Random Recommendation: True To Myself by FlitterFlutteryFly - I got quite into self-insert fics a few years ago and while Dreaming of Sunshine remains the best, this one is fairly unknown but pretty good. Basically, girl is reincarnated into Uchiha Sasuke, which means yes, Sasuke is a more agreeable person. What I like about this fic is that it doesn't downplay Naruto or Sakura, and in fact Naruto is given quite a status boost from what he has in canon. In the end, it's a Team Seven fic, and I have a weakness for team fics.

Incidentally, yes I did recommend this fic because it's a fantastic team fic and this chapter is a not so fantastic team chapter. So if you're upset by Team Five right now, please go and feed yourself with some Team Seven fluff.

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Chapter 03

C-rank Mission

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Naruto departed for the gates just as the sun peeked over the horizon. He'd woken up before even his father, unable to sleep. Dad had been quick to get up though and yawn through breakfast with him. Only, it was obvious his father was anxious, and after the fifth time the Yondaime had asked if Naruto was sure he'd packed his toothbrush, Naruto felt it might be better to leave a bit early. He never wanted to put his father and the word 'nag' in one sentence but… well, it was just better to leave early.

It wasn't as if Naruto wasn't nervous. The last time he'd left Konoha, Jiraiya had come back with one less arm and Itachi with an injury that was possibly worse. But he'd also been able to taste exotic foods, help out a boy who nobody else believed in, and he'd gotten his father back. He knew it was selfish, but for the last thing alone, he would have done everything all over again.

It didn't destroy his desire to see the world, though. What they'd encountered in Kuman was bad luck, nothing more. And besides, he was a shinobi now. He couldn't afford to be scared of the lands beyond Konoha. He'd chosen this path and this path didn't allow for scaredy-cats.

The day before, when Team Five had met for training, Sumina had explained the mission to them. It was a simple one. They were to escort a merchant band from Konoha to the borders of the Land of Grass, where that country's ninja team would take over.

Naruto saw the troupe almost as soon as he came upon the district. It was a long and colourful line of wagons. People were shouting directions to each other for loading up the last of the merchandise, and laughter broke up the groanings and grumbles of morning.

The blond grinned. Quickly setting an alarm for eight o'clock so that he would know when the rest of his team arrived, Naruto ran over to the merchants.

"Hey, need any help?" He asked.

One of the merchants, an older man with greying hair, glanced at Naruto's forehead protector. He smiled, "I'll always welcome a ninja's help, brat, but this isn't part of your mission description."

"Do I need a reason to aid an old man?" Naruto quipped in reply. Normally he wouldn't be so rude to strangers, but the usage of the word 'brat' was practically a declaration of open season.

The merchant let out a guffaw of laughter, and ruffled Naruto's hair. "I'm only 46, brat." And then he gave Naruto very precise instructions about how to handle certain crates. Long time customers like merchant bands knew that even with the appearance of a child, a shinobi knew how to handle himself.

Naruto scampered to help the merchants. He chatted amiably with them as he moved boxes, and by the time the assigned hour appeared, he'd learned most of the workers' names and personalities. And then Sumina arrived to introduce the rest of Team Five.

Atsuya gave him a look of curiosity when he spotted Naruto standing with the merchants. Takiko a look of pure hatred when their clients praised the blond's work ethnic. Naruto was too happy to let Takiko bring him down.

"So I heard that you're the reason for this mission," Takiko sneered. "I should have known. Of course the Yondaime's son would abuse his special privileges."

Naruto counted to ten and prayed for patience. He couldn't lose it, he couldn't lose it. Dad would be disappointed in him. Besides, this was supposed to be a good day.

"If you would rather clean out the Inuzuka stables, Kida," Atsuya said mildly, "I'm sure they would be more than happy to welcome you. We'll take one of their hounds in return. They would at least be helpful in this mission."

Naruto only barely managed to turn his startled laughter into a round of suspicious coughing. He forgot to check himself as he gave the dark haired boy a look of pure glee. To his surprise, Atsuya returned it with a faint smile.

Takiko's face turned an interesting shade of puce. "You—why you—"

"Takiko, with me," Sumina called, successfully interrupting the redhead's impending rant. There were eight cars in total. Naruto and Atsuya had been appointed to guard the very front while Sumina and Takiko would take the back. Sumina had either seen that Takiko didn't get along with anyone, or this was just the luckiest lineup in the world.

Takiko threw one last glare at them, to show that they were not forgiven, before stalking off towards their jounin instructor.

They left for their positions soon afterwards. Naruto was momentarily surprised when he saw the person who settled in the driver's seat for the first wagon. It was a girl of only about sixteen or seventeen years of age, hardly the type of person one would normally think of when assigning someone to keep the rest of the caravan on track. But the thought was quickly tossed out, because Naruto was constantly underestimated because of his age, and he shouldn't do the same to the girl.

She turned as he approached and smiled wide. He smiled back as he settled down beside her.

Atsuya took to the back of the wagon, so that he could look out for the carts immediately following them, and react more quickly in case of an ambush from the sides. Naruto's job, of course, was to make sure there were no oncoming threats. In all honesty it was unlikely that anyone would dare to attack while Konoha's towers were still within sight, but it was better not to practice any bad habits.

Naruto hummed happily when the caravan began to move. He looked out into the approaching distance, barely able to keep a quiver of excitement from racking his shoulders. They were finally on the move!

The girl glanced at him, and giggled.

Naruto turned to her, sheepish, "What?"

