs help tell her to ask nai-chan." The fox nodded it head before it turned around and dashed off towards konoha.

The group watched the fox run off until it was a small orange dot of in the distance. Finally sakura – after reigning in her own surprise, despite seeing him do that on multiple occasions- pointed at the blond." How do you do that?" She asked with narrowed, curious eyes.

Naruto looked at her as the group began walking once more." Im able to call upon foxes because inari-sama loves me." He told her proudly, even though that was a complete lie. It was a fairly simple trick. Hed summon clones in the earth that would turn into foxes and fallow him around via hiding like a mole jutsu. It made for a great surprise in battle as the clones would pop out of the ground whenever he needed them to.

"Inari-sama?" Sakura asked in confusion. Sasuke looked curious as well while tazuna looked confused.

"How do you know my grandson?" The bridge builder asked with narrowed eyes.

Naruto snorted." As to be expected from heretics like yourselves." The blond stated in a haughty tone, making kakashi snort." Inari-sama in the god of foxes, rice, sake, and-" he paused, turning towards sakura and began wiggling his eyebrows."-sex. Maybe if you prayed to him youd have a chance to bed sasuke-chan there." He teased the girl.

Sakuras face turned dark red in both anger and embarrassment." STOP BEING A PERVERT YOU IDIOT!" She roared as she punched naruto in the head, or at least she tried too. Naruto ducked under the punch and poked her in the back of the head.

"Ma ma sakura-chan. Stop getting so angry." He waved her off as she turned to look at him with a tick mark on her forehead." We are shinobi, you shouldn't get so embarrassed about sex." He told her.

Sakura puffed her red cheeks out." Sh-shut up naruto!" She cried out in embarrassment. Said blond just chuckled in amusement as they kept walking.

Tazuna looked from the two kids to kakashi with suspicious eyes." Are you sure they're ninja?" He asked skeptically.

Kakashi raised his eye from his book and looked at the man." Yes. Sakura may be fresh out of the academy but naruto- despite his age- is already a jonin, an elite jonin like me." Kakashi answered calmly in hopes of quelling the mans fears. Though it did raise another question. Why was this man so worried if all they might have to deal with are bandits? 

The group continued on their journey for a few more hours, idly chatting here an there. Nothing seemed interesting until the team began to walk towards a seemingly normal puddle that was lying on the side of the dirt road.

Sasuke, sakura and tazuna didn't pay any mind to it. But naruto and kakashi picked up on it almost instantly. The two looked at one another and kakashi began tapping the cover of his book which naruto easily picked up on.

It was a form of communication they had been taught in anbu. Morse code was its name. To everyone else it just sounded like tapping, but to naruto it was a full sentence.

'Let the kids deal with it, only step in if needed.' Was what the older jonin was telling the blond. Naruto blinked twice as a way to confirm the order.

Just as they passed the puddle, two figured burst forth from said puddle and wrapped some sort of spiked chain around kakashi and pulled, cutting the silver haired jonin in half.

Sakura screamed out in shock." Kakashi-sensei!" She watched with horrified eyes as her sensei was cut in half.

Two men stood next to one another. Both wore a brown and grey cameo shirt and pants though the one on the right had a black cloak over his clothes. They both had long spiky black hair and both had masks covering the bottom half of their faces.

They both had a metal gauntlet over their right/left arm that had a spiked chain connecting the two together, and naruto could see the poison that dripped from the bladed fingers on their gauntlets. 

Naruto knew who these two were and wasn't impressed. The one wearing the cloak was gozu and the one without the cloak was meizu. They were missing nins from the mist village and were chunnin when they defected.

"One down-" meizu began.

"-Three more konoha scum to go" gozu finished as he flexed his claw like gauntlet.

Naruto looked back at the two genin and saw that sasuke had a smirk on his face while sakura looked pale and scared. " kill them." Naruto ordered, gone was his friendly warm tone and in its place was a cold, gruff voice.

Sakura stared at the blond in shock." W-what?" She stuttered out.

Naruto gave her a nod." I said kill them sakura. Now." He ordered.

"Oh that's cute." Meizu interrupted with an amused chuckled." The little blond brat thinks his two teammates can kill us. Isnt that funny brother?" He looked at gozu.

Said brother chuckled with a nod." It sure is meizu, lets kill them now." He stated.

Naruto appeared in front of tazuna and motioned towards the two enemy nin." Any time now guys." He stated in a lazy tone.

Sasuke grinned in anticipation as he pulled out a kunai." Gladly!" And charged forward, throwing his kunai at the bladed chain which pinned it to the ground.

"Shit!" Meizu growled. The two released the chain and let it fall to the ground just in time for gozu to block a punch from the uchiha.

