Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Young And The Hopeless ❯ Enter Tazuna; Master Bridge Builder! ( Chapter 4 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

[04] The Young And The Hopeless [Enter Tazuna; Master Bridge Builder!]
"Sasuke here at point B!"

"Takyua here, also at point B!"

"Sakura here at point C!"

"...Naruto here at point A tebayo!"

"You're slow, Naruto. Okay, squad seven- hm?! The target has moved!" Kakashi said as a black object with yellow eyes moved through the forest. "After it!" Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and Takyua poked their heads out from their hiding places.

"Over there!" Naruto said, jumping to a different tree. Sakura, Sasuke and Takyua followed suit.

"What's your distance from the target?" Kakashi asked through his headset.

"Fifteen meters!" Naruto said.

"Naruto, you dobe! That's five meters!" Takyua hissed at Naruto.

"Either way I'm ready!" Naruto said.

"I'm ready too." Sasuke said.

"I am as well." Takyua muttered.

"So am I!" Sakura said.

"Okay... now!" Kakashi said, his eye widening dramatically. The four shinobi jumped out of their hising places, four trees next to each other, and at their target, the black blob with yellow eyes.

"Hyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Naruto shouted, grabbing the blob by the waist. The blob turned out to be a cat, a brown cat with a red ribbon in it's right ear. "I got it!" Naruto shuoted happily, tightening his grip on he screaming cat.

"Can you verify a ribbon on his right ear?" Kakashi asked through Sasuke's headset. Sasuke glanced at Takyua who nodded.

"It's the cat, no mistake. Takyua, is thatcat stomping on Naruto's face?" Sasuke asked, turning to face the two blond shinobi. Takyua nodded through her laughter while Sakura stood there, grinning. Kakashi sighed and let a sweatdrop loose.

"Alright. Lost pet Tora captured. Mission accomplished." he said.

"Can't we get a better mission than this?! I hate cats! Naruto sceeched, causing Kakashi to fall over, along with his three teammates.

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"Ohhh! My kawaii Tora-chan! Okaa-san was so worried about her naughty little fuzzykins yeeeees!" Lady Shijimi, meaning little clam, squealed as she strangled hugged the cat. The cat, Tora, cried as he was being hugged by the large woman.

"Haha! Stupid cat! It deserves to get squashed ahahaha!" Naruto laughed, rubbing the back of his head,

"No wonder he ran away..." Sakura said, looking at the scene.

"I feel bad for it..." Takyua muttered, Sasuke nodding in agreement to all three statements.

"...Now then. For squad seven's next mission we have several available tasks. Huh? Among them to baby-sit the chief councilor's three year old, helping his wife to do the shopping, digging up potatoes-"

"Nooooo!" Naruto shouted, interupting the Hokage. He made a big 'X' with his arms. "I wanna go on a real mission! Something challenging and exciting! Not this little kid stuff! Come on, ojiisan!"

He has a good point... Sasuke thought.

He is so annoying! Sakura thought, scowling at Naruto. Kakashi sighed.

"Naruto! Take what you can get!" Takyua hissed.

"How dare you! Listen to Takyua and get what you can! You're a brand new Genin with no experience! Like everyone else, you start out with simple missions to advance your skills so you can prve yourself!" Iruka shouted, standing up.

"Are you serious?! Babysitting is not a mission, it's just a stupid- agh!" Naruto screamed as Kakashi punched his head. Naruto fell face first onto the floor.

"Would you put a lid on it?" Kakashi asked, looking at Naruto. Takyua sighed.

"Naruto!"

"Agh" Naruto whined, rubbing his head as he sat up.

"It seems as though I need to explain what a mission is. Listen. Requests pour into the village every day. They range from babysitting to assassinations. A wide spectrum of requests are recorded on the request list. They are separated into S, A, B, C and D in order of difficulty. Everyone is separated by ability, Hokage at the top, then Jounin, Chuunin, Genin and Cadets. We at the highest level distribute the requests as missions to ninjas who have abilities that suit said mission. For example, Genins are assigned mainly D rank missions, and occationally C ranks. Chuunin get mainly C rank and a few B rank, while Jounin get A rank and B rank. ANBU get S rank along with some Jounin. If the mission is successful, the fee comes in from the client. Since you are untried Genin just starting down the shinobi path, you are assigned D level assignments. Hm?!" Sandaime looked up to see Naruto's back to him and the other four looking at him.

"So, yesterday I had tonkotsu ramen and I'm thinking miso ramen today-"

"Silence!" Sandaime shouted, gaining Sakura and Kakashi's attention. Kakashi rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"Oh, sorry." Kakashi apologized. Naruto turned around, sitting cross legged on the floor.

