9Chapter 3: Road to Suna
Sasuke was impressed by Naruto's abilities, even if it was used to try to kill him. He was really glad he got over his past issues and was free from Orochimaru's cursed seal. The feeling he had before about being weak was nothing compared to this. But instead of running to the sanest Sannin he could find, why not swallow his pride and ask the best person he could ask.
"Could you show me how you managed to get your fireballs as powerful?" Sasuke asked Naruto.
"Why?" Naruto said.
"It will help us complete any future missions, and I'll teach you one of my own in return."
At the pier on the Uchiha lake
It was like traveling back in time, back to a better time. Where is only worry was to make it father proud and piggybacking on Itachi's back. He remembered standing on the pier 5 years ago. He had spent days practising the hand signs. Tiger, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger. However, it didn't end well. His father was too used to Itachi excelling at everything on the first attempt to help him fix his flaws. Instead, he was the flaw, someone that it was not worth spending any time with or invest any effort in.
"Are you ready?" Naruto said, punching Sasuke in the gut to get him back to reality. If he had to guess, it wasn't Naruto's first attempt to get his attention. Luckily for him, Naruto punched like a 9-year-old girl. He might have some powerful Jutsu, he wouldn't last long in a fist fight.
"Yes, so what should I do?" Sasuke said.
"Show me how you're doing it first," Naruto said.
Sasuke had done this a thousand times before. Forming the seals, breathing in, collecting chakra to his lungs and blow it out in a steady pace.
"Use less chakra and blow out the fire faster," Naruto said.
Sasuke did as he was told, what he produced was more of a flamethrower than a fireball.
"Now do both at the same time."
"How can I be slow and fast at the same time?"
"You mold as fast as you can, but blow it out as slow as possible."
Sasuke did as he was told. Forming the hand signs, he began molding chakra and hoped for the best. Some might argue that he was seeing something, but the fireball looked slightly bigger. If someone were to argue, he'd just point out that he was an Uchiha. Known for their eyesight and fire Jutsu. Disregard the fact that half of the remaining Uchiha are almost blind at the moment.
Wait, how could he forget about Tobi. What was he up to now if he existed? Should he warn Konoha about the true leader of Akatsuki?
"You should continue to train by molding as much chakra as you can, then as fast as you can and end it with doing both at the same time," Naruto said.
It was obviously not a very good training regime for Sasuke since he had a limited chakra pool, but he was willing to try.
"Why do you want to master the Jutsu? You won't make much use of it."
"It was the first and last Jutsu my father taught me, on the same pier we're standing on now. In his eyes, I was never good enough and I failed hard. On my first attempt, my fireball was the size of my head, after that he didn't bother teaching me anymore, or tell me how to improve. I wasn't Itachi, I couldn't do everything on the first attempt, and I still can't," Sasuke said, and added in his mind, 'Itachi doesn't even trust me on living my life properly on the first attempt.'
"As much as I love my brother, I can't say he was very helpful in the last months before the massacre. All I got from him was a poke to the head and a promise of 'Maybe next time'.
"I can't really blame him. He was under lots of pressure. From his job as an ANBU captain to expectations from the clan. After Shisui's death, and after he was accused of killing his best friend, I'm not surprised he snapped."
A chilling feeling swept over him, he didn't notice it before now, but Kyuubi's chakra was leaking from Naruto.
'Shit, this was not going to happen. He had no chance against Naruto normally, so what chance did he have when Naruto was using his Jinchuuriki powers?'
"Need help?" Kakashi said, appearing in a puff of smoke.
For once, he wasn't two hours late.
Later that evening
After the little incident with Kyuubi, the Hokage had offered to talk to Sasuke about any questions he might have. They were now sitting in the ramen stand waiting for their orders. Sasuke had to admit that he was a bit anxious, as he had never had much contact with the man. While his Naruto had much contact with the Hokage through his childhood, it was not normal procedure for the village leader to visit every orphan, not even if you were the last Uchiha.
"What did you do to Naruto?" Sasuke asked.
"What are you talking about" Sarutobi responded.
"I know about Root."
Sarutobi took a sip of his drink and was clearly contemplating how he should deal with the situation before he continued "Naruto wasn't forced into Root."
Sasuke frowned. "What do you mean?"
"He chose it himself," the Hokage paused trying to find the right words "Naruto did not… particularly fit in at the Academy."
