Naruto : Chapter 34

"Mission accepted, Hokage Sama. Team, get your equipment for a C-rank mission, we are meeting in thirty minutes at the main gate." Kakashi said.

"Understood." All three answered and left through the door.

...

At the announced time the three genin stood at the main gate, waiting for Kakashi. He appeared in a body flicker.

"Okay, show me your equipment." Kakashi said.

As this was the first C-rank mission, he wanted to make sure his genin had the proper equipment. Sasuke was first.

"Thirty shuriken in my thigh pouch, twenty kunai in my back pouch, three spools of ninja wire, five explosive tags and one first aid kid sealed in a scroll also in the back pouch. In my backpack I have four sealing scrolls.

One for clothes, one for camping equipment, consisting of a sleeping bag, a pot for cooking, metal plate, cup, fork, knife and spoon and a two person tent. The third one is for various boxes and the fourth one for extra weapons. I have three days' worth of Jakonato's best ration bars and some basic toiletries." Sasuke listed.

"Good work. Next, Sakura." Kakashi said.

Sakura gulped hopefully she wouldn't be scolded. Her equipment was nowhere near as complete as Sasuke's.

"I have twenty shuriken in my thigh pouch, twenty kunai, one spool of ninja wire, two explosive tags, a flash bomb and a first aid kit in my hip pouch.

I have a change of clothes, a sleeping bag and a one person tent in a sealing scroll, some toiletries and a set of extra shuriken in my backpack." Sakura listed.

"Take an example from Sasuke what you forgot to pack. While this C-rank mission is a short one and will only take two days and we will be able to eat in Tea Country, you always have to be prepared for the unexpected.

On a mission it can happen that you are forced to take alternative routes while transporting something valuable. So don't rely on being able to get food easily. Last, Naruto." Kakashi said.

"Practically the same things in my pouches like Sasuke except that I have two thigh pouches, one with shuriken, and one with senbons. My first hip pouch resembles Sasuke's, my second one contains my sealing supplies and two ration bars.

I have ten pre-made normal explosive seals, five modified ones, five flash seals, two chakra storing seals, and two mass storage seals with water.

In my backpack I have totally six filled storage scrolls and five empty reserve storage scrolls Of the filled scrolls one is for various weapons, one for sealed food, one for camping equipment, version J-3, one for transport devices, one with additional sealing supplies for greater scale fuinjutsu and one for clothes.

In the pockets on my vest I have my selection of poisons and a container with food pills and one with blood replenishing pills." Naruto listed.

Sakura's mouth hung open. What the hell was camping equipment version J-3 and those seals Naruto had mentioned and where did he get them? And why did he have mass water storage seals with him?

"Well, they say you can never be overly prepared." Kakashi commented. "We will travel as fast as we can. We will run for three hours then we will rest for half an hour and run another three hours.

After that we should have reached the border to Tea Country from where on we will travel at a slower speed to not appear hostile to the military forces of the country.

For this mission I will give you control over the resistance seals. In case of a fight, which isn't that probable, but I won't take any risks, you can release your seals and use your full speed and strength. Once we return, I will take that control away again."

Kakashi made a few handseals and put his hand on the seals of Sasuke and Sakura.

"Leave the seals activated until you need to release them. You are still in your training phase after all. I will give you full control over your seals after we have done training for four months. At that point you should have reached high chunin speed with the training we are doing." Kakashi said.

"I have a question, sensei, well, it's more a question to Naruto. How good are you really with fuinjutsu?" Sasuke asked.

"I need to wait for a specialist to really evaluate my skills, but I am way better than I showed until now." Naruto said.

"Ah yes, now that you mention it, he will arrive in one week for your test." Kakashi said.

Naruto nodded.

"Are you willing to sell me some of those specialized seals you mentioned?" Sasuke said.

"As long as you pay the normal prizes, sure." Naruto answered.

Sasuke nodded. He had the money and as long as he could get those seals easily, perhaps even some that weren't readily available at Jakonato's or restricted for higher ranks it wouldn't matter to him.

"Okay, now that that's done, let's go." Kakashi said and had his team move out.

...

