In a narrow alley, Ino cornered Naruto against the wall. Her thick golden bangs cast shadows that obscured half her face. Her intense blue eyes could have made even a Kumo ninja weep. She stared directly at Naruto, saying, "Hey!"
"Does Sasuke like women?"
"What?" Naruto tilted his head and looked at Ino in confusion, completely unaware that he was being interrogated.
"Damn it! You said so yourself!" Ino was getting frustrated. She grabbed Naruto by the shirt and said, "Don't play dumb, Naruto!"
"Well, you should ask Sasuke directly." Naruto suddenly smirked mischievously.
"Ugh, damn it!" Ino was on the verge of losing it, clutching her head and shaking it from side to side, "Does he like women or not?"
"I have a way to verify it." Naruto chimed in at the right moment.
"What way?" Ino looked up suddenly.
"Konoha's has a hot springs that is really popular for shinobi trying to relax after a grueling training session." Naruto said with a straight face, "When the time comes, you can pretend to be lost and go directly to the men's side while Sasuke is alone."
"Go to hell!"
Ino, not getting the answer she wanted, took a deep breath and decided to give up on questioning her fellow blond.
The Yamanaka Flower Shop was nearby, so Naruto escorted Ino there before heading back to his apartment. He did so because he is a gentleman, following the teachings of his late mother. It wasn't about using the umbrella for his journey home; he wouldn't dream of stealing it. Ino seemed deeply engrossed in thought, and he didn't want to interrupt her. To avoid being a nuisance, he reluctantly took the umbrella for safekeeping. Returning it could have been disastrous if she was on the verge of a breakthrough in a new jutsu. Imagine being on the cusp of success only to fail due to an easily preventable distraction. He was a good person, so he had to steal the umbrella for her own good. Besides, he had a good relationship with the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, and allowing her to focus on her brilliance would ultimately be advantageous for her team.
The next day, Naruto's two-day break ended.
Kakashi gathered Team 7 and informed them that their mission had been approved. Moreover, he had taken the liberty of assigning them their first C-Rank mission.
"Protecting a bridge-building expert from the Land of Waves?" Sakura asked.
"Yes." Kakashi, with his usual laid-back demeanor and hands in his pockets, said, "Stay alert. This is your first ever C-Rank mission."
"Even though C-Rank missions generally don't involve encountering enemies, anything can happen outside the village."
"Bandits, Rogue Shinobi, pirates, Shinobi from other Shinobi Villages. Any of these factors could escalate the mission into a combat situation."
"I know, Kakashi-sensei."He said in annoyance.
Naruto felt a sudden chill and looked over to see he had become the sole focus of Kakashi's intense single eye. He coughed before trying once again in a less bratty tone. He locked eyes with his sensei and straightened up before saying.
"Honestly, your constant nagging is starting to become incredibly irritating and is making it very difficult for me to focus on the task at hand. It's not constructive, and frankly, it's starting to wear on my patience. Could we perhaps find a more supportive and less critical approach moving forward?"
He winced internally, replaying his words in his head and mentally slapping his own forehead. He'd been trying to sound professional, but it had been a spectacular failure.
Naruto, who was in a much better mood than during the rainy day yesterday, then proceeded to turn around and act like he totally meant to say that.
When he left his apartment that morning, he had tossed a bag of garbage in the faces of those people with gloomy looks downstairs, which had lifted his spirits significantly.
Those villagers were just like keyboard warriors. When they saw Naruto take out the Shinobi forehead protector, they immediately shrank back and dared not to speak.
Kakashi didn't say a word, just gave Naruto a knock on the head.
"Team 7! Gather at the village gate in half an hour. Dismissed!"
After saying that, Kakashi vanished in a puff of smoke.
"I'm really looking forward to this mission!" Sakura said with a hint of longing, "I wonder what kind of person that bridge-building expert is like."
"Whatever. We're just there to protect the client." Sasuke said indifferently, "It doesn't matter who he is. Kakashi already said there wouldn't be any combat in a C-Rank mission."
"It's boring. Let's just get it over with and not waste time."
