Chapter 45

It was hard trying to ignore, but Naruto had been doing a great job of it thus far ever since he had made it to one of Konoha's gates that morning and had met his longstanding running mate of a partner for the mission they had been informed about being dispatched on two days prior.

Still, counting on Shikamaru to stop trying to stare a hole into the side of his head almost the equivalent of trying to get a statue to change its expression, "Shikamaru stop looking at me like that. What's wrong with you?"

"That whole making promises thing that you do… it screwed us over again, just so you know." Shikamaru said as the two of them hung out underneath the arch of the open gate in the shade of the early morning sunlight, "How many times does that make this over the last three years? I've lost count."

Naruto's expression dropped into a frown at his best friend. Was it really such a bad thing to adhere strongly to one's word? And he was sure that Shikamaru was just exaggerating. He couldn't have done it that many times, "This shouldn't even count because it was from the mission to Nami no Kuni. That was like four years ago. We had to take a mission eventually, so why not one that helps out a friend."

Only Naruto could call someone he had waged an all-out deathmatch against a friend, just so long as he had a civil conversation with them afterwards to bury the hatchet. Of course, Shikamaru sharply remembered being put into a fake state of death by Haku so maybe he was just a bit bitter. Well what did you know? He had pride too, "It's S-rank Naruto. That's why. What kind of a chunin goes on S-rank missions?"

In return, Naruto only gave Shikamaru a chiding look and shook his head, "You're going to keep using the 'we're chunin' thing as a crutch to not take hard missions aren't you?"

"You're going to make sure we never take a C-rank mission ever again aren't you?" Answering a question with a question… classic Shikamaru.

Neither boy answered the question of the other and only sighed as that spoke volumes on what their respective answers would have been. By this point they knew each other like the backs of their hands and worked nearly flawlessly together after years of almost being killed and walking away from battle after battle. It was something they both loved and hated at the same time because both of them were stubborn as mules at their own points.

This meant that Naruto was always going to have to keep Shikamaru from trying to take the path of least resistance so that he didn't squander all of his hard-earned talent that could be used to save lives amongst other things, and Shikamaru was going to have to fight harder against or accept the fact that Naruto was not going to be content with him remaining as a middle-of-the-road ninja.

That was the thing about the dynamic of how the two of them worked; they were both reaching the top of the heap in Konoha or they were going to burn out trying, because even though it was Naruto who wanted to be Hokage he was damn sure taking his friends along for the ride.

It didn't take too much longer for Asuma to show himself, the first cigarette of the day sitting between his lips, lit and billowing smoke as he walked up to his two former students and looked them over, "Shikamaru's up this early and he isn't dozing off, yawning, or complaining? Inconceivable."

"What?"

"Nevermind…" Asuma said, patting Naruto's shoulder as he started waiting along with the two for the rest of the team, "So… how's it going being back at the homestead for the first time in years?"

A beaming smile came over Naruto's face at the thought of being back home, "It's great. I mean, I haven't seen everyone yet because so many of them are working, but so far I feel good." He then let out a sigh and shook his head, "This mission has great timing too, because I ditched Tsunade-baachan back at the capital." Shikamaru sharply inhaled through his teeth, "I know. I don't want to be here when she comes back to get me for that."

"Why didn't you tell her you were leaving to come back to Konoha?" Shikamaru asked him, wondering how something so simple could have prevented the clear and obvious bodily harm that was inevitably going to befall Naruto once the slug princess did indeed locate him. She was probably storming north from the capital as they spoke. Fleeing east was just what the doctor ordered.

"Why didn't you tell her?" Which was a roundabout way of saying that he had forgotten to do so before leaving. Who could really blame him? He was excited to return home and some things slipped his mind before leaving, "Either way I'm pretty sure she knows now. It didn't hurt anybody."

Asuma smirked and chuckled, listening to the two converse back and forth and casually bicker, "It sounds like it's going to hurt you."

The man continued to laugh until the arrival of two more of their teammates for the mission and their 'client' Haku. Seemingly coming straight from the office of one Sarutobi Hiruzen. The tan trench coat and mesh garb beneath only could have been one person, "Ooh, someone's going to get hurt and it's funny?" Anko said jokingly with a rather devious smile on her face, "Am I involved in some way?"

"Anko. How are you?" Asuma greeted, knowing by now how to ignore the woman's more eccentric personality traits. He spared a nod to the Kiri ninja Haku who bowed slightly to him in her own polite manner as she was back in full hunter-nin garb for her departure from Konoha.

"Fine, fine…" Anko said, lazily stretching for the forthcoming travel at hand as she looked over at Naruto and Shikamaru, "Hello not-so-bratty-anymore brats. Finally back in the saddle I see." In response Naruto gestured to where his blue headband was sitting back around his neck again like a bandanna with the metal covering his throat as Shikamaru gestured to where the metal of his former headband was stitched into the bicep sleeve of his leather jacket, "Tenzo, you're being mean to the kiddies. Say hello."

The third face was a new one that neither Naruto nor Shikamaru had ever seen before as he stoically stood off to the side from the others just observing the scene, "Anko you know you're not supposed to call me that anymore. From this point my codename is Yamato." He had short brown hair, black eyes, and wore the usual uniform of the Konoha ninja complete with flak jacket, only the neck of his undersuit went up to his chin and his headband had a face guard that framed his profile protectively, "It's good to meet you two. I'm looking forward to working with the both of you."

Both Naruto and Shikamaru returned his greeting while Anko let out a huff, "You were given that damn codename all of five minutes ago. I've only heard it once while I've been calling you the other one for years. I got it, I won't say it anymore… sheesh." She then observed the youngest of the Konoha shinobi in their little group, "You two know what you're getting into with this mission don't you?"

"We had to do an S-rank mission eventually." Naruto said with a shrug. Even though he was trying to hide it, this was the kind of thing he had dreamed about as a kid; running high-priority missions of great difficulty and importance for Konoha. That was a sign that you had truly made it as a powerful ninja.

On the other hand, Shikamaru just had a thorough frown on his face and smoothed his hair back as he looked up at the sky, "No, we didn't have to do an S-rank mission eventually. We actually could have gone our entire lives without having to do a single S-rank mission… but what's done is done I guess. Where's Ino?" Hopefully she could be as late as possible. Delay their departure for a day at least so that he didn't have to leave yet.

