Chapter 4: Mission to the Wave

==That Night==

"Congratulations on making the ANBU," Naruto grinned.

"Thanks, Naruto." The young couple walked hand in hand through the streets of the Leaf. "Naruto, where are you taking me?" Will giggled.

"You'll see," Naruto smirked.

Will did see indeed. They arrived at a restaurant that looked nothing like the others in the Leaf. In fact, it looked like one of those fancy restaurants back in Heatherfield. "Mind telling me what this place is?"

"Before I left Earth, I basically bought every recipe book I could lay my hands on, and decided to make some profit. One of my colleagues from ANBU has a civilian background, his dad actually owns a rather famous restaurant, so I approached him with an offer to open a restaurant serving exotic foods. He agreed, so I was made part owner of it, while his family owned the rest."

They walked through the well lit doorways, to the reception table. The hostess quickly ushered them into one a private room. It had a fire-lit crystal chandelier hanging from the roof. There was a fireplace at the far end with a table for two at the centre of the room lit by candles. There was a bottle Cabernet on the table. "Wow, this is nice," Will whispered as they sat down.

Will skimmed through the menu and decided on the prime rib with red wine mushroom sauce, while Naruto ordered the filleted trout with mango salsa. The waiter poured each of them a glass of Cabernet and hurried out the door. "So, congratulations on your promotion."

"Thanks, you helped me a lot you know."

"Do you miss them?" Naruto suddenly asked.

"Who?"

"Your family and friends from Earth," Naruto looked at her. "Don't you miss them?"

"Well," Will absently sipped her glass, "I do miss them, a lot actually. But I think it'd be a little too late to go back now."

"Why is that?" Naruto looked confused.

Will placed a hand on his. "Because you're everything I'll ever want, and I couldn't ever make you leave this village."

Naruto looked at Will for a stunned moment, then smiled. "Thanks, Will," he took her hand and kissed it gently.

"Besides, new beginnings aren't always a bad thing."

Naruto smiled and raised his wine glass. "To new beginnings."

Will's glass met his in a soft clang. "To new beginnings."

==The Next Morning==

"WHY THE HELL NOT?" a familiar voice shouted from within the mission office as Team 7 approached it.

"Because you're not ready to take a C-rank," a firm, but feminine voice stated in response to the outburst.

Opening the door to the mission office, Team 7 was greeted by the sight of Kiba shouting at his sensei, while everyone else in the room looked at him as if he were a complete idiot.

Naruto cleared his throat slightly, gaining the attention of the Hokage. "Team 7 requesting C-Rank."

The Hokage nodded and looked into the pile. "Well let's see…how about this, a simple C-rank escort to the Land of Waves."

Naruto nodded. "We'll take it."

"WHAT! HOW THE HELL DO THEY GET A C-RANK AND WE DON'T?"

"Stop shouting, Kiba!" Sakura growled at him. She turned to Sasuke and became goggle-eyed. "Hi, Sasuke. You must be really awesome to be able to take a C-Rank."

Sasuke resisted the urge to groan, then shot his snickering teammates the Uchiha Death GlareTM. "Okay, children, settle down." Three glares turned towards their sensei. Naruto promptly ignored them. "Kurenai, I haven't seen you in a while. How are you?"

Kurenai's lips twitched. "Polite as ever, I see, Naruto. I'm fine, thank you for your concern. I see your team is coming along quite well, but are you sure they are able to handle C-Ranks, even if something were to go wrong?"

Naruto smirked. "Oh, believe me, they will. I've been putting them through the Namikaze-Uzumaki Training Regime From Hell."

Kurenai winced. She actually felt sorry for the three kids that had winded up as Naruto's genin team.

"Well, Team 10," the Hokage interrupted them, "we do have a supply of D-Ranks. Which one would you like?"

Kiba was about to interrupt when a glare from Kurenai shut him up. "We'll take the babysitting mission, thank you."

The Hokage handed them a scroll and Team 10 walked out, Kiba shooting glares at Team 7, especially the ridiculously young sensei.

The Hokage sighed. "Now that that's taken care of, Team 7, your mission is to escort the bridge builder, Tazuna, to the Land of Waves, then protect him for the duration of the project until its completion. Mission will be treated as a mid C-Rank. Now, send in the client."

An old man wearing small circular glasses, a conical straw hat and brown clothes entered the room, with a bottle of sake in one hand. "What? Is this some kind of joke? I hired ninja and instead I get a bunch of brats? They look like little school children. Especially the one with the duck-ass haircut."