The lines of the merchant girl's face relaxed from the tension Naruto hadn't even seen was there. "Nothing, nothing. It's just, you're excited, aren't you?"

"Excited?" Naruto exclaimed. He beamed. "Of course I'm excited! I haven't been outside Konoha for ages, and I can't wait to see what's changed or what hasn't. Besides the last time we went out we didn't stick to the roads so I bet there's a lot of things I missed and—"

The girl let out a laugh, and Naruto shut up in embarrassment.

"Um," Naruto said shyly, "sorry. Didn't mean to go off like that."

"Oh!" The merchant girl's eyes widened, and she quickly shook her head. "No, no, don't apologize! It was interesting hearing what you thought. That didn't have anything to do with you at all. It was me." She bit her lip, and switched the reigns to one hand so she could sufficiently turn to him as she lowered herself into a full bow. "I'm sorry!"

Now it was Naruto's turn for his eyes to widen as his hands came up in a hasty waving gesture. "No! Wait! Don't apologize!"

"Oh! Sorry!"

"Um—"

They stared at each other for a moment, and this time both of them burst into laughter.

"Sorry, sorry," the girl said, wiping a tear from her eye. "Ah, I've lost track of what I'm apologizing for, now."

"Well that's okay," Naruto got out between snickers. "I never had track."

"I didn't mean to imply you were prattling," the girl said, grinning at him. "I was just surprised that—that you were so normal. I mean, since you're a ninja."

"Oh!" Understanding dawned behind Naruto's eyes. "Is this your first time travelling with ninja?"

"Well," the girl hesitated. "I mean, I've been with this caravan all my life, but this is my first time driving with one. I've only seen them from afar, before, and they've always seemed so intimidating."

"Really?" Naruto asked in surprise. He'd seen some of the genin teams that'd come through his father's office throughout the years. Some were strictly about business, yes, but some were just weird.

"Yes!" The girl nodded her head rapidly. And then she grinned, "But you don't seem so bad."

"It's just my charm," Naruto said with a wink. "But seriously, nobody's…" Hard to talk to, he was going to say, but then he realized that wasn't true. An Aburame or a Hyuuga for example would be silent unless necessary. He quickly changed tracks. "Some ninja are really easy to get along with!" Laughing awkwardly, he quickly stuck out a hand to brush the clumsy correction aside. "I'm Naruto! Member of Team Five and a totally awesome ninja!"

The girl smiled as she took his hand and gave it a quick shake before going back to her reigns. "Maka. Daughter of the caravan leader and a totally normal girl."

"You're the daughter of the caravan leader?" Naruto exclaimed.

"Yeah," Maka blushed, glancing down briefly. "But it doesn't mean anything."

"It totally does! It means you've probably been everywhere, haven't you? I bet you've seen all sorts of things…"

"Ha!" Maka giggled, "Well you're a ninja! I bet there's lots of interesting things that happen to you!"

They chatted more, exchanging stories about their lives in their respective positions. Maka had a lot of questions about what it was like to be shinobi, and Naruto was happy to answer them all. For Naruto, he had some understanding of how merchant bands worked, both because of his father's brief overviews and because of the stories he haggled out of visiting vendors when he was young. However, he still liked hearing the anecdotes in Maka's life.

They ate lunch on the wagons. It was a simple affair so there was no need to even stop driving. Maka and Naruto exchanged some of their lunch with each other in the spirit of friendship. Atusya had an unexpectedly cute bento, and surprisingly answered Naruto's question of who had made it when asked about it. He didn't add more than that though, and giving him up as a lost cause, Naruto turned his attention back to Maka.

Before he knew it, the day had ended, and the caravan was settling down for the night. The merchants worked with fluid speed, pulling the wagons in for a loose formation that was easy to guard. Sumina and Takiko had met up with them then. They ate dinner by a bonfire. The merchants told stories that only seem to grow wilder and wilder. Even Sumina was drawn in, giving a surprisingly hilarious account of one of her missions to Bird Country. Naruto listened attentively. Their sensei didn't often talk about herself, and as much leeway as Dad gave him, Namikaze Minato never allowed Naruto to see the personal files of his ninja.

Then it was time to retire for the evening.

"Are you staying up?" Maka whispered as she rolled out her futon.

"Yeah" Naruto nodded. He hadn't bothered to unseal his futon from his pack. "I've got first watch."

"Oh," Maka's eyes went wide before flickering to a few of the other merchants. They were the ones who also hadn't unpacked. Although the caravan had gotten a ninja escort, they still kept watch themselves, too. The girl nibbled on her bottom lip. "But… you worked all day, didn't you? So shouldn't you get to rest in the evening?"

"It's fine." Naruto puffed out his chest, his fists against his sides. "We've trained for needing less sleep for days at a time, ya know?"

Maka's lips formed an 'o' of surprised. "Wow."

"'Course," Naruto went on with a dopey smile, "once we get back I'm going to sleep for an entire day."

Maka laughed, and that was that.

Thankfully—but maybe not coincidentally, Naruto was only assigned watch with Sumina and later Atsuya with two periods in between for sleeping. Sumina wasn't a super attentive sensei, but even she couldn't have missed the outright hostility between him and Takiko. Naruto concluded that she probably didn't want an intra-team fight during the mission.

Still, watch with his sensei was awkward. He tried to strike up a conversation, only to be reprimanded on the values of keeping a lookout instead getting distracted. Embarrassed and slightly resentful, Naruto didn't try to speak again.