"Let me bring you back to Naruto's first days at the academy."
It had been Naruto's first day in the academy and I decided to check up on him and treat him a bowl of Ramen at this very restaurant afterwards.
"Good morning Hokage-sama," a silver-haired academy teacher greeted me.
"Good morning Mizuki, how was Naruto today?" I said.
"He has been nice for most of the day." Mizuki voice was a bit unnatural.
I found it odd that he was sweating, but didn't think much of it at the time It could have simply been that he was nervous in front of the Hokage, but the truth was soon revealed.
A child's cry came from the other room. He was begging for his sensei.
Both I and Mizuki ran into the classroom. My worst fear was confirmed - Naruto was beating up on a weaker student. Mizuki grabbed his hand and dragged him off of the poor child.
"Naruto, why did you do that?" I asked him, giving him a disappointing look.
"I was bored," Naruto stated flatly, not too different from how he acts today.
He did not even try to defend himself. Not that I could see anything that justified the situation.
Some time after.
"Hokage-sama, it's good that you're here," Mizuki said and was clearly relieved that I finally came.
"What did Naruto do this time?"
"He tried to kill another student."
"Let me talk to him, are you sure you're not just overreacting?"
I had not gotten the best impression of Naruto before this, but I assumed that was because he spent most of his time alone and isolated.
"He is sitting in my office. I hope you don't mind that I tied him to the wall, I didn't want him to run away or try to attack other students."
I really hoped he was lying, I hoped Naruto had a good excuse for what he did.
"Naruto did you try to kill one of your classmates?"
"Yes, why?"
"Why, you cannot do that. Would you care to give me an explanation?"
"I was practising. They say your first kill is the hardest, so I wouldn't want to hesitate in a real battle." He was tilting his head, clearly trying to act innocently.
I wasn't sure if he was genuine and didn't know better, or if he didn't care if he was acting like a demon child.
Short time after with Danzo
I did what I usually do when I have a problem I can't solve myself and invited my good friend and advisor.
"I assumed you didn't invite me her just for tea," Danzo said and took a sip of his cup.
"You have been interested in Uzumaki Naruto," I said.
"Yes, and I'm glad you accepted my proposal to enroll him into the academy early."
"I'll have a new proposal for you. I let Naruto join Root, but if he wants to leave or if I see any abuse, I'll pull him out. Of course, I'll expect him to stay for some time before making up his decision."
"I might be old, I'm not senile yet. What are you trying to accomplish, and why do you think he'll even stay in Root after his trial period?"
"We both know that you care deeply about Konoha, even if I can't always approve of your methods. I just recently I caught him trying to kill a fellow student as training. So I think we can both agree that he'll fit well into your little organization."!
"Naruto decided to stay in Root, and now Danzo has decided to let him fill the empty spot on your team," Sarutobi said.
"How do you he really know that Naruto wanted it? Did you just take Danzo's word for it?" Sasuke raised his voice.
"I'm not called the God of Shinobi for nothing," Sarutobi smiled. "I have talked to him directly several times and I had with me a different Hyuuga every time to look for signs of a genjutsu and to make sure that they were not lying to me and wasn't missed something. As I'm not foreign to being tricked or lied to by Danzo."
Sasuke wanted to add, "Why should I trust you?", but decided against it for some very good reasons.
On the way to the Hokage's office
Naruto had just come back from his latest mission and was finally with them again. He didn't really understand why Naruto was on their team, as he didn't do any missions with them. He should have asked Sarutobi about it last time when he had an open opportunity, but asking now would just be suspicious or it would look like he was sticking his nose where it didn't belong. Though he couldn't blame Konoha for not wanting to waste that talent on chores. The traces of blood and mud in Naruto's hair was a clear sign that his previous mission wasn't exactly peaceful.
"Ready for more D-ranks?" Kakashi asked his students, before a new day of torture could start.
"Why can't we get something more exciting? Surely we're ready for a C-rank with you and Naruto on the team," Sasuke said. It had been a boring two years for him compared to his former life. Sure a C-ranked mission would still be quite tame compared to his life with Taka. Or was it Hebi? Not that his weird naming habits really mattered. It would still provide the chance for some real fighting, and not just friendly spars with Sakura who didn't put up too much of a challenge. He didn't want to, nor was he allowed to spar with Naruto, and Kakashi wasn't called a jounin for nothing.
