Naruto of the Black Sand

I do not own Naruto

"Normal Speech"

'Normal Thoughts'

"Demon/ Summon Speech"

'Demon/ Summon Thoughts'

Chapter 3: Missions

Naruto, sporting his signature bored look, stood in the Kazekage's office awaiting the arrival of his team. The blond Jiton user sat in front of his leaders' desk, after a few minutes the Wind Shadows' secretary poked her head around the door, "Kazekage-sama, Team 3 has arrived" informed the black-haired secretary, the Kazekage motioned for her to send them in.

The door once again fully opened to reveal Naruto's team. The group was made up a kunoichi; a violet-haired girl with tan skin and wore a light-brown skirt, a dark-yellow blouse, mesh leggings, an equipment pouch wrapped around her waist, and her hi-ate hanging around her neck.

Two shinobi were also in the group, a genin and a jonin; the first was a jonin, Naruto guessed he was in his 20s had tan skin and black hair, he wore a pair of brown ANBU pants, a black shirt, a beige Jonin vest with shoulder guards and scroll pouches, his hi-ate was wrapped around his forehead along with white bandages to protect against the heat, and a kunai pouch on his left leg. The final shinobi was a genin Naruto knew all too well, mostly because he tried to kill him yesterday in the academy. He had tan skin and light-brown hair, he wore a pair of dark-brown ANBU pants and a gray short-sleeve hoodie, with his equipment pouch wrapped around his waist.

"You!" cried Daimaru as he entered the room, "Oh, you survived? Looks like you're stronger than I thought" replied Naruto neutrally.

"Ahem…" Everyone turned their attention to the Kazekage, "…You can save the pleasantries for after this meeting…" He turned his attention to Naruto, "…Naruto, this is your team. Your jonin sensei will be Nori Hideki and your teammates will be Isamu Daimaru and Yakedo Mika, from now on you will be designated Team 3 of Suna. I expect you to be professional and not violent outside missions, Naruto" spoke the Kazekage sternly, Naruto rolled his eyes and nodded.

"Yo, it's nice to meet you Naruto" spoke Hideki cheerfully, Mika gave him a nod and Daimaru glared at him. Naruto face revealed nothing as he nodded back, "It's nice to meet you as well" replied the blond shinobi.

"Why don't you go get to know each other, Kazekage-sama wants to have a word with me" said Hideki, Daimaru continued to glare at Naruto while Mika and Naruto nodded.

The three genin left the Kazekage's office and started walking down the streets of Suna, "Well?" asked Daimaru looking at Naruto, the blonde-nin raised an eyebrow, "Well, what?" The brown haired boy yelled, "Aren't you going to apologize!?" "For what?" "For nearly killing me!" yelled Daimaru causing the villagers to look their way, "Keep your voice down, weakling" growled Naruto as his eyes darted around the gathering crowd of villagers, Naruto grabbed both his teammates and did a quick shunshin to Training Ground 3.

When they arrived at their official training ground, Daimaru found himself lifted into the air by Naruto's hand. He struggled to breathe as Naruto looked at him in amusement, "Now, you want me to apologize?" asked Naruto as he dropped Daimaru, allowing him to breathe. The brown haired shinobi rubbed his neck and nodded while the kunoichi of the team just looked at the exchange in worry.

"Alright I'm sorry… sorry that the Kazekage stopped me from killing you" spoke Naruto before vanishing in a burst of speed and kicking Daimaru into the ground.

"Arrgh!" cried Daimaru in pain as he laid in a small cloud of dust with Naruto's leg on his chest, Naruto looked down at the mess under his foot in amusement, "If you can't handle an attempt at your life, why did you become a shinobi who puts their life on the line every day for their village?" questioned Naruto as he put pressure on the brunettes' chest causing his breathing to stop.

Mika was about to intervene but was stopped when Naruto's iron sand exploded from his cloths and blocked a sharp wave of wind.

The blonde shinobi grinned menacingly as Daimaru struggled to breath, suddenly he felt the familiar tug of his danger sensors. He flared his chakra, the storage seals tattooed to his body opened and allowed a wave of iron sand to exit his cloths and form a defense against the danger. The iron sand formed wall and blocked a wave of wind that cut deeply into his iron, he was taken by surprise when the wind broke through his defense and sent him crashing into the ground.

He flipped through the air and landed on his feet as he looked around the training ground to see his jonin sensei pick up Daimaru and dust him off, "Wow, you really got your ass handed to you?" spoke Hideki with a carefree attitude, Daimaru snapped out of his senseis' grip and glared at him.

"Now, now children, we're a team now. The only fighting allowed is when we go on missions" said Hideki, "H-He just tried to kill me!" cried Daimaru in disbelief, Hideki looked at Naruto sternly, "Is this true, Naruto?" Naruto shrugged, "No." "Okay! Well, you heard him Daimaru. Now let's get to know each other!" Daimaru face planted when his sensei just brushed off Naruto homicidal attempt.

The team sat in the sands of training ground 3, "Alright, why don't I start…" spoke the jonin, "My name is Nori Hideki, my hobbies are training and watching the wind flow through the desert, my likes are eating curry, my friend Baki, and going on missions and my dislikes are idiots, killing innocent people, and oily foods. My dream… well I haven't really thought about it… you next, hoodie."

Daimaru continued to glare at his sensei before turning to his teammates, "My name is Isamu Daimaru, my hobbies are training and…" Daimaru sighed dreamily, "seeing Temari-chan!" everyone was snickering but Daimaru was too absorbed in himself to notice, "My likes are Temari-chan! And my dislikes are… (Glares at Naruto) blond idiots, murderers, and morons, my dream is to become the strongest jonin in Suna!" exclaimed Daimaru at the end.

'At least he's motivated' thought Hideki, "Purple, you're up"

The kunoichi huffed in annoyance but complied none the less, "My name is Yuina Mika, my hobbies are training and hunting down perverts. My like are dango and training in my clans jutsu and my dislikes are bigots, rapists, and idiots that think men are better than women. My dream is to prove to my clan that I am worthy of being clan heiress" spoke Mika with determination.

'Good, she's determined and isn't a fangirl' thought Hideki with a smile, "Alright, you're last. Go ahead, blondie."

Naruto shrugged at the nickname and spoke, "My name is Sabaku Naruto, my hobbies are training with my brother and learning new jutsu. My likes are my younger brother, ramen, and killing those that deserve to die and my dislikes are bigots, idiots that don't know the difference between a scroll and a kunai, and arrogant morons in positions of power. My only dream is to become stronger to protect myself and my brother."

Hideki clapped his hands, "We know a little about each other, now I want to see how skilled you guys are…" The Suna jonin pulled a clock from his equipment pouch and placed it on a training post, "…You guys have until noon to beat me in a fight" spoke Hideki, "Ready? Hajime!"

Team 3 vs. Sensei

The three genin immediately vanished into the sand dunes, hidden beneath the sand of the desert, they watched their sensei stand in the middle of the training ground with a lazy look in his eye.

They all narrowed their eyes when he reached into his equipment pouch, pulling out a small orange book. Two of the genins' eyes widened in comic disbelief while the final genins' eyes narrowed in righteous fury.

'Is that… porn?' was thought by all three genin.

Hideki began reading and seemed to ignore everything around him. Daimaru was the first to act as he traveled beneath the sand and suddenly jumped out behind his sensei, "I got you!" cried the brown-haired genin as he tried to punch his sensei.

