Chapter 10
"Welp, here we are." I stated, waving my hands around at the small cove of damaged trees and scuffed earth that I had spent the majority of my ninja career in. "This is Training Ground 5, my home away from home."
Naruto looked around us, eyeing how… well lived in the place was.
"What happened to all these trees?" He asked, putting a hand on a piece of bark that had been blown off by one of my earlier attempts at wall walking. "They look like someone been hitting them with a bunch of rocks."
"Thanks." I said, taking the statement as a compliment whilst showing off my knuckles a bit from beneath the bandages. They had begun to develop hardened callouses, which would eventually become hard as steel as I reached a greater mastery of Strong Style. "I worked really hard to get them to that level."
"…Eh?" The boy looked at me like I suddenly grew another head. "Why would you do that? If you wanted to train your Taijutsu, just make a punching bag of Kakashi-sensei and hit it like I do."
Oh wait, right. Naruto's an idiot.
How did I forget that detail?
…Meh, it doesn't really matter. He's been good company so far, even if he's a little over the top.
"Guess I just don't hate your teacher enough to make one." I shrugged. "Besides, we're not really here to discuss Taijutsu."
I pointed at Naruto, a small bit of excitement bubbling up in my chest as I thought about one of the most famous techniques in the world of my past life.
"I want you to show me your technique!" I demanded, before backstepping a little. "Please… if you wouldn't mind?"
The boy blinked for a second.
"M-My technique?" He thought about it, before a grin of his own took form. "Sure thing!"
I watched with anticipation, knowing that even if I didn't really have a use for the Jutsu yet, just knowing of its existence will be a major help down the road in order to up my future training. As it stood, I could probably only make one Shadow Clone, and doubling my training wouldn't be enough to offset the energy and stamina cost.
At best it would match it, double the speed for half the time as opposed to normal speed and normal time.
Hence, creating a different technique that wouldn't be as intensive would be a better alternative.
Naruto began to weave hand signs, multiple hand signs. It was immediately obvious that he wasn't going to perform the Shadow Clone Jutsu, and the more he weaved the more I recognized the seals.
I realized what technique he was about to perform.
"Naruto, wait!" I yelled out to him, but by then it was already too late to stop him from casting the jutsu.
A puff of smoke covered him, and I could practically hear that damned music from the anime as bits and pieces of the boy began to peak out from within. A pair of long golden hair put up into twin tails was the first thing to become visible, and from there more and more of the shape began to show. Curves on curves with nothing to-
"AGH! STOP!" I looked away before I could see the whole picture. I wasn't sure why, but the idea of seeing Naruto in that form made me feel weird and terrified all at the same time. Going as far as to cover my eyes, I could hear Naruto laughing in a sultry voice.
"Ah~, what's wrong Ami-chan?" The tone sent a shiver down my spine. "Can't handle my Sexy Jutsu?"
"I-I didn't want to see that!" I stuttered. Still covering my eyes. "The Clone Technique! I wanted to see whatever clone technique you learned!"
"…Oh." Naruto seemed to realize, even as his voice remained feminine. Another poofing noise later and it was back to normal. "Why didn't you say that from the start?"
"I thought that I made it clear back at Ichiraku!" I nearly screamed, but paused as I realized I was getting a bit too aggressive. "Though… I guess I was a bit vague when I asked you to show me 'your' technique. That's on me."
I breathed in a little bit, deciding to move on from the little miscommunication.
"Alright then." Naruto formed a cross fingered sign with his hands, the one that everyone in my previous world would have frothed at the mouth seeing the jutsu performed in front of them. "Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
This time the puffs of smoke surrounded the clearing, before dissipating immediately to reveal what was basically an ocean of orange jumpsuits and yellow hair. The original menace looked proud of himself as he showed off just how many he had made.
It had to be well over two thousand, at the very least.
"Well, what do you think?" Naruto asked, his pride turning smug as he closed his eyes. "I'm pretty great, aren't I."