"Ino had to prepare to leave in a different way from the rest of you guys because I'm a specialist." Dressed in her normal purple summer attire, Ino made her presence known, leveling a bit of a glare on Shikamaru as she continued to speak, "It's too early in the morning to start hearing you call me troublesome Shika, so save it."

"Grumpy." Anko commented as Ino walked into the midst of the group with her bag slung over her back, "Alright, the gang's all here so shall we go escort our new friend here back home?" Naruto, Shikamaru, and Ino looked towards Asuma as they had been expecting their old jounin sensei to be the squad leader, but he just shook his head and gestured towards Yamato, "That's right kids. We're all your superiors here, but the main one in charge is Yamato here."

Yamato nodded as he took the head of the group, "I trust that isn't an issue." There were no vocal objections from any of the youngest as they had all worked with multiple superiors in the past over the course of three years and were used to it.

Motioning for everyone else to follow him on out, Yamato led them outside of Konoha's walls and began the trek on their to-be dangerous mission. As they began to move faster and take to the trees for better movement, Asuma looked back at the trio that used to comprise his Team 10, "You're all okay with Yamato running the mission aren't you? I can assure you that he's just as good as I am."

Anko rolled her eyes as she vaulted from branch to branch along with everyone else, "Real humble of you to admit that Asuma."

"I'm fine with it." Naruto said first. What was there to be upset about? He was back on a mission with his team, working with the snake lady that spent the last few months before his departure training and torturing Sasuke, and a new guy. He was back on the job and meeting new people. The day was great so far, "Don't you worry a bit Haku-chan. We'll find out how to break Otogakure's backs so that the new Mizukage can kick them right out of the country."

Trailing behind the others, Haku spared a smile at the reassurance that everything was going to be worked out, but Anko felt the need to let some air out of Naruto's head at least for the moment, "Kid, there's a little something we need to do first before we can ever even set out to Mizu no Kuni, otherwise we'll never make it out there."

Shikamaru let out a groan that got Asuma to thump him on the shoulder. The young Nara genius knew that it wouldn't be simple and straightforward. It was an S-rank mission after all… and Naruto had gotten them into it over three years in advance, "I hate you Naruto… you and your troublesome promises…"

"Oh whatever. It's not my fault." Naruto replied, having heard Shikamaru complain countless times in a similar manner, "And even if it was; if I didn't get us into these kinds of things we'd never get any stronger Shika."

XxX

(Cha no Kuni – Degarashi Port)

Walking through his town was now one of the most favored pastimes of Gato. Nothing made him feel like a bigger man than looking around at all of the property that he had legally obtained by buying it all out. And of course he allowed the shopkeepers and whatnot to remain there… as long as they paid him for keeping their stores in what just so happened to be his buildings.

The two families that used to fight like fools over control of the port were long gone thanks to the quiet intervention of the shinobi force of his favorite ally. At any given time, upwards of one hundred Otogakure underlings would be rotationally stationed in town to 'keep the peace'. All he had to do in exchange was provide free transportation for Orochimaru's men from Degarashi Port out to Mizu no Kuni and bring back whatever human cargo they wished.

This was of no extra cost to him as well. Ah, it was just good business all around.

It had been a long time since a little hiccup like the one that happened the other day had gone down, and while he was far from pleased by it things were going so swimmingly he simply didn't care enough to be angry. Otherwise he would have demanded that every last Oto ninja in his current employ be axed for letting one of the Kiri ninja get away.

"I don't want any mishaps like what happened the other day again." Gato said aloud as he walked through the streets with his entire bodyguard contingent of Otogakure ninja. At his side, the one he was actually speaking to as the others were nameless and faceless as far as he was concerned, was Guren, looking the exact same despite the change in years with a look on her face that was bored and uncaring, "I know Orochimaru sent you back here to make sure that everything stays ship-shape… I'll have to show my appreciation somehow."

Clearly he remembered just how well Guren took care of business back before he took over, back when Konoha first stuck their nose into his at the time budding investment years prior. She didn't care too much however, "You very well should." Her eyes panned about and idly took note of how none of the populace unlucky enough to still be outside even looked in their direction out of fear. As was appropriate, "I'm here now, and no other screw-ups are going to happen under my watch. I won't have the reputation of Orochimaru-sama's Otogakure suffer fools lightly."

Such a brutal woman. Gato would have wagered that if those words were tangible he could have chipped ice off of the bottoms of them. The multiple Oto shinobi around him had to hold back intimidated shivers as they knew she had been referring to every ninja stationed there, including them.

Gato had to clear his throat to shake any possible jitters out of his voice before speaking again, "Well I wouldn't worry too much about it. Thanks to my working relationship with your master this town is mine, the seas around it are mine to the horizon and beyond. Even Konoha's backed off for years." The most lucrative mainland port and it was all his.

"Of course they backed off. They have no right to be here, and trying to make an excuse would just end up in strained relations with the other shinobi nations… they'd see it as Konoha trying to throw their weight around and Kumo most definitely wouldn't let that slide." Guren said with a rather vicious smirk, "Aside from that, this place is a stronghold all on its own."

Only a fool would attempt to pull anything within the confines of Degarashi Port. It just wasn't smart to try.

XxX

(Two Days Later – Cha no Kuni Countryside)

"Okay, so there are three objectives here for the attack on Degarashi Port." Anko said as the entire team sat on the forest floor of the deep woods for a bit of rest before moving out. Between the seven of them there was a map of the town in question and its outlying areas, "And they are to commandeer a vessel to get out to sea, cripple the ability of the enemy to pursue, and capture an enemy that can be interrogated for information on just what Orochimaru's endgame in Mizu no Kuni will be."

Asuma let out a low and impressed whistle at how up to date and thorough Anko's map was. She was really fired up for this mission if she was putting her best foot forward like this, "Sounds reasonable enough. After all, we can't wind up getting ourselves chased from shore to shore by Gato's 'merchant fleet'." Just a band of seafaring cutthroats they were really.

Raising her hand as if she were in school only to get attention from everyone that she didn't particularly want, Ino faltered a bit in embarrassment before asking her question, "So… who does what? We're not all going to be travelling together to do everything are we? That would take forever."

Yamato, who had been content with letting Anko explain how they were going to proceed until that point, took over and began breaking things down further, "Anko and myself will be working on getting a ship for us to use. Asuma has the pair of jobs of keeping our client Haku-san safe and making sure that we can't be chased once we get away-."