Hideki didn't even seem to notice Daimaru as he leaned slightly to the side, causing Daimaru to fall forward. The genin wasn't finished as he extended his leg to kick, but Hideki effortlessly caught it and sent Daimaru sprawling in the sand. Daimaru flipped through the air and landed on his feet before charging Hideki again. Sending a right hook, the jonin easily deflected it without taking an eye off his book. Daimaru began to get frustrated as he kick his legs from out under him, but Hideki simply jumped over the kick before pushing Daimaru back and sent him skidding across the sand.

Hideki walked lazily toward his student, he leaned down and picking him up before shaking off the sand on his cloths, "Word of advice…" spoke Hideki with his face still in his book, "Don't announce your attack to your enemies." With his advice said, Hideki vanished in a swirl of sand leaving Daimaru laid out in the sand with a bruised ego.

Hideki reappeared behind Mika, "Looking for someone?" Mika spun around in surprise to see her sensei, her eyes immediately narrowed on the book and a smile that radiated danger appeared on her face, "Sensei, why are you reading that trash in the middle of the day?" Hideki raised an eye over the book before shrugging, "Keeps me from getting bored" he answered simply causing a tic-mark appeared on her forehead and she immediately charged him, "Sensei, you pervert!"

She immediately charged Hideki and engaged him in taijutsu, the jonin effortlessly dodges and blocked her punches and kicks.

Realizing that taijutsu was useless, Mika jumped back and started doing hand seals.

"Shakuton: Kajōsatsu (Scorch Style: Extremely Steaming Murder)!" Hideki saw flaming orbs form and surround Mikas' body, the flaming yellow orbs were then flung toward him. Hideki didn't seem worried as he held his free hand out and formed discs of razor-sharp wind on his fingertips. Throwing the discs of wind, Mika watched as her fireballs were cut in half and forced to disperse.

"Damn it!" she cursed as she landed on the ground to see her sensei with the same amused expression, 'He's just toying with me!' raged Mika in her head. She was taken by surprise when black sand exploded from the ground and wrapped around her and dragged her into the sand, leaving behind a confused Hideki who shrugged and continued reading his literature.

Mika suddenly found herself back above ground in front of both her teammates, "What the hell was that for!" yelled Mika in anger, Naruto seemed unfazed by her anger and spoke in a stoic tone, "I needed to gather all of us up, we have no chance of winning if we go at him one on one" explained Naruto, "We need to work together, a single genin can't beat a jonin…" "I agree with the Teme, we need to work together" spoke up Daimaru, even though he didn't like the blond he knew they were no match for their sensei individually.

"Fine, just don't ever do that again. Got it!" warned Mika, Naruto nodded and began explaining his plan.

Hideki continued reading his book, but his thoughts were elsewhere, "Looks like Baki won the bet" mused Hideki, 'I honestly thought they would work together to try and take me down' He looked out the corner of his eyes and saw a shimmer of light in the sand before returning to normal, 'That ANBU has been watching us for a while, I wonder why?' questioned Hideki.

He was suddenly knocked from his thoughts when he heard a jutsu being called out, "Doton: Doryuusou (Earth Style: Rising Spears)!" He jumped up to avoid spears of earth from skewering him, he looked around to see Daimaru with a smirk on his face and Naruto and Mika running toward him.

He smirked, putting away his book as he landed on the ground and shifted into a taijutsu stance. Mika was the first to send a punch which he deflected, Naruto tried to kick him in the chest but Hideki shifted out of the way and caused him to lose balance. Recovering, Naruto spun around and roundhouse kicked Hideki in the head, the jonin ducked but was thrown back when Mika landed a devastating kick on his face. Hideki quickly recovered and shifted back into his taijutsu stance but Naruto grabbed Mika and disappeared in a shunshin, Hideki was confused until he heard Daimaru, "Doton: Shizun Suna (Earth Style: Sinking Sand)!" The ground around Hideki suddenly began sinking too quickly for him to jump away, he went to do a jutsu but was stopped when iron sand exploded from beneath him and completely encased him in a coffin of iron.

The iron coffin was raised from the quicksand and landed in front of his students, all of them with smirks of triumph even Naruto.

"Not bad, I'm proud to be the sensei of such talented students" praised Hideki before the entire coffin was sliced to pieces by wind blades. Naruto was surprised that his sensei was able to escape his iron coffin and even mold his wind chakra without hand seals.

"Ha, we beat you sensei! You might as well promote us to jonin right now!" boasted Daimaru, until he suddenly found himself neck deep in the sand, the brunette looked up to see his sensei look at him with an amused smile, "Don't get too cocky, Daimaru. I was holding back a lot of my strength" said Hideki before turning back to his remaining students.

"Wait a minute!" shouted Mika, "Hand over the porn, it's an insult to me and every woman in the village" demanded the purple haired genin, Hideki looked at his genin in amusement before reaching into his pocket and throwing her the book. Mika caught it and was surprised when the infamous orange book disappeared in a puff of smoke and was replaced by a brown book about the history of Suna.

"What is this!?" shouted Mika in confusion, "I never had a porn book…" explained Hideki, "…I knew that your hatred of perverts would cause you to blindly charge me, I used you emotions to put you at a disadvantage" explained Hideki in amusement as he watched Mika turn red in embarrassment. The jonin turned and began walking away once again, "If I did have a porn book, my wife would have killed me" mentioned Hideki with a chuckle.

"You can all go home now, report back to the Kazekages' office tomorrow for our first mission" ordered Hideki before disappearing in a sand shunshin.

Once Hideki was gone, Naruto turned around and began leaving the training ground. Mika followed his example quickly after leaving Daimaru buried neck deep in the sand with no way of escape.

"Oi! Can I get some help!?" exclaimed Daimaru at his teammates, "Come on, guys! A little help!?" Their forms vanished in the horizon causing Daimaru to turn red in anger, "Mothefu…"

Next Day

Naruto groggily opened his eyes to his alarm clock blaring its alarm, he was about to turn it off but sand wrapped around the clock and imploded, destroying the clock.

"Was that really needed?" asked Naruto tiredly as he started getting dressed, Gaara grunted from his bed and turned to go back to sleep.

Naruto shook his head as he tied his hi-ate around his forehead, "I'll be back later today" spoke Naruto, getting only a grunt in response.

He walked through his home silently and followed the scent of food in the kitchen. He entered to see Temari making breakfast, "What are you doing?" questioned Naruto.

Temari looked away from her cooking toward Naruto, "Just making breakfast" answered the blonde, "Why?" asked Naruto, "Usually the maid makes the breakfast in the morning" spoke Naruto.

Temari frowned as she looked at the breakfast she had prepared, she knew her family hadn't been a family for a long time. Naruto and Gaara never considered themselves part of their family, which was why they were usually out of the house by the time the maid had made breakfast for the house. She really wanted to make up for what she had done and hoped to re-bond with her little brother, Gaara, and bond with Naruto like a true sister.

She was knocked out of her thoughts when Naruto spoke, "Whatever, I have to go now" "Wait!" Naruto stopped to look at Temari from the corner of his eye, "What?" Naruto asked stoically, "W-Why don't you stay for breakfast?" offered Temari slightly nervous at the way Naruto's cold, blue eyes looked at her.

