Hello Naruto Fandom! it is I, Lord Toastkage, lord and master of all I survey, its that time again kiddies the fifteenth chapter of the Fox's Creed

"Talking," normal human speech.

'Thinking,' human thought.

"Talking," demon/summon speech.

'Thinking', demon/ summon thought

'Jutsu,' Jutsu name.

Beta – position currently vacant

I would like to apologise again for my erratic updates and can only attempt to get these out in a timely fashion, I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who actually read my sad attempts at literature.

And now a quick note for any of you who are wondering about Naruto's current equipment, the list is as follows;

. Throwing blades X25

. Aka Takai (Ninjato)

. Bronze dagger

. Crossbow, light with 10 bolts

. Hidden Blade

. Swivel Blade

. Hidden Blade Boots

. Tomahawk

. Short Sword

. Smoke bombs X3

. Caltrop bombs X3

. Sticky bombs, Shrapnel X3

. Sealing tags, Restraint X 5

. Sealing tags, Flash X5

. Sealing tags, Explosive X15

. Rope darts X 5

Armour;

. Leather Pauldrons

. Leather Grieves

. Leather Scale Mail under shirt

. Flak Material Vest

More equipment will be picked up as his adventures progress and this list will be placed on my profile with updates as and when Naruto acquires more weapons I will also keep track of the weapons I'm his warehouse/armoury and a list of his known jutsu on my profile as well

The last chapter brought an end to the training trip arc now begins a filler chapter, that will lead up to the wave arc with a few tweaks because the wave mission has been done to death, resurrected then done to death again

I own nothing except the plot, this is made purely for fun, no money is made by me or by you. If you steal my story without permission; I will hunt you down and slowly remove your body parts in a VERY painful way thank you, have a nice day.

And now on to chapter 15 of the Fox's Creed;

It had been three months since team seven had taken their first D-Rank mission, three months of training, missions and more training, but now, now they would have a real challenge, Anko was finally ready to get them a C-rank, a real mission and thus we find team seven, fully stocked and ready, stood before the mission distribution table awaiting the Hokage's permission to for them to be given a C-Rank.

"Anko-Chan and team seven, I see you are finally ready for your first C-Rank mission" the elderly Sarutobi greeted the team with his usual gradfatherly smile as he sat behind his desk earning a nod from team seven and their sensei before he continued " well I have a mission here that two of you was requested for that should suffice, you are to head to the capital and speak to the fire Lord, he will give you the full details, you are expected in a week" he finished.

Anko took the scroll for the mission and turned to her team "ok Gakis meet me at the north gate in one hour, pack for a month" she explained and was about to dismiss her team when the Hokage spoke again

"Naruto I need a word" Hiruzen spoke earning a nod from Naruto who stayed as his team left, the Hokage opened a draw in his desk and passed Naruto a plain white scroll with a white feather tied around it "I have a side mission for you Naruto, your team can be involved if you wish but this mission is... more suited to your skill set" he explained earning a nod from Naruto who turned and left the room.

Time skip; forty five minutes later, Konoha north gate

Naruto was the last to arrive, having to swing by his warehouse first to ensure he was fully stocked for the mission and to grab some extra armour, as he drew close to the north gate, fully equipped and armoured in a light scale mail vest under his shirt(1), a pair of simple leather grieves and Pauldrons and a thin vest made of the same flak material as ANBU armour he was greeted by his team, each in there usual attire and after a short conversation Anko arrived and the team set off on there first C-Rank.

Team seven, traveling at Genin speed, arrived at the fire capital only two days after leaving Konoha, a trip that would have taken a week traveling at civilian speed. They reached the gate to the fire Lord's palace just after mid day and were quickly granted entrance and asked to wait in a small meeting room for the fire Lord to speak with them.

As they waited Naruto's mind wandered to his side mission, there was a man in the capital, a notable man from a lower noble house, a man who, evidently, had been working with a know traitor to the land of fire, rumours had reached the Hokage's ear that the man was planning to aid said traitor in an attack of Konoha and the land of fire and the Hokage wanted the man gone.

As Naruto stood thinking of what needed to be done he felt a small, and familiar, presence behind him, tilting left slightly to avoid a small furry missile he reached out and placed a hand onto said missile, catching it and placing it upon his other arm before scratching it behind the ear "hello Tora" he greeted earning a happy pur from the cat and a look of wonder from Anko who was about to speak when Naruto spoke again "and hello to you to Azula-Chan, escaped from old man Kenchi again have we?" he asked earning a melodious giggle and a gruff growl from two different sources.

