26th October

8:10 a.m.

Streets of Konoha

"Naruto! Wait up, Naruto!" Sakura called out in frustration while shielding her eyes from the heavy rain as she tried to keep up with her teammate.

"C-rank~ C-rank~ It's a Cow with a Ceeeheeheee!" the blonde sang happily as she ran ahead of her teammate, completely oblivious to the pelting rain.

He's completely mental! Sakura thought as she wiped the water off her face. "Tch, Naruto! Not everyone wears a waterproof jacket or a goggle all the time you know!" Sakura complained as she cursed herself for not having thought of dressing sensibly for the weather. Something that Baka Naruto obviously thought of.

The blonde finally did pause and turn around, fiddling with her Hitai-ate that she opted to wear around her neck today, "Then you've only yourself to blame. Oh come on, after all the flak you've been giving me for being "late", you're asking me to slow down today of all days? We're getting our first C-rank for crying out loud!"

"Y-yes, I know but that's beside the point! Kakashi-sensei might not even be there yet! And b-besides, how am I supposed to face Sasuke when I'm soaked to the skin?!" Sakura asked as she started shivering a little from the cold.

Naruto rolled her eyes in annoyance before inspiration struck. Grinning slyly, she moved behind Sakura and clapped her gently on the shoulders. "Well I'd say it's a blessing! Think about it, Sasuke always ignores you, but now that you're all 'soaked to the skin' it actually adds to your appeal."

"I mean you being all wet, clothing plastered to your skin… leaving little to the imagination, maybe he just might…" Naruto sighed theatrically as she twirled her fingers dramatically. Her grinned widened at Sakura's reddening face as she let her fantasy run wild.

"Besides." She added waggling her eyebrows while her eyes darted down to Sakura's chest a little, making sure the other girl noticed. "Somebody's happy."

"NARUTO BAKA!" Sakura screeched as she swung clumsily with one fist while covering herself with her other hand.

Laughing gaily, Naruto deftly dodged the expected punch and started bolting towards the mission lobby at full speed, Sakura hot at her heels. Another mission accomplished. She thought smugly to herself as they reached the mission lobby in record time.

8:13 a.m.

Konoha Mission Lobby

The doors to the Shinobi side of the mission lobby burst open, admitting a laughing Naruto and a panting Sakura, still hot in pursuit.

Ignoring the disapproving glare from most Shinobi and more than a few amused ones, Naruto spied Sasuke brooding at his usual corner and hurried over to her teammate.

"Ohayo, Sasuke!"

"Hn."

"Ah, Ohayo, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura stammered out and forcing herself to smile, while glaring at Naruto who was making faces at her from behind Sasuke. Her eyes widened in shock however, when Naruto subtly pointed towards her chest. She immediately crossed her arms over her chest, suddenly feeling very self-conscious. I'll KILL THAT BASTARD!

"Ne! Ne! Sasuke, you ready for our first C-rank?!" Naruto asked excitedly.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at his teammate before looking back and forth between the two of them. Noting carefully Sakura's flustered appearance and Naruto's unusual close proximity to himself.

Getting a rough idea at what the deceptively manipulative blonde was trying to achieve, he suppressed a smirk, shrugged and grunted. Get yourself out of your own fix.

"Oh come on! You gotta be more excited than that! We're the first team of our year to get our C-rank!"

The Uchiha could barely contain his smirk at the barest hint of desperation coming from Naruto's voice as he realised the more he looked at Sakura, the more agitated she seemed to get.

"Ah, there you guys are. Come on then. No more slacking, there's work to be done. It's time to hit the mission office." A familiar voice distracted them from their conversation.

The trio of Genin stared in surprise at their Jōnin-sensei.

"What?"

Naruto was the first to speak after a few seconds of stupefied silence. "Wow sensei, you're actually early for once. Did somebody die or something?" She asked carefully.

"Maa… Naruto, you shouldn't say such inauspicious things. It's bad luck." Kakashi replied with a small smile and ushered his team into the office before turning the placard on the door from green to red.

"Team 7, reporting in for duty."

"Ah, Kakashi. Good to see you and your team here."

"Jiji!" Naruto greeted in surprise.

"And hello to you too, Naruto." the Hokage replied with smile. "I see you're all here for your first C-rank mission."

Frowning, Naruto asked tentatively, "Is everything alright? Kakashi-sensei is unusually early today and you're down here instead of back in your office."

Smiling, the old man raised a hand reassuringly, "Everything is fine, Naruto. Just that the recent heavy rainfall has brought up some concerns which they deem might warrant my interest."

Fishing up a scroll, Hiruzen handed it over to Kakashi. "I think this would be appropriate for a C-rank?"

The Copy-nin perused through the scroll, nodding his consent. "I suppose this will do". Nodding at the Chūnin guard, he opened the door to admit their client.

A young, but slightly disheveled man in his late twenties walked in, holding a few large tubes of scrolls. He appeared a little sleep deprived, though that did little to diminish his sharp brown eyes, taking in the occupants in the room.

Upon seeing the Hokage, the man's face broke into a smile of relief.

"Ah, Hokage-sama. I'm glad you decided to see me on such short notice."

"This is Akita Tessai. He's a hydraulics engineer in charge of Konoha's vast sewage system. A very important job I assure you all. And this is Team 7, they consist of some of Konoha's finest young graduates."

"Ah, you flatter me Hokage-sama. Hajimemashite." Tessai greeted, lifting his safety hat, revealing a mop of messy brown hair.

"Domo!"

Nodding his head at the team as he appraised them, he commented, "Well, not quite what I expected but at least one of them appears to fulfill my requirement for this task." While his gaze lingered on Naruto for a moment.

"I assure you that they're all perfect for the mission." Kakashi interjected.

"Can we know what our mission is yet?" Naruto asked uneasily after having being singled out by the client.

"Of course. If you'll please, Tessai-san." Hiruzen gestured at Tessai to begin.

Beckoning to the Genin teams, Tessai unfurled one of his scrolls, detailing the Map of Konoha.

"Due to heavier than usual rainfall this monsoon season, there had been some minor flooding upstream. Usually it wouldn't concern us much but last night, the debris trap…" he pointed to several locations on the map

"…here, here and here had failed due to presence of larger than normal debris from the storm and a large amount of coarse debris had been introduced into the system. If left unchecked, it might cause major flooding. That usually doesn't happen, but then again, some of those traps are as old as Konoha itself and are way overdue for renewal."