"To make this many clones, there might be a future where you're cool." I started, inflating his ego a little. "Not anytime soon though."
"H-Hey!" He blinked and blushed, a little offended. "What's that supposed to-"
"So these clones are physical things, right?" I asked, tapping a finger on the headband of one of the clones. He looked back at me with confusion. "They're moving independently and their movements effect the terrain."
Naruto paused in his offense, now joining his copy in looking confused. Most of the visible Naruto's had the same expressions, which would have been funny if I wasn't trying to extract some sort of information from them. I prodded at one with a curious look, the idea of testing Genjutsu on it crossing my mind before being brutally crushed.
Bad Ami, we don't put other people down to bring ourselves up!
"I don't know, they just kind of do what I want them to?" He answered unsure, before looking to the clone to his left. "Hey you! Get me some ramen!"
"What?! Why should I do that?!" The clone growled back, neither he or the original seeming to remember that they had just eaten. "Get it yourself, jerk!"
"Naruto." I called out to the original, watching as both he and his copy seemed to be ready to fight over such a petty thing. "Do you mind… explaining some of the stuff you do when doing this technique?"
He seemed to consider it for a moment, before shaking his head.
"Sorry, Ami-chan. The old man made me promise not to teach it to anyone." He said, to which all of his clones nodded in agreement. "He said that if anyone tried to use the technique the way I do, that they'd die."
A clone smirked.
"Guess that means we're just more awesome than everyone else!"
Another clone smirked.
"Yeah! We're the best!"
A last clone decided now was the time to shout.
"Hokage hat, here we come!"
As the clones and their original began to hype themselves up, I stood still and considered the bit of information that I had learned. I really, really wasn't happy about it.
Shit! Blocked by a competent Third Hokage!
Where was that version of him when he fought Orochimaru?!
Yet at the same time, it made sense. The Shadow Clone was pretty dangerous for a Genin to know, so telling Naruto to not teach it to someone like Sakura would remove the chances that she would make one too many clones and die from exhaustion. For her, even a single clone might be asking for too much.
Well, at least I can still look over Naruto's clones while we're here.
"Hokage-sama, we've received information back from our informants in the Land of Waves." A ninja with lengthy purple hair stated whilst kneeling before the elderly ninja, who had just been busying himself with calligraphy.
The man inhaled through his pipe before answering.
"Report, quickly. If the elders learn of the situation, they will try to force their hand into this and make a massive mess of it all." Hiruzen blew out small bits of smoke as he spoke. "As if their mishandling of the Hyuga Incident wasn't enough of an embarrassment, I refuse to allow their antics to ruin our chance to gain another ally nation. Even one as small as Wave."
"Yes, Hokage-sama." The ANBU lowered her head more, continuing to speak. "The rumors of Gato setting his base of operations in the country is true, and he's using his wealth and influence to squeeze any amount of control or cash he can from the people. Poverty and starvation is more common than not, and it will likely continue to get worse so long as he remains there."
The ninja paused for a second, before continuing.
"According to local sources, Gato publicly executed and mutilated their nation's hero. He wasn't a ninja, but his ideals seemed to align with our own."
The Sarutobi took the pipe out of his mouth, tapping it to his chin in thought.
"Interesting…" He stated. "Have there been any attempts to rebel or resist Gato's influence? Are there any that have attempted to carry on the will of their idol?"
"There is." The purple haired shinobi stated with a nod, still kneeling. "There is a bridge builder, Tazuna. He's trying to build a bridge across the waters between the Land of Waves and the Land of Fire. He hopes that it'll break the hold that Gato has over their shipping industry and give them their freedom back."
"Doubtful." Hiruzen stated simply, continuing with his brush strokes. "It would be a simple matter for a man with so many men behind his back to take over the bridge and add to their control. And that's not even including the intel that he's added rogue Kiri ninja to his forces."