The reprimand stayed with Naruto for his watch with Atsuya too, and they just stayed quiet like two little good genin. It was—well, boring. Naruto had a really difficult time not just nodding off. He almost cried tears of joy when the next day arrived.

Day Two passed much the same as Day One. Once again Naruto was assigned watch with Sumina and Atsuya, pretty much confirming his suspicions that his sensei didn't want to pair him and Takiko together yet unless absolutely necessary. He grew a little depressed at this thought. If even his sensei doubted his and Takiko's relationship to this extent, did he have any hope for it? Not that he wanted to get to know the witch—he didn't!—but they were still teammates.

And then he shook that thought off. No, this wasn't the time to get depressed! This was his first C-rank mission, his first time out of Konoha. And Maka and the other merchants were great. He would enjoy it to the fullest.

On Day Three, there was an incident.

He and Maka were chatting about how strange it was that the adults liked wine so much, when another young man hopped into their wagon. Naruto had noticed him arrive, but also recognized him as an actual member of the caravan. Identifying this to most likely be a passing of instruction, he paused in his conversation with Maka.

"Huh?" Maka noticed his lack of attention and followed his gaze. "Naruto-kun, what—?"

"Hey Maka," the young man said. His expression was kind and friendly. "You've been working hard. Hirohisa-san's wondering if you need a break."

"I—that is—" Maka's face had paled. "And they've sent you to relieve me?"

"That's right," the young man said cheerily. "Honestly, I'm not sure what they were thinking. This is your first time driving and yet they've made you drive alone for two days straight. But you've done really well."

Maka swallowed. Naruto noticed that her fists had clenched around her reigns.

"I can keep going," Maka said tightly. "And I haven't been alone. Naruto-kun's been with me."

"That…" Surprise flickered across the young man's face. He glanced at Naruto, but didn't seem to find what he was looking for. "Are you sure, Maka? You don't look so good…"

"I'm sure!" Maka snapped.

The young man held up his arms in surrender. "Alright. If you think you can keep going, Maka, go for it. But remember, if you feel tired or anything, you can always come and ask for help. No one will look down on you."

Maka made some suitable reply, and the young man left. Maka's stiffness, however, didn't leave with him.

Naruto wasn't sure what to do. There was obviously some kind of history there, but he wasn't sure if he should try to get Maka to talk about it or just leave it. He and Maka were friends, but they'd only known each other for three days. Were they close enough for this kind of conversation?

Thankfully, the decision was taken out of his hands.

"That was Shiga Takashi," Maka said lowly. She was staring straight ahead. "He's the next-to-be caravan leader."

"And you… hate him?" Naruto asked hesitantly.

Maka tensed. And then her shoulders slumped, and all the fight seemed to drain out of her. "No. How could I hate him? He's kind. He's friendly. He's quick to apologize for his mistakes and easy to respect. Papa likes him a lot. It's like he was born to be caravan leader."

Uh-oh! Naruto panicked. Kakashi had often told him about situations like this. When a girl acted weird around a guy but then listed all his good qualities… Maka wasn't in love with this guy was she? Naruto was in no way, shape, or form prepared to deal with a sudden romance plot!

"But I'm the one who was born to Ooka Hirohisa," Maka whispered. Tears prickled at the edge of her eyes. "I'm the one who learned how to haggle and read the markets before I could even walk. I'm the one who was here for the retirement of our previous members and the inauguration of our new caravan members. I'm the one who already knows all our routes by heart, so I wouldn't even need to learn it all. So… so why is he the one chosen to be the next leader?"

Oh.

"Maka-chan," Naruto said quietly. "You want to be leader?"

Maka trembled. "Yeah. But, it's impossible. I'm a girl, you see, and our elders would never let a girl lead the caravan. And maybe… and maybe our caravan members wouldn't respect me that way, either."

"That's not fair!" Naruto cried. Guys and girls were different, sure, but that didn't mean girls couldn't be just as good as guys or even better. Team Eleven was a prime example. He'd seen a few of their spars and Kaoru could pound Shirou and Yuuta into the ground any day.

"But that's just the way it is." Maka swallowed. "I guess it's just bad luck that I was born a girl. It's just that I… I have some useless wishes, I guess."

Naruto thought furiously. He wasn't sure what could be done about this situation, but one thing was clear. "Those aren't useless wishes, Maka-chan. They're your dream, right?"

"My dream, huh?" Maka murmured. "I guess that's not too far off. It's certainly something that's closer to that than reality."

That was just too depressing. Naruto was quick to interject. "I think you could be a fantastic leader, Maka-chan! Hey, since I'm here, maybe I can help you out with it."

"Help me out?"

"Sure! My dad's the leader of our village, you know? I picked up a lot of tips about how to handle stodgy old elders from him." The more Naruto thought about this, the more the idea began appealing to him. "And—and—I can definitely help you practice how you'd win over the caravan, so—"

But he seemed to have gone too far, because Maka got paler with every word, until she'd interrupted with a faint and pleading 'Naruto-kun!'.

"Pl—please stop," Maka said quietly. A deep blush had darkened her complexion. "I didn't tell you this for that. It's just, you're easy to talk to. And I thought, I thought I should explain myself… anyway, I've already come to terms with my fate."

"But I really think if you just showed them how great of a leader you could be—"

"Naruto-kun!" She cried out. "Please just drop it."

Naruto swallowed. A few red splotches had appeared on Maka's cheeks. She looked genuinely upset. Perhaps he had gone too far. It wasn't his life. What did he know of her circumstances?