"You should know how it works by now. While C-ranks are given to both chuunin and genin, it's usually reserved for genin with more experience. You will get no benefit out of it if we are carrying you through all the action. D-ranks are perfect for you two at this point. Some cat chasing would sure provide you with the same level of excitement as any high-ranked mission will."
"Actually, I want you for an important A-ranked mission. Shimura Danzo is in charge of this, and will tell you the details in his office," the Hokage said.
They say you should be careful about what you wish for, and this was definitely true here. If the challenges he encountered in the genjutsu were realistic, this could very well end with the entire team dead. Zabuza was playing with them and they barely won, and that was a C-ranked gone wrong. How would an A-ranked gone wrong turn out with an opponent that takes them seriously?
"Don't be too excited, I'm sure this is all a misunderstanding. Danzo most likely didn't mean to include you two in the mission. Gai will be happy to supervise you while we're gone. "
Sasuke might not have been the brightest student at the academy, but he remembered quite well how mission ranks worked. It was based on both the team size and difficulty. An S-ranked given to a single person might just be an A- or a B-ranked given to a four-man team. And if you couldn't carry your own weight, you would just make it harder for everyone else.
Danzo's office was fairly tidy and clean, which was more an indicator that he didn't spend too much time here than for official business. Most people never thought about it, but higher ranked ninja cleaned their own offices and living space in fear of spies, or just curious genin sticking their noses where they shouldn't. And Danzo being the paranoid man he was, probably didn't even trust his own Root with this task.
"Are you planning to use Sasuke-kun as cannon fodder?!" Sakura yelled and was ready to punch the literal embodiment of darkness if he gave her the wrong answer. She was probably thinking the exact same thought as him, that this mission was way above their abilities.
"Will you let me speak before you commit treason?" Danzo said. Sasuke couldn't read what the man thought, but if he was to guess he was probably conflicted about congratulating her fearless nature or reprimanding her for letting emotions take over.
"Sorry, I'm just a bit nervous, we haven't even been on our first C-ranked yet." Sakura looked down and her voice was a bit quieter this time.
"The Wind Daimyo fears that someone is trying to kill him and have asked us for help," Danzo said.
"Why did they ask us and not Suna?" Kakashi asked, narrowing his eye.
"He fears he will be assassinated by Suna and our own intelligence backs up his suspicions."
"So why not send a team of ANBU, I'm sure they are much more up to the task than us."
"We cannot station a team of ANBU there indefinitely, we need to lure out the attackers and that's where you come in. For an outsider, you look no different from a standard genin team, which will make them underestimate you. You will, of course, not be alone, but the goal is to trick them into attacking what they think will be a weak spot, and Uzumaki will fill that role perfectly. Sending just you and him would raise some red flags, so I asked for the entire team, but I assure you that your other students will be perfectly safe."
Kakashi frowned, but otherwise said nothing as they collected their orders and made their way out of the tower.
With Sakura later that day
"Mom, we got a mission to Suna, so I'll be gone for a while," Sakura told her mother.
"Did Tora flee that far this time?" Mebuki asked with a small smile.
"No, mom," Sakura sighed, rolling her eyes. "This is a serious mission. We're going to defend the Wind Daimyo."
"Who in their right mind thought that was a good idea?"
"Danzo, I think?"
"An old man with half his face covered in bandages?"
"Uhh.. yes?"
"Stay away from him," Mebuki scowled suddenly, turning to look her daughter right in the eye. "He might look like an old cripple, but he is the most dangerous person you'll ever meet."
"Do you know him?"
"I meet him in the council meetings, where he is often complaining about D-ranks being too cheap and that Genin doesn't get enough training since they're busy doing simple chores. And then he proceeds to accuse the civilian population of putting the village at risk just to get some cheap labour. But there are other matters I can't really talk about that aren't as lighthearted."
"Relax, Mom," Sakura said tiredly. "I promise I'll be careful."
Later that night
While others trove in the light, Danzo preferred the dark tunnels under Konoha. Once again, he found himself preparing for a mission that couldn't stand the light of the sun.
Danzo handed out a red scroll to one of his agents. "You know what to do with it."
"Hai," Naruto responded.
"Keep in mind that failure is not an option."
Author's Note(s): I want to thank EndoplasmicPanda for help in writing this chapter.
If you have some input or feedback, feel free to leave a review. I'm new to this and I would appreciate some pointers about where to improve.