If anything, that was something that had been what initially gotten the Third Hokage's attention. Sure, having a nation under the control of a syndicate lord like Gato was important, but it would only take a single Chunnin to take his entire empire down. But that changed when he had acquired those enemy ninjas, especially if it really was the infamous rebel Zabuza heading the group.
The situation had become dangerous, so Hiruzen would need to keep a steady hand and subtle actions in order to ensure that everything worked out in Konoha's favor.
"The people believe in the bridge." The ANBU commented. "It gives them hope."
"Hm… I see." The wizened man felt his lips quirk upwards as a plan began to form in his head. "That… changes quite a bit."
Sure, the situation about the bridge itself stays the same. But the hope of the people can be a powerful thing if allowed to blossom. It undoubtedly made that slimy pig squirm in his expensive leather chair at the mere thought, the idea that Wave's people could realize that they could fight back, and then do so.
Regardless if Gato wins or loses that fight, it will do too much damage for him to safely stay in Wave. He'll need to leave.
And when he does, he'll send his best to get rid of him once and for all.
It would only be fitting for a man who tried to illegal smuggle Konoha's ninja tools into another village.
Scumbag…
"Where is this bridge builder now?" The Hokage asked, looking to the shinobi.
"He is here, negotiating underground transports to be brought to Wave for the bridge. Under the table, but technically legal as he made sure to pay the taxes." She stated, not sounding pleased by the idea of the man hiding his business transactions. "He's nearly finished, and filed for a C-rank mission for an escort back to Wave."
"Which in reality would be an A-rank…" An idea sparked in Hiruzen's head. "Approve the mission as a C-rank and have it on my desk in an hour."
The ninja seemed surprised for a moment, but didn't question it.
"Yes, Hokage-sama." She obeyed before vanishing.
After all, it wasn't Yugao's place to question the leader of the village.
Chapter 11
Learning more about the Shadow Clone from Naruto was pretty much like everything else I had been working on in my training; aggravating and slow, but consistent. I've been looking over the clone's traits and abilities to get a sense of what goes into creating them.
I know that they have the ability to perfectly mimic the appearance of a ninja, down to even their Chakra networks being indistinguishable by a Byakugan. So it's clearly copying the insides of the ninja too, but to what extent.
And how do I do that with my mind?
But that was just what I was doing with my work in the clone technique, my other aspects were starting to get better.
It hadn't taken too much prodding to ask Naruto to let me spar with his clones. He was always glad to see that someone seemed to appreciate his powers, so it hadn't been abnormal for the blond himself to join in as well. So for the past few nights, my training had a bunch of clone based sparring tacked on the end.
And I lost every single one of them.
Oh, sure. I did pretty well; and took out roughly a hundred clones in total by the end. But it's still the main character who was essentially Ninja Jesus, so I didn't end up getting close to winning. The fact that I was able do so well against him was a miracle in and of itself.
I think I would probably do a decent bit better if I was using more than raw Taijutsu without Chakra enhancement, but that would be showing my hand a bit too much. There was a non-zero chance that I would end up fighting him if I was in the Chunnin Exams, so I'm being overly cautious.
Being able to fight against another person made it feel like my progress had been supercharged. I now had a tangible way to see how effective my training was, and that motivated me to do even more. I've even begun incorporating more aggressive workouts into my physical training, like lesser versions of the stuff Gai and Lee do.
The eventual goal was to see if I could get on their level, but it would be a long and difficult road to get there.
And if that wasn't enough, I've managed to get my success rate on my Mystic Palm Jutsu up to that needed eighty-five percent. Of course, I didn't plan on moving forwards with the practice until I had actually mastered the technique, but knowing that I could go into the Konoha Hospital at any point and pass the test made me feel way better about my potential.
If I could get the Yin Seal one day, and combine it with the power of the Eight Gates, I'd be unstoppable.
There was, however, one area that I was just stumbling with.
"Another failure?! God damn it!" I growled and threw the failed storage seal across the training ground. "What am I doing wrong?! I have the seal calligraphy down perfectly! It should be working!"
I stood up from the rock I had been using as a desk, grabbing at my hair in rage.
