First Mission

Our escort team slowly makes their way through the Land of Fire, and toward the border leading to the Land of Birds. After a couple hours of travel, they cross the border into the Land of Birds...to get ambushed about 10 minutes later by 3 rogue ninja from the Land of Sound. It seems that they're here for Inari, as, who appears to be their leader, begins speaking.

"Alright. Hand him over, and no one gets hurt...except him, that is..."

The man chuckles a few times after his previous statement.

Namaru slowly walks forward to the front of the group before speaking, himself.

"And what, exactly, makes you delusional thugs think we're just gonna do that? If you want him, so bad..."

Namaru takes a fighting stance before continuing.

"...you're gonna have to go through me to get him."

The 3 opponents exchange glances between each other, then begin busting up laughing, as one of them speaks.

"Alright, kid. Let's do this. Us versus you. 3 on 1. A Genin should be easy to beat."

Namaru smirks as the trio all rush at him at once. Namaru closes his eyes, then opens then up again to reveal his 3-Tomoe Sharingan. He immdiately traps them all in a Genjutsu...or so he though. Two of them collapse, but their leader continues attacking. He takes a swing with his sword, which Namaru easily substitutes out of before appearing behind the attacker, and the two begin exchanging blows. Namaru can hear Shikadai screaming.

"Retreat, Namaru. He might be a Jonin, if he countered your Genjutsu."

Namaru, reluctantly, falls back and meets up with the rest of his team, right before releasing a Hidden Mist Jutsu. His opponent quickly uses Wind Style: Breakthrough to disperse the Mist, but the entire group was aready gone. Next thing the enemy knows, he can't move, as Shikadai has him in a Shadow Possession Jutsu. Chino and Daichi jump out from the sides for a pincer attack, but fail, as he breaks free from shadow possession, just to get immediately trapped in another stun move. He hears a voice behind him.

"Wood Style: Silent Strangle Jutsu."

He turns around to find Namaru is casting the jutsu. With fear-filled eyes, he questions the possibility of Namaru's actions.

"No way. You're not half Senju, are you?"

Namaru chuckles with a response.

"You can cut the crap. I know it's you."

Namaru's opponent smirks, then quickly transforms back into his natural self, Namaru's mother, Sarada Uchiha, she looks impressed as Namaru releases the jutsu.

"What led you on to believe it was me?"

Namaru simply shakes his head as he answers the question.

"You could have at least ACTED like you were trapped in a Genjutsu. I had my suspicions, so I used a Genjutsu only a Sharingan could counter. That's how I knew. You were able to briefly flicker your Sharingan on and off, hoping I wouldn't notice, and countered the Genjutsu. You acted well, but quickly gave yourself away. Not something I would expect of the next Hokage. Speaking of which, why don't you head back to the village? You have an upcoming ceremony."

Sarada chuckles and is about to leave before Namaru stops her one last time.

"Wait."

Sarada turns around to look at Namaru with a response.

"What's up?"

Namaru, who had previously had his head hung, looks up to meet Sarada's gaze.

"What REALLY happened to Osawa? What's the actual reason he wasn't at the team assigning?"

Sarada smirks, realizing her son was a lot smarter than she had previously believed. However, she still sighs before taking both Namaru and Chino further into the woods to, privately, explain the situation.

"Osawa was chosen, by myself, to be a member of the Anbu Black Ops, so that's exacty where he is."

Chino is the first to speak up.

"Well, what about the two of us? We're far more skilled than Osawa."

Sarada chuckles as she begins to respond.

"I knew you were going to ask why you were weren't chosen, so I'll tell you this: While you two are both more skilled than himself, your abilities would stand out too much in the Anbu. Enemies would know who you are immediately. His abilities, however, are somewhat common, and could easily be mistaken for someone else's. Plus, he's incredibly stealthy. While I was able to read the two of you like a book, he was able to sneak up on me and nearly get the bell. The Anbu are about many different things, but two of them are keeping their identities hidden, and not being detected. One of those, you both lack, and the other would just be far too difficult for you to do. He has had his living quarters moved, and he has been given a codename; one that I'm not about to give out. If I told you, I would have to kill you."

Namaru mutters to himself under his breath.

'You mean try to kill me.'

Sarada seems to have heard him as she responds.

"I'm much stronger and smarter than you would think, Namaru."

Namaru looks at her, seeming somewhat surprised, but not too surprised. He keeps underestimating his mother. Sarada continues.

"Anyway. Now that you have your answer, let's go meet up with the rest of your squad, and I'm gonna head back to the village. I have an upcoming ceremony."

Sarada escorts the 2 out of the deep woods, and back to Shikadai and Daichi, before beginning to speak.

"You can all head back to the village now. I'll meet you there."

She turns to leave, and Chino stops her.

"But what about our mission? We still have to get Inari to his destination."

Inari, himself, jumps in.

"No, you don't."

Inari, just like Sarada, transforms back into his actual self...Inaga.

"I was told, by Lord 7th, to disguise myself as Inari. She showed me a photo of just, exactly, who that is, and voila. I have to say, Namaru, you're progressing well...and quickly. Just a few more years, and you'll be ready for the Chunin exams. You're sure to win."

Chino butts in with a cocky remark.

"I'm not so sure about that."

Inaga narrows his eyes as he stares down Chino as he replies.

"Trust me kid. Namaru is, most likely, aready at Chunin level, possibly low-tier Jonin. He would destroy you."

Namaru decides to butt in, himself.

"Everyone hold up. So, this was all a test?"

Inaga simply nods with a smirk before Sarada adds her own input.

"I wanted to see just how far you have come. I did the same thing to Inaga when he became a Genin. It's very clear, as Inaga said, that you have come very far. To be fair, though, remember who your trainer was. I dare say you really are ready for the Chunin exams if you want to enter early."

Namaru simply shakes his head before responding.

"You should know as well as I do, that the Chunin exams must be taken as a squad. Myself and Chino could be ready, but Daichi is far from it. I have no doubt that he could prove to be a valuable asset, but he will need a lot more training, as well as myself and Chino. The competition could prove to be fierce this year. You never know how skilled the other Genin in the other villages could be. There's no need to take the chance of being under trained, and getting beaten in the preliminaries or the finals. Don't forget Gaara's son, Shinki, has a kid who is entering as well. If he's anything like his father, from what you've told me of Shinki, he will be a force to be reckoned with. None of us are even going to think about taking that exam early, nor will we."

Sarada and Shikadai, both, are impressed by what just left Namaru's mouth. There is a pause before Sarada begins speaking again.

"That was spoken like a true leader. On that note, I will leave you all to your own devices. I have a ceremony tomorrow, and I'm going to need to be prepared. Come along Inaga..."

Sarada looks down at the fallen ninja.

"...and get those two while you're at it, would you?"

Inaga nods, and picks up the other two ninja, before quickly following Sarada back to the village. Namaru turns to Shikadai before questioning.

"So, what now, Sensei?"

Shikadai simply stands there for a short moment, staring off into space, before responding.

"Well. For starters, I'm exhausted. We travelled longer than I would've liked in two hours, since you 3 didn't want to stop. Let's rest for a bit before we head home."

The 3 Genin nod, and they, along with Shikadai, set up camp for quite a few hours. Later on, into the evening, team 8 gathers their things, and follow suit. Within a couple hours, everyone is back to the village, safely, and it is late. Team 8 splits up, and they all go to their respective houses, preparing for what's in store the next day, and in the next chapter, starting with the inauguration of the 8th Hokage, Sarada Uchiha.