Chapter 33

"All right!" grinned Naruto, stretching his arms out. It was probably his first time out of the village. 

"He," pointed Tazuna, "Is an idiot." 

I sighed. Why couldn't Kakashi take care of this mission? He could probably keep the peace with Tazuna. I wanted to beat Tazuna up too. He was so annoying. But no, I had to save Haku and Zabuza and help them return to the Hidden Mist with the help of Mei. Sigh… 

"I'm one of the greatest ninjas ever! Someday I'm going to be Hokage and you'll look up to me! My name is NARUTO! Remember it!" 

"The day you become Hokage, I'll sprout wings and fly." Tazuna sipped his alcohol. 

"Shut up," shouted Naruto. 

I sighed, "How about we try not to argue 'cause if we do, we might accidentally stab Tazuna, thinking he's the enemy." I released some pressure causing the four of them to shiver. "Let's head out." 

We walked for hours without a sign of the two chunin from the hidden mist village. Unlike in the show, they didn't show up thirty seconds later. I sighed, keeping my eyes open for a puddle. "So warm today…" I sighed, "So Tazuna-san, what kind of bridge are you building?" I asked, trying to make small talk. 

"A bridge," he muttered. Okay… maybe not… 

"So," I turned to my students, remembering what Kakashi taught them during the wave arc, "Can ya'll walk on trees yet? I know you can, Naruto, but what about Sasuke and Sakura?" 

Naruto grinned. Sakura cocked her head, "Walk on trees? Like the chakra control exercise?" 

I nodded, "Naruto, demonstrate." 

The blonde stuck his tongue at Sasuke and made a hand symbol before running straight up the tree. We kept walking. "Just like that," I said, "You want to send your chakra to the bottom of your feet and use it to stick on the trunk. It's just like the leaf exercise on your forehead, but more complicated. Sakura would you like to try?" 

She nodded and ran ahead. She stopped at a taller tree and closed her eyes. "Start slow," I said, "You don't have to run. Just walking is alright." 

She nodded and firmly planted her foot on the tree. Then, one foot after another, she reached the top. I nodded in approval. "Nice job. It took Naruto three days to get it. Your turn, Sasuke." 

"I already know how to do it," said brooding Sasuke. 

"Oh?" I asked. Things were changing. "Who taught you?" 

Sasuke shook his head, "No one. I read books in the library after I saw Naruto doing it." 

Naruto put his hands on his hips, "Teme! Who said you could stalk me?" 

"I wasn't stalking you!" argued Sasuke, "I was just there…" 

I smiled, "Sasuke, show me what you can do." 

He nodded and ran ahead. Then, without stopping, he ran up the tree and backflipped gracefully back down. Sakura blushed and Naruto glared at him. "Hmph," muttered Naruto, "Not cool at all." 

"Hey," complained Tazuna, "Aren't you supposed to be guarding me?" 

"We are," I said, "We're multi-tasking. Don't worry, we're not under attack." 

"Yet," said Isobu, making me jump. 

"What's wrong?" asked Tazuna. 

"Nothing," I answered quickly. "Don't worry. All four of us are perfectly capable of protecting you. Technically, those three aren't needed, but this mission is to help them hone their skills." 

Tazuna shrugged. "So…" said Isobu, "You know that puddle you've been waiting for?"

'Yes?' I thought to myself. 

"Well," said Isobu, "It's about five minutes away so maybe keep your kids close now. And that alcoholic old man." 

I nodded, 'Thanks but I'll let them do whatever for now…' 

"Tazuna," I said, "Make sure to stay close to me."

"What?" he asked in fear, "Is there an enemy?"

I shook my head, "I'm just being a better guard." He sighed in relief. 

One minute… two minutes… three minutes… four… "Big Sis!" shouted Naruto, running back. "There are two ninjas hiding in a puddle, like in front of us. Which is kind of stupid 'cause there wasn't any rain, but anyway, I think they're here for Tazuna! I haven't told Sasuke or Sakura and I don't think they noticed. Maybe Sasuke… what do we do?" 

"Chill out," I muttered, Naruto was much smarter this time… even if he acted like an idiot about it. "I'm sure you and Sasuke can handle it. I'll step in if I need to. Think of it as… a learning experience." 