"I've tried this over five hundred times, and not a single time has it worked!" I yelled, trying to put down my anger and avoiding a tantrum. It wouldn't be a good look for a ninja my age – physical or mental – to get so angry about something like this.
I need to take a break, go clear my head and come back with a fresh mind.
"I've already tried Ichiraku Ramen, so why not try some dango?" I asked out loud. It's another Naruto staple after all, though not to the same extent. That scene between Tobi and Deidara always stood out to me as the moment I really started getting into the show. "Though, I don't think I've ever had it before. Wonder what it tastes like?"
I scoured the village for a place to order some, a process that didn't take long given how I was able to find people eating the treat at tables outside of the business. A few of them looked my way as I walked past them, a few of the ninja giving each other weird looks as I stepped inside.
What was that all about?
"Anko, we know that's you. Drop the transformation and get out, you're still banned after you cleaned out our stock last month. Remember?" A man said, looking up from his stand. He seemed to be a musician of some sort, given the fact he was sitting on a small stage with a flute in hand.
I blinked in confusion when I comprehended his statement.
"What? Who the hell is Anko?" I asked, brow furrowed in confusion as I tried to play off the fact that I knew who she was. I've never met her before, so acting like I did would only make it suspicious if she did show up and didn't know me. "I've literally never been here before, and my name is Ami."
"That's a terrible alias and you should feel bad for thinking it would work." The man stated, not moving from his place on stage. "Seriously, just leave before the rest of the ninja here have to escort you out."
"I already told you, I don't even know who this Anko lady is!" I called back, starting to get annoyed by his accusation. "Seriously, what even makes you think I'm anything like-"
"Heyo~!" A voice called out as someone else walked in behind me. I turned my head to see a familiar woman dressed in an… extremely provocative mesh shirt and coat. Her purple hair was done up and her face wore an excited smile. "Jotaro-san, get me some dango why don't ya?"
I looked the woman up and down for a moment, before staring at the man who had previously been trying to shoo me. He looked like he just learned that Santa Claus was real and in front of him, given how his jaw was dropped open in disbelief.
"…Is this who you thought I was?" I asked, pointing to the woman who had noticed how everyone was staring at the two of us. "I don't see it. She doesn't even look like a ninja, more like a- well, you know…"
"Hey, who are you callin a street walker?!" She asked with an aggravated look.
"You're the one that said it, not me." I shot back immediately, more than a little annoyed by the fact that this woman had somehow managed to cause me issues without us even meeting.
"I'll have you know that I'm a Tokubetsu Jonin, unlike you! You look like you just became a Genin." She mocked, and I felt like I suddenly saw how I'd look if I didn't stop being… well, the old me.
"And somehow, I feel like I'm the more mature out of the two of us." I commented, before lowering my voice into a mumble. "Though between Gai and Wet Dog-san that's a pretty bad track record overall for Jonin."
"Why you!" She seemed about ready to say something more, but the musician stepped between us with a pair of raised hands. He held his flute in one hand and some sheet music in the other.
"Anko, knock it off." He ordered as he turned his attention to me. "Miss, I'm sorry for the confusion. If you'd like I can take your order as soon as I'm done with this."
Anko's rage was set towards his in an instant.
"What do you mean when you're 'done with this'?!" She said. "This is the best dango place in the village Jotaro! You can't seriously just ban me!"
"I can, and I have." He said back, trying to remain calm and stern. He held his hand full of sheet music up to her as he gave her a serious expression. "It's not even for very long, just another week and you can come back. I just can't stay in business if I'm constantly restocking when you sneak dango to your snakes."
She sneaks dango to her what?
"Hey, you can't tell me how I can and can't treat my snakes!" She complained. "C'mon, I've been coming here from years and never had a problem!"
"It was always a problem, it's just that I'm putting my foot down now." Jotaro – that name rang a bell for some reason – continued to shake his music in her face as he spoke. "And when your ban is lifted, no more than two sticks of dango a day."