Naruto shrugged and sat at the table, Temari smiled and served him some eggs and bacon. Naruto ate the food silently while Temari watched him. When he was finished with his meal, Naruto stood and began to take his plates to the sink only to be stopped by the other blonde, "Don't worry, I'll…" Temari tried to grab the plates but was stopped when Naruto grabbed her wrist and looked at her with cold, emotionless eyes, "Why are you doing this, Temari?" Temari stuttered as she tried to answer but Naruto's eyes felt like they were searching her soul for an answer, "I-I just w-wanted to do something nice…" Naruto applied pressure to her wrist causing her to wince, "Bullshit, you have never done anything nice for me and Gaara in your life. So why don't you give me the real reason before I get angry" demanded the blond, "…Fine, Fine, I'll tell you. Just let me go" pleaded Temari desperately, Naruto complied and let go of her wrist.

Temari rubbed her sore wrist as she took a deep breath, "I want to make up for everything I did, I want Gaara to forgive me for not being there and I want us to be actual siblings not strangers that sleep under the same roof…" explained Temari regretfully, "…I'm sorry, sorry for abandoning Gaara, sorry for stupidly fearing you and Gaara, and sorry for not being the sister I should have" When Temari finished she looked at the ground and waited for Naruto to say something, anything that remotely sounded like forgiveness.

"Fine, I forgive you…" Temari's eyes lit up in happiness but immediately showed fear when Naruto looked at her with his cold, blue eyes, "But I only forgive once, Temari. If you betray me or even think of betraying me, then I'll kill you myself" threatened Naruto menacingly, Temari gulped in fear but nodded.

"Does this mean you'll talk to Gaara for me?" She asked hopefully. Naruto nodded, "I'll ask him, but it's up to him if he'll give you a chance" Temari nodded in understanding, "That's all I ask for."

Naruto stood and left the house after exchanging farewells with Temari, he walked through the streets of Suna ignoring the looks of hate and whispers coming from the villagers until he finally reached the Kazekage Tower.

He walked past the secretary and made for the mission assignment room where his team was already waiting, Daimaru glared at him while Hideki gave him a smile and Mika a nod.

The Kazekage cleared his throat in the front of the room causing everyone to turn their attention to him, "As you know, genin are usually assigned D-rank missions to improve teamwork and earn some money on the side..." explained the wind shadow, "…But I want all of you to be ready for the Chunin Exams in six months. So I will be assigning you all a C-rank mission to gain combat experience."

Hideki nodded having already been informed of this while Naruto and Mika nodded in understanding since it had been drilled into them that a shinobi never refused an order from their Kage. Daimaru on the other hand looked like he was going to jump in joy but managed to only let a grin spread across his face, he knew that Kazekage would sooner kill him before letting him be disrespected. He wasn't an old fool with no backbone that let his shinobi act any way they wanted in his presence.

The Kazekage looked through the scrolls on his desk before grabbing a blue scroll and throwing it toward Hideki, "The mission is straightforward, you will go to border town of Hagetaka and escort a noble of Kaze no Kuni returning from his vacation in Hi no Kuni. His final destination will be the capital of Kaze no Kuni, Hōseki Gai. The mission shouldn't take more than a week" The Kazekage explained, Team 3 nodded and left the room. Hideki gave them an hour to go home and prepare for the mission before meeting him at the main gate.

Sabaku Estate

Naruto entered his home and went up to the room he shared with Gaara, he opened the door to see Gaara meditating on his bed.

"I'm back" spoke Naruto as he entered the room and went into his closet, "Did you get a mission?" asked Gaara curiously, "Yeah, a C-rank. The Kazekage wants me and my team to be combat ready for the Chunin Exams in six months" explained the blond as he packed supplies, "When will you be back?" asked Gaara, "A week if we don't run into a sandstorm" replied Naruto, when he finished packing he put a hand on Gaara's head and affectionately rubbed his head, "Don't worry I'll be back before you know it…" Naruto assured his younger brother, "…But while I'm gone. Can you do something for me?" Gaara nodded, "Listen to what Temari has to say while I'm gone. She wants to tell you something I think you should hear…" Gaara frowned, "Why should I listen to anything she says after she abandoned me?" questioned Gaara with anger in his tone. Naruto squatted down to eye-level, "Sometimes you need to forgive and let the past stay the past. Don't let some bad memories ruin the chance of making good ones…" spoke Naruto, "…That being said, if you give them another chance and they betray you, you turn and never look back, leaving them like the bad memories they caused you." Gaara nodded at his brothers' wise word.

Naruto stood back up and headed toward the door but looked back at Gaara one more time, "Don't worry, Gaara. I'm certain Temari won't betray you, she just wants to bring her family back together." Naruto disappeared in a shunshin with his parting words, leaving Gaara to think of what was said.

Gaara was knocked out of his thoughts when someone knocked on his door, "Gaara, can I talk to you?" spoke Temari from the other side, "Come in" replied the redhead, Temari walked into the room and both exchanged looks for a minute before Gaara finally spoke, "What do you want, Temari?"

The fan-user took a deep breath before kneeling before her brother and putting a hand on his shoulder, Gaara could feel his sand defense act up but he pushed it down.

"Gaara, I'm sorry for abandoning you. I'm sorry for not begin the Nee-san you deserved and needed in your time of struggle. Can you find it in your heart to forgive me?" pleaded Temari desperately as tears began to come from her eyes.

Gaara stood silent for a few seconds before speaking, "Okay, I forgive you, Tem… Nee-san" A smile spread across Temari's face as she pulled Gaara in for a hug. The sand user was taken by surprise since no one had ever hugged him with the exception of Naruto. He hesitated for a minute but eventually returned it.

Naruto leaned on the wall outside the room as he listened to what had happened he couldn't help but smile at the touching brother-sister moment.

'There's hope for this family yet' thought the blonde before disappearing in a swirl of black sand.

Suna Main Gate: 1 Hour Later

Naruto stood at the front gate of Suna, the wall that had kept Iwa and Konoha out and protected Suna for two Shinobi Wars. Naruto didn't hate Suna, it was quite the opposite. He hated the people that populated it and the man that ruled it. He had grown up reading about the previous Kazekage's and had come to look up to them as role models. His most favorite was the Sandaime Kazekage, who was accredited as being the strongest Kage since the Shodaime Kazekage.

But people like the current generation of villagers and the Yondaime Kazekage were black stains on the history of Suna, if he could he would purge those stains and restore Suna to its former glory, as a village of people that braved the harsh deserts on Kaze no Kuni and created a village that fought back superpowers like Konoha and Iwa during the Second and Third Great Shinobi War instead of a village on decline because of weak leadership of the Yondaime Kazekage.

Naruto looked at his hand and watched as his iron sand swirled around it, he knew for a fact that he had some sort of relationship with the Sandaime Kazekage but the Yondaime refused to tell him anything. Naruto clenched his fist and let out a growl, the man was becoming a nuisance and he couldn't wait for the opportunity to kill him.

He was knocked from his thoughts as his jonin sensei, Hideki, appeared at the gates in a swirl of wind.

"Yo!" greeted his sensei, "Hello, sensei" replied Naruto with a nod.

"Where's everyone else?" questioned Hideki causing Naruto to shrug.

After waiting a few minutes, Daimaru and Mika came walking up the path toward the gate together.

"What's this…" asked Hideki slyly, "…Daimaru you dog, not even two days and you're already dating the kunoichi of the team" teased the jonin.

Naruto saw the results of his senseis' teasing. Mika and Daimaru immediately turned tomato red with Mika stepping away from the boy and shaking her head, "Sensei-baka! That would never happen, I don't even like this guy!" exclaimed the kunoichi desperately while pointing at him, "…T-That's right! I wouldn't be caught dead with this flat-chest!" yelled Daimaru in agreement.

The area was quiet and nothing could be heard except the wind blowing through the gates, Hideki and Naruto took a few steps back, face-palming all the way at Daimaru's stupidity.