"I see, but how does that concern us?" Sakura asked.

"Under normal conditions, we would send some people to go in and clear them out to serviceable levels. Though, some parts of the sewer were so badly blocked we needed someone to help unstuck it out from the inside…"

"That's where I come into the picture I guess…" Naruto mumbled. Sigh, so much for a cool mission in a faraway land.

"Hai, but unfortunately, we're also heavily understaffed at the moment. The others are helping with the flood mitigation further upstream. I've been working overtime finding out where possible blockages might occur, so it would be helpful if one of you are actually academically inclined enough to help speed up the process."

The three Genin exchanged looks before shrugging.

"Sure I guess."

"We can do that."

"Hn."

"Though, not to be annoying or anything. It doesn't sound much like a C-rank to me." Naruto offered skeptically.

"Well, you would be entering a sewer system during a flood alert. Usually we wouldn't even consider sending people in at this point. We just patch up the debris trap and hope that's enough or just let it flood and deal with the cleanup later."

"Worst case, you could be trapped down there and drown. But due to concerns…" Tessai pointed out while giving the Hokage an uncomfortable look.

"Maa, that's alright Tessai-san. Since you've mentioned the risks clearly on your brief. We should be fine as long as we coordinate this smartly and I have my Ninken to track them down quickly if things do go wrong." Kakashi assuaged.

"That's everything for now I guess. We should hurry to the site. The longer we wait, the higher the chances of flooding." Tessai commented as he looked out of the window where it's still pouring.

8:53 a.m.

Eastern Sewer Entrance

They arrived at the sewer entrance where the Genin quickly set up tent for Tessai. It was agreed that Sakura would stay behind to help while Naruto and Sasuke would be handling the manual stuff with Kakashi on standby.

After going over the sewer plan details, Tessai had pointed out where he knew some blockages to be and would occur as well as advising them to resurface every hour to receive an update.

They were both handed some flares and a radio set from Kakashi.

"These should allow us for some easy communication, although I don't know how well they'll work down there. It's very likely that you'll lose signal, but don't worry. The flares should leave enough scent for my Ninken to track and they continue to burn even underwater."

"These are very good quality low smoke, slow burning flares that lasts roughly half an hour. Tessai has generously supplied us with a lot of them so just keep one lit right when you head in and when it goes out, you know it's time to start heading out. So if you're not out by an hour and if we get no contact from you guys, I'll be going in to find you guys. Naruto, take point."

"Understood." Both Genin replied.

Peering over the dark opening, Naruto lit one of the flares and dropped it right in, counting the number of seconds before it hits the ground. It took less than a second.

"Woe is the unsung valours of the sewer rats of Konoha." She sang dryly. Causing Kakashi to chuckle. "Quaint. They don't sing that anymore."

Seeing that the brick-red flame of the flare illuminated no other obstacles, Naruto shrugged. "Here we go!" before ignoring the ladder rungs and jumping straight in.

After a second or two, they heard Naruto calling out.

"Oi, Sasuke! The water's just fine. Come on in!"

Inside the Sewer

Dropping into the sewer below, Naruto allowed her eyes to adjust to the dim lighting, ignoring the cold, tepid water flowing around her feet. Wiggling her nose somewhat, she tried to ignore the pungent scent of rat excrement or worse. As her vision adjusted, she spied rats and other sewer denizens just scurrying out of her sight. Oh Joy.

A brief scan of the area showed no chakra signature worth worrying over, she decided to give Sasuke the all clear. Moving well away from the entrance towards higher and relatively drier ground, she called out with forced enthusiasm. "Oi, Sasuke! The water's just fine. Come on in!"

A second later, a loud splash announced Sasuke's arrival at Wonderland.

Both of them each lit one extra flare and had it clipped to their waist before holding it up high and started making their way towards the blockage, using the pipelines and long since faded signs on the walls to navigate.

As they got closer to the source, evidence of a blockage became clearer as the water level increased dramatically, spilling over the top of the foot deep cunette onto the side of the service path and the flow of water slowed significantly, creating small eddies in the process.

Stepping into a large chamber, they finally found the source of the blockage. A large wooden beam had found itself into the compartment and was stuck between the walls of a splitting barrel, causing other smaller debris to plug up most of the inlet.

"Well… let's get to work I guess." Naruto said after they spent a few seconds taking in the situation.

"How do you propose we go about it?" Sasuke asked as the idea of wading in waist deep turbid sewage didn't appeal to him, storm water or not.

Slapping her fist against her palm as a bout of inspiration hit, Naruto performed a Tiger seal and shot a Teppōdama at the beam, hoping to break it up enough to clear the blockage.

The result of firing the Suiton Jutsu so close to the target was spectacular. A large burst of water showered the whole chamber, covering both Genin in filthy waters.

While the Teppōdama did dislodge some of the smaller debris, the large wooden beam simply sunk a few feet deeper into the water before floating up again.

Glaring at his teammate, a dripping wet Sasuke blew out the water around his lips and growled. "Any more bright ideas?"

"Hehehe… Um, how about we break it up manually?" Naruto suggested while grinning sheepishly. "Hey, I tried!" she protested under the Uchiha's glare.

Sighing helplessly, Sasuke lowered himself down into the chamber and began wading towards the blockage. He frowned however, when Naruto simply walked across the surface of the water and started pulling aside the layer of junk that had surrounded the wooden beam.

"How are you doing that?"

Startled by her teammate's sudden question, Naruto stopped what she was doing and stared at Sasuke in puzzlement. "Doing what?" She asked innocently.

"That. Walking on water."

"Oh this?" Naruto replied as she briefly considered her teammate's question. "It's just like climbing trees I guess… except on water?"

It was Sasuke's turn to sound puzzled. "How is that even remotely similar to climbing trees?" he asked in a mixture of confusion with some measure of annoyance.

"Ugh, not in the conventional sense!" Naruto expressed as she ran her finger across her hair trying to explain the concept to Sasuke.

"Here, it'll be easier if I just show it to you."

Walking towards the nearest wall, Naruto started walking up the side of it. "I don't suppose I should describe it as climbing trees. It's pretty much just using your chakra to cling onto surfaces. Ya know… like all that stuff Iruka talked about during the leaf exercise bit in year 2."