Naruto glanced at Sasuke and noticed he was wearing a blue wrist guard on his left wrist. he smiled a little at that. When Sasuke looked over, they locked eyes before quickly turning their heads in opposite directions.
"Naruto, what kind of person do you think the bridge-building expert is?" Sakura turned to look at Naruto.
"No idea. But since he's an expert, he must be an old man with a bad temper." Naruto scratched his face and said indifferently.
Half an hour later, at the gate of Konoha Village.
"Hey! Are you kidding me? I paid for protection! Now you sent three little brats to protect me. What's wrong with you Konoha people?"
A scruffy, bearded old man clutching a bottle of alcohol was yelling at Kakashi.
"Is this how Konoha treats its clients? How can you protect me like this? I'm a bridge-building expert!"
Sakura's face was full of dark lines as she stared at the tall, scruffy old man, then she turned around and glanced at Naruto, her expression saying that 'How did you know'.
Kakashi was trying to placate the client with a smile, but the old man was not convinced at all and spoke with great agitation.
"I am Tazuna, the bridge-building expert from the Land of Waves!"
Naruto, who was on the side, was growing increasingly impatient, and shouted at the man.
"Shut up, old man! What's so impressive about building bridges?"
"You little brat!" Tazuna's expression turned agitated, but he quickly calmed down with Kakashi's intervention. After some coaxing, he finally agreed to set off.
Half a day later.
The group reached the border of the Land of Fire's forest. Had they walked a little further, they would have reached the dock. However, Kakashi's eye sharpened for a moment. Sasuke seemed to notice his reaction, his brow furrowing slightly. Though he remained calm, a sense of alertness had taken hold.
Naruto had long known that someone was waiting to ambush them. After all, the hiding skills of the Kirigakure's Shinobi were too clumsy. But he was not worried and continued to walk forward while humming a haunting tune that was sure to set the mood.
As they walked, even Sakura in the team felt a little nervous. She couldn't help feeling uneasy when listening to Naruto's nerve inducing humming.
Just as she was about to yell at him, an unexpected turn of events occurred.
Two Shinobi suddenly jumped out from the puddle on the road, wielding spiked chains, and charged straight at Kakashi.
In that instant, the muggy wind stopped, and Naruto could feel the sweat sticking to his skin momentarily freeze.
This mysterious feeling was fleeting. The black-and-white scene was suddenly filled with color, becoming vivid. A mechanical synthesis sound rang in his head again.
At that moment, the frozen scene instantly came to life. Kakashi was attacked and blood was splattered everywhere.
Naruto knew that this was Kakashi's Body Replacement Technique, and ignored Sakura's screams. The two Kirigakure's Shinobi thought they had dealt with Kakashi, so they charged towards the seemingly defenseless Naruto.
"Naruto, dodge!" Sakura shouted in horror.
But Naruto remained unmoved, as if he was frozen in place. Not far away, Sasuke clicked his tongue and threw three shuriken.
The three shuriken temporarily repelled the two Kirigakure's Shinobi. At this moment, Naruto finally moved. However, he didn't retreat, and instead charged towards them.
Sasuke was stunned. After regaining his senses, without any hesitation, he grabbed his kunai and rushed towards them.
"tsk Usuratonkachi!"
"Sakura, protect Mr. Tazuna."
Sakura only heard Sasuke's words before seeing Naruto and Sasuke rush towards the two enemy Shinobi.
Her heart pounded rapidly, a mix of panic and a hint of helplessness. They were all executing their first mission, but those two didn't seem as scared or apprehensive about confronting Shinobi as she was.
Just as she was distracted, Naruto's voice rang out ahead.
"Damn it! Are you messing with me?"
"Options! Show yourself!"
'oh dear sage of six paths he has lost it'
Bang bang bang!
The two Kirigakure's Shinobi fell to the ground with bruised eyes and noses, while Naruto was still muttering strange words while continuing to beat them.
Sasuke stopped halfway, with a look of shock on his face. While Kakashi, who should have been dead, was standing nearby perfectly fine, shaking his head as he looked at Naruto.