Sasuke began to twitch while Naruto sighed. 'Oh, boy.'

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

Naruto's hand shot out and grabbed the boy's collar, hauling him into the air. "No, Sasuke," he said in chastising tone, "we do not kill the client."

"Tazuna," the Hokage said, "you're paying for a C-rank, not a B or an A-rank, but a C-rank, something these are more than capable of dealing with."

"I don't know," Tazuna grumbled.

"Tazuna," Naruto spoke up. "As the Hokage said, you are paying for a C-Ranked mission, which entails protection from bandits, something my team is perfectly capable of handling. And despite my appearances and age, I am an elite jōnin for a reason. You have no need to fear anything."

"Well, I suppose, you'll have to do," Tazuna grumbled.

"Excellent, we'll meet you at the gate in an hour," Naruto turned to his team. "Pack for about two months." In an undertone he said to them, "And bring your weapons. Something about this guy smells fishy."

==Leaf Village West Gate – One Hour Later==

"It will take us approximately three days to get to Wave," Naruto said to the team at the gates, "so if we want to make good time lets head out. I'll take point while Shikamaru and Sasuke flank him on either side. Hinata takes rear guard. Everyone ready? Then let's head out."

The group travelled for the first few hours in relative ease. There were no disturbances on their journey. However, after walking for a few miles, Naruto spotted a puddle on the edge of the road. 'Hmm, seems like we have trouble. Hopefully they notice it, too.'

It seemed that they did. Three pairs of eyes turned to Naruto who nodded slowly and gestured with his eyes down to his hand. All three genin looked to see their sensei signal, 'Reverse formation.' Hinata sped up, with the pretence of making conversation with Tazuna. Naruto casually fell back to the rear.

As soon as the team passed the puddle, a pair of cloaked nin wearing respirator masks raised up out of the puddle. They charged towards the four. "Get the bridge builder," one of the growled. Tazuna turned and let out a cry of alarm.

They had made it halfway, when a tri-pronged kunai impacted the middle of the chain, pinning them in position. A second later, Shikamaru was in front of the bridge builder in defensive position with a black ninjatō in front of him, while Sasuke and Hinata were charging. Sasuke had a longer-than average chokutō with a black handle. The blade was run through with lightning. Hinata had a pair of tantō with lavender handles with marching short tassels extending from the hilt. Wind chakra was running through the blades.

Sasuke aimed his chokutō in a downward cut, severing the chain. He spun upwards, ramming the blade upwards into the chin, killing him instantly.

"Brother!" the second one cried. He had no time to react as Hinata's tantō found their mark. One came down into the man's gauntlet hand, while the other travelled into the man's neck. He was dead before he knew it.

Naruto looked at the dead bodies. "Good work all of you. You did very well for your first real fight with shinobi."

All three nodded their thanks. While the genins cleaned their weapons, Naruto moved forward, and in one swift movement, decapitated the heads. He sealed them up into scrolls and burned their bodies with a low powered fire jutsu.

"Now then, Tazuna," Naruto turned his eyes to the bridge builder. The old man was pinned in place by the mesmerizing circular, faded blue pattern. "I believe you owe us an explanation. Why were two C-Ranked missing-nin targeting you on what was supposed to be a C-Ranked low risk escort mission?"

"I-I…" The bridge builder sighed, "fine then…there is a dangerous man after me…his name is Gatō."

"Gatō?" Naruto raised an eyebrow in surprise. "The shipping magnate?"

"Yes, the man is a powerful tycoon for sure. But below the surface, he is one of the big shots in the underworld, dealing through bribery, coercion and blackmailing. A little over a year ago, he came to the Land of Waves, using his wealth to take total control of our shipping industries. Anyone who was in his way was murdered. This is why he is threatened by me. I am the master bridge builder, and once the bridge is finished, it will connect us to the mainland and ultimately break his control."

"But that still doesn't explain why you hid the truth from us," Naruto looked at the bridge builder intently.

"Because of Gatō's control, the Land of Waves is a poor nation. Everyone has so little money, no one could afford a B-Ranked mission. This was all that I could pay for."

"I understand that," Naruto looked at him, "but the scope of the mission has changed completely. This is no longer within our control. This mission has most likely been escalated to an A-Rank. Not something fresh genin are made to handle."

"Well, I suppose you're in your rights to abandon me. It's just that I'll probably be assassinated, and my grandson will be at home wondering when his grandfather will come home. Oh, and my daughter will be cursing the ninja of the Leaf, blaming you t all for it, and live the rest of your life in sorrow. But, I guess all that is none of your concern."