The journey to Tea Country had gone without problems. Konoha and Fire Country were on friendly terms with Tea Country, so when they changed to visible travel after passing the border, they weren't stopped by the Tea Country military.

They reached the harbour of Tea Country around six in the evening. Kakashi told them to find an inn where they could eat, after that he would show them a place where they could put up their tents.

While Sakura wondered why they couldn't just stay in the inn overnight, she knew better by now than to question her sensei. Kakashi went to check the shipment for Konoha so they could seal it in the morning.

After having a nice dinner in the inn, Kakashi showed them the place where ninjas from Konoha normally camped on this mission. As it came up every month once or twice, the local administration had just reserved a spot for the team that got the supplies.

Sasuke and Sakura were tasked with setting up the tents, Kakashi checked the area for any nasty surprises and Naruto secured the area with some seals that would keep enemies out and give them some nasty injuries if they tried to force their way through.

If any of the local military members wanted to talk to them all they would need to do was calling out to them after all.

The night was quiet though and at seven in the morning Kakashi let them have breakfast from a few supplies he had got in the village last evening. Milk, a few eggs boiled in a pot, some rice and vegetables.

After eating and a short morning warm up of running up and down a tree ten times and then a few exercises Kakashi led his students to the harbour. There they were greeted by the head merchant who coordinated the shipments for Konoha.

"Ah, good morning. Is that you, Kakashi? I think the last time I saw you, you were about the age your students are." The old man said.

"Yes, it's me. I didn't think you would remember me after all this time." Kakashi said.

"That hair and that mask are nothing you easily forget. And you did this mission pretty often during the war when the other two were still too inexperienced to go to the front lines. Even if your sensei normally didn't accompany you. Now why don't you introduce me to your team?" The old man asked.

"Sure, this is my genin team, team seven; from left to right they are Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki. Team seven; this is Marakomo Takamishi, the head merchant that has been supplying Konoha with the goods we are going to transport for decades." Kakashi said.

"Did you say Uzumaki? A real Uzumaki?" Mr Takamishi asked surprised.

"Did you know the Uzumaki clan?" Naruto asked.

"Indeed. I travelled to Whirlpool Country quite often as Uzushio was allied with Konoha. It's a shame what happened to the village. I had thought they got all the Uzumakis back then. But as I see one must have survived in Konoha. Who are your parents, Naruto?" Mr Takamishi asked.

"Sorry, I don't know. I'm an orphan. The Hokage only told me, that Uzumaki was my mother's name." Naruto said.

"Ah, too bad. Great ninjas the Uzumakis. Devils with those seals they created. And damn good with a sword as well. I once had a guard for my ship from Uzushio in the second great war. I was a young sailor back then.

We were attacked by Kiri nin. But even the sword fighter they had with them didn't stand a chance against Zoria Uzumaki. It was one of the most impressive fights I have ever seen, and I have seen a lot." Mr Takamishi said.

"Well, enough of the past, you and I have jobs to do. Kakashi, you inspected the goods yesterday, was everything in order?"

"Yes, like always everything we ordered is there in top quality, Marakomo." Kakashi answered.

"Okay, are your students trained in sealing things in scrolls?" Mr Takamishi asked.

"They are. By the way, Naruto, we need three more scrolls, I checked the ones we got at the mission office yesterday evening and three are too old that I can safely say they can be used." Kakashi said.

"No problem, Kakashi sensei." Naruto offered and took out three of his five empty storage scrolls.

Kakashi coordinated where they got to work and after one hour all the crates and boxes were safely sealed away and the scrolls in the genins' backpacks.

"It was nice seeing you again, Kakashi." Mr Takamishi said when team seven was ready to leave again.

"Likewise, Marakomo. I guess we'll do this mission again in the near future. So we'll be seeing us soon." Kakashi replied.

"Well, perhaps next time I can invite you for lunch. You were really fast with your work. It shows that you trained them well, Kakashi." Mr Takamishi said.

"Thank you. Goodbye." Kakashi said.

"Goodbye." The three genin also said.

Kakashi led his team out of the village and once they were outside he increased their travelling speed to low running speed. They would speed things up once they were out of Tea Country.

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