Daimaru noticed the changed atmosphere and could even feel the temperature fall a few degrees as Mika dropped her bag and turned to look at Daimaru with murder on her face, "W-What did you say?" asked Mika dangerously.

Daimaru looked at Mika's murderous glare in confusion, he turned slightly and began to recall what he had said. It was obvious he realized his mistake when he turned deathly pale and turned to Mika and began shaking his hands in denial, "W-Wait! I-I didn't m-mean it like that!" stuttered the brown-haired boy, Mika began to walk toward him menacingly with spheres of fire forming around her.

"Flat-chest?" questioned Mika with a humorless chuckle, "...I'll make sure you regret being born, Daimaru" threatened Mika menacingly. Daimaru tried to back away but immediately tripped on a rock and fell on his ass.

He groaned in pain before realizing his death was approaching and quickly got on his knees, his head bowed toward Mika submissively, "P-Please, Forgive me!" pleaded Daimaru as Mika stopped right in front of him.

Mika cracked he knuckles as a murderous purple aura surrounded the kunoichi, murmuring two words.

"No mercy…"

Hideki and Naruto cringed as Mika began giving Daimaru the beating he would not soon forget, they covered their ears and closed their eyes as they heard bones break and the sound of concrete break, Daimaru's cries of pain and pleads of mercy went ignored by the furious kunoichi.

They finally opened their eyes to see Mika dusting herself off and grabbing her mission pack, Daimaru was embedded three inches into the concrete path with bruises and ashes covering his body while a small fire was lit in his hair.

Seeing the coast was clear and the kunoichi wasn't looking to bring her wrath down on anyone else, Hideki appeared behind Daimaru and pulled him from the ground. He sat the boy on the ground and checked his pulse, he held his fingers on Daimaru's neck and sighed in relief when he felt his heartbeat, "Thank Kami, you're alive…" said the jonin before dropping him back on the floor, "…The paperwork for a dead genin is too much work."

Daimaru cried anime tears as he nursed his new wounds and after a few seconds he stood up re-energized, "Yosh, let's get this mission started!" cheered the genin, impatient to start their C-rank mission and having forgotten the major beating he had received not one minute ago.

"Alright team, the trip to Hagetaka should take a day at most if we don't get caught in a sand storm…" explained Hideki, "…Let's go!" ordered Hideki as he took off into the desert at shinobi pace.

The genin nodded as they followed their sensei and they ran through the gates of Suna and into the harsh deserts of Kaze no Kuni.

Hagetaka: Two Days Later

Naruto and his team arrived in the massive border town of Hagetaka, travelling through the desert in the blazing, hot sun had tired the team out. Hideki led them through the slums of the cities, the gangsters and pickpockets steering clear of the Suna shinobi.

Team 3 finally left the slums and entered the large walled area of the market and upper class district, traders from Kaze no Kuni and Hi no Kuni bought and sold goods from both nations. Fruits, vegetables, and meat were being bought by the merchants of Kaze no Kuni while they sold goods such as iron, gold, silver, and marble to merchants of Hi no Kuni.

They pushed through the thick crowd of people, careful to pay attention to their packs and wallets, and stopped in front of a Suna outpost.

Hideki turned to his students, "Alright, I need to check in with the VIP caravan. We'll be staying in the barracks until the caravan arrives and we get the noble back to Hōseki Gai" explained Hideki, his students nodded understanding and walked deeper into the city as their sensei got information from the caravan.

The genin of Team 3 walked through the paved streets of Hagetaka, merchants and traders sold their goods to anyone willing to buy.

"Hey, you shinobi!" called out the merchant, Naruto and his teammates turned to see a dark skinned merchants trying to get their attention. Naruto looked around before shrugging and walking toward the merchants stand, "You, You are a shinobi. Yes?"

Naruto nodded, "Yes, we are…" He looked at the merchants table and saw variety of shinobi weapons, he picked up a few custom kunai and analyzed them.

"…What are these made of?" asked Naruto as he channeled his lightning chakra into the kunai, the kunai glowed blue as the metal was covered with a thin layer of lightning, "These kunai are custom made using chakra metal…" He reached under his table and pulled out a box of scrolls, "…I see you have a lightning affinity. I have collected a few scrolls of jutsu and lightning manipulation. They can be yours if you have the money…" spoke the merchant with a cheeky grin. Naruto narrowed his eyes and put the kunai down, "How much?" asked Naruto suspiciously as he eyes the three scrolls the merchant placed in front of him.

"For you, a good price. Only 10,000 ryō... each" finished the merchant with a full grin, "What! That's more money than two C-rank missions!" exclaimed Daimaru in disbelief, Mika nodded in agreement and went to pull Naruto away, "Let's go Naruto. This guy is just trying to rip you off" warned Mika, Naruto shrugged her arm off and looked back at the merchant, "I don't have that kind of money, but you obviously knew that. Being a weapon merchant you knew we were only genin and genin don't have that kind of money…" explained Naruto analytically, "…You don't want money from me, what is it you want?" asked Naruto with suspicion.

A satisfied smirk spread across the merchant's face, "This is why I like shinobi, so smart and deductive…" commented the merchant, "My name is Hayuata Seiryo, and I want to hire you for a mission…"

"If you wanted to assign a mission than why didn't you send a mission request to Suna?" questioned Mika in disgust.

Seiryo clicked his tongue in annoyance, "Assassination missions from major and minor shinobi villages are very expensive…" He reached into his pocket and pulled out picture of a young woman, Naruto grabbed the picture and analyzed it. He had to admit she was beautiful and looked like someone who belonged in royalty, he wondered why he wanted her dead.

"An assassination, are you nuts!" hissed Daimaru, "You're insane if you think we're going to do an assassination mission for you" snorted Mika, "Come on, Naruto. Let's get out of here, sensei is probably waiting for us" urged Mika.

Naruto ignored his teammate, "Why do you wanted her dead?" asked Naruto emotionlessly, causing Daimaru and Mika to look at him in disbelief and Seiryo to grin victoriously.

"Naruto, you can't possibly be thinking of taking this mission…" cried the kunoichi in disbelief. "Why wouldn't I?" questioned Naruto, "…We are shinobi, jonin take on assassination missions and shinobi are required to kill no matter the reason. If you are assigned an assassination mission then you will have to kill whether or not it's morally justified."

"Even if shinobi can take on assassination missions, sensei will never allow you to do this" reasoned Mika. Naruto shrugged, "I won't be telling sensei about this, and I expect neither of you to tell him either" Naruto warned them, "And why wouldn't we?" asked Daimaru disbelievingly.

Naruto looked at them from the corner of his eye, "Because if you do then I'll kill you" threatened Naruto. Daimaru gulped fearfully and began walking away while Mika just gave Naruto a disappointed look before following after Daimaru.

Naruto watched as his teammates disappeared into the crowd before turning back to the merchant, "If I do this I expect those scrolls to be handed over without question" The merchant grinned enthusiastically, "Of course, of course! After you give me proof she's dead then I'll be more than happy to hand over your payment…" Seiryo assured him. He reached below his stall and pulled out a scroll, "…You'll find all you need in this scroll" explained Seiryo before handing him the information scroll, Naruto nodded and grabbed the scroll before disappearing in a swirl of black sand.

Naruto reappeared back at the Suna outpost, he saw Daimaru and Mika were speaking with their sensei. He walked up to them and joined the conversation, "Sensei, how much longer do we have to stay here?" asked Naruto. Hideki shrugged his shoulders, "Who knows, we got a status report saying that the noble stopped in Tanzaku Gai for some sightseeing so he might not get here until tomorrow evening" Hideki explained in irritation, Naruto nodded in understanding while his teammates looked at him with frowns on their faces.