"Sorry, Maka-chan," Naruto said, subdued. "I won't push anymore. But, if you want help, I'm always here to offer it."

"I—I'm sorry too," Maka said with a blush. She shook her head. "T-thanks for the offer. I appreciate it. I do. I'm just, I'm just not destined for it in this life. Maybe in the next life, if everything matches up…"

That seemed like it was going to be the end of it, except—a loud snort interrupted their conversation.

Naruto and Maka turned as one. For the first time during the ride, Atsuya wasn't looking out over the rest of the caravan, but had turned to face them. With one leg pulled up against his chest and the other dangling off the end of the wagon, he practically oozed disdain.

"Even if you were born into the next life," the dark haired boy said with scorn, "you would still be a pathetic waste of space."

Naruto was taken aback by the response. Atsuya had never been one to purposefully pick fights with their clients. That had always been Takiko's job. As such, Naruto was a step too slow to end the discourse before it could begin.

"Wh—what?" Maka's eyes had gone wide. Her face was pale. "You… you were listening?"

"If you didn't want to talk about it, why bring it up in the first place?" Atsuya asked coolly. As shinobi, their senses were beyond that of regular people. Even if Atsuya had tried, he couldn't have escaped overhearing. Still, Naruto fumed silently, that didn't mean he couldn't pretend to have not heard!

"Th—that wasn't—I just wanted to explain the way I acted to Takashi."

"Ho?" Atsuya mocked. "Envy, was it? But surely it can't be envy towards someone leaving everything that he knows, in order to make his place among strangers. So it must be…" He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "I see. Envy that Shiga-san has anything resembling a spine."

Naruto's stomach dropped. He knew that Atsuya could have an acerbic tongue. He'd derived no small amount of amusement from it when it was turned against Takiko. He just hadn't realized that it could be used on other people just as easily.

"You're saying your wishes are useless?" Atsuya's eyes were dark. There was not a shred of mercy within them. "You're the caravan leader's progeny. You have all the required skills. Yet you're cowed by a few elders, can't even act on what you want, and are still failing to become leader? You're the one who's useless."

"I—" By this point, Maka was visibly shaking, finally breaking Naruto from the state of disbelief he'd fallen in.

"Oi!" Naruto snapped at his teammate. "You're going too far! Maka-chan's not useless. She's trying her best!"

"If this is her best," Atsuya sneered, "then I hope for the sake of the caravan that she is never left in charge of them."

Quavering hands met his, and the next thing he knew, Naruto was being handed the reigns while their driver was scrambling to her feet.

"I—I think I need a break after all, Naruto-kun," Maka said, voice clogged with unshed tears. Before he could reply, she had hurried off, quickly passing Atsuya and leaping out of the wagon.

There was a brief beat of silence. Then—

"What the heck was that?" Naruto asked, practically shaking with rage.

"The truth," Atsuya said coolly, lowering his knee to a lazy half-cross. "Don't tell me you weren't thinking the same things."

"Well I wasn't!" Naruto snapped. "I had no thoughts about how worthless or pathetic or whatever you think she is! Maka-chan's great!"

"And? You had no complaints about the way she whined about her life and yet did nothing about it? You, who bore a village's hate for eight years. You, who are younger than basically every ninja in the force and still stronger than most of them. You don't look down on her for the way she's acting at all?"

Naruto hesitated. A part of him was frustrated that Maka was willing to give up so easily. If he were in her situation he'd certainly never— But… but Maka wasn't him.

"Maka-chan is Maka-chan," Naruto said stubbornly. "I'm me. Of course I don't expect everyone to act like I do. No one's the same, and I'm not going to judge Maka-chan for her decisions."

Atsuya's gaze was heavy, considering. A part of Naruto itched to shift under it. The rest of him stubbornly remained still and defiant. Besides, Atsuya was the one in the wrong here! He glared.

"So if she comes back here," the dark haired boy asked with hooded eyes, "you'd treat her exactly the same as before?"

"That's right."

Atsuya smiled slowly. There was something sharp in that smile. "You're a hypocrite."

Naruto jerked in shock, unsure of where that label had come from. But before he could ask for clarification, Atsuya had turned back to overlooking the caravan, and signalling an end to their conversation. Naruto wouldn't beg him for an explanation.

"And you're a jerk!" Naruto shouted back.

With a huff, Naruto too turned back to overlook his post. They were joined by another driver only a few moments later. Not Takashi. An older man. The merchant tried a few times to strike up a conversation with Naruto, but the blond wasn't in the mood. They made the rest of the trip in silence.

In the evening Naruto went looking for Maka, but was told she'd already gone to sleep. He glared at Atsuya all the way through the campfire. Watch couldn't have ended sooner.

Day Four saw them with the older driver yet again. Maka still hadn't made a re-appearance. Naruto was getting antsy. Their trip was meant to take five days in total. He was seriously considering asking Sumina for a break to find Maka when it happened.

While the ability to concentrate was highly valued when learning a new technique, shinobi were trained to be consummate multi-taskers. It was, after all, extremely important to be able to notice a tracker nin even while setting up camp, or to pull out details about your client even while chatting with a teammate.

Or in this case, to notice an ambush even while consumed with worrying thoughts about a friend.

The glint of hidden metal wasn't extremely obvious, but Naruto had been training with his dad to detect these things since he was four. The blond reached out to still the hand of the caravan driver, and let out a single, piercing whistle.

The caravan rolled a few more paces, not quite able to make a complete break so quickly, before finally coming to a stop.