"Takes a few days of practice, but once you get the hang of it, it's really pretty easy." She added as she looked down at her teammate from the soffit.

Sasuke frowned as he figured out how it might work. The concept seemed simple enough. Deciding to test it out, he sent some chakra to the bottom of his feet and tried to take a step on the surface.

The result was a small explosion of water, covering the Uchiha again from head to toe with water.

Naruto nearly fell off laughing.

"Damare." Sasuke grumbled in annoyance as he promptly moved on to clear the debris, ignoring his embarrassing performance.

Together, they worked mostly in companionable silence and managed to break the timber down into smaller pieces and slowly cleared out the debris, noting with satisfaction the water levels dropping drastically before moving on to the next leg of the system.

They were in the middle of clearing out the third blockage, which is mostly due to silt buildup because of the stagnated water when their flares ran out. Lighting a new set of flares, they quickly finish removing the silt before looking for the nearest exit.

9:49 a.m.

Tessai's Camp

It was still raining albeit slightly when the two Genin made their way back to the camp where they were bombarded with questions from Tessai, asking things from the type of debris to the level of excess afflux.

Armed with the field data, the busy man pretty much ran back into the tent to update his findings. Peeking in, they found Sakura busy helping Tessai out with his spreadsheets while Kakashi was enjoying his book.

"So, no incidents so far I hope?" Kakashi asked casually upon noticing the two wet Genin.

"Nope. Just plain old boring." Naruto replied.

"You should just appreciate boring while it lasts." The older ninja advised.

Sticking her tongue out at Kakashi, she rebuked. "Spoken like a true old man."

Several minutes later and with an update from Tessai, Naruto found herself back in the sewers again with Sasuke.

3:16 p.m.

Tessai's Camp

Sakura was digging through stacks of blueprints for Tessai, having gotten tired of all the math and knowing more about sewage than she wanted for the rest of her life. The man was smart, she gave him that, but he could do by being a lot more organized, she thought as she leafed through the untidy pile.

She didn't envy the boys though, having seen them during their lunch break, covered in gunk and smelling funny. Even her Sasuke-kun didn't look appealing then. The things we do as ninja.

Sighing, she gathered up the armful of scrolls and brought it to Tessai.

"Ano, Tessai-san. Here are the plans." Leaving the plans on his desk, Sakura went to make herself some tea.

Looking up from his work, Tessai browsed through some of the plans and frowned. "These aren't the plans I asked for. Though, curiously enough... They do have the same numbers… Where did you get these from?" Getting the interest of a bored Kakashi.

"Well, they're dated way back during Nidaime's reign. They're probably blueprints for the old sewer that got shut off during the war."

"Ah, sorry. I might have gotten them mixed up with the pile." Sakura winced at her rookie mistake and apologised. "I'll go look again."

"No, that's quite alright. In fact, this is great! They used to build giant reservoirs of a system back then just so the water could double as emergency supply. If we can link the system back together, then there should be no worry of floods at all and we can call it a day!"

Deep Inside the Sewers

The mission was fast becoming uncomfortable as the rain started to pick up again. The sewers had become harder to navigate as both water level and flow increased.

Naruto could tell Sasuke was fast getting tired wading through the ice-cold water. Although he never once complained, it showed in his movements.

This is not good. Naruto thought. They still had several blocks to clear. Annoyingly, some of the debris they dislodged upstream tend to get stuck again later on so they ended up having to cut through almost the entire length of the sewers.

She decided to strike up a conversation with Sasuke to help pass the time.

"Ne, Sasuke. You getting hungry yet? Cause I know I sure am."

Sasuke opened his mouth to answer when his stomach, being more honest, made the first complaint of the day.

They were both saved from the awkward moment when their radio crackled.

"Eto, Naruto-san? Sasuke-san? Hello? Can you hear me? Over." came Tessai's voice through the static.

"Hai, something up? Over." Naruto replied after fumbling to find the switch to her headset.

"Ah, good! Can you tell me where you guys are? Over."

Scrunching her face in concentration Naruto recalled the path they had taken. "We should be right after the second left turn from the E26 section. Why?"

There was a momentary pause before they heard the crack of static again.

"That's good news! Actually Sakura-san stumbled upon some old blueprint of the disused sewers from the 2nd Shinobi War. According to the blueprint, it should be close to where you guys are, back down the second left from E23. If you can find it and open the sluice gates, it should allow storm waters to drain into the much bigger system."

"If you two can get both system connected, according to the blueprint, it should be big enough to serve as a sink for all the excess water, then we can call it a day and get some much needed rest and relaxation. Over!"

Grinning, Naruto turned to her teammate. "Well, you heard the man! Let's go!" As she dashed back the way they came. Sighing deeply, Sasuke trudged along behind, vowing to master the arts of water walking once they're done with this. Maybe Kaa-san will give me some pointers.

4:22 p.m.

Tessai's Camp

Licking his finger through his mask, Kakashi lazily flipped another page of his book. Trying to enjoy the story while at the same time, get this uneasy feeling that had been biting at him since Tessai made the call.

Woe is the unsung valours of the sewer rats of Konoha. Kakashi sang silently. The song had been stuck in his head since Naruto brought it up that morning.

Wonder where that kid learned the tune. He mused. It had been an old war song way before his time. One Minato-sensei and Jiraiya would sing at their campsite during the war. A song about the secret wars fought deep beneath the earth for years before what became known openly as the 2nd Shinobi War.

Then suddenly it clicked. Sewer rats! Iwa! Kiri! The reason why Nidaime closed off those old sewers! Snapping close his book, Kakashi cursed himself for missing out the obvious.

Grabbing his radio, he tried to reach his Genin. "Naruto?! Sasuke?! Can you hear me? Hello?!"

"Is everything alright, Kakashi-san?" Tessai enquired, alarmed at the Copy-nin's sudden reaction.

After failing to get his Genin on the radio again, Kakashi cursed. "I just remembered the reason why they closed off the old sewers."

"Before the 2nd Shinobi War, Iwa used to tunnel through to other hidden villages, launching surprise attacks at other countries. Most villages responded by establishing their own underground task force to counter the threat. It was all going in Iwa's favour until Kiri entered the war. They decided to not play by their rules. Instead they flooded the underground tunnels and filled them with lots of nasty creatures. Deciding that the tunnels were lost, Nidaime ordered to have most of them sealed. The old sewers used to be one such battle ground!"