The woman bristled.
"That's bullshit!" She yelled, and smacked his hand full of paper into the air. They fluttered around as the commotion continued.
I decided to help out the shop worker by grabbing the pages before they hit the ground. Reaching out my hand, I grabbed one of the pages and gave it a look. It was a pretty normal piece, though I don't recognize the notes at a glance.
Reading over them slightly, I felt a strange gravitation towards the front page of the piece. My hand trace over the name of the song.
"The Music of the World?" I asked, wondering why that name seemed to call out to me.
Why did I feel like that name was important? I mean, it's just the name of a song, and not even one that I recognize. But maybe…
It's not just a literal music piece.
"Oh my God…" I whispered, feeling like my eyes had been opened for the first time. A rush of endorphins filled my brain as I felt like I had a moment of true clarity. "I get it…"
Fuinjutsu… I've been missing an element this whole time. A third piece that was key to understanding how it functions. Programming, Poetry, those were only parts of a trio of forms that created their incredible seals.
…I might be an idiot, cause it all seems so obvious now. Each line placed in ink was more than a piece of coding or a poetical word, but notes played as the hand lays them on the page. It was about the timing and placement as much as it was about the content.
Then again, I don't think I could properly explain the process in a thousand years, only that it works.
But this was incredible! I feel like I've made a breakthrough, and all I did was just look over a piece of music! Dango can wait, I need to get back to Training Ground 5 and get back to it! If I'm lucky, I can make a functioning seal by the end of tonight!
However, when I turned around, I realized that a familiar face was now present watching the whole series of event unfold. The sounds of arguments continued in the background as I looked up at him.
"Wet Dog-san?" I asked, using the nickname I had called him with Naruto. He didn't seem bothered by it, so I didn't see a reason to call him anything different. "What are you doing here?"
"Mah, just getting ready for Team 7's next mission today." He said, holding a particular book in his hand. Standing causally, he continued talking as if it was just about the weather. "It's their first C-rank, so I figured that I could bring someone extra along and motivate them to work harder and protect our client."
My heart leaped into my throat. No, scratch that…
My heart straight up exploded.
"And uh…" I tried to hide my sweating as my fingers clenched around the piece of paper held within them. "What does that have to do with me?"
"Isn't it obvious?" He asked with an eye smile. "You're gonna be joining us on our first C-rank! Isn't that wonderful?"
By the love of Kaguya, the Ten Tails, and the Sage of Six Paths.
That is so not wonderful in any way.
Why did I think that joining the Genin Corps was a good idea?! I can't refuse a mission request!
I'm doomed! Screwed! Kaput! DEAD!
"I-I'm sure you don't really need me to motivate your team." I stated whilst trying to back away. "You've already got Uchiha-san, a-and Naruto's pretty competitive with him. You don't need me messing up your team's synergy."
"Oh it won't be so bad." Kakashi said as he turned around, not even looking up from his book. "They're already well enough prepared to take on some bandits and such. It won't get that bad."
He looked over his shoulder.
"You have about two hours before we're set to leave. So you better hurry on out and prepare whatever supplies you'll need." And with that, he vanished in a small twister of leaves.
I stood there, balking as both of my lives were flashing before my eyes.
Kakashi Hatake, I swear to God the next chance I get I'll tell Gai that you want him to write a book about your friendship and spread it through the whole village! ALL BASED ON THE ICHA ICHA STYLE!
Chapter 12
I basically had to scramble to gather everything I needed for this… incredibly sudden series of events. Sealing supplies, medical equipment, a hoard of ninja pills and other goodies to keep myself fed. If it weren't for all of the existing sealing scrolls I had purchased as reference material, I wouldn't even be able to carry everything.
With the world moving under me in a blur, I basically sprinted up to the village gate, which was functioning as the meeting place for the mission. Sliding to a stop, I ignored the glare from a certain pink haired girl when she recognized me.
"Ah, there you are." Kakashi said as he put away his book. "You're late."