The bandits struck.

The thing about bandits in Konoha, was that they knew the lay of the land extremely well. Although they weren't ninja, they couldn't be said to be amateurs, either. Even so, few bandit troops dared to get tangled with shinobi, preferring instead to prey on people who couldn't afford ninja protection. Thus, the very small number of bands that did—well, they were either extremely skilled or extremely stupid.

It was obvious from the get-go that these were of the former kind. A hoard of bandits attacked from the front of the road, charging directly at the first wagon. More importantly, they had blown some kind of high pitched device which drove all the horses completely crazy. A quick glance back revealed to Naruto that some of the wagons behind them had been pulled completely into the woods. Atsuya was on it immediately, unsealing his sword and taking off after the removed wagons with alacrity.

But it did leave Naruto to face a hoard of bandits on his own.

To the driver of the first wagon's credit, he didn't immediately try to run. Instead, he was calming his horses the best he could. Unfortunately, he was in the way.

"Please leave it to me and get to safety!" Naruto snapped, drawing out a kunai. After a second's hesitation, the older man nodded and scrambled for the caravan's more protected middle. While Naruto was confident he could take out all the bandits by himself, there were a lot of them, and he wasn't confident he could do it while also protecting someone.

A simple genjustu was enough to calm the horses. Naruto was really pants at the branch, but thankfully, even he had enough chakra control to trick the brains of regular animals.

And then he charged.

One of the bandits used a Replacement jutsu, and appeared instantly behind the first wagon. Naruto tsked, and, without bothering to turn around, threw back one of his kunai. There wasn't even a cry of pain as the bandit crumpled to the floor. After all, it was the blunt end Naruto had thrown, seeking to knock the man unconscious rather than kill him. But the man's actions had told him something.

Sure enough, as Naruto finally reached the hoard, leaping over one man to engage another, he recognized Academy taijutsu. That, he concluded, made things a bit tougher.

The thing was, the concept of chakra wasn't a great hidden secret or anything. Every living being had it, and if one simply gave it enough effort, every living being could control it. Ninja had perfected the use of it, but in theory, anyone could utilize it.

After his genin test, Naruto had asked his father about what happened to the people who didn't graduate the Academy. As always, Minato had guided Naruto through a series of questions. When he'd grasped the answer, he felt embarrassed at having not realized earlier, because it was simple once he'd thought about it.

The thing was, Konoha was a shinobi village. It was the only area in all of Fire Country where the members of its ninja clans outnumbered that of the civilians.

As such, its sole school was dedicated to the ninja arts.

If any child wanted to learn how to read and write with Konoha's resources, they had to learn about chakra and survival and how to act in a crisis. It was a beneficial arrangement for everyone. Civilians could live a bit healthier through the initial training methods taught to them, and also become closer to the future shinobi who would protect them. And if Konoha was ever attacked, Konoha's populace could at least defend themselves.

This, of course, meant that a lot of people were expected to come out of the Academy not quite a shinobi, but knowing all of the preliminary shinobi arts. But that? Didn't really matter.

The reason was simply this: most civilian children had a better future planned out for them. Being shinobi meant having high prestige, comfortable riches, and earth shattering abilities. Being shinobi also meant walking daily with death.

It was the highest honour to die protecting the village. This was the Will of Fire. But this was only a prevalent thought in shinobi clans. For civilians, it was different.

For civilians, life was about a good home, a comfortable job, and eventually a spouse and kids. Becoming a ninja could certainly provide those things, but so could a thousand other trades. Moreover, a parent would usually want to pass their trade onto their children. They understood it, they could teach it, and they felt that it was safe. This was especially the case for Konoha, where one could only live if they had a profitable life to begin with. And if they had a profitable occupation, why bother sending their child to the battlefields if instead their child could simply succeed them?

So despite entering the Academy to ostensibly learn how to be a ninja, most children could come out of the Academy with another future in place for them.

This was, of course, not always the case. Failed graduates who wanted to try again were welcome to do so, but they had to study independently for the next exam and could not actually enter the Academy again. This was usually the case for the children of a clan. And of course, sometimes orphans or third sons would have to seek fortune elsewhere.

Hence, while the Academy taught a few moves to make self defence easier, it didn't actually teach anything of great importance. Anyone who could make something out of the Academy's teachings were placed on a genin team which would graduate. Most people didn't, and they left with skills that could let them be easily taken out by any real genin.

Nevertheless, a number of these guys coming at him while he also had to protect a caravan wasn't exactly easy, you know!

Naruto wasn't quite able to hold the front line, as it were. He ended up giving some ground as a few of the bandits got past him, and had to give chase so that they didn't make it to the merchants. They passed the first wagon, passed the second—

A clever use of ninja wire had Naruto tripping a few of his pursuers while he finally caught the ones he was chasing. They were knocked out in a handful of seconds, but that was enough time for the rest of the front hoard to catch up.

Naruto spun to knock his eighth bandit unconscious. And it was because of this spin that he caught sight of Maka.

She was pressed up against the fourth wagon, tears streaming down her cheeks. One of the bandits had made it past—him? No, Naruto didn't recognize his face. But didn't it really matter because—

The bandit had swung his sword at the hapless girl, and from its angle, it would absolutely be lethal.

"No!" Naruto screamed out.

What could he do? A jutsu? But what could he use that wouldn't accidentally hit Maka as well. What about Replacement? But what was near enough? A shuriken to knock the weapon off course? He didn't think he'd miss but Maka was so close and what if she moved or if he miscalculated? What about—

Naruto froze with indecision. It was a brief, instantaneous second, but it was a potentially fatal one.