Tessai's face paled as the implication dawned upon him. "I'm sorry! I didn't know!"

"No, you wouldn't know. I didn't realise either until a few moments ago. Listen, I'm going in after them. I might be overreacting but if you don't hear from me in an hour, Sakura, you know the protocols."

Memorizing the blueprints, Kakashi hastily Shunshin to the nearest entrance of the old sewers.

Earlier

Old Sewers

Naruto and Sasuke gave each other a dubious look when they saw the amount of seals that cordoned off the closed door leading to the old sewers. Nothing really advanced but simple basic barriers to keep things out.

"Gee, paranoid much?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Maybe it's just the way they do things in the old days."

Neither Genin seemed convinced but it was supposed to be an easy assignment. "Tessai did say that they were closed off during the 2nd Shinobi War." She offered.

Eager at the prospect of leaving the sewers early, both Genin decided to ignore their instincts and proceeded to gingerly peel off the seals.

Naruto had to plug her ears when Sasuke twisted open the rusted steel door as it protested with a metallic screech. Flakes of rust and dirt crumbled off the edge of the steel barrier and it groaned and protested every inch until it just wouldn't move anymore.

Lighting up another flare, Naruto cast it into the adjacent room before entering. A few steps into the dark and abandoned section of the sewers, Naruto felt the hair on the nape of her neck bristled. Pausing cautiously, she extended all her keen senses to check for anything unusual.

Finding nothing, she decided to write it up as an effect of the difference in surrounding, as it was a lot quieter in here, with only the constant eerie trickling of water and a cold draft flowing. She flashed her teammate the all-clear sign.

The Uchiha followed immediately. Glad to be out of the cold, knee-deep water for once as they moved onto the old suspended metal decking.

The two Genin treaded slowly and carefully along the walkway. Picking up scent of more metal and soot, Naruto called out, "Wait, I think I found something."

The smell came from the end corner of the walkway. Brushing away old cobwebs and dusts, they found what appears to be a huge machinery.

"It's a coal-fired generator. Uchiha made." Sasuke commented with a small hint of pride as he wiped away some dust, revealing a small plaque with his clan's faded red and white symbol next to the manufactured date.

"Does it even work?"

Sasuke shrugged as he inspected the pressure gauges and water levels. "Only one way to find out." As he pried open the rusted panel and dumped few buckets of old coal inside the furnace and breathed in a steady stream of flame while Naruto turned an old crankshaft to get the machinery started. A few minutes later, they heard the telltale hum of the flywheels and pistons coupled with the hiss of steam escaping from valves as the old generator stabilises and Naruto pulled the switch.

The two Genin had to shield their eyes as rows and rows of floodlights lit up the chamber. Once their eyes adjusted to the glaring brightness, the two Genin blinked in surprise at the sight that greeted them.

They were standing in a vast chamber easily 30 feet tall and five times that in depth and width. Numerous pipes and corridors lead into and out of the system, supported with massive pillars that seemed to be made out of some Doton Jutsu as the unusual shape each pillar has couldn't have been made with normal formwork.

"No wonder Tessai-san said that we could go home. This place is massive!" Naruto whistled appreciatively as she leaned over the railings to look at the chamber below, silently wondering how deep the chamber really went by observing the water markings left on the walls and comparing it to Jū's chamber.

She couldn't help but feel a sense of unease as she stared down into the black surface of the water. For a moment, she thought she saw movement in the water but a second glance only showed mirror smooth surface, disproving her earlier suspicions. Shaking her head to clear the feeling of vertigo, she mentally pinched herself. Get a grip on yourself, Naruto.

Sasuke merely grunted at his teammate stating the obvious while he scanned an old plan of the place for their objective. "There, the sluice gates." Sasuke said while tapping his finger on the faded out plaque to indicate their location and turning to leave. Noticing his teammate's odd behaviour he prompted "Everything okay?"

"Ah I was jus…" Naruto started but before she could finish, a loud grumble resounded through the chamber.

Sasuke couldn't help but smirk and gave a knowing "Ah."

Naruto blinked in confusion before she realised what had happened. "Wha-? Wait, that wasn't me!" she protested indignantly, face flushing red.

"It's way too loud! Maybe the storm is getting worse or…" she cut herself off as she realised how weak of an excuse that must've sounded. An amused grunt was all she got.

Great… but still, what the hell was that? Starting to feel uncertain herself. Maybe I really need a good meal and some sleep after this.

Keeping the comments to herself, Naruto decided to let Sasuke take the lead for a change as she shifted role from scout to sentry, trying hard not to jump at every single drop of water and shadow cast by flickering lights or thinking about the reasons for seals on the door. Too late now.

After climbing up and down a few flights of ladder rungs, corridors and tunnels later, they finally arrived at a platform overlooking the sluice gates with a series of valve wheels.

"So, give these a couple of twists and we're home free huh? Sounds easy enough."

"Hn."

The two Genin each grabbed hold of a wheel. Planting her foot firmly on the ground, Naruto was nearly thrown off balance when the surprisingly well-greased valve wheel turned easily, nearly bumping into the ornery Uchiha. A loud metallic groan resounded through the chamber and a thick jet of water started spewing out from the small opening of the gate. Quickly working through the rest of the valves, they soon had water gushing into the system at full bore.

Having done their bit, Naruto tried unsuccessfully to get into contact with Tessai via the radio before shrugging at the impatient looking Uchiha. "Oh well, lets get out of here. Don't know about you, but I can't wait to get home to a hot shower!" Getting only a grunt in reply from her ever-chatty teammate.

They made their way back the first few corridors in awkward silence until Sasuke tentatively broke the silence. "Ne, Naruto. I was wondering…" The Uchiha started hesitantly, causing Naruto to raise an eyebrow at her usually broody teammate.

"Well it's actually more of my…"

A loud grumble much like the other two resounded in the chamber they're in. The only warning Naruto had was the hair on the back of her neck rising and the look of shock and surprise on Sasuke's face before throwing herself into a back flip.

As she spun around in midair, she managed to catch sight of the largest specimen of crocodile she had ever seen. It was easily over three grown men in length, surging up from the water and lunging through where she was standing just moment earlier. Looking up, she noted that Sasuke had dived sideways to safety and instinctively launching kunai and shuriken which bounced off the giant crock's thick hide as it crashed through the railings on the other side of the steel platform and back into the murky waters.

