Their First C-Rank
“Well, that wasn’t so bad,” Han said proudly.
All three genin looked at him in shock.
“Wasn’t so bad? WASN’T SO BAD?!” Naruto hissed while panting. “You call a hundred pushups, a hundred sit-ups, and a hundred laps around the field covered with your traps by the way, WASN’T SO BAD, dattebayo?!”
“Sensei…” Fuu panted. “Are-are these chak-ra wei-weights necessary, hah, hah…”
Gaara found himself panting heavily. He has never exerted much effort in his life. He has to run with his gourd, making him the last of all to finish the exercises. He didn’t have to bother with these exercises back in Suna. Nobody would force him to do so. What’s the point when he can crush people with his sand without a second thought?
But the survival exercise changed his mindset. There are people out there stronger than him and one of those people is his sensei. Han-sensei was right. His overreliance on the sand will be his downfall one day. He needs more.
Han shrugged at his student’s comments. “Now that the warm-up is over.”
“THAT WAS A WARM UP?!” Fuu gaped at him, Naruto’s eyes twitched angrily and Gaara gave the man the scariest glare he could muster – which did not affect the man.
“We will have some training in the morning before we do missions. If the mission is much earlier, we do the training in the afternoons. That also includes your daily warm-ups (all the genin cringed). For now, I will be focusing on your chakra control, endurance, speed, and Taijutsu before we proceed to another specialization. The purpose of the chakra and resistance weights is to help with your endurance, strength, and speed and also to build muscle which is why I recommend you eat a lot starting now because you won’t be able to do that if you don’t have enough. I will be adjusting the weights from time to time depending on your progress. You are not allowed to remove those weights until I say so or when you go to bed…”
“We are going to wear these all day, every day, ssu?!” Fuu gaped at her sensei.
“Yes, even on your day off (Naruto groaned). I also assign reading materials for you to work with as well.”
“Eh?!” Naruto looked conflicted.
“Some of you don’t have the basics of being a Shinobi and it is important to know about theories first before we tackle the heavy stuff. Now, how many of you know how to climb a tree?” Han asked making Naruto look confused. “With no hands.”
Gaara and Fuu already knew the tree climbing exercise (or wall climbing depending on where you are). They both mastered water walking as well. Though there is not a lot of water in Suna, the sand was still a great exercise to learn chakra walking because it moves and changes like water itself. But still, the redhead needs to learn the difference between the two.
Naruto wasn’t happy that he was behind. He practically pouted right in front of Han. He made Fuu practice her Taijutsu, Gaara the water walking exercise which frustrated the redhead since he didn’t want his sand to get wet (he just finished grinding a new batch of sand after the whole survival exercise debacle) and Naruto doing tree walking exercise even if he fell flat on his face too many times to count. He gave Naruto a hint about releasing the right amount of chakra to keep his feet on the tree. Maybe he’ll make Fuu throw some shuriken and kunai if the boy does not show progress by tomorrow.
“Alright you three, training is over.” He called.
“Aw, but sensei. I’m not done yet, dattebayo.” Naruto whined.
“You still have time tomorrow, Naruto,” Han said causing Naruto to grumble and stand up on the ground where he fell again from the tree walking and slowly approaching their sensei.
Even though Naruto was tired from their training, he was excited! He’s off to his first mission! Mission! Mission! Will it be fighting a group of bandits? Protecting a VIP? Naruto was practically humming.
Han stared curiously at the skipping Naruto. Did anybody tell the kid about the mission levels and parameters? He thought. Because everyone knows that they’ll be doing nothing but D-rank missions, commonly known to all jounin as chores. Han sighed. Maybe they did but Naruto wasn’t listening.
Fuu wasn’t excited about the missions. She wasn’t allowed outside the village before and Shibuki assigned her some D-rank and C-rank missions to do so she wouldn’t get bored. Fuu, instead, waves at everybody they pass. She was disappointed that everyone was giving her a look of disdain. Something she was familiar with. The village doesn’t know about me, do they, ssu? She thought. Because Shibuki has warned her again and again never to reveal her status as a Jinchuuriki. So why are they looking at her like that?