And then the bandit gave a loud cry of pain as a sword speared right through his side. The momentum of the blade knocked the bandit off balance, causing his swing towards Maka's neck to jerk in the inverse direction. His weapon fell harmlessly to the ground and his body followed seconds after. Maka stared wide eyed at the unmoving body, all her breath seeming to have left her.

Atsuya was there in a moment, ripping his katana out of the torso which he had impaled and swirling to face the rest of the band which had surrounded the girl. Relief flooded Naruto as he quickly turned back to his own opponents. No matter what else Atsuya was, he was undoubtedly skilled, and he could take care of Maka.

They made short work of the bandits thenceforth. The only casualty had been the one who threatened Maka. All the others were tied up and put under a sleeping seal by Sumina. Having dealt with this many times on the other end, Naruto knew they were meant for the Konoha patrols to pick up and the Fire Daimyo would decide their fate.

It turned out that some bandits had been waiting some distance away for a signal, and once they'd heard it, they had rushed through the woods to engage the merchants in the middle and at the end of the caravan. That was why there were marauders all over the place and why no one had been immediately able to help Naruto. The blond would have been excited to have faced the well executed tactics if it weren't for how they affected his new friends.

"Why?" Naruto heard Maka whisper in the aftermath. He was making his way over to them, to check to see if Maka was really alright. "Why would you go so far for a worthless person like me? I'm just destined to waste space after all, so why bother?"

Atsuya's blade looked unnaturally red under the clear blue skies. He did not look at her as he moved to help with the aftermath. "It's part of my job."

Maka trembled.

"And…" Atsuya stopped, momentarily. His voice was quiet, so quiet that Naruto wondered if Maka was even meant to hear. "…you're only worthless because you haven't tried to make anything of yourself. Don't blame your own inadequacy on something like 'destiny'."

And then it was just Naruto and Maka.

"You okay?" Naruto whispered.

Maka shook her head. And when she turned to smile at him, it was weak but sincere. "Yeah, I think so."

After the cleanup, she quietly joined them in the front again. Maka relieved the current driver and despite her pale features, her face was determined. She was silent during the latter half of the journey, preferring to listen to Naruto chatter rather than adding things herself. In all honesty Naruto was still worried, but she had assured him, and he trusted her.

That night at the campfire, she came to find him.

"Sorry about today and yesterday," she said quietly, "I really made you worry, didn't I?"

"It's fine," Naruto was quick to assure. "I'm just glad that you're alright now."

Maka only shook her head. "Atsuya-san is right. I really have been worthless."

Indignation flared his stomach. "He's not—"

She smiled faintly, "It's alright, Naruto-kun. You're very kind, but I needed the wake up call. I've always only thought about how unfair the world was to me, and how everyone else has it easier. How exciting it must be to be a ninja, or how relaxing it must be to be a stationary shop keeper. But it's not that way at all, is it? Everyone has their own difficulties, yes even Takashi. It's not about how much easier I perceive other people's lives to be. It's about how I decide to live my own."

Naruto's throat worked. "Maka-chan…"

Maka nodded in determination, and smiled at him. It was a wide smile, similar to the ones she had first given him, but somehow this one seemed more sincere. "I'm going to aim for the position of the caravan leader, Naruto-kun. That the older members wouldn't like the idea of a girl leading them, or that Takashi is my father's protege… it doesn't matter. I'll surpass them all and show them just how awesome I can be. I'll make them acknowledge me, with my own power, my own resolve!"

Warmth bloomed. Naruto excitedly told Maka how happy he was for her, which set off a round of blushes and thanks, which finally dissolved into laughter. Things were normal after that, and Day Five was spent in a similar way to the first three days, except Maka seemed lighter.

The fifth day came and went, and the Konoha nin had to drop the merchant caravan off in Grass. Naruto wasn't one for teary farewells, but he did feel a bit depressed. Talking with Maka had really been fun. She seemed to notice his mood, 'cause she came to find him right before they left.

"Let's write to each other, alright?" Maka beamed. "I'll have lots to tell you about my progress, and maybe you can share some of your leadership tips with me, right?"

Naruto couldn't help but beam right back. This was a great day. "Yep! Of course!"

Sumina didn't let them enter the ninja village of Grass like the merchant band did. Shinobi needed permits to enter another hidden village, and Team Five had none. But weirdly, instead of making to head straight back home, Sumina led them to an inn at the border. They were to stay there for the night. Naruto wasn't sure if it was because his sensei wanted to sleep on something other than the road for once, but he wasn't complaining. It wasn't Maka's caravan, but it was nice.

Sumina paid for two separate rooms—one for the boys, and one for the girls. They were free to do anything they liked before bedtime, however.

Since they were no longer travelling with civilians, it was no longer necessary to keep watch. What most shinobi did while travelling was set up traps that only they or their team could deactivate. There was little chance that an enemy nin would be able to deactive every single trap and without making a noise. And all shinobi were trained to wake up at the slightest bit of suspicious sound.

When civilians were around, this method of protection was not feasible. After all, who knew when a civilian might go stumbling out for a late night pee in the woods and trip over an explosive tag? Therefore, more proactive measures needed to be taken. When ninja were travelling by themselves, however, they could do as they liked. And since this inn was at the border of two major nations, it was safe to assume they knew how to follow protocol regarding shinobi rooms.