"Gah! You always lecture me like you're my grandfather or something! But I'm not a little kid! I'm a ninja now and I want a ninja mission!" Naruto whined, puffing out his cheeks and turning his back to the Hokage.

Maaan, I'm gonna get scolded later... Kakashi thought sadly, rubbing the back of his head. Iruka smiled with a chuckle, as did the Hokage.

This kid who could only express himself with pranks... the Hokage thought. "Alright then." Naruto looked up. Sasuke looked at the Hokage, astonished, as did Sakura and Takyua. Kakashi stood there, dumbfounded. "If you insist, I'll have you do a C ranked mission. You'll be bodyguards for someone." Sandaime explained.

"Really?!" Naruto excalimed, getting excited. "Who?! Who?! A Daimyo? A Hime?!"

"Don't get so hasty. I'll introduce you now!" Sandaime said. "Send in our visitor!" he called. Squad seven looked to the door as it slid open. A man stood there, holding a bottle of sake.

"What's this? It's just a bunch of damned kids!" The man that entered to a swig of the sake. Naruto stood up from the ground with the help of Takyua. "Particularly you, the smallest one with the idiotic face. You really expect me to believe you're a ninja?" the man slurred. Naruto laughed.

"Who's the little one with the idiotic face?" Naruto asked. The other three Genin's eyes shifted to Naruto. "What?" Sasuke, Sakura and Takyua took a step closer to Naruto. Sasuke was the tallest at 4' 11", Takyua being the second tallest at 4' 10", Sakura was next at 4' 9" and Naruto was the shortest at 4' 8".

"I'll kill you!" Naruto shouted, trying to attack the man. Fortunately, Kakashi was holding him back.

"What good will it do if you kill the old man you're supposed to be guarding, ahou?!" Kakashi asked, putting a hand on his hip. The old man sighed and looked at squad seven.

"I am Tazuna, a master bridge builder. You'll be risking life and limb in guarding me to the max until I return to my land and complete my bridge!" Tazuna said.

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"Takyua-chan! Takyua-chan!" a hyper Kiba shouted, running towards Takyua. Takyua turned to see Kiba running towards her, Akamaru at his heels.

"Hm? Oh, hi Kiba." Takyua said, looking at Kiba.

"Where are 'ya heading?" Kiba asked.

"Home to pack my bag." Takyua answered. Kiba looked at her strangely.

"Home? Usually you're out training with Sasuke right now." he said. Takyua grinned.

"Naruto got us a C ranked mission. We're heading over to Nami no Kuni while protecting an alcoholic bridgebuilder named Tazuna. Can you believe it?! The dobe actually got us a mission!" she said happily.

"That's great, Takyua-chan! Who knew Uzumaki had it in 'im? Especially after that incident at orientation." Kiba sniggered. Takyua laughed, remembering how her prediction came true.

"I'm never gonna let those two live that down! Ever!" she said with a grin. "Well, ja ne, Kiba!" Takyua said, running towards her house.

"Ja." Kiba said, walking back towards his squad.

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The five shinobi and one bridge builder crossed a small, wooden bridge that overlooked a small stream. A puddle on the side of the road, caused Kakashi to hesitate in his walk, but continued on afterwards. Suddenly, two mist ninja appeared from the puddle and the cloaked shinobi threw the other one. Chains wrapped around Kakashi, slowly constricting him.

"Go on!" the cloaked one said.

"Do it!" the other said. Soon, after puylling on the chains a bit, Kakashi was ripped to shreds, his remains falling to the dirt ground. Naruto gasped as Sakura screamed. Sasuke took a fighting position in front of Takyua.

"K... Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouted, suddenly terrified. The two mist ninja appeared behind Naruto.

"Second one!" they said. As the chains went to wrap around Naruto, Sasuke jumped in the air, throwing a shuriken at the chains. The chains were lodged into the tree. Aiming for the center of the shuriken, Sasuke threw a kunai at the hole, scoring a direct hit. The ninjas tugged on the chains, in attempt to free them, but the chains wouldn't budge.

"I can't get loose!" the cloaked shinobi said. Sasuke landed on the chain retractors on each shinobi's arms. He grabbed onto the retractors with each hand and kicked the twin shinobi in the faces. The chains pulled from the retractors and the cloaked shinobi headed towards Sakura and Tazuna while the other headed for Naruto.

"Sasuke! Help Naruto! I'll help Sakura!" Takyua shouted, running towards her fellow kunoichi. Sasuke nodded and ran towards the shinobi that was about to attack Naruto.