Oh, this sassy prick.
"I'm sorry, Hatake-san." I said, putting on a mask of professionalism. "I was informed of this mission on short notice, and didn't have enough time to prepare. I'll do better."
"Oh? You're not calling me a wet dog this time."
"It would be unprofessional of me to call you that while we're on a mission." I stated. "Unless you want me to call you that?"
"Ha ha, that won't be nessesary." Kakashi chuckled with a closed eye. "But now that you're here, we can get going."
"All this waiting around for another brat to show up?" A drunken old man snarked whilst holding what seemed to be a bottle – what it contained, I didn't want to know. "Are you trying to get me killed?"
"Ma, it shouldn't be too much of an issue. It's a C-rank mission, so we shouldn't encounter anything worse than some bandits if it's a bad day." The Jonin stated, not turning around to see the bead of sweat that was starting to pool on the man's head.
"W-Well, if you're sure…" He lowered his hat to cover his forehead. "Guess having one more tag along wouldn't hurt."
"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" A loud voice cut in, and I saw that a certain girl was practically red with rage. She pointed at me whilst giving Kakashi a glare that promised death. "Kakashi-sensei, you seriously can't be bringing her along with us! I refuse!"
"What?! Sakura-chan, why are you so mad all of a sudden?" Naruto piped up. "Ami-chan's cool! She's been working with me on my Taijutsu and clones."
Sakura looked offended by Naruto's statement, crossing her arms.
"Well, some of us don't find her antics as endearing." She huffed, looking at me like my existence was offensive to her. "I don't know why you decided to but your way into our mission, but if you think you can try to steal Sasuke-kun from under me than you have another thing coming."
"Ugh, keep him." I huffed, noticing how the Uchiha blinked in surprise. "I'd rather live a little first before trying to date someone, not that I know enough about him to even try if I was ready."
"Alright everyone, calm down." Kakashi said casually, though there was an edge there that spoke of consequences if we didn't obey. He turned his attention to Sakura, the girl flinching a bit from the slight shift in tone. "Sakura, I was the one who requested for Ami to come along with us. I figured that bringing along another young kunoichi would be good for you, considering how you haven't been keeping up much of your training outside of our team building exercises…"
"B-But I…" She was about to argue, but stopped when she realized that she was the only one objecting. "Y-Yes, sensei."
I merely nodded, taking a step back from the girl and panned over to Naruto. He noticed my eyes on him and gave me a wide smile and a thumbs up.
The small hiccup was the last delay that happened before we left the village, and I couldn't help but feel tense as we began our first journey out of the village. With memories of my past life, I had memories of long-distance travels, but they were way different from what I'm doing here. There, the thing I had to worry about most was making sure I didn't hit something while driving.
Here, I had to worry assassins actively trying to kill me and everyone else around me.
As we continued to walk, Naruto grunted as he put his hands behind his head.
"Man, there's just more trees! I thought that the outside of the village would be different, but it looks almost exactly the same." He moaned.
"Well, we're not to far from the village yet, so the weather is still all the same." I commented. "I'm sure we'll see lots more changes when we get closer to the coast."
"Speaking of," Sakura piggybacked off of my statement whilst looking at Tazuna. "What is Wave like? Does it have lots of beaches or is it something different."
The man's lip quirked up with a bit of pride.
"Ah, it's a nice place to live when the weather's warm." He stated, seemingly dancing around the elephant that was hiding in the corner. "Most of us don't have much to our name, but the fishing industry is massive and we all live right next to the water. There's a few forests, but the trees there are taller and thinner than the freakish ones you have here."
"Well that makes sense, given how much of the forests here were created by the First Hokage." I stated, getting a shocked gawk out of the Uzumaki next to me.
"The First Hokage did what?!"
"Yeah, you don't remember?" I asked with a quirked brow.
"Was that something that Iruka-sensei taught us?"