While Atsuya went to do who knows what, Naruto set up most of the warding seals in their room. Then he headed off to the bathhouse. He certainly didn't want the work after taking a nice long bath.

The bath at the inn was so-so, but it was nice to wash off five days worth of grime. When he trudged back up the stairs though, he found Takiko standing in front of her and Sumina's shared room. Her lips were twisted in a scowl as she glared at the closed door.

"Sumina-sensei's still at the bathhouse," Naruto informed her helpfully. The steam had done wonders, and he felt the most relaxed since the mission started. "I just saw her there."

Takiko whirled, her eyes ablaze as she took in Naruto in his wet hair and freshly laundered yukata. Her lips curled. "You're taking it easy, aren't you?" The redhead spat. "It's not a vacation, you know. We're on a mission."

Naruto's fists clenched at his sides, his previous good mood evaporating. There were so many things he could have said to that. But none of it was pertinent. What was— "Would it kill you to actually be decent for once in your life?"

"You mean suck up to someone as pampered as you?" Takiko sneered. "Yeah, I'd rather die."

Naruto snarled. It took every ounce of his willpower to just turn his heel and head back to his room. Why did he make the mistake of talking to her?

When he shut the door, the room shook.

There was a mumbled groan from one of the beds, and a lump of blankets moved. Naruto's eyes widened, and he hastily let out a small apology. Now that he was paying attention, he did notice that there were no lights on. Atsuya had clearly come back at some point while Naruto had been in the bath, and had gone to sleep.

The guilt of almost waking up his teammate damped some of Naruto's anger. With a small sigh, Naruto activated the warding seals and got to bed himself.

He awoke in the middle of the night to a small noise. Atsuya mumbled something about the bathroom, and the blond relaxed. The sound of facets creaking, and running water meandered through Naruto's mind a while later. So did a few other noises Naruto didn't recognize. Naruto wrinkled his nose. He didn't want to bother somebody about their business, but it really was hard to sleep with all of that going on. Stupid super senses.

He rolled over on the bed, wrapping the pillow around his face to muffle the sounds. It helped. Naruto began drifting back into a state of semi-sleep. But Atsuya never returned to his bed, and subconsciously, Naruto must have taken note of that as being weird.

Blearily, Naruto blinked open his eyes. He turned his head. Light filtered through the cracks of the bathroom door. The sound of running water still lay beyond the door. A kernel of worry unfurled in Naruto's gut. Surely Atsuya wasn't still washing up?

Dismissing ideas of sleep for the moment, Naruto plodded over to the closed door. He knocked. "Souma-san? Everything alright?"

There was a moment of silence, and then—

"Everything's fine." Atsuya's voice was ragged. It was a sharp contrast to his words, to how he normally was. "Go back to sleep."

That set off every alarm in Naruto's mind.

He grabbed the doorknob, sending a tendril of chakra to magnetize the lock. Without wasting a second, Naruto shoved open the door. Everything was clearly not fine and Atsuya—

Atsuya was half bent over the bathroom sink, arms trembling with his harsh grip on the white ceramic. He was panting hard, and the faint smell of vomit lingered in the air.

The dark haired boy turned as soon as he heard the click of the lock. Amber eyes hardened almost immediately.

"I told you to go back to sleep, Namikaze-san," Atsuya said harshly. "There's nothing physically wrong with me. I appreciate your vigilance but now that you have a status update can you just leave?"

Oh.

Oh.

"Do you want to…" Naruto hesitated. The words stuck in his throat. It was clear that Atsuya hadn't wanted him to see this. But neither could he retreat. Not when someone was so clearly not okay. He cleared his throat. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

"O—okay," Naruto stammered. His mind raced. No one had told him what to do in a situation like this. What to say. If it were Shirou or Yuuta, Kakashi-niisan or Kabuto, he would have pushed. But he didn't feel confident with Atsuya. Still… it wouldn't be right to just leave it like this! "But, um, I'm here if you need to, or want to— I mean you don't have to, but my dad said it's better to—"

"The caravan leader's daughter," Atsuya bit out. "She's a pathetic waste of space. I feel dirty at the thought of having saved her like that." The dark haired boy smiled. It was a slow, cruel slide of his lips. "Well? Is that what you want to hear?"

Naruto stared. "You—you can't be serious."

"Maybe she should have died. It wouldn't have made a difference to the world, would it? It probably wouldn't have even made a big difference to the caravan."

Naruto's blood was boiling. The earlier anger he'd felt at Takiko's insults—the anger that had never really been resolved—came rushing back. He clenched his fists. "Stop talking like that! Maka is my friend!"

"Ah, so I'm supposed to censor myself because you don't want to hear the facts? If she were to die tomorrow would you even know about it? No! Because her life doesn't really matter!"

"Can you be more of a jerk!" Naruto shouted. No—no, this wasn't how this conversation was supposed to go. Yet Naruto couldn't stop himself. "Is this why you said that friendship would be detrimental? Because you knew that you were a black hearted jerk who nobody could ever get along with?"

Atsuya glared back, "That is correct."

"That's a load of bull! You're so full of bullshit!"

He knew full well what Atsuya was trying to do. But that didn't stop the fury which unfurled within him. So he left Atsuya in that bathroom, hair still clinging to his brow from sweat and skin pallid. Looking as if he were going to faint at any moment and yet still hanging on. Naruto couldn't stay another second.

He ran down the hall, to Sumina's and Takiko's room. He pounded on the door.

A moment later, their olive skinned sensei opened the door. Light spilled into the hallway. Naruto suppressed his momentary surprise at the knowledge that the jounin had still been awake.