Naruto winced as the railings she landed on creaked and groaned in protest under her less than gentle landing before a rusted section of metal gave and broke off, sending her toppling into the bone chilling depths.

Sasuke was about to scowl in annoyance when the rude rumble interrupted his sentence before changing to shock and surprise when accompanying it was the largest crocodile he had ever laid his eyes upon lunging out from behind his teammate.

Before he even had a chance to shout out a warning, the nimble blonde had already launched himself into a well-executed back flip. Everything slowed to a crawl as he reflexively dived to the side and pulled out a few Kunai and Shuriken at the beast. Unfortunately, it did little other than glancing off the beast's thick hide before it crashed back into the water, bringing a good chunk of the railing with it.

Hearing a groan of metal behind him, he spun around just in time to see in perfect slow motion, Naruto plunging into the water as the old railing gave way.

"Naruto!" He yelled out before cursing at his body's seemingly slow reaction as the giant croc dragged his teammate down into the murky depths.

Glaring at the blackish water as if somehow his gaze might penetrate the mirroring surface, he searched for signs of his fallen teammate.

Naruto barely had time to surface for breath when the scaled monstrosity lunged again, trying snap off her upper torso. Fortunately, she managed to duck between the collapsed railings although the metal groaned underneath the muscular jaws of the beast. Frustrated, the killer croc pulled her with the railings under water before going into a spin.

Trying to keep her breath in, Naruto struggled to free herself from the tangled mess of metal that was the railings. Curling herself into a tighter ball, she managed to regain some balance and sneak a Kunai into her hand before shoving it down the throat of the reptile, gouging at the throat plate inside, forcing the creature to let go of the rail. Finally free of the dizzying spin, Naruto freed herself quickly from the mangled scrap metal and kicked desperately upwards, gasping for air as she surfaced. Clambering onto the side of the platform, she found herself being hoisted up by Sasuke before running down the side of the corridor as fast as they could.

Finally finding her breath again, Naruto yelled, "What the hell is that thing doing down here?!"

"Don't Know! Don't Care! Shut up! Run!"

Not wanting to argue with her teammate's eloquent logic, she shut up and followed suit.

"There are more of those things?!" Naruto cried out in dismay and incredulity as they found their way barred by a few more of the giant crocs, each as large if not bigger than the last.

Instead of replying, Sasuke's hands flowed with practiced ease, performing the required seals for a Gōkakyū and spitting a massive fireball down the passage. The blast collided with the reptiles but other than the hiss of steam, did not even seem to faze them. If anything it seemed to enraged them more.

Moving faster than either Genin anticipated, one of the crocs charged and leaped in their direction. Naruto managed to fire off a Teppōdama herself that barely slowed the creature. Ducking underneath the beast by dropping onto her back, she swiped at the reptile's underbelly with a Kunai, which failed to even scratch the creature's hide as it sailed past her and back into the water.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me!" she exclaimed, suddenly wishing that she actually had affinity for lightning Jutsu while checking her pouch for something that might actually work.

"Naruto! Clones! Distract them!" a determined Sasuke ordered as he started expertly threaded wires through his Kunai and throwing them around support columns and pipings, forming an intricate mesh of steel web.

Having nothing better up her sleeve, Naruto obliged by forming a few clones while she herself looked around for the nearest exit. Wincing as one by one, her clones got ripped into shreds by the crocs, she managed to map a path towards a half-opened hatch on the other side of the chamber.

With expert precision, Sasuke managed to set up a tight weave of ninja wires as he tried not to let his teammate's cries of anguish distract him. As the reptiles wiped out the last of the Naruto clones, Sasuke held onto his Kunai with numerous cables strung through the ringed pommel as he glared at the giant crocs, daring them to attack. As predicted, the crocs lunged and he released the kunai, causing the tensed strands of wire to open up into a net and ensnaring the crocodiles in mid-air. Gotcha!

"Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu!"

He smirked in satisfaction as the flames travelled down the cable and seared the trashing reptiles. His satisfaction though was short lived as the pipings that he anchored his wires to started groaning from the strain of the trashing reptiles.

"That's all good and all that you got them Sasuke, but no time to celebrate! Exit on first left then third right" Naruto ushered just as a pipe gave way and crashed onto the decking, causing the whole section to collapse.

Regaining his balance, Sasuke turned to assist his teammate only to see the blonde busy forming a chain of clones to hold the deck up. "Go!" Nodding a brief thanks while silently impressed at his teammate's chakra capacity, Sasuke dashed down the corridor towards the exit.

Reaching the portal, he was just in time to see Naruto sprinting across the surface of the water with the freed crocs hot on his tail before he rolled past the hatch, which he slammed shut immediately after the blonde. A few solid thunks later, all was quiet.

The two Genin shared a short hysterical laugh before sliding down onto the wet floor with their backs on the door.

After catching her breath, Naruto turned to regard her teammate before noticing something.

"Ne, Sasuke. Your eyes look funny."

It took Sasuke a few seconds to register what Naruto meant as he realised that he read his teammates lips before the sentence even left his mouth. Sharingan! I've finally unlocked the Sharingan. It took all his self-discipline to not grin like an idiot or ask Naruto how many tomoe was there in his eyes. Instead all he said was "Hn." with a rather comical lopsided smirk.

Raising an eyebrow at her teammate, Naruto mentally shrugged. "Just thought you'd want to know." Before reaching for her radio.

"Ne, Kakashi-Sensei? Tessai-san? Sakura-chan? Anyone?" Sighing as nothing but static greeted her.

"So, what should we… Sasuke!" Naruto cried out in alarm when she noticed her teammate was no longer standing next to her and was instead lying near what looked like a giant anemone with tentacles wrapping around his torso. Scowling as she felt a brief sense of vertigo washing past her. "Poison! Just great!" she spat, silently grateful for the enhanced constitution from Jū-nee.

Hurrying over to Sasuke, she unsheathed a Kwaiken that Jū insisted she carry on her person at all times and sliced at the creature and its offending appendages. Satisfied with the completely mutilated carcass of the creature, she carefully scraped the appendages off Sasuke with her blade before sealing them off in a scroll and checked his vitals. Oddly enough, other than being unresponsive, an increased pulse and his weird eyes appeared to be spinning like crazy, she couldn't find anything else wrong with him.