Gaara wasn’t excited either. He was walking with his arms crossed, completely ignoring everyone. He’s been going on missions since the day he killed his uncle. The Suna council sends him to get rid of bandits and enemies satisfying his mother’s thirst. Those missions were mostly B-rank, A-rank, and an occasional S-rank but the council toned those down in their records as D and C-rank. They probably didn’t want to be questioned why a genin was taking high-level missions. He noticed the Konoha citizens giving him those familiar stares. He highly doubts they know about his status.
“What kind of mission is this?! It’s boring, dattebayo!” Naruto whined. Their first-ever mission was to pull weeds in a client’s garden. Fuu was counting happily the number of grasses she pulled while Gaara already finished his side using his sand and was leaning on the fence.
Complaining already? Han thought. “Not all missions involve fighting, Naruto.”
“But pulling weeds? What’s next? Dog walking?” he grumbled.
“No,” Han answered. “Babysitting.”
The orange-clad genin groaned.
Babysitting a family with seven children was a pain. Han let his students be. He sat on the tree outside the house. He was a little worried about Gaara around children but the redhead was uncomfortable with them. The brats won’t stop crying, pissing off Naruto and Fuu but whenever Gaara was there they would stare their teary little eyes at him.
“Why do they keep staring at me?” Gaara asked. He felt awkward. He has never seen people this small.
“Ne, ne, nii-san.” One of them grabbed a tug on Gaara’s pants. “Read us a story, puhlease?”
Children are always afraid of him. Why are they not afraid? Gaara asked. He was surprised mother was quiet. Naruto and Fuu found this amusing and a relief from the crying. They pulled the reluctant redhead and made him sit on the floor with a book and one of the babies sat on his lap.
What is this? The reluctant and uncomfortable Gaara thought.
The next few weeks were spent on improving chakra control and their Taijutsu. Han occasionally sent his students reading materials each night focusing on basic chakra control and Taijutsu, weapons, anatomy, and much more. He also occasionally released the chakra weights to monitor their speed and strength. Fuu is still the fastest but the two boys improved as well. Gaara was the slowest because of the gourd but he was faster than before.
Naruto mastered the tree-walking after three days. Of course, the boy stressed his chakra coils because after missions he continued to do exercise until he dropped (Han observed this and wanted to stop him from stressing himself too much but refrained from doing so). He easily mastered the water walking as well in two days and Han proceeded to do Taijutsu with the two boys allowing Fuu to do some sparring with them – if she wouldn’t disappear whenever she sees a butterfly or a bird or whatever attracts her eyes.
For some reason, their team has more babysitting missions than all the other teams in Konoha. It turns out that the children of their first mission demanded Gaara-niisan as their babysitter and would give hell to anyone else. The parents even referred them to other parents. This did not make Naruto and Fuu happy and it made Gaara twitch every time he saw a toddler when they walked down the streets.
“…Naruto come here a moment,” Han called as he looked away from Gaara and Fuu who were currently sparring on top of the river. It took a toll on the Suna genin not to wrap his teammate with sand and crush her to bits. He has learned his lesson after Han and his steam-enhanced fist punch through his precious sand like they were eggshells when he attempted to do so.
“Yes, sensei?” Naruto asked as he walked towards him.
“There’s this new jutsu that I want you to learn.”
“Really sensei? Is it going to be awesome?” Naruto asked excitedly. The kid was too enthusiastic when he wanted to learn something new. It took a while to correct Naruto’s Taijutsu skills. It was improving but not yet to Han’s standards.
Also, Naruto was an experienced learner. You need to demonstrate things to him and let him try it so he can understand. But Han knew the boy needed to know not to always rely on experience. This was one of the reasons he sent them reading materials every day. He hoped that at least some knowledge would get in the boy’s head.
“This jutsu is known as Body Flicker,” Han explained and Han disappeared and appeared behind Naruto.
“You’ve been doing that already Han-sensei! It’s so cool!”
“The Body Flicker jutsu is a simple jutsu rank C at best. But it’s a very effective way to escape enemies when you are trapped. It’s always good to make sure that you have enough chakra left to do this.” Naruto nodded enthusiastically, though Han had a suspicion that the kid didn’t understand a thing.
“The element of this jutsu is adding chakra on your feet to enhance speed. You must always picture where you want to go or else, you’ll wind up hitting a wall or something. You don’t need any complicated hand signs, just one.” Han showed Naruto and then flickered his way on the tree stump.