"-Lucky, lucky me." Asuma interrupted and cracked sarcastically at being saddled with two mission objectives. Oh well. At least his protection portion of the mission was really a formality. He truly doubted that if Haku could survive escaping a village full of angry enemy ninja that she would need protecting, "You're going to be able to help with this, right?"

All Haku did was just give him a smile that while reassuring, unnerved him a bit at just how calm she was. If time was any indication she was obviously stronger than she had been when Team 10 had tangled with her in Nami no Kuni, and that was definitely going to be a plus.

"That just leaves the kiddies." Anko said, eliciting a unanimous glare from each member of Team 10 that actually got her to chuckle a bit before she got serious again, "Snatch and grab brats. We need you to go get someone worth a damn in Oto's pecking order for Inoichi's kid here to interrogate." She'd have done the interrogation herself, but then again she'd probably have gone overboard with it. That and the fact that interrogation was Ino's job, "Alive of course. Otherwise we'll be walking into the same mess in Mizu no Kuni that Kiri's already in without bringing anything to the table info-wise."

"No sweat." Naruto felt that such a thing was easy enough. Shikamaru's jutsu could stop anyone right in their tracks and then they could just hightail it out, "We'll just grab some guy, knock him out, drag him onto the ship we leave on and that's that."

He was then confused when Anko shook her head, "That's not good enough. You need to take someone that you know for sure knows something, not just any random ninja. Trust me when I say that Orochimaru only tells you enough to get what he wants out of you. It's always been that way. No random jabroni, bottom of the totem pole shinobi is going to know what we want to get out of them."

"Well it's not like any of them are just going to go alive either." Shikamaru muttered, hand in his cheek as he seemed to be quite bored with the before action briefing, "None of them that Naruto and I ever fought went down quietly. They'd rather bite their tongues off and die than let us catch them. We've seen it." Naruto couldn't sleep for two days after they did.

At that point, Ino proudly pointed her thumb at her own chest as she swelled with confidence, "Well aren't you glad that you've got me with you then? I'll just sedate whoever we catch so that they won't be aware enough to commit suicide before we can get them out of town." It was a lot of bluster though as an apprehensive thought nagged at the back of her mind, 'Naruto and Shikamaru spent three years as the daimyo's elite guard. I've got to prove that they haven't left me behind.'

While it might have been a little bit overkill in regards to what she needed it for, this S-rank mission was the perfect opportunity to see if she had really gotten much stronger for their sakes, and also to see just what they both had up their sleeves as well.

After Ino had made her statement, Yamato nodded in agreement of what she said and continued to speak, "While I won't say we have a definite window of time to pull this off, I will say that once we take a ship we'll only have so much time to get away."

"Why didn't we just take a ship from the south of Hi no Kuni and sail around and up?" Shikamaru asked, "This seems like more of a hassle than it should be."

"Because we wouldn't be safe on the open water with a Hi no Kuni ship." Asuma said, giving Shikamaru the information he desired, "I know you've been at the daimyo's court for a few years so you don't know but the seas are rife with privateers, Gato's merchant navy. With Mizu no Kuni locked up in its own thing there wasn't really a large village out that could enforce some semblance of order on the waters."

"That's why taking one of the ships from here can serve another purpose." Anko remarked, tapping her temple to signify that she was some sort of evil planning genius and had worked much of this out before they had even left Konoha, "Big blonde brat Uzumaki can make tons of clones, so all we have to do is fly the colors of Gato Company and if another of their ships get close we can have him make us an entire crew with Henge to keep us from getting busted. Real cloak-and-dagger stuff."

Ino looked impressed and leveled an intrigued and mischievous grin at Anko who returned it in full form, "I like that. I like it a lot. Put that busy body of Goldie-kun's to some good use."

A glowering Naruto only got a few pats on the head from Ino at his temperament over the group feelings on his Kage Bunshin technique. Clearly everyone else felt the same about it since no one spoke up on his dignity's behalf. But what was dignity to a ninja? It wasn't going to keep them alive so who needed it?

Naruto looked over at Asuma with a dry look on his face as Ino continued to pat him on the head, "I'm never going to get any respect from them am I?" He asked, gesturing towards Ino and Shikamaru.

"Your first genin squad never really respects you no matter what you do." Asuma remarked, "They know you too well for that."

XxX

(Konohagakure no Sato – Hokage Tower – Hiruzen's Office)

Taking the time to enjoy a nice sitdown and a bit of tea with one's student was something that Hiruzen could always appreciate despite his responsibilities and his busy schedule. Especially since it had been a while since doing so due to the fact that two of them travelled constantly and the third one was… well the third one was not to be mentioned without strategies on how to kill him being spoken in the same breath.

Jiraiya shook his head and chuckled to himself as he looked through an old book with photos of his team's youth, "Sensei… I'm going to have to say I'm sorry. Because if teaching me was even half as hard as it was to teach Naruto, I was probably the most rotten little bastard in the village."

"There were times when I felt like having Enma hurl you off of the Hokage Monument, but I always thought better of it." Hiruzen admitted jokingly, "Why you're telling me this now instead of back when you were training Minato I don't know."

"There's no comparison between the two at all." Jiraiya said, looking at Hiruzen wryly, "They look like each other… that's it. Naruto doesn't do anything like Minato. He doesn't fight like him, learn like him, eat like him, snore like him, nothing. Minato got everything technical that you tried to teach him in a handful of explanations, with Naruto you have to hammer it into his head, sometimes literally. But when it comes to the physical… there's no contest."

"How so?" The curious Sandaime Hokage asked as he took a sip of his beverage, "I asked him about his training when he came to visit me, but all really did was ramble mostly along the lines of, 'I'm awesome, you can count on that old man, so just give me the hat already.'"

Jiraiya rolled his eyes at Naruto's vague and mostly useless explanation to his village leader about his personal growth, "He's not as fast as Minato of course, but even as young as he is Naruto's far stronger physically than Minato ever was." While when Minato hit someone it still hurt, that was mostly because of the speed he would hurl himself at an opponent with coupled with the strength that he could generate creating great velocity.

Naruto was just strong.

He couldn't let Naruto even jokingly hit him for acting like an ass anymore. He always had to dodge now, because he didn't know his own strength. But that was just one thing.

"I didn't teach him that many ninjutsu though." Jiraiya freely admitted shamelessly. That was something that confused Hiruzen a bit. Naruto was specifically his apprentice. What in the world did they do if Jiraiya didn't pass down techniques to him, "I didn't have to. Not after he finished learning his element. He did the rest himself."