Naruto growled in frustration as she considered her options. It was already way past their hourly limit, which means Kakashi should be mounting a search for them by now. Unfortunately, staying put and waiting for Kakashi was out of the question. Who knows what other nasties are out there? Then there's the poison in Sasuke's system. It doesn't seem bad now, but who knows if his condition may recover or worsen given time. Then of course, there's the floodwater that will begin filling up the place soon. Sighing in defeat, she hoisted her teammate up over her shoulders and tried to deduce which branch to take from memory and trudged tiredly down the tunnel.

Dispatching the last of the reptilian annoyances with his Raiton enforced Kunai, Kakashi hurried down along the corridor his Ninken had scouted out ahead of him. Following his nose, he caught sight of Pakkun and the others up ahead.

"Looks like they're not faring too badly." The pug commented as they were greeted to the sight of a partially collapsed decking with corpses of several badly charred crocodiles floating near the midst of the wreckage.

"Their scent is still quite strong in here so they can't be too far."

Surveying the multiple exits from the chamber, the seasoned Jōnin was unfazed as he gave the order for the Ninken to spread out.

Naruto didn't make it far down the passage when the stench of rats assailed her nose and sharp squeaks echoed off the wall and surely enough, horde of the furry denizens surged past her followed by a dull roar in the back ground.

"Oh, this is so not happening!" She groaned and started running down the tunnels as fast as her tired feet would carry her as the roar grew in volume. Turning the corner, her prospects brightened as she recognised the telltale glare of the floodlights from the main chamber up ahead. Unfortunately, she can now hear the dull roar of water surging from the tunnels behind her.

Pushing extra chakra to her legs, she threw all she had into running. Sliding the last few feet, she managed to reach the end of the concrete pipe and dropped both herself and Sasuke straight down onto a soft layer of sediment which had piled up after the years, and sliding to the bottom before a surge of water blasted out from the opening above her, washing out rats, filths and even some of those giant crocs.

All throughout the chamber, similar pipes started roaring like angry dragons as they spat out massive volume of water. It did not take long until the island of sediment Naruto was resting on began to shrink and the mutant crocs, sensing food, began to converge on her position.

Gritting her teeth, Naruto lay Sasuke down and reached into her pouch for her blast tags and Kunai before a large flat oval mouth that dwarfed even the giant crocs rose up from the depth and gulped down the would-be predators.

Amazingly, she managed to stay afloat the surface when the large wave of water displaced by the creature washed her off the island as she gaped at the sight of the head of the behemoth, which looked like a cross between a slug and a frog with feathery gills on the side of its flat ovoid head perched atop a very long neck.

Naruto winced as globs of slime splattered against the chamber wall as the creature blew off the filth covering what appears to be its nose. "Geez, I can really use a bit of boring right about now. Ne, Nee-chan, I don't suppose you can get angry at me if I die to this… thingy." She whimpered while clutching onto her Kunai tightly.

"Kakashi, over there!"

"Raikiri!"

Naruto stared in a daze as she watched the sparkling form of her Sensei slammed into the side of the creature's gills causing it to writhe in pain and crashing against the side of the chamber before retreating back into the depths to nurse its wound.

"C'mon Naruto! Get moving!" Pakkun's voice prodded her back into reality as she find the small pug tugging at her trousers.

"Ah, Sasuke!" Naruto cried out, grabbing at her hair upon remembering her teammate and cursed herself for her carelessness.

"Akino and Buru are seeing to that. We need to get out of here before that thing decides to come back."

Spotting the two sturdy Ninken picking up her unconscious teammate, Naruto didn't need much more encouragement and made a mad dash for the exit.

"What's wrong with him, Naruto?" A mildly concerned Kakashi asked after they finally passed back through the rusted door to the old section as he examined Sasuke.

"I dunno, poison of some sort. I got the sample from the creature here, though I'm not sure if it helps. His eyes has been funny before he was poisoned though."

"Ah, that would be his Kekkei Genkai activating. No other injuries?"

"No. We tried to contact you guys after turning the gates on, but the radio was dud down there, then there were these crocodiles…"

"Maa, you did well Naruto." Patting the young kunoichi on the head. "Both of you did considering what was down there. I should have realised the threat sooner."

"Like you're ever early." A raspy voice startled the two of them as Sasuke sat up rubbing temple, causing Naruto to chortle out in laughter while Kakashi protested half-heartedly. "I am when it counts!"

"That was unpleasant." The Uchiha muttered to himself as he tried to shake off the effects of the poison. "What happened? Last thing I remembered was unlocking the Sharingan and then there was all this multi-coloured light and I was…" as he struggled to find the appropriate words "…all over the place."

Shrugging Naruto briefly related his misadventure with the anemone like creature. "One moment I was on the radio and the next thing I know, Bam! Sasuke was on the ground making out with this Anemone thingy."

Sasuke tried to glare at his teammate, but the effort caused him a bad headache. He was, however, puzzled when Naruto tossed him a scroll. "What's this?"

"A piece of your sweetheart to remember by, lover boy." Naruto couldn't resist teasing while mimicking some kissing noises.

Sasuke groaned before slowly getting back on his feet, too tired and miserable to muster the energy needed to be angry at his teammate. "Can we just get out of here?"

5:01 p.m.

Tessai's Camp

A near hysterical Sakura and a mildly amused Hiruzen greeted them as they returned to camp. Tessai kept giving them guilty looks when the team of Chūnin and a Jōnin surrounding him were not pestering him with questions.

They spent the next fifteen minutes debriefing before a medic-nin whom Sasuke swears appeared out of nowhere, dragged him off to the side for a quick check-up.

"Well I guess congratulations is in order."

"Congratulations, Hokage-sama?" a confused Sakura inquired.

"In light of recent events, I think it is only appropriate that the mission be upgraded to an A-rank. Of course, that means your pay too shall be adjusted accordingly."

"Woohoo! Awesome, Jiji! I can't wait to rub it in Kiba's face!" as she does a small victory dance.

Finally escaping the clutches of the medic-nin, Sasuke stared at his teammate in disbelief. "Where does he get all that energy from?"

Chuckling, Kakashi added "Maa, since you've just completed your first ever A-rank, I suggest that you lot take tomorrow off to relax a little."