Sakura pulled out her own kunai and took a deep breath in order to calm herself before she charged forward. Her blade clashed with meizus gauntlet as the man deflected her attack.

Meizu swung his gauntlet toward her head but sakuras evasive training kicked in and she easily ducked under the attack and swiped the edge of her kunai against the mans ribs before jumping back.

Meizu sucked in a sharp breath as he looked at the lightly bleeding cut. It was fatal nor deep but it still stung. He glared at the pinkette with narrowed eyes." Im gonna kill you kid." He stated in such a way that made sakura nervously shuffle.

•with sasuke•

Sasuke jumped up and sent a kick towards gozus head. The man lifted his gauntlet up and blocked the hit but stumbled back as sasuke used his arm as a makeshift launch pad. The boy backflipped higher into the air as he went through and signs.

"Fire style: fireball jutsu!" Sasuke shouted out as he put his hand up to his mouth and blew out a large fireball that flew towards his enemy.

Gozu clicked his tongue in annoyance as he jumped to the side, letting the fireball fly past him and impact a tree that was behind them.

Just as Sasuke landed on the ground, gozu charged at the boy and swiped at the boys chest. The uchiha blocked the attack with his kunai- which somehow got interlocked in the mans fingers- and shoved the mans hand away while letting go of the kunai.

Sasuke quickly punched the man in the gut, getting gozu to gasp and double over the kids fist." No one can beat an uchiha except for another uchiha." Sasuke stated as he grabbed the man by the head and snapped his neck, letting the now lifeless body fall to the ground." And naruto.. and kakashi.." a sour look came to the uchihas face as he realized that a lot of people could beat an uchiha." Okay maybe you cant beat an uchiha." He said towards the dead gozu.

•with sakura•

Sakura danced around meizus attacks, which pissed the man off even more. How the hell were these genin so hard to kill? He used his gauntlet to block another kunai strike from the girl.

He growled at her." Youre getting on my nerves brat." He hissed out.

Sakura glared at the man as she was slowly pushed back." Stuff it." She replied as she suddenly pulled her kunai back, making meizu stumble forward. She kicked him in the ribs and jumped back as he gasped for air.

She went through a series of hand seals before clasping her hands together, making it look like she was praying in a way." Hidden style: sakura blossom scatter!" She called out as meizu raced forward and shoved his gauntlet into her chest.

The man watched in glee as the pinkette gagged before the life left her eyes. But he was taken back when her body dispersed into a bunch of cherry blossoms that began to swirl around him. He felt a bunch of cuts appear all over his body and growled.

"Genjutsu wont work on me little girl!" He built his chakra up before releasing it." Kai!" The numerous cherry blossoms vanished but it was to late.

"Got you!"

"What!?!" Meizu only had enough time to turn around before sakura managed to get inside of his guard and plant her kunai into the mans chest, spearing his heart.

The man stared down at the girl with a shocked look in his eyes. How? How could he- a chunnin level shinobi- be defeated by some no name konoha genin? He used the last of his strength to look towards gozu, only to see the black haired kid standing over his brothers lifeless body.

"Damn.." he muttered before his eyes closed and he slumped forward.

Sakura moved out of the way and watched with wide eyes as the mans body simply slumped to the ground. She stared at the lifeless corps and began to shake.

She had just killed someone. She felt the adrenaline leave her system and realized that she had just taken another human beings life away. Guilt began to rise in her chest as she continued to looked at the dead man.

She jumped when she felt a hand rest itself on her shoulder. She looked behind her and saw kakashi standing there, a sad look in his eye as he gazed down at her.

"S-sensei I.. i.." she choked on her own words as guilty tears began to fall from her emerald eyes.

"Shh." The jonin hugged the girl as she began to cry." Its alright sakura. I know its hard to take a life, but in our line of work it's a must." He whispered soothingly as he petted the crying girls head.

"D-does it get easier?" She asked in between her own sobs.

Kakashi stayed silent for a moment before answering." Yes." He replied." But as long as you still feel guilt every time you take a life, then youre still human." He explained.

"H-How do you d-deal with it?" She looked up at him with puffy tear filled eyes.

He patted her head." Every shinobi has their own way of dealing with it. I read my books, and naruto there-"

Here naruto spoke up as he appeared behind sakura and rubbed the girls back in a calming motion." I have taken many lives sakura-chan.." he stated sadly as the girl looked at him." And I hate killing. But even I have to do it." He gave her an eye smile." But Its thanks to my precious people that I manage to stay strong. Without you, hinata, hinabi, hitome, old man hokage and all my other loved ones, I wouldve died from the guilt a long time ago." He admitted.

Sakura started to cry harder as she began to beat on narutos chest." W-why? Why did you have me kill him?" She felt the fight leave her body as naruto wrapped her up in his arms and hugged her close, letting her rest her head on his shoulder.