Turning with a smile Naruto was pushed back a step when Azula flying glomped him, dislodging Tora from her seat on Naruto's arm in the process "hello again Naruto-Kun, you don't write you don't visit I was begging to think you had forgotten about little old me" Azula said as she stood before him, a smile on her face.

Before Naruto could respond Anko regained her voice and spoke "ok.. I'm confused how in the name of Kami-Sama's panties do you know the princess of the land of fire!?" She asked earning shocked gasps from Hinata and Fuu before she spoke again with a light chuckle "your hero complex kicked in again didn't it Naru-Chan?" She asked earning a nod from our young assassin.

Before the conversation could progress any further the sound of someone clearing their throat drew the attention of all present, turning quickly team seven saw a man in his mid forties dressed I a flowing red robe emblazoned with many small yellow and orange flames, a smile on his face and his dark hair pulled into a top knot, beside him stood an older man in full samurai armour, a sword at his hip and a helmet under his arm.

Naruto, seeing who was in the room, bowed deeply, an action mirrored by his team before Anko spoke "Daimyo-Sama, I apologise, I did not see you there, Anko Mitarashi and Team Seven, consisting of Hinata Hyuuga, Fuu Roranora and Naruto Uzumaki reporting for Information on the C-Rank you requested" she said with a cheeky grin earning a sigh and a nod from the fire Lord who stepped forwards and began to speak.

"Please Mitarashi-San, at ease, your libel to pull something" he spoke with a smile earning a smile from Anko before he spoke again "how are you Anko? I know my cousin and her husband would love to see you more often" he finished causing Anko to laugh and confusing the hell out of her Genin before she spoke.

" while I'm sure Mai-Chan would love to see me again I doubt Zu-Nii has forgiven me yet for following in Kaa-San's foot steps and not retiring to join him and his new wife" she said earning a smile from the fire Lord.

"In all seriousness, I have requested this mission and two of your team specifically, though I was unaware that you were a sensei now Anko, because I believe that some one in my court is planning to betray me. Equipment ment for my soldiers has been sabotaged, information possibly compromised and a threat has been made on the life of my child. With the up coming celebration for the birth of my cousin's child my samurai are stretched thin and after the debacle with my former ninja guardians my advisors were... unwilling to trust many of the higher ranking ninja from your village. The only reasons I was able to request this mission being that you Anko have a vested interest in this family's protection and that you Naruto have proven to be willing and able to protect it" the Daimyo explained earning nods from team seven and their sensei before he began speaking again. "Anko I want you to investigate to possibly compromised information and afterwards to shadow my cousin during the celebrations, Miss Hyuuga and Miss Roranora, I would like you to protect my daughter, you will be assisted by Kenchi, the head of my guard though Azula-Chan seems to think it funny to 'escape' from him, something I blame you for Naruto" the Daimyo earning a light chuckle from Naruto before he began speaking again "and you, Naruto, I would like to look into the sabotaged equipment. I understand you have some small knowledge about the workings of black powder and the weapons that use it" he finished earning a nod from our young assassin.

After team seven was dismissed each began there individual tasks, Hinata and Fuu protecting and talking to Azula, trading stories of how they were saved by Naruto, walking through the capital and enjoying the early festival atmosphere.

Anko went to work immediately, investigating the information that she needed to find, interrogating the man suspected of compromising the information and, upon finding that nothing was amiss began her secondary objective guarding the Daimyo's cousin.

Naruto, like his team, began his assignment almost as soon as he left the meeting, the Daimyo leading him to the store room and armoury, as the two walked, earning looks from passers by, the Daimyo began to explain to him what was needed "in the last few weeks, shipments of black powder ment for my newest regiment have been compromised, as have there weapons. I want you to see if you can salvage any of the equipment if you can I will allow you to take two items for your 'collection' and yes I know about your warehouse, I want you to talk to one of the Fuku-Taichou's (2) of the regiment, he's a man you should be able to get along with quite well, he will help you with your task ahh there he is now. Fuku-Taichou!" the Daimyo explained before calling out to the officer.