Naruto nodded and grinned. "Sakura! Sasuke!" he shouted excitedly, "Come here!" 

The other two ran over. "What's wrong?" asked Sakura. 

I motioned her to come towards me. "Nothing. Naruto, Sasuke, have fun okay? Sakura, how about I teach you some healing ninjutsu? Tazuna, you can be the test dummy." 

Tazuna and Sakura followed me back a bit while Naruto and Sasuke ran ahead towards the puddle. "What's going on?" asked Tazuna. 

"Just a few assassins," I said, "Naruto and Sasuke got it. They'll be fine. Anyways, Sakura, you have excellent chakra control so I'm going to teach you some healing ninjutsu. Very simple. You could probably learn the theory and fundamentals by today. For you, it should work on small cuts. So first you want to gather chakra in your hands…" 

She followed along with what I said. "Is it-" Before she finished her sentence we heard someone shout. "DYNAMIC ENTRY," followed by someone screaming like a little girl. 

"Umm…" I shrugged, "That was probably Naruto. Not screaming, shouting. It's one of the taijutsu moves he learned. Wanna go see?" 

Tazuna shook his head but Sakura nodded hers. "Great," I said, "Sakura keep practicing on the way. Come on, let's go. They should be almost done." 

"Go Sasuke!" shouted Sakura, pumping her fists in the air as Sasuke twirled and kicked at the enemy. 

"Fireball Jutsu!" more screaming. 

And… the fight seemed to be almost over, with Sasuke and Naruto winning. Naruto grinned, creating more than ten shadow clones and beating up one guy while Sasuke took a more practical approach of slowly beating him up. I sighed. They were growing up. A chain shot out from one of the enemies, shooting towards Sasuke. Sakura let out a shriek. 

I sighed and ran towards the fight, grabbing both ninjas by the neck. "Hurrkk…" 

"Oh!" grinned Naruto, "Hey Big Sis, you're so slow!" 

I sighed. "Good job, both of you. But, Naruto and Sasuke you two need to work together, not fight one on one. The fight would have gone better if you fought two on two instead. Remember? Teamwork?" 

"But…" sighed Naruto, "I was totally winning and so was Sasuke." 

"And…" I added, "You didn't notice your opponent shoot at a poisoned chain at Sasuke?" I held up the dangling chain and Naruto gulped. 

"Hehe… sorry Big Sis, I didn't notice that…" 

I sighed and tossed the two unconscious bodies at Sakura. "Tie them up." 

She nodded and scrambled to tie them to a tree. "So," I said, "Your hand is bleeding." 

"Huh?" Naruto looked down at his hand and started screaming. "Ah! I'm bleeding! I'm bleeding! I'm gonna dieeeeeeeeee!" 

"Baka," muttered Sasuke, "It's just a small cut." 

"But," I grinned, "It's poisoned!" I inspected the wound, "I wonder what kind they used? Must be some hidden mist kind… I wonder…" 

"Big Sis!" whined Naruto, "Can't you get it out?" 

"Nope~" I grinned, "We'd have to abandon the mission and return to the hospital. Up to you~ I'll let you think about it."

Naruto shook his head and picked up his kunai. Then, he stabbed himself. "Naruto, what are you doing?" asked Sakura. 

"I will not lose," said Naruto, "Upon this move, I make this pledge. Believe it, bridge builder. I'll complete this mission and protect you with this kunai!" Tazuna stared at him in shock. "Don't worry, I'll be fine." 

"Actually," I snorted, "It was very cool how you took the poison out but if you lose any blood, I will have to cut off your hand. Or you'll die." 

"Wait what?" Naruto started panicking, "I'm too young! I need my hands! To… eat ramen! Don't cut it off! Please, Big Sis, save me! I don't want to die!" 

"Calm down!" I shouted over him, "Give me your hand. Sakura, hand me the bandages please." 

She nodded and slammed her fist into Naruto's head. "Listen to Rin-sensei." 

Naruto nodded pitifully. I grabbed his hand and watched as the Kyuubi chakra healed him. "Bandages?" Sakura handed them to me. 

I nodded and wrapped Naruto's hand. "All good," I said, "Let's keep moving. We'll be there soon."