"Ah, um well I'd like to invite the team for dinner at my place tomorrow. Mother would very much like to meet the team." Sasuke gritted out and flinched as Sakura gave an excited squeal. "Of course, Sasuke-kun!"

"That's a great idea, Sasuke-kun. We should have team outings like this more often." Kakashi chimed in while Naruto scoffed and muttered under her breath "If you actually bother to show up." Before adding "Sure, I guess. Now if we're all excused. I'd like a nice long shower, good food and my bed."

8:13 p.m.

Naruto's Apartment

So there, Nee-chan. Another reason why you need to wake up soon. I mean what will I do if I run into something like that again and Kakashi-Sensei wasn't there to help? –Love, Naruto

Putting her pen down after finishing her entry, she stuffed the dairy into her Gama plushy before yawning from the extra large serving of miso ramen and nice hot shower, which the faulty heater miraculously did not die out on her for once.

She was about to turn in to bed when a messenger bird flew in through her window and deposited a note before hopping back by the windowsill and waiting expectantly. Picking it up, it reads.

To Uzumaki Naruto,

Mother is excited to meet the team. If its not too much trouble, will you be fine if it was lunch instead of dinner? Please reply as soon as possible.

Uchiha Sasuke

"Oh well… I guess there goes sleeping in for tomorrow."

27th October

12:10 p.m.

Uchiha District

"Ne, do you think the flowers are good enough? Should I have gotten more?" Sakura fretted as they made their way through much of the deserted district while Naruto tried her best to suppress a groan. "Perhaps I should have gone to Ino's after all. They have the best flowers!"

"Ma, I'm sure Mikoto will appreciate the sentiment all the same, no matter what the gift is." Kakashi replied after the umpteenth time Sakura questioned her choice of gift.

Interestingly enough, Kakashi had decided to show up early today and met up with them on their way to Sasuke's. Though, Naruto wasn't quite sure that was a good thing as the Jōnin had showed up with a rather large and expensive looking fruit basket, which in turn made Sakura constantly doubt her choice of gift.

"Ne, Naruto-kun. What did you bring them?"

A chastity belt for Sasuke. Heaven knows he needs one after recent events was what she wanted to say but instead she managed to keep a civil tone although she can't promise it wasn't dripping with sarcasm. "Well that'll be for me to know and Mikoto Obasan to find out." Before curtly dismissing an embarrassed Sakura and storming ahead.

Personally, she was both a little anxious and tentative about meeting Mikoto. From what she managed to gather, Mikoto was an old friend of her mother's. While she may have heard much about her father from Kakashi and Jiji, she hasn't had the chance to learn much about her mother yet and Mikoto may be an opportunity for her to do so.

But given her Jinchūriki status, there was no telling as to how she might react to Naruto. And then there is Fugaku. She wasn't sure what to make of the man. She vaguely remembered encountering him once when the villagers were harassing her. Although he had not hesitated to put a stop to them, he had given her a cold glare after they crowd had dispersed.

Her sullen sigh did not escape the notice of her Jōnin Sensei who placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, she would not have invited you if she doesn't like you." While making sure they're out of earshot. "Besides, I'll be there."

Giving her Sensei a grateful smile, they slowed their pace for Sakura to catch up. "Eto, Gomen, Sakura-chan. I was a little… antsy."

"Ah, no! I really should be the one apologising I mean. Going on about the appropriateness of my gift when you're…" Sakura cringed again at her choice of words. "Ah that's not what I meant!"

"You can just say it you know." Naruto chuckled. Bemused by her teammate's clumsy apology. "Stating the truth or otherwise doesn't change reality. I won't get mad at you for doing so, but you really should lighten up and stop double guessing your choices."

Their conversation was cut short however as Kakashi announced "Looks like we're here." As they stopped in front of what appeared to be the only lived-in house in the area, while Kakashi called out, "Ojamashimasu!"

They waited for a few seconds before the shōji slid open as Mikoto greeted them, her eyes sweeping over them before giving each of them a warm smile.

"Irasshai! Please, come in!"

Feeling only genuine warmth in her smile, Naruto's felt the tension she didn't realised left her as she passed her small fist-sized wrapped package over to Mikoto along with everyone else's.

"Oh, thank you! There's really no need! And the flowers are nice, Sakura-chan is it?" As Mikoto stepped aside, arms cradling the gifts.

Removing their shoes, the team was ushered into the dining room where Sasuke was seated before an elaborate feast while Mikoto set aside the flowers and gifts aside.

"Please, help yourselves." She invited as they proceeded to dig in while engaging in the occasional small talk.

"I'm glad you can all make it today. I wasn't quite sure when we had to change the time, but I… it was the best possible time for us." Mikoto said with a strained smile.

"No troubles at all, Mikoto-Senpai! Thanks for having us over. Though I'm surprised, is Fugaku-sama not in? I was of the opinion that he is retired?" Kakashi inquired in between sneaking food under his mask.

"Ah, well… that I…"

"Ne, Sensei. Will you be able to teach me in using my Sharingan soon?" Sasuke hastily interjected.

"Of course, when we have spare time in the future." Kakashi replied with a slight frown.

"Ne, Mikoto-obasan, your cooking is really top notch!" Naruto gushed as she wolfed the last of her food down eagerly while ignoring Sakura's disapproving glare.

"Well, I'm glad you enjoy it, Naruto. Seconds?" Mikoto asked, grateful to have the conversation sidetracked for the moment as she shovel more food down Naruto's plate.

"It's a shame that you never got to try your mother's cooking. I doubt you'll be enjoying much of mine if you had. Her cooking really was the best. If I didn't know better, I'd say your father married her for her cooking alone." Mikoto giggled mirthfully, reminiscing about time long past.

Surprised at the chance, Naruto struggled to swallow the food before she was interrupted by the sound of shōji screen slamming shut. She tensed as the familiar odour of alcohol assailed her nose - a smell she had come to dislike with passion, before turning around to see a drunken man by the door.

There was a pregnant silence at the table as the atmosphere turned sour almost instantly.

"What is this?" the man drawled as he took in the scene before him.

Flushing red in embarrassment, Mikoto slowly answered, "A…ano we're just having a small celebration for Sasuke's team and their completion of their first A-rank mission."

The tension in the room was palpable as Fugaku gave a dry and humourless laugh. "Celebration for a C-rank! Just obtaining his Sharingan and suddenly he thinks he's got it all! What have this clan turned into indeed when we started celebrating every single successful mission" he spat.