The officer was a tall man, six feet tall, he had an angular, tanned face, long black hair and blue eyes. Upon turning around Naruto noticed a deep scar on his right cheek, which pulled his right eye in such a way as to give his face a mocking expression, upon seeing the Daimyo the officer bowed and strode towards him giving Naruto a better look at the man's equipment, the Fuku-Taichou was armed, unusually for an officer, with what Naruto believed to be a heavy cavalry sword, an old design from before the coming of the sage, a heavy blade but useful, he also had a strange object on his back, Naruto was confused for a moment before images of a dark skinned man using a similar object flowed through is head, a rifle! The officer was equipped with a bakers rifle another weapon from before the sage.

The Daimyo spoke again, braking Naruto from his inspection and, unknown to Naruto, braking the Fuku-Taichou for his inspection of our young assassin "Fuku-Taichou Sharpe(3), I would like to introduce Naruto, a Genin form Konoha with some small knowledge of the workings of black powder. I would like you to show him to the battery and the armoury so he can inspect the muskets and rifles then I would like you to show him your troops" the Daimyo said earning a nod from the officer who waved Naruto towards him and, after a quick salute to the Daimyo turned and headed towards the battery.

It took the two of them less than five minutes to reach the battery, five minutes of awkward silence, but soon enough the two were inside, the Fuku-Taichou grabbed a hooded lantern and led our young assassin in "the issue we've been having, is that somehow our powder and cartridges seem to be unusable, they don't seem damp nor does the texture feel off and we know it's not a problem with the Making of the powder as we've started testing samples at random upon delivery." Sharpe explained earning a nod from Naruto who went about inspecting the powder and cartridges at random, grabbing a hogs head(4) of powder and a hand full of cartridges for both rifles and muskets Naruto turned to Sharpe and spoke

"This should do as a sample, would you be kind enough to lead me towards the armoury so I can requisition a rifle and a musket to test them Fuku-Taichou Sharpe" our blond assassin asked with a smile.

Sharpe nodded and led Naruto through the maze of outbuildings toward a a small armoury where, after a few minutes of arguing with the sergeant behind the desk, Naruto was given the weapons he needed and the two of them headed to one of the training grounds.

As Naruto and Sharpe were being introduced Hinata and Fuu were both sat in a large library within the palace proper with their charge, the three were currently sat around a table discussing simple things, life in Konoha, the state of the world, weapons they would like to see in use, techniques they would like to learn. It wasn't long before there conversation moved on to their mutual point of interest.

"So how do you two know Naruto-Kun?" Azula asked with a smile at the mention of the blond assassin who had saved her.

Hinata and Fuu both smiled and recounted their meeting Naruto, Hinata told stories of his childhood, Fuu told stories of her brief travels with him after he saved her while Azula told stories of his time in the capital, of his first meeting with Tora, of his training with Asuma and the other ninja guardians and of his affect o the capital. The three of them spoke for hours, walking around the capital and did some light training, after the training the three of them headed towards one to the parade grounds to see some of the newer troops, it was here that they saw something that would forever be burned into their memories.

After Naruto and Sharp had acquired the weapons they headed towards one of the many parade grounds within the Daimyo's compound and began to test some of the cartridges. As the two worked a giant of a man stood watching with a small frown on his face, Sharpe, upon noticing the giant of a man, a full head taller than his own impressive six foot height smiled at him, the mocking quality of his face given by his scar disappearing as he summons the man over and introduced him to Naruto "Naruto Sir, this is my Gunsou(5), Patrick Harper(6), Pat this is Genin Naruto Uzu..." Sharpe began but a hand on his arm stopped him, looking down sharp saw a smile upon the face of our young hero w/o extended his hand towards Harper

"Naruto, Just Naruto Fuku-Taichou, so this is your Gunsou, I don't suppose we could get him to help us with this?" Naruto asked though Harper still guessed at the name Sharpe was about to use, a name he hadn't heard for years and a name that ment much to his people.

Naruto turned back to the task at hand, he and Sharpe had tested the loose powder, it was functional but of a lesser grade than he was used to for his bombs, as he began to reach for one of the cartridges of musket powder a loud fanfare sounded at the gate to the parade ground.

As the three men turned towards the sound they beheld a battalion of troops, each dressed in a red coat, marching towards the centre of parade ground and a single man, dressed in a blue uniform, walking slowly towards them, the man was short, only a little taller than Naruto and much shorter than Sharpe and Harper but as he drew closer Naruto was greeted with a smiling visage and an almost jovial wave.