"Oh well, what can you do?" shrugged Hideki, "…At least now we can get some training" spoke Hideki optimistically, "Alright, let's go" ordered Hideki calmly as he led his students into the desert to get some training done.

Later That Night

Naruto laid on his bunk, wide awake as he listened to the chunin outpost guards and his sensei and teammate snore in their sleep. Mika was sleeping in the kunoichi barracks so she wasn't with them, he quietly raised himself from his bed before stealthfully leaving the room, careful not to wake his jonin sensei.

He quietly sneaked past the chunin patrols of the outpost and stopped in an alley somewhere in town. He pulled the information scroll from his pocket and opened it, quickly looking through and summarizing the information to memory.

Once the information was memorized, he channeled lightning through his hand and combusted the scroll reducing it to ashes in the wind.

With the scroll gone, he reached up and pulled his hi-ate from his forehead and stored it in his equipment pouch. It was assassination 101, an assassination could never be traced back to the village or else they would suffer major political backlash.

With his hi-ate gone, he pulled out a black bandana and wrapped it around his head to hide his hair and leaving only his cold, blue eyes in view. Channeling his chakra, he disappeared in a shunshin and appeared in the middle of the upper class district.

He quickly channeled his chakra and sank into the ground just a patrol of samurai passed right over him. He poked his head above ground and saw there were a couple patrols of samurai walking the streets, hired to protect the residents of the district from shinobi like Naruto.

He jumped out of the ground and ran through the streets, narrowly avoiding the samurai patrols as he stopped in front of a large mansion surrounded by an iron fence. His trained eye spotted the security seals etched into the iron, Naruto immediately knew that the series circuit of the seal was flawed. If Naruto was able to disable one seal, then the rest would be unable to receive chakra and deactivate.

He pulled a kunai from his pouch and began etching a new seal into the iron. Ink wouldn't stick to the iron bars and if he tried to inject foreign chakra into the seals than it would immediately sound the alarm. The only way to deactivate the seal would be to modify the seal formula and let one of the seals overload on chakra, causing it to burn out and subsequently deactivate the other seals.

Just as he was finishing the seal modification, a patrol a samurai turned the corner and began walking in his direction.

'Damn it' cursed the blond as he tried to work faster before the patrol could spot him, the blond began to sweat as the light from the patrol got closer and closer.

"Hey, what's that" declared the samurai as he pointed his light at the iron bars only for his light to hit nothing, "It was nothing, come on we need to check the rest of these streets" ordered the samurai captain, the lower-ranked samurai shrugged and followed after his superior leaving the area in silence.

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief from the bushes he was hiding in, he had just barely finished etching the modified seal. A second longer and he would have had to fight a group of samurai. While Naruto was confident in his abilities, but he knew going up against a samurai captain who was just as strong as a jonin, was suicide.

He slowly stalked out of the bushes and sneaked across the large yard, he remembered that the file had warned him that there were guard dogs on the estate. He looked around and saw them, fully alert and searching for the intruder.

He laid a trap in the yard before clicking his teeth, causing the dogs to sprint toward the noise. Just as they were going to bark and warn of an intruder, ninja wire wrapped around their bodies and muzzled them.

Naruto drew some shuriken and launched them at the dogs, the shuriken pierced the dogs in vital points giving them a quick and painless death. He approached the door and manipulated some of the iron sand that was clinging to his body, he knew that flaring his chakra was a bad idea and might set off other seals on the estate.

The iron sand flowed from his arms and shaped itself into a key, Naruto put the key in the lock before molding it to unlock the door. He slowly turned the key until he heard a click signaling the door was unlocked.

He pushed the door open slowly and quietly before entering the estate and moving through the house quickly. The scroll had included a blueprint of the house and the location of his target, when he reached the stairs he jumped onto the second floor and clung to the ceiling using chakra.

Crawling toward the master bedroom, Naruto quietly landed on the floor and grabbed the doorknob. Twisting the doorknob, he opened the door while iron sand kept the hinges from creaking.

He quietly entered the room, his eyes scanning the room and focusing on the single woman sleeping on the bed. The woman was Ikina Misa, the daughter of Ikina Tatsui, a rich merchant from Hi no Kuni, she had been promised to Seiryo as a bride by her father in exchange for a merging of Seiryo's weapon trade network with Tatsui's own trade network. In the end, Tatsui broke his promise and instead gifted his daughter to a noble of Kaze no Kuni to be his mistress in exchange for lower taxes on his caravans and giving Tatsui a seat on the Merchant's Guild in Hōseki Gai.

Now Seiryo wanted revenge on Tatsui, so he hired Naruto to kill his daughter.

He pulled a kunai from his pouch, the moonlight gleamed off the blade as it got closer and closer to its target.

Naruto was about to bring the kunai down but was taken by surprise when Misa woke up and noticed him. She screamed at the top of her lungs and kicked Naruto in the stomach, forcing the air from his lungs and causing him to take a few steps back.

She bolted from her bed and ran out of the room, "Help! Assassin, assassin!" Misa screamed desperately, trying to get the attention of a passing samurai patrol.

Naruto quickly recovered and ran after her, tackling her to the ground and wrapping her in ninja wire. She kicked and screamed as Naruto dragged her back to the master bedroom, "Shut up!" commanded the blond as he backhanded her and forced her quiet, "Be quiet or else this will be a lot more painful than it has to be" threatened Naruto menacingly.

"Please don't kill me, I'll do anything" pleaded Misa desperately, Naruto grabbed his kunai and put it at her throat.

He made the mistake of looking into her eyes, he saw the fear, the regret, and the guilt in her eyes. He didn't understand why he was hesitating in killing her, he had never once hesitated before when he killed a villager or shinobi that tried to attack him or Gaara. Maybe it was because he had always had a reason to kill someone, except this time he had no reason to kill her. He tried to convince himself that it was necessary for his training to move to the next level, but that didn't reduce the guilt he felt every time he went to finish the deed.

He shook his head of thoughts and steeled his resolve. He raised his kunai and put it at her throat, "I'm sorry, it's necessary for my training…" muttered Naruto, Misa said nothing as she murmured a few prayers.

Suddenly Naruto and Misa both froze when there was a knock at the door, "Kaa-chan, are you awright…" spoke the voice of a young child. Naruto and Misa looked at the door before Naruto nudged her, "Get rid of him…now" Naruto whispered harshly.

"U-Uh, Kaa-chan is fine, Sochi-kun. Go back to bed" insisted Misa, "Bwat, I heard a noise" spoke the child fearfully as he stayed near the door.

"It's nothing, Sochi-kun. Go back to bed now!" insisted Misa desperately, Naruto just listened to the exchange. The information never mentioned a kid in the house, killing the woman was one thing but he didn't think he could kill a kid.

"Okway, Kaa-chan…" The sound of footsteps could be heard retreating from the door, Naruto gave a mental sigh of relief as he looked back toward Misa and went to finish the job.

"Please, i-if you k-kill me. L-Leave my son alone" pleaded Misa desperately, Naruto simply nodded and went to kill her but was once again interrupted when the door opened abruptly…

Naruto could feel his heartbeat…

His shinobi instincts took over as his hand reached into his shuriken pouch…

He pulled out a shuriken and sent it straight at the child, not realizing what he had done until it had already left his hand…

"Fuck!" yelled Naruto in realization, He and Misa watched in horror as the deadly shuriken flew toward her son. Unbeknownst to them a small gust of wind pushed the shuriken from its course and embedded itself in the wall saving the child.