All three genin sweat-dropped. Naruto however raised an eyebrow. "Well, that would be my concern. However, what's also my concern is the fact that if I were to send these three," Naruto gestured at his team. "On a mission that they are clearly not ready for, and one of them were to, say, oh, I don't know, die. How, pray tell, would I be able to explain it to their parents or family of the circumstances of their deaths?"

Tazuna opened and closed his mouth several times. Then hung his head, dejected.

"However," Naruto continued, "I cannot, in good conscious, abandon a country in need. Therefore, I will let my genin decide."

There was a moment of silence, before Hinata spoke up. "I think we should do it, sensei."

"Yeah," Sasuke nodded, "we can't just leave innocent people to suffer."

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered, "but I'm with them."

Naruto nodded. "Very well, but a mission change will also need the approval of the Hokage, and, hopefully, more reinforcements. We'll camp just off the road while I send word to him. Hinata, find a good place to camp and set up. I want either you or Sasuke on watch at all times."

Hinata nodded. The three genins led the bridge builder into the forest while Naruto sat down and quickly drafted a message. When he was finished he took that scroll and sealed it into a larger scroll with the heads of the Demon Brothers. He bit his thumb, drawing blood, and swiped it across his palm. "Summoning Jutsu!"

There was a small blast of smoke. In front of Naruto was a small orange toad. "Yo, Naruto," it saluted. "What can I do for you?"

"Listen carefully, Gamamaru, I have an important mission for you." Naruto handed the toad the scroll. "Take this to the Hokage," he said. "He'll know what to do next."

==Three Hours Later==

All four of them were sitting at the campsite. Naruto was idly twirling a kunai when he sensed two familiar chakra signatures approaching. "Sensei." Hinata gripped her tantō. Apparently she had sensed it too. Shikamaru and Sasuke stiffened, both clutching their respective weapons.

A hand signal from Naruto told them both to stand down. Tazuna turned to see two figures leap out of the tree line. One was a young boy dressed in black armour, that looked like he was an ANBU. The second was a girl with short red hair who looked about sixteen, in a black coat, over what also appeared to be ANBU armour. He was surprised when the girl ran up to hug Naruto.

"Will! Good to see you," Naruto kissed her briefly, and turned to Itachi. "I'm guessing you two are our backup?"

Itachi nodded. "The Hokage got your message." He turned to Sasuke. "Nice job, Sasuke. The Hokage's awarding you and Hinata each a bounty for taking down the two C-Ranked missing-nin."

Sasuke flushed under the praise. "Big brother, why exactly are you here?"

Itachi grimaced. "I needed to get away. Mum's on a warpath, and it's that time of year, too. Even dad had to take a mission away from the village for fear of her wrath."

Sasuke and Naruto winced. Mikoto's violent mood swings were something to stay the hell away from. She wasn't ANBU Captain for nothing. "So, Will," Naruto looked at the girl still in his arms, "don't you have duties at T&I or something?"

"Oh, I did," Will nodded, "but things have been going pretty slow these days, so I was able to take some time off. Anko's handling my shifts for me."

"The Hokage has allowed the continuation of the mission," Itachi informed them, "the client will be billed later. Naruto will have overall command. Out of all of us, he is the most senior member."

Naruto nodded and began to fill both the ninjas in on the situation.

"Gatō you say?" Itachi said stroking his jaw. "Intelligence has reports of him setting up cartels all over the Elemental Nations."

"We can use this chance to stop him, then," Will said.

Naruto nodded. "Exactly what I was thinking."

==That Night==

Naruto sat by the camp fire idly twirling a kunai. "Couldn't sleep, Itachi?"

A shadow came over him as, Itachi moving to join him. "How the hell do you do that? I can never sneak up on you?"

Naruto chuckled. "Please, Itachi, I've been in the ANBU for as long as I could remember. Forgive me if my skills haven't gotten lax, and I'm guessing your thoughts are surrounding a certain purple haired, cat masked ANBU."

Itachi sighed, "Senpai, have you ever had this feeling that you've felt so strong you couldn't even get the words out?"

"Yeah once," Naruto said, completely straight-faced, "most beautiful sword I've ever seen. I was so speechless someone else bought it. Man, I swear old man Higurashi was laughing his ass off."

"Real funny, senpai" Itachi rolled his eyes.

Naruto laid a hand on her former student's shoulder. "My advice is to come clean. If it doesn't work out, then maybe she isn't the right one for you."

==Ended==

That was it? Since if I continue to make new chapters, so PM me if you want adoptions?