"Richard! My dear fellow, what a surprise to see you here" the man spoke with a smile, Sharpe nodded toward a him as he drew closer.

"Rikugun-Shousa(7) Hogan Sir, to what do I owe the honour?" Sharpe greeted the newcomer

"Now Richard, I simply came to see how the testing was going" the now named Hogan said with a smile before looking towards Naruto and stopping dead for a second before continuing on "and you must be young Naruto, I do hope Sharpe and Harper are looking after you, ah but where are my manners, I am Rikugun-Shousa Hogan of the Daimyo's engineers, I wish to thank you for your help with our equipment issue... saves me a job so it does" Hogan continued with a smile as he placed his hand onto Naruto's shoulder.

Naruto nodded at Hogan before he turned back to the task at hand, grabbing the musket and one do the cartridges Naruto quickly places the butt of the musket on the ground and ran through a series of actions to load the musket; grabbing one of the cartridges and opening it with his teeth keeping the bullet in his mouth, pouring all but a pinch of powder into the barrel of the musket, spitting the bullet into the barrel, drawing the ram rod and in one swift motion driving the flat end down the barrel forcing the bullet down before raising the ram rod from the barrel and returning it to its place below the barrel, raising the musket and drawing the lock back to half cock, priming the pan, drawing the lock back to full, taking aim and firing the musket. all this was done in just over twenty second and the three watching were happily surprised by the efficiency of our young assassin.

Naruto was about to reload and try another cartridge when a shout from behind him drew his attention.

Turning towards the source of the sound Naruto saw one of the new troops fall and be trampled by his fellows, the officer in charge looked down at him with a sneer before loudly ordering that he be flogged, two men quickly grabbed the fallen trooper and began to tie him to a triangle of wooden beams set upon one side of the courtyard.

Placing the musket over his shoulder and throwing a few cartridges into a pouch Naruto quickly headed towards where Sharpe, Hogan and Harper had moved off to, catching the last part of their conversation.

"They're flogged soldiers, sir. And flogging teaches a soldier only one lesson." Said Sharpe, his face pulled into a grimace as he looked over the newly arrived troops

"What's that, Richard? " Hogan asked, his face equally gaunt as he witnessed the flogging of the over taxed soldier

"How to turn his back." Naruto answered in place of Sharpe, a growl growing In his throat, not just because of the flogging but also because of the symbol on the office who demanded its uniform, a single red cross in a black circle, the mark of a templar "who is that man Richard?" He asked, the growl now sounding in his voice surprising Hogan at his animosity and at the disregard of Sharpe's rank.

Sharpe look down at Naruto before answering "That man is Hoshi Fukataki, commander of the Daimyo's own volunteers, formerly officer on charge of the Armoury and Magazine." Sharpe explained with a frown, as Naruto began to step towards the man Sharpe was about to stop him when Harper placed a hand onto his arm, looking at his long-term friend Harper simply shook his head.

Hinata, Fuu and Azula had just reached the parade ground when the flogging began, the three of them gasped at the sight.

that's where I'm gonna call it for this chapter, kinda short but my brain had gone kaput. what will happen next time? tune in and find out

(1)the thing Kiba wore during the Sasuke retrieval mission, it's basically small overlapping pieces of armour the offer protection with only limited adverse affects to mobility

(2) Fuku-Taichou, the Japanese term for lieutenant

(3) a character from a series of novels written by Bernard Cornwell that follow the adventures of a British rifle officer named Richard Sharpe through battles in first India then the Napoleonic war, they are a great series of book and I recommend them.

(4) a 'hogs head' is a wooden or mettle cask a standardized hogshead measured 48 inches (1,219mm) long and 30 inches (762mm) in diameter at the head (at least 550L or 121impgal or 145USgal, depending on the width in the middle). They were used to transport everything from spirits, food and tobacco to gun powder.

(5) Gunsou, the Japanese term for Sargent

(6) another character from the Sharpe books, Patrick Harper is Sharpe's Sargent and friend, his partner in crime and the only reason Sharpe survives 98% of the random crap he gets himself into

(7) Rikugun-Shousa, the Japanese term for major... I seem to be putting a lot of military ranks in this chapter