The kid stood wide eyed at the door, he was about to run but found himself tried up in ninja wire and a hand over his mouth.

"NO, LEAVE MY SON ALONE!" shouted the woman as she struggled against her binds, motherly instincts overpowering her self-preservation. The kids just started to struggle against Naruto's grip and cried, the tears landing on the hand he was using to cover his mouth.

Naruto struggled desperately to think of a plan of action, it had seemed so simple in his head.

Kill the woman…

Bring back evidence…

And receive the payment…

Now it was all chaos, there was a kid involved and not only was he was hesitating to kill his target, he now had to kill a witness, who was a kid no less. The guilt was weighing down on his mind as Misa screamed at him to let her son go and the kid was crying his lungs out in Naruto's grip.

"SHUT UP!" Naruto demanded angrily. The child stopped crying and just sniffled as he looked toward his mother, Misa just stared at Naruto with hatred and anger in her eyes.

"Just shut up and let me think…" snapped the Jiton user, he put the kid next to his mother and paced around the room. Trying to think of a solution to his situation, so far he only had two options.

Leave now and let them live but never get the scrolls

…Or kill both of them with no remorse and get the scrolls but live with the blood of a child on his hands for the rest of his life.

"Argh!" screamed Naruto in frustration, "I don't know what to do!"

He looked at Misa and her child, could he really do that. Kill a mother and her child and receive some measly jutsu scrolls?

No…he couldn't do it.

He refused to stoop so low, to do something that would make him no different than those damn villagers.

He calmly walked toward the child, Misa immediately screamed her protest but he ignored her. He chopped him in the back of the neck and watched him go lax in his arms, "YOU KILLED HIM, YOU KILLED MY SON YOU MURDERER!"

"No, I didn't!" snapped Naruto as he used a kunai to cut the ninja wire, he picked up the kid and placed him on the bed.

"Be grateful I'm not killing you…" whispered the Jiton user, "…You and your son will live to see tomorrow" spoke Naruto before chopping Misa on the back of her neck and sending her into unconsciousness.

Naruto quickly escaped the house and barely slipped past the samurai patrols on his way back to the outpost. He jumped through the rooftops and landed in an alley a few blocks from the outpost. He leaned against the wall and replayed everything that had happened the last hour, he thought it was so simple but it was far from the truth.

He punched the wall and made a large crack in it as he grit his teeth, 'Why am I so weak?' Naruto questioned himself as his fist bleed from the cuts made by his wall punch.

'A true shinobi will kill no matter who the target is' reciting the Suna shinobi rulebook, 'A true shinobi will never show his emotions and a true shinobi will always complete his mission even if it results in his death…'

He watched his hand bleed, the blood reflecting in the moonlight as it trailed down into his arm. He took a few deep breaths before calming down and clearing his mind, 'I did the right thing, but why do I still feel like I chose wrong' Naruto asked himself.

He cleared his thoughts and pushed the thought to the back of his head, he jumped back onto the rooftops and hurried back to the outpost before they woke up.

Following Morning

Naruto pushed around the food on his plate, the decision of the previous day was still on his mind. The shinobi part of him told him that he was wrong to let them live and give up some scrolls that could have made him stronger while the moral side of his was telling him that he did the right thing in letting them live since the scrolls weren't worth the life of a child.

He was pulled from his thoughts when his sensei walked into the room with his signature carefree attitude, "Alright, let's go Team 3. The VIP has finally arrived in town…" explained Hideki, his teammates nodded and grabbed their packs before joining their sensei to meet their client.

They walked through the streets of the village until they reached the border of Hi no Kuni and Kaze no Kuni. The borders being guarded by both Suna and Konoha shinobi, they reached a wooden fence that officially separated both nations.

Team 3 immediately noticed the noble, he was overweight and wore and expensive purple kimono and traveled in a carriage pulled by some very healthy, and expensive, looking horses. The carriage was beginning escorted by a team of Konoha shinobi, it seemed like they were a team of chunin and a jonin.

Hideki and his team stopped next to the carriage, "A team of brats? I thought Suna was weak but to send genin on a B-rank. They must really not know how to run a village" taunted the Konoha chunin.

Daimaru and Mika scowled at the chunin while Naruto remained emotionless, "Big talk for trash. Does wearing that vest make you feel like more of a man?" retorted the Jiton user. The chunin arrogantly smirked, "Watch your mouth, don't bite off more than you can chew…" The chunin disappeared in a burst of speed and had a kunai to his throat, "…You'll die at a young age."

He was taken by surprise when Naruto turned into black sand, a leg kicked him in the gut causing him to fall to his knees and a kunai was placed at his throat.

The chunin had a look of shock as he was forced to the ground by a genin, "H-How did y-you do that?"

Naruto didn't answer and instead kicked the chunin in the back sent him sprawling to the ground, he quickly picked himself up and looked at Naruto with unmasked hatred.

"You little son…" He was cut off by the kunoichi of his team, "Shut up, Toyozo. You deserved what he did, maybe next time you might not act like an arrogant idiot to anyone you don't know…" The kunoichi turned to Naruto and bowed, "…I'm sorry for my teammates disrespect of you and your village, my name is Inuzuka Hana."

Naruto acknowledged her apology with a nod, "I accept your apology. My name is Sabaku Naruto, these are my teammates Daimaru and Mika…" Naruto introduced his teammates.

Hana nodded and looked toward her jonin captain, who was waving them over, "It looks like our mission is over, I wish you luck on completing your mission…" said Hana, "…I hope you have a lot more patience with this guy than we did" muttered Hana as she and her teammates followed their jonin captain back into Hi no Kuni.

Team 3 walked over to their sensei, who was talking to the noble, "…Of course Daisuke-sama, we understand that you will want to return home as soon as possible. My team and I will protect you with our lives and make sure you get back home safe and sound" Hideki assured the fat noble.

"Good, I would have hired those Konoha shinobi to escort me the entire trip but they didn't know how to traverse this desert quickly like Suna shinobi…" explained the noble, "Of course sir…" Hideki motioned his team to step forward, "These are my students Sabaku Naruto, Isamu Daimaru, and Yakedo Mika" Hideki said, the noble nodded and introduced himself, "My name is Tamuro Daisuke…" He pointed at Naruto, "You have the Sabaku name, are you the son of the Kazekage?" asked the noble. "Adopted son…" corrected Naruto. "Of course, as the son of the Kazekage I can guess you are very strong. I look forward to seeing you in action, maybe I'll bet on you in the Chunin Exams this year" commented the noble in deep thought.

"Uh, I hate to interrupt Daisuke-sama. But if we want to get you back home then we should leave soon…" Hideki suggested, the noble nodded and returned to his carriage, "Oh course, onward back home!" announced the noble.

Hideki sighed in relief when the noble went back into the carriage, "Thank Kami, he went back inside…" said Hideki with a sigh of relief.

"Come on, sensei. He can't be that bad? Can he?" asked Daimaru wearily causing Hideki to sigh, "I want to say no, but I would be lying…" He looked back to see the noble was to engrossed in his carriage to pay attention to them before turning back to his students, "…Tamuro Daisuke is the younger brother of the Wind Daimyo and is the Head of Internal Finances for the Daimyo's Royal Court. He is the one who cut Suna's funding and sent the missions to Konoha, he is also the Head of the Merchant's Guild in Hōseki Gai and controls all the trade in Kaze no Kuni…"

"…He is the most powerful noble in Kaze no Kuni just under the Daimyo himself and he has the power to destroy Suna using only politics…" explained Hideki tiredly, "…He's been trying to put Suna under his thumb for the last few years and has countless Elders on his payroll. So don't do anything to get on his bad side or else it will go badly for the village." His genin nodded in understanding.

