Chapter 32

I ducked, avoiding Sasuke's kunai as he swung at me in anger. His eyes were a violent red. 'Huh, I did not expect that to happen…' 

'You don't expect a lot of things,' laughed Isobu. 

'I'm mean… it's good, right? He's getting stronger.' I thought. 

'Definitely,' agreed Isobu, 'Violently forcing team bonding is always the best way to do things.' 

'Yep.' I released my transformation and jumped away from Sasuke. "Yo, chill out!" shouted Kakashi who had reverted to his original form. 

Sasuke froze. "What… Rin-sensei? Kakashi-sensei?" 

"Congrats!" I grinned, "You pass!" 

"But…" Sasuke motioned to Naruto. 

"He's fine," I shrugged, "He's a fast healer… plus my shadow clone healed him like… five seconds ago." 

Naruto grinned and waved. "We passed! Sasuke, WE'RE SHINOBI NOW!" 

"I don't get it…" said Sakura. 

"We tested your teamwork cause…" I looked at Kakashi, "...In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum. So… in other words, you guys pass." 

Naruto grinned, "So, can we get ramen for lunch?" 

"Sure," I grinned, "Ichiraku ramen for everyone! Kakashi's treat!" 

… 

"Erm…" I stood in front of Sandaime, "You were… watching?" 

"No," he said, "But… I heard from one of the hospital staff." 

"Right," I muttered, "About that…" 

"I don't care," sighed Sandaime, "You were doing what you thought was best." 

"Oh," I said, "Thanks." 

"But," he added, "Next time can we not try to kill Naruto?" 

I shrugged, "He heals fast." 

"Sure," he muttered, "Anyways, so Kurenai and Asuma's team also passed. That's the Ino-Shika-Cho, Inuzuka Kiba, Hyuuga Hinata, and Aburame Shino. Plus your team. What do you think?" 

"I think… well… Hinata has a crush on Naruto. And, Kiba doesn't really like Sasuke, which makes sense cause Sasuke is broody and arrogant. And, Kiba relies too much on Akamaru. Ino and Sakura can make an excellent medic team if they learn and get over Sasuke. I'll send Sakura to work at the hospital and Ino's family can probably teach her. Shikamaru is too lazy, but his dad's like that too so we can't really change that. Choji alright. I think his only issue is that he needs a lot of calories and his taste buds are picky so he probably doesn't like those protein balls and bars we eat. And… um… Shino is a bit quiet, but if we toss him with Naru for a few days he'll come out of his shell. And Sasuke unlocked his Sharingan so he's going to be very arrogant. Kakashi'll take care of him. Finally, Naru… I can't teach him Rasengan and he doesn't have the patience to learn Flying Raijin, but he wants to. I think you should stick him with Jiraya who can also teach him Sage mode." I answered, "Yep, that's about it." 

"Okay…" said Sandaime, "Maybe write that down. Speaking of which, wanna be Hokage?" 

"Nope. Too much paperwork," I answered. 

"But-" 

"Bye!" 

… 

"What's your distance from the target?" We hid between the trees, keeping our eyes on the target.

"I'm ready just give me the signal!" exclaimed Naruto. 

"Shhh," whispered Sakura, "Don't scare it away."

"Now!" I said into the mic. 

The three Genin jumped for the cat. "Gotcha!" shouted Naruto, "Ow! Don't do that! Stop scratching!" 

I stepped out, watching Naruto grapple with the cat and Sakura laughing over him. Sasuke stood to the side, "Lost pet Tora captured. Mission Complete." 

"Good job, you three," I grinned. Tora the cat was every Genin's nightmare D-rank mission. "Come on, let's bring Tora back." 

Naruto sighed and stood up, holding Tora the cat at arm's length. There were scratches over his face. "Where's Kakashi sensei?" asked Sakura. 

"We're taking turns," I answered, "I'll take care of you guys and take you on missions for now while he does other shinobi work…" ANBU work. 

"Oh." 

…

"Oh! Thank you! Oh! Tora! I've missed you!" the Daimyo's wife rubbed her cheek against Tora's. 

Tora shrieked and tried to get away, with no luck. Poor Tora. "I see why Tora runs away so much…" muttered Sakura. 

Sasuke nodded. Naruto turned to Sandaime. "Neh! Neh! Old man! Gramps! Stop giving us these stinking D-ranks!" 

Sandaime sighed, "Of the next missions, we have… babysitting a three-year-old, helping a farmer pick potatoes-"

"Come on! Can't we get some better missions? What about saving a princess? Or… what about fighting some evil shinobi? Huh? Huh? Ow!" yelped Naruto as Sakura slammed her fist into his head. A bump rose. 

"Naru-" Iruka cut me off. 

"How dare you! You're just a brand-new kid with no experience! Like everyone else, you start with simple missions to develop your skills and prove yourself!" 

"Are you kidding?" asked Naruto, "Babysitting is NOT a mission! It's just a stupid- ack!" 

I slapped Naruto on the back of the head, causing him to fall face-first onto the floor. "Naruto," explained Sandaime, "Many requests come into our village every day, from babysitting to assassinations. These requests are carefully recorded and analyzed, then ranked from A to D. We ninjas are also ranked based on ability. You are assigned missions based on your rank and the rank of the missions. So you-" 

"Yesterday I had tonkatsu ramen, I'm thinking… miso ramen today…" muttered Naruto, not listening at all. 

"Naruto!" I chastised, "Sorry Sandaime." 

Naruto shrugged, "You always lecture me like your my grandpa or something." 

"The point is," said Iruka, "You are not ready yet."

"Yes I am!" declared Naruto, "I've been training for this like… my entire life! Big Sis taught me! And Guy sensei, Furui-sensei, Murasaki-sensei, and… and Senbon-sensei, and those other people." Naruto spun around and sat down, arms crossed. 

I sighed. He could be such a pain sometimes. 

"So be it," said Sandaime.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura went, "Huh?" 

"Since you are so determined," said Sandaime, "I'll give you all a C-ranked mission. You'll be bodyguards on a journey." 

"Yes!" shouted Naruto.

"But," said Sandaime, "Only if your sensei allows it." 

"Please!" Naruto immediately faced me, puppy eyes and all.

"Hmmm…" I pondered. The Wave Arc with Zabuza and Haku. They would be no problem, though Haku's kekkei genkai would be annoying. It would help Sakura realize that she needed to get stronger, and… well Sasuke already had Sharingan so… "Okay, we'll take it." 

"Really?" asked Naruto, sounding like a little kid who had been offered ice cream. 

"Of course, Naru~ whatever you want." 

"Who? Who? Who are we guarding? A princess? Or some big counselor?"

Sandaime sighed. "Don't be impatient. I'll bring him in now. Send in our visitor. Tazuna-san, please come in!" 

"What a bunch of snot-nosed kids…" said Tazuna. He reeked of alcohol and drank from his bottle. "And you, the littlest one with the idiotic look on your face. You really expect me to believe you are a ninja?" 

Naruto burst out laughing, "Whose the littlest one with the idiotic look on his face?" 

Sakura and Sasuke instinctively took a step closer to Naruto. "I'll DEMOLISH YOU!" shouted Naruto. 

I grabbed him by the arm and held him back from beating up our client. "I am Tazuna the bridge builder and I must return to my country so that I can build a bridge to change our world. I expect you to protect me, even if it means giving up your life."