Shocked at the development, Sakura cast a furtive glance at the other two Uchiha in the room. Mikoto had her head lowered, expression unreadable while Sasuke looked almost livid at his father.

Taking a calming breath, Mikoto countered, "Sasuke is not…"

"Sasuke nothing! Really, I don't even know why I bothered fathering a second child… and what's this rag-tag team of his? A worthless gold digger and the village pariah?"

*Slam!*

"You may insult me, but leave my teammates out of it, Father!" Sasuke spat out the last word as he slammed his chopsticks back down on the table, startling everyone.

"They are guests and should be treated with respect. You may have forgotten your pride as an Uchiha, but I sure have not!"

The atmosphere at the table was so thick, Sakura thought she would drown when Fugaku suddenly started laughing in a hysterical manner. " Uchiha pride. Ha. Hahahaha. What do you know of pride? Hahahaha we would've done better without it. THIS IS WHERE PRIDE LEFT US! Barely a clan! Maybe you shou… Hrkhh!"

Fugaku never got to finish his sentence as he slumped onto the Tatami as Kakashi struck one of his Tenketsu. "Gomen, Fugaku-Senpai. You're drunk and sounded like you were about to say something you'll regret." As he watched the older man lose consciousness.

"Ne, Mikoto, why don't you and the team go outside somewhere and get to know each other better? I think I might do some catching up with Fugaku-Senpai for a bit you-know, a bit of man-to-man."

Grateful for the reprieve, Mikoto broke no arguments as she nodded thankfully, face still flushed from embarrassment as she ushered the Genin out of the house.

The group walked in awkward silence with the exception of Sasuke who was fuming and taking out his frustration at an empty beer bottle for a while until Mikoto broached the silence. "Ma, I apologise for my husband's behaviour. Whether or not he was drunk, there was no excuse for his behaviour." As she bowed deeply before Naruto and Sakura.

"You don't have to apologise for that man, mother." Sasuke gritted out as his last kick shattered the bottle against a nearby wall.

"Hai, hai, Mikoto-san. There's no need for apologies, we took no offense. Right Naruto?" Sakura stammered awkwardly, trying to get the woman before her to stop bowing as she elbowed her teammate.

"Eh? I've learnt long ago to ignore and avoid drunkards." Naruto said and shrugged nonchalantly. "Though, if Mikoto-baachan needs me to beat some sense into him, don't hesitate to let me know!" As she mocked punch a phantom figure in front of her as she tried to lighten the mood.

She was however, unprepared for the hug that followed, as Mikoto held her in a tight embrace. "Domo, Naruto-chan." Caught off guard, she patted the older woman gently in return.

Realising what she was doing, Mikoto let go of the younger girl as she wiped off some tears from her eyes. "Ah, look at me, the old sap. Enough of this negative atmosphere lets move on to something else shall we? So how're your training coming along? Having trouble with anything? I may have retired for a while but I was a Jōnin back in my day you know?"

"Ne, Kaa-san. Can you show us how to use chakra to cling onto surfaces and walking on water?"

"Oh, the Chakra control exercise? That seems a little advanced."

"But, Naruto-kun knows it, Mikoto-san. I wouldn't mind learning as well!"

"I suppose there's no harm in starting early. Let's go find a nearby park."

"Ano, why would we need a park, Mikoto-san. Wouldn't that wall suffice?"

"Ne, Naruto, why don't you explain it to your teammates, since you're familiar with the technique?"

Rolling her eyes, Naruto gave an exasperated sigh.

"Honestly, and you two are supposed to be the top of the year. Solid materials have a varying degree of limitation to the amount of chakra they can hold in them. Some things like chakra paper don't hold much at all and disintegrate instantly to any chakra applied, whereas specially crafted metals can absorb large amounts of chakra. So if you practice on concreted wall, you're obviously not going to achieve the same level of refinement as you do on a tree. It's all in part of Iruka's lecture in year 3. Sixth module if I'm not mistaken." As she added the last bit as an afterthought before finding her teammates staring at her.

"Well answered, Naruto-chan!" Mikoto beamed brightly and gave the embarrassed blond applause.

Arriving at the park, Mikoto picked out a pair of decent sized tree before explaining the basics to the other two Genin and a brief demonstration.

Unsurprisingly, Sakura managed on her first try before moving on to the water walking exercise with Mikoto while Sasuke seemed to grow more and more frustrated after a series of unsuccessful attempts at tree climbing.

"You're faltering." Naruto commented blandly as she lie lazily on the grass.

"Yeah! Well you're no help at all!"

"No, you're missing the point! Chakra is as much spiritual as it is physical. It is influenced by emotion. You can feel whatever you like, happy, sad or angry but you can't falter as it affects your control. Getting frustrated is a good way of losing control."

Scowling, Sasuke calmed his heart and sharpened his focus before going for another attempt. After a few tries, he grudgingly admit, the Dobe's advice worked.

"You truly are your parent's child, Naruto-chan." Mikoto said softly as she sat down next to Naruto, observing both Genin's progress. "Your father always had a gift with teaching."

Hearing that, Naruto couldn't help but feel a small measure of pride, before shyly asking, "Ano, can you tell me about my parents?"

It is with that, Kakashi found his team later that evening in a nearby park with Mikoto doing chakra control exercise with the exception of Naruto sitting by her side, seemingly enthralled by Mikoto's tale about her mother's exploits.

Perhaps it wasn't such a bad day after all.

12:10 a.m.

Uchiha Household

Opening the small gift Naruto had left her, she smiled softly at the small jewelry box, holding a pair of small handcrafted earrings made of beads and strings resembling the Uzumaki clan symbol. Chuckling softly to herself, she placed the pair next to an identical but faded pair given to her a long time ago.

A sudden grunt and snoring startled her out of her reverie as she turned around to see her husband's still sleeping form. She had forgiven the man as he had begged sincerely enough for her forgiveness. Whatever Kakashi had said to the man seemed to have worked, although she frostily told him later, that he owed his own son and his guests an apology rather than her.

Sighing softly as she crawled into bed next to her husband, she steeled her resolve to talk to Hiruzen as soon as possible.

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*A/N: Sorry for the extremely late post. I have no excuse whatsoever. I have to say this is my least favourite chapter so far. Let me know what you think.