Hold on for just one minute.

That only meant one of two things. Either Naruto found his own source of ninjutsu to learn, or…

"He came up with his own ninjutsu?" Hiruzen didn't mean to sound surprised… but it was surprising. Naruto was sixteen, which would have meant that anything useable would have needed a year to develop first before putting it into anything that was useable.

A pleased Jiraiya that was happy with how he managed to stun his sensei with his own student's progress got him to laugh smugly, "Sarutobi-sensei he abused the hell out of the clone training method. After he worked out the mechanics of his style he had them do the real heavy lifting. The first part still took a year after he finished his elemental training though."

The clone training method? That was the secret to Naruto coming up with his own branch of ninjutsu? Of course. The use of one clone let someone train in half the time, "So how many did he use a day?"

"Kami… it depended on what he needed done." Jiraiya said, trying to think back as he ran a hand through his hair, "A lot of the time he couldn't make more than a hundred or so because he didn't know how much chakra one of his new techniques would take until after the fact. He was stumbling around in the dark most of the time. He's smarter at using clones to fight now too. Doesn't just waste chakra on them anymore since all of his moves take so much of it. His lazy-ass teammate rubbed off on him a bit in that regard at least."

That was all well and good, but it still left the most important question that Hiruzen never got answered, "How strong is he Jiraiya?"

Ah, and that was the question of the hour. Before Jiraiya could open his mouth and answer in his own honest opinion, both of them felt a small rumbling. Looking down at his mostly untouched tea, Jiraiya could see the liquid in the cup quivering as the tremors got more intense, sounding out with the consistency of footsteps.

Jiraiya's eyes showed pure fear as they seemed to get closer and closer to the tower and he scrambled for the open window, making sure to take his teacup with him lest it ruin his cover, "I was never here, and you haven't seen me since I've gotten back. I'm not taking the heat for the brat doing something stupid. Later sensei." Without even waiting for a goodbye, he jumped out of the open portal with extreme swiftness.

And a moment later he would find out why when the doors to his office were thrown open, a pleading Shizune holding a shivering Tonton as they stood behind a very upset Tsunade who looked like she would maul the first sight of the color combination of yellow, orange, and blue that she saw, "Where's the brat Sarutobi-sensei?" She asked sweetly despite the look on her face.

The Hokage had to be a problem solver, thus Hiruzen did the only thing he could do.

Since he couldn't pass the buck he had to postpone the inevitable blowup for as long as he could. Have mercy on Naruto's wellbeing upon his return, "A mission. S-rank. I'm sorry, but I can't give you more details for security purposes." He then lifted the pot holding his prepared heated beverage of choice in the hopes that he could calm her down, "Tea?"

Maybe he could still salvage his calming afternoon?

Tsunade raised a delicate blonde eyebrow as she knew what Hiruzen was trying to do, "Do you have any sake on you instead?" Oh well. No use wasting all of that anger for being ditched at the capital if Naruto wasn't there. She was patient enough to wait for him to come back, 'An S-rank mission?'

XxX

(That Evening – Cha no Kuni – Outskirts of Degarashi Port)

Standing on the misty road leading outside of the seaside port town, a uniformly masked Otogakure ninja stared into the surrounding forest with purpose as another came up behind him and got his attention, "Hey, what are you doing just standing there? Why don't you patrol somewhere that you can actually see?"

"I don't know. Does this mist seem weird to you?"

"Weird like how exactly? We're right by the ocean genius. It gets misty and foggy in this town all the time."

The first, more suspicious ninja shook his head, "No, it's just… does it feel colder than the normal mist around here to you?"

"No." The second masked Oto ninja said with a laughing snort, "You temperature sensitive big baby. The sun's going down, no shit it'll get a bit nippier. Stop doing Gato's drugs… you know that crap is no good for you."

That last comment seemed to snap the first ninja out of his suspicious mindset due to the nature of the jibe as he went along with the other man to patrol elsewhere with him, "Fuck you. I don't touch that shit. I'll just piss off Guren if I want to commit suicide with more dignity thank you very much."

XxX

(Forest Surrounding the Town – With the Konoha Ninja)

"You know how to do this Haku-chan?" Naruto asked, commenting on the thick mist that had descended over Degarashi Port courtesy of the resident ice-wielding shinobi, "Now that it's not being used on me, I've got to say that this jutsu is pretty cool."

He didn't notice a rather envious Ino muttering in the background about how her jutsu was good too, 'Don't crush his mind… he's just a nice guy. You'll show him how much stronger you are the second you get the chance.' She thought to herself.

A gracious bow came from the Kiri hunter-nin representative at the praise, "Zabuza-sama taught Kirigakure no Jutsu (Hiding in Mist Jutsu) to me after teaching me the basics of his Silent Killing skill." Haku commented on the use of her jutsu, "I'm not as good at the latter as he was, but I should be well enough so that I do not hamper Asuma-san while we move to sabotage the enemy's pursuit capabilities."

Since none of them really had Zabuza's ability to navigate the mist without their eyes at all, Haku didn't make it as thick as she could have for their benefit. It was enough to move around with some semblance of cover though, and that was what it was meant for.

Yamato seemed to be quite pleased with Haku's use of the famous jutsu, and at the seaside it wasn't out of place either. He turned towards Naruto, getting the young man to be attentive towards the team leader now that his attention was on him, "Naruto, what do the clones you sent out have on the town?"

Naruto furrowed his brow in thought, trying to dredge up the thoughts that his dispelled clones had gotten on the layout of the town's outskirts, "There aren't a lot of guys on patrol. Maybe twenty or so? And none of them are really stationed outside the town limits." It wasn't a military town, it was just a town that Gato lived in and he had a large amount of ninja bodyguards. A lot of the ninja were at bars or resting and doing their own thing because of being off the watch shift, "Most of them are centered around where the mansions are."

At Gato's mansion to be specific. He couldn't really get his clones much closer though because of the mist since they couldn't see that far over the distance and had to make sure they didn't get close enough to be spotted. Using their sensor technique wouldn't help as it required too much chakra to distinguish actual forms in what was being felt, and doing so would make anyone with decent awareness feel out the chakra waves, no return sensor jutsu needed.

"What about the docks?" Asuma asked. That was the most important part. They had to make sure they could commandeer a ride out of there or their mission would be delayed… at worst it would end right there.