"Hideki-san!" called out the noble, "I'd like to make an additional stop before we leave town…" requested Daisuke, "Of course, Daisuke-sama. Please lead the way and we will escort you" replied the jonin politely.

The carriage began moving and Team 3 followed walked alongside it as it entered the upper class district. Naruto slightly trembled as he remembered the previous night but breathed calmly and adopted an emotionless mask.

They immediately noticed samurai were stationed all over the district, their hands on their swords and their eyes looking everywhere.

The carriage stopped in front of a house that Naruto knew all too well, samurai stationed all around the estate. The noble opened the door to his carriage and walked toward his estate, "What is going on here!" demanded Daisuke, "Daisuke-sama…" The samurai commander ran up to the noble, "…Welcome home sir" greeted the commander with deep bow, "What is going on here?" asked Daisuke impatiently, "There was an assassination attempt on your mistress the previous night, Daisuke-sama" explained the samurai commander.

Daimaru and Mika exchanged looks before looking back at Naruto whose emotionless face revealed nothing.

"What! Who dared to kill one of my women!?" demanded the noble, "We believe it was a shinobi, Daisuke-sama. He was able to avoid the patrols during the night, managed to get past the security seals surrounding the property, and killed the dogs that guarded the house."

"What do I hire you samurai for, you are paid to protect my property. If you can't do that then why do I keep you useless samurai around!?" Daisuke criticized the commander, never once asking if his mistress was alive. The commander just kept bowing in apology, "Of course, Daisuke-sama I take full responsibility… But I do have good news" explained the commander.

"And what would that be?" snarled Daisuke angrily, "Mika-sama and her child are still alive. It seems the shinobi had change of heart and left them alive."

Mika and Daimaru were shocked by the news, they looked back at Naruto who said and did nothing to reveal any emotion. They had thought Naruto would have gone through the assassination to get the scrolls the merchant was offering him. But now it turns out Naruto had a change of heart and instead let her live, they couldn't help but think that maybe Naruto wasn't as bad as they thought.

Fumō Desert: Two Days Later

Team 3 walked through the Fumō Desert, walking alongside the carriage of the noble.

They were silent and alert for any threats that could emerge from the desert, whether they be giant animals, desert bandits, or rogue ninja.

Suddenly Hideki stopped and motioned for his team to take defensive positions. His genin surrounded the carriage in diamond formation, they drew kunai and watched the desert for any movement.

Countless desert bandits emerged from the sands of the desert and charged at the genin, holding rusty katanas, axes, spears, and clubs trying to overpower them with their numbers.

Naruto charged straight at them, he flared his chakra and iron sand exploded from his sleeves taking the bandits by surprise. A large wave of black sand towered over the bandits and crashed down on them, killing a few and incapacitating others. Doing some hand seals, Naruto slammed his hands into the ground, "Jiton: Tessha Yari (Magnetic Style: Iron Spears)!"

Spears of iron sand exploded from the ground and pierced the bandits through their bodies, leaving any still alive to bleed out.

He did a single hand seal and all the iron sand scattered throughout the desert returned to the seals tattooed on his body. Leaving the bandits to die a slow, painful death, Naruto turned back to see Daimaru finishing off some bandits with taijutsu and Mika leaving dry husks of bodies as fireballs circled around her body.

They suddenly turned their attention to the sound of clapping, "Bravo, that was quite impressive Hideki-san. Your students are very gifted to have taken down these bandits so quickly…" praised Daisuke, "…I find it hard to believe you are all genin."

"Thank you, Daisuke-sama. Your words of praise are kind" replied Hideki politely who would rather just flip off the powerful noble, but knew it would just bring more problems to their already struggling village.

Hōseki Gai: Later That Night

The sun was setting over the desert as they reached the Metropolis of Hōseki Gai, the majestic capital of Kaze no Kuni and the home of the Wind Daimyo.

They approached the gate and were stopped by samurai from the Royal Court, "Halt, state your business in Hōseki Gai, shinobi."

The carriage stopped and Daisuke poked his head out the window, "I have returned, open the gates and let me get home" ordered the noble in annoyance. The samurai guards immediately recognized the noble, "Oh, Daisuke-sama! Welcome home, my lord. Forgive me for my insolence" pleaded the samurai as he signaled for the gates to open.

"Well this is where we part ways, Daisuke-sama. Our mission has been complete and we need to return to Suna and report to the Kazekage" explained Hideki. Daisuke nodded, "Oh course. I thank you for your service…" He turned his attention to Naruto, "…You are a powerful shinobi, Sabaku Naruto. I would like to offer you a position as one of the Wind Daimyo's 12 Shinobi Spades."

Daimaru and Mika were shocked while Hideki frowned that the noble was trying to recruit Naruto in the 12 Shinobi Spades. The Shinobi Spades were a group of elite shinobi that worked alongside the Royal Court samurai in the protection of the Wind Daimyo and answered only to the Wind Daimyo himself. They were promising shinobi that had left Suna to pursue better lives and careers in service of the Wind Daimyo.

Naruto face remained emotionless as he answered the powerful noble, "Thank you for the offer, Daisuke-sama. But I will remain in Sunagakure as it is my home and I wish to continue to train there" Naruto explained calmly.

The noble frowned, "Very well, but remember that the offer still stands." Daisuke returned to his carriage just as it began to move into Hōseki Gai.

"Well team, this mission went a lot better than I thought it would. If we run all the way we might be able to get back to Suna before midnight…" His team nodded and followed after their sensei as they traveled back to Suna at shinobi speed.

Sunagakure: Midnight

The village was silent as they entered the gates, they checked in with the gate guard. Most of the village was asleep while the shinobi patrolled the village.

Daimaru yawned loudly, "*YAWN* I'm so tired, I can't wait to get home and go to bed" groaned the brown-haired boy as he worked out the kinks in his back. Mika nodded in agreement, "Me too, I can't wait to shower and go to bed."

They both turned their attention to a silent Naruto who just started walking home without as much as a word to them. He had talked very scarcely since the rogue assassination mission he had taken and had kept to himself the whole time.

Hideki noticed this and called out to him, "Naruto, wait a minute…" Naruto stopped in the middle of the street and looked at his sensei from the corner of his eye, "What is it?"

Hideki walked up next to his student and reached into his equipment pouch and pulled out three scrolls. Naruto's eyes widened as he recognized them as the scrolls the merchant was supposed to pay him with after he killed Ikina Misa.

Hideki handed them to Naruto who hesitantly took them, "…They told me that Seiryo offered these to you in exchange for killing Daisuke's mistress."

"Why are you giving me these?" asked Naruto quietly, "Because you didn't kill an innocent woman and her child, you did the right thing even though it would have been better for you if you didn't…"

"A shinobi must always kill with no remorse. I can't even follow proper shinobi protocol, how am I supposed to get stronger?" questioned Naruto angrily at himself.

Hideki nodded in understanding, "It's true that shinobi have to kill with no remorse or hesitation but we are still human, Naruto. Humans can't kill without being plagued by guilt, but that guilt and our conscious is what makes us human…" Hideki explained softly, "…There are different ways of becoming stronger, Naruto. You have a team now, and as a sensei it is my job to train you and make sure you can defend yourself and our village. I know that you are distrustful of anyone because of the villagers and your younger brother's status as a jinchuriki but you can trust me and I hope you can learn to trust your teammates…" Hideki saw the betrayed look on Naruto's face, "…Don't be mad at them, Naruto. They only told me because they were worried for you and they were right to worry. If they hadn't told me then you would have been caught."