"You really didn't pay much attention in class, did you dead last?" Sasuke asked with a shake of his own head. "The First Hokage used his wood style Ninjutsu to create most of the trees around Konoha. It was part of the reason why it's called the Village Hidden in the Leaves."
"I didn't ask you, jerk!" Naruto stated, only to lean over and whisper in a way that wasn't a whisper. "Is that how he did it?"
"Yeah." I confirmed whilst leaning my head back. "That's just the kind of power the Hokage is expected to have. It's not just about respect or authority, but the power to remake landscapes and defeat the village's strongest enemies."
"There's a little more to that, but that's the basic concept." Kakashi continued where I stopped and looked at Naruto. "If you want to be Hokage, then you're gonna have to work hard and show the village that you deserve the title through your actions. And even if you have all of those traits, there may be someone that they choose to instate over you. That's the nature of the ninja world."
Naruto looked down in silence for a moment, but put on his usual smirk.
"Well whatever I need to do to become Hokage, I'll do it!" He said, pumping his fist in excitement. "I'll become strong and smart and everything else that I need to get that hat! I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm gonna become Hokage, believe it-"
"Kid can you shut up?!" Tazuna barked as he clutched his bottle. "I've got a hangover and you're not helping."
The blond's arms fell to his sides, wind instantly taken out of his sails.
"Drunken asshole." He muttered quietly, crossing his arms.
As we continued walking, I decided to keep quiet in order to better prepare for whatever was coming my way. Even with the memories telling me what should be happening next, I couldn't exactly know for sure if that was how it would unfold. There was no reason to let myself get complacent; it could spell death for me.
After all, I wasn't a main character.
It took what felt like several more hours of slow travel until we came across an oddity that was familiar to me, a puddle on the side of the road on a hot day. In an instant I tensed, recognizing what was about the happen. When nobody else seemed to pick up on the frankly impossible little detail, I idly let my hand drift next to my kunai pouch and sealing scrolls.
Kakashi was in front, leading us along. I had no doubt that the Jonin knew what he was doing, so I let his own deception play out in before us.
The two edgy looking ninja leaped out from the water, and dashed towards Kakashi at speeds that I could just barely keep up with. The chains connecting their weapons together wrapped around "Kakashi", who I noticed had already placed a Genjutsu on the log he had replaced himself with. They pulled the chains slack on the log, the bladed chains ripping into it, and eventually cutting right through.
Everyone was in shock for a moment, likely treated to the horrific image of a man dying. In my eyes though, those two just did some free lumberjack labor.
Let it never be said that Kakashi is bad at trolling people, even in fights.
"One down." The first ninja said, still thinking that they had killed the Copy Ninja.
"Four more to go." The other followed up, clenching and unclenching his claw a bit. Just a moment later, the two shinobi dashed forwards again, barely masking their goals of reaching the bridge builder.
Pulling a trick from what Sasuke would have done had I not been here, I tossed a shuriken and managed to snag it on their long chain before they could move to far. I was about to follow it up with the kunai, but that was when the Uchiha himself finished the maneuver by sticking his kunai inside the hole of my shuriken…
Nope, that's never gonna happen.
Brushing the brief – and frankly unwanted – though aside, I filled my legs with Chakra and blasted forwards, burying my fist into the throat of the closest Demon Brother. Even though I was probably way weaker than the two fighters, the fact that I had hit such an important area as hard as I could managed to stagger him. His breath was caught in his throat, and he was struggling to get any air in.
I followed it up with a kick between his legs.
Hey, I'm a ninja. Why shouldn't I go for the groin?
Even still, that amount of force didn't seem to be enough to actually take him down. And he tried to get his bearings. With a hiss the chain holding onto his gauntlet fell out, and he tried to steady his breath and swing at me.
I threw a kick at the back of his knee, but he was able to jump over it. The move missing left me open for a counter attack, so I used a Chakra enhanced jump to leap back. In order to get more space, I threw some kunai towards him.
He knocked the blades away with his gauntlet, and charged at me with a swing.
At least, he tried to. Instead, his weapon was grabbed by a familiar head of shaggy silver hair.