"There are a few there for routine guard work, but there's no one extraordinary out trying to get anything out of Degarashi Port so it's not heavy."

Even with a stronger set of thugs to do his bidding, Gato was still overconfident, at least that was what Shikamaru saw. Now that he had hired from an actual shinobi village and had a standing manpower worth of guards he was falling into his old habits from Nami no Kuni. Back then he just figured that there would never be any problems for him because of what his money could do for himself.

Same here, only there was more muscle. That was just fine. They had more muscle too. If six genin and two jounin brought down his force in Nami no Kuni, what could the seven of them do now? They were about to see.

"Okay, brat brigade, go get us a VIP." Anko ordered with a shooing gesture, getting the annoyed Team 10 to prepare to set out to do their part, "And don't make it a crappy one. Every Oto ninja in a full facemask is a nameless loser. That's why they wear them; because their identities don't matter." Naruto almost fell over prior to jumping off with his team as they all stopped at that.

"I haven't seen a single one of them without a facemask!" Naruto replied to the purple-haired snake mistress, "Not a single one. Just how elite are we talking about here, because I know none of these guys are genin."

Asuma shook his head with a frown on his face, "We might not know much about Otogakure's movements, but we know a bit about their sociology. Orochimaru wants his troops uniformed; more than other hidden villages. Only those that have proven themselves and survived his demands get to vary themselves with special exceptions."

"Remember the kids from the chunin exam that were from Otogakure Goldie-kun." Ino reminded him. Those three were pretty uniform in their appearance with their matching pants and scarves too, but as genin they weren't important enough to be given full loadouts on their gear like the adults that were somewhat proven.

Rolling his eyes at how things could never be straightforward and clear, Shikamaru's wheels inside of his head were already turning in regards to working out a solution to their prisoner problem, "Come on. Let's go." He said, getting both Ino and Naruto to fall in with him as they left to begin, "Naruto, show us a hotspot or two so we can locate a mark to capture."

"And we'll get started on stealing a ship. We'll have a signal planned when it's done. We're clearing out when it goes off, no buts about it." Yamato said as he and Anko then departed to start on their leg of the assignment.

Eliciting a sigh, Asuma stood up from where he had been resting and stretched his shoulders out, "That Yamato… he's a great ninja, but he's kind of a wet blanket. He's trying to hide it better than Anko, but he's just as jazzed up for this mission as Anko is." Of course, Yamato's attitude was probably better for running an S-rank mission like this than Asuma's and he knew it so it wasn't a problem, "Maybe he'll loosen up when we're not sneaking past a town that's one hundred strong in a ninja force?"

Haku was still smiling pleasantly like normal outside of battle as she gave her immediate supplies one last run-through to make sure she was ready, "Your village certainly has a varying range of attitudes in its shinobi. It's interesting." She then placed her white and red porcelain mask over her face to disguise her features, "Shall we begin as well then?"

XxX

(With Team 10 – Hills of Degarashi Port)

No such look on locating anything other than a grunt roaming the streets. Just how many in Orochimaru's organization happened to be considered strong and skilled enough to be given sensitive information. There was a difference between a chunin or a jounin of Otogakure and an executive so to speak, and that was clear when the conversations between them went up.

A great amount of them were prisoners that were held by Orochimaru's bases for future experiments that showed some kind of talent in the shinobi arts to save their asses before they met the cutting tables and laboratory trials, and from there they were given uniforms and missions. What were they going to do, say no? They'd be killed, or even worse be sent right back to their cells to wait to be turned into human lab mice.

They weren't given info and they didn't care. As long as they weren't behind bars hearing the screams of the unfortunate bastards taken to be gifted with one of Otogakure's physical modifications or mutations. Hell, the ones that survived those were given places in Orochimaru's forces as well.

It simply wasn't good enough for the three interlopers. What were they supposed to do? They had until the signal to head to the docks went off to find one or else they'd be sailing into Mizu no Kuni without good information. That would be no good. Haku only knew so much, and all she knew was from the Kirigakure side of the scenario, which meant no enemy secrets, so when they landed on one of Mizu no Kuni's islands they could be landing right on a hidden Oto stronghold.

There had to be more than a few if they had such a vicious foothold in the country.

Some deducing needed to be done in order to get some information on which waterways to use, where to avoid, and maybe just what was going on with Otogakure.

The first idea brought forth by Shikamaru was to steal some shipping manifests from the docks, but that plan was a no-go. Gato owned the ports of the town completely. It was his property. Who the hell did he have to keep records for legitimate business for? There was no real law enforcement anywhere in the Elemental Nations outside of the martial settlements like ninja villages and other military towns.

Ino then chimed in snarkily once their thoughts brought up nothing worth any substance, "Geez. Why don't we just grab that little toad Gato then? I'm pretty sure if he saw a Konoha ninja up close again he'd crap a brick after what Goldie-kun and Team 7 did to his men on the bridge last time."

All three of them stopped in the middle of tracking another groups from their hiding place on the rooftops and both males of Team 10 stared at Ino blankly, getting her to fidget a bit uncomfortably at the attention.

Shikamaru was the first to blink himself out of the stupor as he more or less figured that they didn't have any better ideas, so why not?

That actually wasn't a bad idea. Shikamaru was kind of stunned that it came from Ino. Nothing against her, but the last thing he remembered about her was that while her personality was strong her clutch tactical value left a bit to be desired.

But back to Gato; he was the number one man of the waterways of the world… and he was on Konoha's shit list anyway so they would have been good there.

Upon reaching Gato's mansion, both Shikamaru and Ino had to pay attention to something that Naruto had neglected to mention. Gato actually had the gall to move into the abandoned Wasabi Family mansion after he had chased the two warring groups out of town upon buying up most of Degarashi Port's property.

The mansion grounds were split between three buildings set at the edges of a beautiful center garden a quarter of a mile around. They already knew which one was the main house as well because they had stayed inside of it during their last venture in the town as guests of their client.

While Naruto would stay outside and make sure that things stayed cool out there in case something went wrong, both Ino and Shikamaru went inside to capture Gato without a fuss.

Upon their infiltration, Ino broke off from Shikamaru to clear the house and quickly dispose of any posted sentries of which there were over a dozen. Her poison-covered senbon were perfect for that approach and her aim was as impeccable as ever, rendering Gato's closest protection detail useless with quick pricks to the neck for quick circulation.