"What is it, Naruto?" Sumina asked briskly.

"Can we talk?" Naruto asked, equally stilted. He glanced behind her, but there was no sign of his third teammate.

"Takiko's out," Sumina said, following his gaze. She paused, and then took a step back. "Do you want to come in?"

She led him inside. Unlike the rest of them, who had changed into the inn's clothing, she was still in her standard jounin wear, only minus the vest. They took the mini desk that had been provided by the inn. There was a cup of tea and an open book atop the desk. Sumina closed the book.

"Souma's in the bathroom," Naruto said tightly, as soon as they were seated. "He… killed someone yesterday. I think it's starting to get to him now."

"I see."

Naruto waited for more. But there was none.

"Are you… are you going to go talk to him now?" Naruto asked. "Or, maybe tomorrow? I—I guess now m—might not be a good time."

"He'll be fine," Sumina said without inflection, sipping at her tea. "Atsuya-kun's strong."

Naruto stared at his sensei in disbelief. Although he was irked she was never really paying attention to them, never before this had he actively thought she was a bad teacher. "Please tell me you're joking."

"You're thinking I should talk to him about it?" Sumina questioned. She was still sipping at her tea. "But it's pointless, Naruto-kun. Talking won't change the fact that he's killed now. Atsuya-kun isn't unintelligent. He knows what the proper steps are for this kind of thing and he'll get over it."

"That… that kind of thing… so you're just going to let him deal with it all by himself?!"

"He's dealt with it admirably so far. To have refrained from breaking down until the mission was over speaks well for his mind's discipline."

Naruto trembled. Everything Sumina said sounded reasonable. Yet, yet couldn't she see that she was being so unreasonable? How could she possible say this? How could she justify acting like this?

"Maybe," Naruto said softly, "maybe this was how you did things when you were completing all your S-class missions, I don't know. Just leave your team to deal with things themselves, and if they couldn't and it destroyed them, well too bad right! But this isn't—this isn't something a sensei would do." Naruto took a breath, and the full force of his anger exploded from him. "You're not suited to be a teacher!"

And, before he could say anything more—before he might go further and say something that would disappoint his dad—Naruto turned and stomped out of the room.

He slammed the door shut behind him. He didn't bother going back to his and Atsuya's shared room. He went straight for the woods. He needed to vent.

Naruto was shaking with fury. He didn't want to deal with it. Didn't want to deal with a teammate who wouldn't acknowledge having a heart. Didn't want to deal with a sensei who just didn't care. Didn't want to deal with a girl who hated him.

The upcoming chuunin exams. Naruto didn't care if his team's ability to work together was in the trash heap. He'd pull them through himself if that was what it took. He'd get in, get promoted, and then he could bid farewell to this mistake of a team.

Yeah. He had enough.

A/n: …hi. So here's the thing. I've kind of fallen out of love with writing fanfiction. It's probably been years since writing fanfic has brought me joy? THAT SAID. I love you guys. Seriously. Sooo unless no one is interested in this fic anymore, I promise to at least finish Arc 1 (there's only 3 arcs to this story). Life's gotten busy so I don't know how long that will take, but if there are readers, I will update at some point.

About this chapter: I know none of you like Team Five, but there's really nothing I can do about the fact that they're OCs outside of changing the ages of the canon characters. And since I've brought in OCs, my integrity as a writer won't allow me to make them two-dimensional fill ins. There's a reason Team Seven is so messed up. Conflict is 100% more interesting than everyone getting along. So yeah, we're going to be sticking with Team Five until the end of the chuunin exams, at least.

(Incidentally, I find all the hate for Takiko beyond amusing. There's a really popular interpretation of Naruto in the fanfic world where he's written as hateful but powerful. This usually comes with him calling Sakura 'pinkie' and Sasuke 'spoiled', despite Sakura having serious self esteem issues and Sasuke's past being bloody awful. Naruto in these fics is always a-okay with killing everyone, including other Konoha ninja. He is also a lot more 'mature' than the other Rookie Nine kiddies because he 'realizes' the shinobi world is all about death all the time. As I've said, this version of Naruto is really popular and well liked by a lot of people. Takiko is 100% based on this interpretation of a ninja, which my Naruto calls her out for, but is nevertheless a point of view that a lot of people do have.)

I gave my random recommendation at the top, but considering I disappeared for two years last time, I'll just give you guys a few more eh? Going with the theme of my rec for this chapter, they're all great Team Seven fics.

Backslide by black. - there's slash so if you're not into that beware, but it's not extremely important to the plot so it's easily skippable. This thing's just team fluff with plot, really.

The Yajuu Sanin by shredjeep777 - okay this one has Hinata replace Sakura, but it's still a great team fic!

About Face by wroth_and_ruin - this one has more focus on Sakura to make up for the one above.

Birth of a Ninja by Captain Enigma - it's just good.

Being Over-Prepared is Impossible (and other mottos) by Pleasedial123 - I think this is an AO3 only fic, but I could be wrong. It's a bit too positive for my tastes, but I thought I should offer a non angsty option.

Like a Clockwork by ME - not actually a plug. It's just that I realized I had written a Team Seven fic way before all this. And if you like The Hokage Thing, you presumably don't hate my writing, so… shrug. Never Let Go is also a fic of mine, and Arc 2 has a lot of Team Seven relationship building but… man I wrote that when I was a teenager, who sometimes did good scenes but overall did some spotty stuff, so I can't in good conscience recommend it.