"Kakashi-sensei!" I heard Naruto yell out in shock.
"You're alive!" Sakura followed up, sounding all sorts of relieved by the fact.
Sasuke seemed to be panting a bit, but his expression was one glad to see the Jonin before him.
"Hey guys, I'm back." He said with a cheery tone, instantly knocking out the man I had been fighting with a punch to the face. It was hard enough that the mask that he had been wearing shattered right off. "Saw these two getting ready to attack, so I decided to pull a little bait and switch; ambush them instead."
"But how did you survive? We saw you…" Sasuke looked to where the body would have been, but realized that it was just a pile of broken wood. "A Genjutsu?"
"Yep, and a much more believable one that what these two tried to pull." He said, lugging the two unconscious Mist ninja to a tree. "I mean, seriously. They made a puddle, when there hadn't been rain in nearly a week. Rookie mistake."
The man pulled out some ninja wire, and began trying them up whilst removing as much of their gear as he could find. Kunai, shuriken, the gauntlets.
Actually, those gauntlets might be useful…
"Hatake-san?" I asked, getting the ninja's attention. Pointing down to the weapons, I continued. "Do you mind if I take those? They might be useful in the near future if what I'm thinking is right."
"…Knock yourself out." He said. "But what exactly do you think is going on, Ami."
It was an order, not a question. He wanted to make sure I was actually seeing what was going on here.
"These guys… once they thought you were dead, they headed right towards the bridge builder." I pulled out a scroll and began the process of putting the weapons inside. I would need to make sure to not cut myself on the claws and poison myself. "I think there might be more to this mission that we've originally been told."
"Exactly my thoughts."
He can never know that I cheated to figure this out.
"You have quite a bit of explaining to do, Tazuna." The man said, his voice on the edge of nicety. There was a feeling of danger, as if he'd cut the drunkard down if said the wrong thing. "But before that, Naruto. We need to get you medical attention. Those blades had poison on them and we need to get you treated."
Wait, he still got cut?! Why did I throw myself into the fight like that then?!
"W-What?!" The blond yelped in fear. "I can't die like this! I'm supposed to be Hokage!"
"I can't believe we're gonna fail our first C-rank because of Naruto." Sakura said, though there was still a waver in her voice from everything that had just unfolded.
Even still, that annoyed me.
"You seriously can't be saying that right now." Sakura's eyes met mine, challenging me. "You stood there and did basically nothing that whole time. At least Naruto tried to fight instead of letting my jaw sit on the floor."
Sakura growled.
"Why you-"
"NARUTO!"
Both of us turned to see that Naruto had stabbed himself in the hand, a sight that was once again all to familiar to me. His fingers twitched a few times and blood oozed out from the wound.
"I… I'm not gonna run away or freeze up again." He declared, starting quietly and then getting louder. "Nobody's gonna need to jump in or recue me again, got it! I swear with every drop in my body, I'll make it my ninja way! Believe it!"
"That's all fine and good Naruto. You managed to open the wound enough to bleed the poison out..." Kakashi said with a deadpan. "But now we need to worry about you bleeding out."
"Eh…" Naruto balked again, before panicking again. "N-No way, I can't die after promising like that!"
"Naruto." I called out to the boy, getting both his and Kakashi's attention as I started doing some hand signs. "Just come over here and let me heal you."
"O-Oh, right." Naruto laughed sheepishly. "I forgot you could do that."
"Might be useful to remember." I commented, reaching out with my hands glowing green.
Kakashi looked at the wound beginning to close, even faster than what the Nine Tails could achieve on its own.
"You know Medical Ninjutsu?" He asked, sounding impressed.
"I'm nowhere near mastery yet, but I know a little bit." I confirmed. "This'll only take a minute. You should figure out what's going on with this mission before our client comes up with an excuse."
"Ma~, you're probably right." The scarecrow said, his serious tone returning. "So, Tazuna. What exactly have you been trying to hide from us?"
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