Shikamaru's approach through the house was notably more peaceful. All he did was ensure that all of the rooms on the way to the master bedroom were clear of any guests. He doubted Gato had anyone that considered him good enough company to stay in his home anyway, so it was really just for safety's sake.

The pair reconvened outside of the closed and locked door of Gato's master bedroom, "I really hope he's asleep." Ino whispered as she began picking the lock, "The only way him being awake would have been funny would have been if Goldie-kun had come inside with us and he remembered what he looked like from three years ago." Aside from that possibility, Gato being awake would just be annoying.

The lock softly tumbled open and Ino had a senbon with sleeping poison prepared as Shikamaru opened the door and led the way inside. After subduing Gato and preparing him to leave they'd be out of there just like that.

Naruto would probably impatiently complain that it took too long, but three to five minutes wasn't that long when they were taking care.

XxX

(Meanwhile – Outside of Gato's Mansion)

Ino and Shikamaru weren't going to blitz the place. Shikamaru like to take things nice and easy and he'd be a stickler for making sure the site was clear before moving forward to extract Gato. That was all well and good, but it was going to take up to five minutes to completely check the entire place. He should have sent in a clone with them. A clone's repeatedly heckling would have made things go faster.

In the meantime he was playing a human sonar system on the large roof that sloped upwards on all sides to a single steeple point in the middle of the mansion. It was the trademark of the mansion and what made it so easy to find from anywhere in town, because it was such a tall piece of architecture. It had been done by Gato, probably to signify that it was him that lived there.

'Why do we like high places so much?' Naruto idly wondered to himself as he stood on the very pinnacle of the roof looking down through the mist that covered everything. Even though he couldn't use his eyes, he still had Chakura Hankyouteii no Jutsu (Chakra Echolocation Jutsu) to help him out. He could keep watch over the area just fine from where he was standing, 'Well, it does make it easier to use my jutsu, so I guess there's that.'

A recent use of the chakra pulse technique let him on to the fact that there was something sailing through the air right at him. In response, Naruto drew his machete and quickly blocked a series of small projectiles that had been sent his way. Wasting no more time as a sitting duck, Naruto dropped from the steeple and slid down the tiles of the massive roof to a more level position, his eyes fixed on the direction that the weapons thrown at him came from. He had to bare his teeth in something of a snarl at the person he saw on the roof with him.

What were the chances? It was none other than Guren.

"I haven't felt that much chakra from one person in a long time." The powerful crystal-creating woman said with a smirk at Naruto, "My crystal ball picked up on your signature when you started letting those little pulses of yours go. I was on the grounds as well so it's not like it was hard to find you. Way to survive our last little meeting sweetie."

She was there too? Why was she in the same damn town right when he had come back for his mission? At some point coincidence stopped and divine conspiracy began.

"Guren…" Naruto was never going to forget the person that dealt him the most savage beating he had ever endured in his entire career, maybe his entire life, "You still look the same."

"You definitely grew up though." Her smirk widened when she saw his hands twitching down at his side, "You're still just the same old little boy though. It's nice to see that some things never change eh?" Apparently the asskicking that nearly took his life hit home all those years ago, "Kill him."

He was scared of her. And the multiple Otogakure shadows that leapt into the air from underneath the sides of the roof were willing and able to take advantage of that, planning to pounce on Naruto at once and end him without delay, per the orders of their mistress.

Guren's deduction of Naruto wasn't really correct though. Not really. Fear wasn't why he had been shaking.

A nice guy? Yeah, there were a few people in the world that could and would label Naruto that.

Only people that liked him, and there were only so many of those.

On the other hand, Naruto was also one to hold grudges, and he never forgot the bad things that happened to him even if he was better at hiding the effects of some than others.

Some of those bad things, such as how he watched his friends nearly die at Guren's hands while he was trapped inside of a crystal, or how she seemed to toy with them as if they were nothing when they were giving her their best shots… things like that tended to stand the test of time and stick with him.

So at heart he was actually pretty vengeful when it came to hurting the people he loved. Not nice, and not afraid. Definitely never afraid.

As the Otogakure attackers landed and proceeded to stab into Naruto with their kunai they were in for a rude awakening when it was revealed that they had actually stabbed one of their own; one of the men that had actually been jumping through the air along with them intent on killing the Konoha ninja that was their target.

On his body on the chest of the recently killed man, a seal with for diagonal markings in adjacent corners with a pair of bars in the middle of them appeared before jumping off of his body around all of the Oto shinobi that had launched the attack to begin with.

"Ura Shishou Fuinjutsu (Reverse Four Symbols Sealing Technique)!"

Everything caught within the range of the expanded seal markings got drawn into the dead Oto shinobi's corpse, including a big portion of the roof and his comrades that had been responsible for striking with the deathblows that killed him.

Guren meanwhile had never lost track of Naruto's movements, keeping her eyes on him as he moved to a different portion of the roof, glaring at her seriously, 'So that Uzumaki in his name isn't just for show. He didn't look a thing like that clan with that yellow hair of his, but with a fuuinjutsu like that… there's no question that he's got some kind of connection. The Four Symbols Sealing Style was supposed to be the telltale trademark of the Uzumaki Clan. Very difficult.'

Well he just used one like it was his trademark sealing style.

That one was supposed to be a suicide seal, only activated upon expiration of one's life, meant to take one's enemy with them immediately in case victory was unobtainable and death was the only option available. It was difficult to understand and apply, and usually had to be prepared well in advance. Not only did he apply it to another ninja in the middle of battle, but he did so while he had used a Kawarimi with the very same person.

"Well it looks like someone's been putting some fertilizer on their balls for the last few years." Guren quipped, downplaying just how impressive Naruto's opening move was, "But you should know, I'm not as easy to trap as the scum you just rid me of."

"I know. You're an Otogakure elite." Naruto said, remembering just like yesterday how all of the brute force he could muster wasn't enough to stop Guren from stomping a mudhole in him last time around before another thought came to mind, "…Just what I need."

"I'm not your type kid."

Naruto let out a grunt to acknowledge her witty remark as he placed a cigarette from the pack in his supply pouch in his mouth, "You don't mind do you? Do you want one? I roll them myself." He asked casually, extending his arm with the pack her way, "…Well the clones do anyway."

"No, I don't smoke." Guren replied with a smile on her ruby red lips. This cheeky little punk had a set on him, that was for sure, "I'll let my prey enjoy one last cigarette though. I'm not heartless you know."