"I wanted you and sasuke to get your first kills out of the way as they are always the hardest to get past." He told her softly." Let me ask you something sakura-chan. Say you were in a battle with another enemy nin and refused to kill him. What if they somehow got past you and killed sasuke or kakashi?" He asked the sniffling girl." Youd blame yourself for their deaths and the guilt would eat you alive. This way you now have the ability to go through with killing. You don't have to like killing, in fact I want you to hate killing. But at the same time I want you to be able to do what needs to be done in order to protect not only yourself but also your precious people." He explained as he rubbed the distraught girls back.

Kakashi looked away from his student and naruto and glared at the shaking tazuna. He walked forward and grabbed the scruff if the mans shirt and lifted him off his feet while glaring into the mans fear filled eyes.

"You have ten seconds to tell me why chunnin were after you. If you don't answer truthfully then I will kill you for putting my team in unnecessary danger." Kakashi stated coldly." Ten, nine-"

"O-okay! Okay ill tell you, just please let me diwn!" Tazuna cried out quickly. Once he was back on his feet he took a step back and looked at the now assembled ninja and let out a sigh.

"Im sorry for lying about the mission." The bridge builder started."but wave is under the control of gato. The man basically owns the damn country and has drained wave of its resources. Im trying to build a bridge that'll connect wave to the mainland, which gato doesn't want since itll brake his hold on the country." Tazuna ran a hand through his hair as he gave the ninja a desperate look."my people are dying from starvation. Theyre all poor and weak and it took everyones combined money to even afford a c-rank mission. You guys are my last hope. If you guys don't help then im afraid wave will be done for." He told them sadly.

"So let me get this straight." Naruto began." Gato- of gato shippings, one of the richest men in the world- is currently blockading wave while stealing its money and recourses, which is keeping everyone poor and starving?" Naruto summarized the scenario.

Tazuna nodded his head." And anyone that's tried to stand up to him have been publicly executed or just straight up killed off by his mercenaries." He added.

"And youre currently building the only thing that can break his hold on wave, which is why hes hired missing nin to deal with you." Kakashi finished as he rubbed his chin, getting a nod from the man.

Naruto sent a glance towards the dead mist ninja." Those two were meizu and gozu, better known as the demon brothers of the mist village." The blond told everyone." They assisted zabuza momochi in his attempt to kill the mizukage, which failed. They then left the mist village." His eyebrows furrowed as he continued." No doubt we'll be dealing with the demon of the mist himself if we continue." He looked to kakashi.

Kakashi let out a sigh. He was hoping for an easy c-ranked mission. Just simple guard duty, hell hed be okay with it just being a few bandits. But now theyd be facing zabuza, the demon of the mist. He was classified as a low S-ranked missing ninja that was also one of the seven swordsmen of the mist.

The jonin. Let out a sigh. Why couldn't anything ever be simple for him?

He looked at naruto and nodded." We need to play this smart naruto. I want you to clean up the mess-" naruto knew he was referring to the dead bodies behind them."- and send a message to hokage-sama to see what he wants us to do." Naruto nodded his head and went to work.

Tazuna looked at kakashi with pleading eyes." Please! My people are dying!" He exclaimed in an almost panicked tone.

Kakashi gave the man a hard stare." And im sorry about that but right now we are in no position to move forward. I know for a fact that me and naruto could deal with zabuza-" hell theyed battled S-ranked shinobi before on multiple occasions." – but you have to understand that sasuke and sakura arent anywhere near the level theyd need to be on in order to even scratch zabuza." Kakashi watched tazunas head slump." We will stay here for the night and wait for hokage-samas orders, okay?" The question was more of an order but the two genin and one civilian nodded their heads in understanding.

Naruto walked back up to the group with two rolled up scrolls in his hands." Alright, clean ups done. You want me to send the scrolls via air or land?" He asked his long time ninja partner.

" whats faster?" Kakashi asked back.

Naruto smirked under his mask." Air." He answered simply.

"Then do that."

Naruto nodded and created a clone of himself. Everyone watched as the real naruto knelt down and threw the two scrolls into the air. The clone ran forward and used narutos back as a launching pad that sent him upwards.

In mid air the clone went up in smoke before everyone heard a loud piercing cry as a large hawk flew out of the smoke cloud and grabbed the two scrolls with its talons  before flying off towards konoha.

Naruto simply stood up and dusted his hands of." Im awesome." He stated simply with a nod of his head. He faced the group and eye smiled." Well everyone, lets go set up camp!" And the blond marched off towards the thick forest.

Everyone else sweat-dropped at how cheerful the blond was.

"Are you sure hes a jonin?" Tazuna asked plainly.

"Yup." Was team sevens plain reply.