I've got to stop them! I've got to stop them! Sakura thought, pulling out a kunai and standing in front of Tazuna. "Stay behind me!" she shouted. As the cloaked shinobi reached out to attack Sakura, Takyua appeared in front of Sakura. The cloaked shinobi's claws grazed Takyua's shoulder deep enough for it to bleed before being choked by an unknown shinobi. Naruto gasped and looked up to see Kakashi.

"Yo." Kakashi said simply. Sakura blushed and gripped her kunai tighter.

Kakashi-sensei! He's alive! she thought happily.

Humph! Show off! Takyua thought at the same time as Sasuke.

"Huh?! But he was-?" Naruto wondered, looking at the spot where Kakashi fell to see broken logs. Kakashi-sensei... used the kawarimi no jutsu...

"Naruto... Sorry I didn't help you right away. I didn't mean for you to get hurt. I didn't think you'd be incapable of moving..." Kakashi said, walking towards Takyua, Sakura and Tazuna.

They saved me after all... Tazuna thought with a sigh.

"Good job you three. Very smooth. Hm? Takyua, your shoulder is bleeding." Kakashi said, looking at Takyua's shoulder. Sakura looked down as Takyua looked at her shoulder. Takyua smiled a bit.

"Daijobu. It's just a scratch." she said, pulling out some bandages from her backpack.

"Takyua, there's more to it than that. There's poison in these ninja's claws. If it gets into your bloodstream, it'll be all over for you. Someone will have to open the wound a bit and remove it. Sasuke, I'm leaving you in charge of that. Sakura, help me with these two." Kakashi said, gesturing to the two unconscious shinobi in his arms. Sakura nodded and put her kunai away, following her sensei. Takyua flopped to the ground and Sasuke kneeled beside her, pulling out a kunai.

"Naruto, same goes for you. You need to remove the poison." Kakashi said, tying the two ninja to a tree with rope. Sasuke sighed and used the kunai to deepen Takyua's wound. "Oh, and Mr. Tazuna..." Kakashi trailed off.

"Yeah, what?" Tazuna asked.

"We need to talk." Kakashi said.

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"They're Chuunin from Kirigakure. Their specialty is relentless attack, they kep fighting no matter what the sacrifice." Kakashi explained, looking at the newly awakened shinobi. Takyua's arm had been drained of all poison, as had Naruto's, only in a different manner while making a strange vow not to run away or lose to Sasuke.

"How did you know about our ambush?" one of the shinobi asked.

"A puddle? On a clear day? When it hasn't rained in weeks? Pretty hard to miss." Kakashi explained. Tazuna turned to Kakashi.

"In that case, why did you leave it to the Genin to do the fighting?" he asked.

"I could have taken them out quickly, but then I would have learned nothing. I had to know who their target was." Kakashi explained.

"Hm?! What are you getting at?" Tazuna asked.

"This. I wanted to know if they were after us, ninja attacking ninja, or if they were after you, the master bridge builder. When you put in your request, you asked for standard protection, from robbers and highway men. You didn't say there were ninja after you, hunting you down. If we knew this, it would have been a B rank or higher. The request was for backup protection until you finished building your bridge. If our enemies were to be ninja, we would have staffed differently and charged for the cost of a B rank mission. Apparently you have your reasons, but lying to us is not acceptable! We are now beyone the scope of this mission!" Kakashi replied, embarassing Tazuna.

"We're Genin! This is too advanced for our level of training! We should go back!" Sakura said. Takyua smirked.

"I think we should keep going. We're always asking for challenges, so here's the perfect one!" she said. Naruto grinned and agreed while Sasuke agreed with a smirk. Kakashi chuckled.

"Alright team! Let's keep going! We'll continue with this mission." Kakashi declared, causing Naruto to shout happily. Tazuna sighed walking on with Kakashi, being led by Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke and Takyua.

Maybe things will be fine in the end... Just maybe... Tazuna thought, a small smile tugging at his lips as he watched the four Genin talk amongst themselves.


Squad 7: Next time, on The Young And The Hopeless!

Naruto: Oh man oh man! We're gonna die! This guy is a freaking giant!

Sakura: Shut up Naruto!

Takyua: Wait, did Kakashi-sensei say assassin?!

Naruto: Y-yeah.

Sasuke: Naruto might be right for once. We really may die here.

Takyua: It can't be good if Sasuke's agreeing with Uzumaki!

Sasuke: Exactly!

Squad 7: Next time, Enter Zabuza; Kakashi-sensei's Toughest Opponent Yet!

Naruto: Oh man oh man! We should've gone back to Konoha!