"Great." Naruto chirped happily as he gleefully lit the stick up in his mouth and took a few deep breaths of smoke that he then exhaled, "Good for you that you don't smoke too. It's a nasty habit. A lot of people think it's annoying in public, girls don't like it, and not to mention what I heard it does to your health. Your health. Not my health. I'm a bit different from other people when it comes to that."

A few laughs came from Guren as she crossed her arms over her chest and let Naruto smoke away, "Well then why do you do it? It can't be just to flaunt your little regenerative powers that you're gifted with through the Kyuubi." Bantering with him was definitely fun now that he had lines other than that he was going to kick her ass, "You didn't really give me a reason why."

"Well it's kind of soothing. It calms my nerves a bit, kind of like right now. I need it before fighting someone like you, heh." Naruto admitted, "But that's not a really good reason. There's lots of stuff that's soothing that doesn't piss off so many people. No, I do this for a different reason now."

"Let me guess… you're a pest, so you do it just to pester others around you?" Noticing that Naruto's cigarette had finished burning down to the very butt of it, she was through sparing an old enemy any other concessions, "Time's up."

She made a move to start her hand-seals to begin a jutsu and Naruto did the same though he only needed one, "Moegara Nagare no Jutsu (Cinder Stream Jutsu)!" Holding his hands in the horse seal, Naruto took a deep breath and exhaled a hot plume of ash from his mouth in the direction of his foe that covered his movements and forced Guren to look away lest her eyes be injured by the tangible debris in the cloud.

"Grr!" Guren didn't take too kindly to such a jutsu. The grimy makeup of the technique's physical attributes were disgusting to her. She didn't want to be covered in ashes even if they wouldn't hurt her. These most certainly would from the feel of the fire-less heat coming from the jutsu that she dodged. Forming four hand-seals, a blade of crystal formed on her forearm.

Her reason being that she eyed Naruto's movements from behind his own cloud. It was only one too, and this guy never used just one clone to fight. Why would he when he had so many more that he could make. Deducing that it was real she sped over and quickly sliced through it only to find her blade covered with sticky black ash.

A clone. A clone of substance; ash to be exact. But ash wasn't that sticky, so why was it stuck to her blade? Trying to wipe it off smudged her hand and made it somewhat sticky. Ash wasn't really sticky either. What the hell kind of ashes were these?

"So you've just spent the last three years getting weirder?" Guren asked as she saw Naruto prepared to charge her down. He delivered a kick that she blocked with her forearms, but it sent her sliding back across the roof, damaging and busting up tiles until she came to a stop, "What kind of techniques were those? Ashes from wood, ashes from volcanoes, no ashes are like yours."

"Nah, volcano ash would be hotter, but I don't need it to be hotter." Naruto said, watching her warily in case she attacked him again, "No, my ashes are a bit more common. I bet you didn't notice how the entire time I smoked that cigarette I never tapped it off but you never saw any burnt up ends on it." The eyes of the wickedly strong woman widened in realization, "Yep, they're like super-hot cigarette ashes."

That was why the ashes were sticky. The reheated tobacco residue and chemicals in the ashes gave it that kind of consistency. But there was only one way he could actually do something like that to himself.

Shaking her head, Guren couldn't believe what she was hearing, "That's insane. You can use the crap that smoking puts in your lungs to help you fight?"

"Why not?" Naruto said, "All I had to do was figure out how. It doesn't really poison me because of the Kyuubi, and if it doesn't kill you it just makes you stronger! Those are just a few of the moves I've come up with too…"

It didn't matter in the end though. When push came to shove a few little nifty tricks like that wouldn't get through to her in the end. Her crystals could still defend her. He'd never get through to her directly with any of that. It was cute that he'd learned something new, and it probably would have been effective on others, but Guren wasn't weak like them.

"Your seals and your ashes are useless against me." Guren said with more confidence than ever now that she had seen Naruto's new techniques, "You still don't have what it takes to get through my crystals, and that means your fate is sealed. I'll make sure you don't escape and survive this time." Because he was dangerous. Uzumaki clansmen were notorious for many reasons and Naruto had just exhibited a few of those reasons.

If he really was of that clan then she had to kill him. There was a reason there were so many that were afraid of them at their height.

Not backing down an inch, Naruto just prepared himself to fight for as long as he needed to. No matter what he had to make this quick before Shikamaru and Ino made it outside with Gato, and especially before the signal to reach the stolen ship went up.

Because he was pretty sure Guren wouldn't accept a tactical retreat or any kind of outcome other than complete victory. And a Pyrrhic victory was no good for Naruto. He needed to win and be fit to carry on with the mission. He couldn't fight like a reckless idiot this time.

No, not tonight.

Omake: Guardian Days 1

(Three Years Ago – One Day after Naruto and Shikamaru's Acceptance)

"This training is lame." Naruto said with a thumbs down as he and Shikamaru stood outside in the front of the Guardian Ninja Quarters. Both of them stood before the two other members of the group; the blind de facto leader Sadao, and the clinically insane yet very pleasant songstress assassin Suzukuro Kotoko, "I thought Ninja Guardian training was supposed to be like boot camp from hell."

"Well, it's definitely not supposed to be easy dear." Kotoko said, still smiling with her eyes closed as they usually seemed to be. Her head tilted slightly in cute confusion at what Naruto's problem was, "What's wrong with the training?"

Wordlessly, but with a twitching eye, Naruto held up a watermelon half his size. Both he and Shikamaru had been given large watermelons and had been told to protect them as if they were clients. This struck a nerve with Naruto… considerably so as a matter of fact, "Really? You're asking me that?"

Sadao rolled his eyes behind his dark sunglasses, not that anyone could see it though, "Listen, your standards for 'protecting' your clients on your little C-rank missions before this might have flown back in Konoha where you were nameless, faceless chunin, but here we need you to be better than that. These are nobles. If you fuck up protecting someone here and they get hurt you might end up starting something huge. Do you want to be the reason the Fourth Shinobi World War starts?" Naruto stared at the young man owlishly and shook his head no, "Then you're protecting the watermelon."

At that point Shikamaru lazily waved his hand to get some attention, which Kotoko gave him by pointing over at him in a bubbly and animated fashion, "Yes Shika-kun! Do you have a question for your lovely senpai?"

That woman seriously gave him the creeps. There was just no getting around it. Ugh, "So what happens if we can't keep the melons safe? And how long are we doing this for?"