"What do you mean?" questioned Naruto, "You're strong for someone of your age and rank, Naruto. But to go up against samurai specially trained to fight shinobi was suicide. If I hadn't followed you then you would have been caught or worse, killed" Hideki explained harshly causing Naruto to flinch and look down at the ground.

"Now go home, we have another mission tomorrow and don't think I won't punish you for going rogue on a mission" warned Hideki with an unnerving smirk before disappearing in a swirl of wind.

Naruto turned to his teammates who immediately looked away. Daimaru looked at his bare wrist and had a fake look of shock, "W-Would you look at the time, I left a roast in the oven. Time to go" Mika nodded in agreement, "I-I'll help you" she spoke as she followed after him.

"Wait…" Both genin froze in their place, "…If we're going to be team then we need to be able to trust each other. I'm sorry" Naruto apologized.

Daimaru's eyes widened as he looked around and slapped himself in the face, "Am I dreaming or did I die on a mission!" shouted Daimaru in disbelief.

"Shut up! It's like you enjoy pissing me off!" yelled Naruto in anger as a vein popped on his forehead, "Ma, ma let's all calm down" suggested Mika, trying to be the peacemaker.

Naruto took a few deep breaths before looking back at his teammates, "I'm willing to give this team a new start" suggested the Jiton user.

"So am I" Mika gave her approval, both looked at Daimaru who was in deep thought.

"You know Naruto. When I first met you, you tried to kill me. Then the second time I met you, you tried to kill me again. I just don't think I can ever trust you again" admitted Daimaru truthfully.

"I'll get you a date with Temari…"

Daimaru appeared next to Naruto and wrapped him in a one-armed hug while crying anime tears, "Welcome to Team 3, Naruto!"

After the touching moment, all three genin went their separate ways back home. That day was the birth of Suna's most powerful shinobi team.

Omake

Naruto waited in Training Ground 3 for his sensei and his teammates, after a few minutes his sensei appeared in front of the blond in a swirl of wind.

"Yo!" greeted his sensei, "You're late, Hideki-sensei."

"I know, I know, but I was getting the mission you would be taking today" explained the Jonin, "Wait, you said 'you'. Do you mean just me?" pointed out the blond.

Hideki nodded and pulled out a D-rank mission scroll, "This is your punishment for going rogue on our first mission" scolded Hideki, "Oh I'm so sorry sensei, please not a D-rank" replied Naruto sarcastically before snatching the scroll and reading it.

He scrolled through it and couldn't help but feel his brow twitch in irritation, "I have to catch a cat?" questioned the blond in annoyance.

"That's right, now get to it. You only have until the end of the day" said his sensei with an unnerving smirk on his face.

"Fine, whatever" Naruto said with a shrug before disappearing in a swirl of black sand.

Naruto reappeared in the middle of the village and immediately took to the rooftops, searching in alleys and behind restaurants for the cat, Shishi, that had run away from its owner. After a few minutes he spotted a tan and white-spotted cat digging through a dumpster behind a seafood restaurant.

He landed outside the dumpster and calmly waked up to it, "I don't get how the hell this is supposed to be punishment" complained the blond.

He reached inside the dumpster to calmly grab the cat, "Come on you stupid furball, let's get you back to your owner so I can finish this damn mission…" growled Naruto as he reached for the feline.

The cat heard what Naruto had said and pounced on him, taking him by surprise and sinking its claws into his face.

Naruto shouted in pain as the cat clawing Naruto's face off before running out of the alley and running down the street. Naruto just laid on the ground in the fetal position as he clutched his stinging, red face.

A look of anger etched itself on his face as he slowly stood up and trembled with rage, "I'm going to kill that cat!" exclaimed the blond as he sped off after it.

There were random explosions in the village as Naruto desperately tried to catch Shishi the cat. But the feline was already experienced in escaping genin squads, so avoiding capture was effortless for the cat.

A few hours later, the feline stopped on the roof of a dango shop and searched its surroundings, seeing no Naruto, it landed on the ground and snatched a skewer of dango from a group of unsuspecting villagers before running into a nearby alley where it enjoyed its meal in peace.

Naruto, riddled with claw marks and caked in dirt, observed the cat from a nearby roof, "I got you now you little bastard" sneered Naruto victoriously. Making a hand seal, iron sand erupted from underneath the cat and trapped it in a cage of iron.

"Hahaha…" laughed Naruto insanely, "…Try clawing your way out of that, you bastard!" He taunted the cat. He immediately regretted it when the cat looked at him with a vicious gleam in its eye.

It was like everything was in slow motion, the cats' claws glowed blue as it sliced through the iron bars like paper. It then pounced on the unsuspecting blond and sunk its claws into his face before clawing his face without mercy. The blond once again screamed in pain and resumed the fetal position as the cat calmly strut away victoriously out of the alley, leaving Naruto to tend to his wounds pathetically.

By sunset the cat was taking a cat nap on the north wall, completely oblivious to the world and the semi-insane blonde watching the cat from a distance.

"Hehehe. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me" chuckled the blond darkly as he made a few hand seals, "I've got you now!" yelled Naruto as he finished the sequence of hand seals.

Towers of iron sand exploded from the ground and formed a dome of iron around the cat to make sure it couldn't escape before the iron sand completely encased the cat. Naruto calmly approached the dome and watched the iron sand move to reveal the demon from hell completely incapacitated. Its legs were shackled and its neck was held down causing the blond to let out a shout of triumph.

Naruto picked up the cage and disappeared in a shunshin to appear in the Kazekage's Tower. He walked inside and stopped in the mission assignment room to deliver the cat and receive his mission payment.

The blond couldn't help but grin widely as he left the building with a large stack of ryō in his hands. Since he was the only one that delivered the cat, he received the entire payout of the mission which was 20,000 ryō.

He was taken by surprise when Hideki appeared in front of him as he walked home, "Sensei? What do you want?" asked Naruto wearily, Hideki only grinned as he snatched the money from his arms, "Hey, what's the big idea! I earned that money chasing after that demonic cat!" roared the blond in anger, he would be damned if he didn't get paid for the work he did today.

Hideki shook his head, "This is a part of your punishment, I'll be taking this money and giving Daimaru and Mika their share…" He took a 200 ryō bill and handed it to Naruto, the blond stared at the 200 ryō bill in disbelief. All the blood, sweat, and tears he spent trying to catch the cat and he was only given a measly 200 ryō.

"See you" said Hideki with a smile before disappearing in a swirl of winds. Naruto didn't move as he continued to stare at the 200 ryō bill. After a few minutes he calmly laid on the floor and assumed the fetal position as he cried anime tears while muttering something about 'unfair sensei's' and 'demon cats'.

END:

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, the story will be under a temporary Hiatus as I work on some other stories for a while.

Mission Payments:

D-rank:

Total amount- 20,000 ryō

Individual amount- 5,000 ryō

C-rank:

Total amount- 60,000 ryō

Individual amount- 15,000 ryō

B-rank:

Total amount- 180,000 ryō

Individual amount- 45,000 ryō

A-rank:

Total amount- 540,000 ryō

Individual amount- 135,000 ryō

S-rank:

Total amount- 4,000,000 ryō

Individual amount- 1,000,000 ryō

Chapter 4: Chunin Exams