A rather malicious grin formed on Sadao's face at Shikamaru's questioning, one that sent chills down the pair of Konoha ninja's spines, "You have to keep the melon safe for 48 whole hours. If you sandbag your shit and fail on purpose or if you suck so bad that you can't keep the melons safe for two whole days then you don't get to move on to the next stage of the training."

"-You do get to eat the melon though." Kotoko added in what she thought was a helpful manner.

Sadao palmed his forehead at how Kotoko broke his swagger. She was a fantastic shinobi and probably the best pure killer in the country, but damn it if she wasn't the grandest airhead he had ever met in his entire life, "…Yes, you get to eat the melon… but not only do you not move on from here, your first missions will be a protection detail."

Both Naruto and Shikamaru looked at each other before turning back to their seniors. That didn't sound so bad. Then he pointed over to a long row of twelve tall posts that stood out at the very front of the Ninja Guardian property.

"You get to protect the wooden posts outside since you clearly can't be trusted to handle something as important as a watermelon." Sadao said seriously even though a small smile started to form on his face, "You're going to do it with your bodies… because we're going to tie you to the stumps in your underwear…"

"Wait. That's what those stupid things are for?" Naruto asked aloud. He just thought that they were supposed to be there for a big fence or a wall of a gatehouse. Just something or another that they hadn't built yet.

"Oh yeah." Sadao said before whispering loudly, "And I'll let you in on a little secret. Soldiers hate wooden poles. They throw eggs and tomatoes and stuff at the posts all the time… or is it just the tied up rookies that they don't like?" With a hapless shrug he let the point drop, "And you get to do that for two days straight before you have to repeat the test until you get it right. And if you fail again the same thing'll happen. And so on, and so on."

Oh, so now they could see the 'boot camp from hell' aspect that they had been missing so far.

"I had to do it like twelve times because I kept killing my 'client' by accident." Kotoko reminisced with a giggle, "Yep! Again, and again, and again, and again…" Kotoko repeated in a sing-song voice as she did pirouettes around both Naruto and Shikamaru, "And again, and again, and again-."

"Kotoko stop. I think they get it." Sadao said, getting her to stop next to him obediently as if she had never moved.

"Hmm, it wasn't that bad though." Kotoko commented as she tapped on her chin, "At least it left me alone with my thoughts." That was a scary thought for everyone else out there with her.

"Uh… huh?" Idly Sadao wondered if his conditioning of Kotoko as a Ninja Guardian was part of the reason she was so horribly imbalanced, "So anyway, just go about your business like normal, but don't let those melons out of your sight because if those melons take any 'fatal damage' you fail."

Getting tied to a post for two days and having jerk soldiers haze you by throwing crap at you sounded horrible. That was enough motivation for Shikamaru who started thinking of what he was going to do during meal times, and how he was going to rest since he'd be damned if he was going to sleep for the next two days. Just how hard were they going to try and go for those melons? And when they started were they going to be attacked immediately. There were so many things unaccounted for with this test.

"You can try and get my melon, I'll kick your ass every time you try!" Naruto exclaimed before the large fruit slipped from his grasp and went splat on the hard ground beneath him, "Um… doesn't count?" He ventured desperately.

Both Sadao and Kotoko shook their heads and wordlessly pointed towards the stumps, one with a far more pleasant disposition than the other, indicating that Naruto was to walk over there and wait for them to get Shikamaru situated with the rest of his briefing.

Then they would tie his ass to a post for two days.

Well he wasn't about to just lay down and take that, and prepared to run until he heard some chilling laughter as Kotoko plucked a few notes out on her shamisen, "Fufufufu… Sadao-kun take a look at little Naruto. He thinks he's going to run. Please run Naruto. I want you to."

'Don't do it man.' Shikamaru thought to himself. He was about to try and catch Naruto with his shadow to keep him from making a break for it because even after knowing her for only one day he swore that Kotoko would probably get too over-stimulated by the chase and kill him by accident when she tried to bring him back alive. Especially if he tried to use clones, 'I already know how this story ends.'

It was probably the longest ten seconds that Naruto had ever taken to think about doing something, but eventually he conceded and walked over to the stump with the most hangdog look conceivable on his whisker-marked face, "Alright." Two days. He could do that, he was tough enough. He had to be, "You guys are gonna feed me right?"

The two senior Ninja Guardians had differing outlooks on that inquiry.

"Maybe… if I care or remember to give you food or water. Meh, you'll live."

"Yes, yes, yes! He's so cute and I get to feed him like a puppy! A big orange tied up puppy! What's a good name for a puppy? I know! I'll call you… Naruto!"

"For the love of Kami Kotoko, do you ever listen to yourself talk?"

"Why would I do that? I'm not talking to myself, I'm talking to you silly!"

Shikamaru just looked at Naruto slogging away and then down at his melon, then he looked at his two senior members of the Ninja Guardians and felt something inside of himself break, "Oh… I made a mistake. I seriously made a mistake…" He said to himself miserably, "We never should have come here Naruto!" He yelled at his friend who seemed to be trying to find the most comfortable position against his post of choice to be tied to.

Jutsu List

Moegara Nagare no Jutsu (Cinder Stream Jutsu). B-rank ninjutsu, offensive, supplementary. The user of this jutsu lets loose a chakra-infused cloud of heated ash from their mouths. The jutsu works as a heavy smokescreen and as an attack equally due to the consistency and heat of the ash. It will stick to an enemy and weigh them down as well as burn them. Taking the devastation that the jutsu can cause one step further, Uzumaki Naruto smokes special cigarettes with traces of crushed glass to further weaponize his ash to cut into an enemy's body when sprayed at them directly with his wind release.

Kaibunshin (Ash Clone). Ninjutsu, clone technique, supplementary. This technique is used to create physical clones using ash as a medium. While still mobile and able to fight, an Ash Clone is not as versatile as a Shadow Clone as it cannot use chakra. It has many applications as a lure or a decoy just like any other clone, but it is most dangerous in physical combat as any contact with it burns due to the heat of the ash. An Ash Clone can take some damage before dissolving as it can convert itself to ash and trap a foe. When ruined and forced to dissolve it is still dangerous as it can stick and clump onto whatever destroyed it.

Ongoing Stats (Out of 5)

Konoha Ninja

Yamato

Ninjutsu: 4.5

Taijutsu: 4

Genjutsu: 3.5

Intelligence: 4.5

Strength: 3.5

Speed: 4

Stamina: 3.5

Hand-Seals: 3.5

Total Score: 31