“Okay, Naruto. You try.”
Naruto did. And he slammed into one of the trees.
“Ow! Ow!” Naruto groaned, holding his head and rolling on the ground.
“Try again!” Han ordered. “Just so you know, Gaara already mastered this.”
Naruto growled at him and tried the jutsu again only to slam at Gaara, whose sand protected him from the impact. Han learned that telling Naruto that his teammates are ahead of him sparks motivation in the kid. The kid was surprisingly competitive. He knew that Naruto didn’t want to be left out or left behind. Gaara can flicker using his sand, Fuu doesn’t need it because she can fly as a last resort of escape and there isn’t any ninja known who could fly, except Onoki.
Also, Han wanted to see if Naruto has any of the Yondaime Hokage’s talent. He sighed. Naruto has a long way to go.
******
A few days later…
“No training today, sensei?” Naruto asked. It was morning and all their sensei allowed them to do was the usual warm-up exercise.
“Not today,” Han answered. Naruto grinned, raising Han’s eyebrows. “I will still quiz you on your homework.”
Naruto scowled. Every week, Han-sensei gave them books or scrolls to read and after each week he quizzed them. If they fail, they get extra push-ups and laps depending on how many mistakes they make – sometimes he even has surprises for them, to Naruto’s annoyance since he always has more mistakes than his teammates, followed by Fuu. Gaara rarely gets additional exercises since he has more time to read (being an insomniac and all). The redhead didn’t realize that this had helped him calm down at night.
Han-sensei currently made Naruto read books about chakra and its applications. Gaara is currently reading Geochemistry. He already finished reading rock formations, minerals, and metals a few weeks back. Han gave Fuu readings about insects and poisons. Han was considering giving them books on elemental jutsus and sealing but he figured he best leave the sealing until Jiraiya made some adjustments to Gaara’s seal. The last thing he wants is for them to tamper with their seals.
At first, the genins protested. Naruto didn’t want any homework. “I already finished the academy! I don’t want anything that reminds me of it, dattebayo!?”, “It’s boring! I can’t stand the idea of sitting there and reading, ssu!” and “I don’t need it.”
“SHUT IT!” Han yelled. “I wanted you to read these books because I wanted the three of you to have some bearings on what you’ll need to improve.”
“Yeah, but reading, dattebayo!?” Naruto scowled.
“Are you trying to tell me you three are afraid of a challenge? Fine! Stay idiots!”
Now the team walked towards the mission room. “Sensei’s sadistic…” mumbled Naruto.
“Huh?! What was that?!” Han turned at his team.
“Eh, nothing.” Naruto immediately answered sweat drops pouring down his face.
“Are we getting a better mission this time, sensei?”
“It better be not that cat again, ssu!” Fuu said, angrily. “That cat has it out for us! I swear it’s a demon, not a cat, ssu!”
“More like the cat has it out against you and Naruto.” Han chuckled, remembering the looks at the two genins with scratches and bruises all over them.
“Gaara was the lucky one!” Naruto pouted. “The cat wouldn’t even come ten feet at him, dattebayo!”
“I wanted to crush it but you refused,” Gaara said. His teammates’ sweat dropped. They were already used on Gaara’s intense and sometimes psychopathic comments. Naruto and Fuu thought Gaara had a weird sense of humor.
When they reached the mission quarters, another team was also there.
“Sakura-chan!” Naruto ran excitedly towards the pink-haired girl but got whacked on the head.
“Stay away from me Naruto!” her high-pitched scream was so sharp it made Gaara and Fuu winched.
I think the many whacks on the head are what made him an idiot. Gaara thought.
“Ow. Sakura-chan, I haven’t seen you since forever.” Naruto groaned as he clutched his head.
Then Naruto saw Sasuke, who replied to his glare with, “Dobe.”
“Sasuke-teme!”
So that’s Sasuke! Gaara and Fuu thought. Naruto never stopped talking (or whining) about Sasuke-teme this and Sasuke-teme that and what a jerk he was even though none of them know who he is.
Kakashi stared at the new team who just entered. He is still wary of the Iwa shinobi.
He knew who the man was: Han. If he recalls, the man has fought his sensei back in the third shinobi war. But they haven’t heard anything after the war so many assumed he died or defected. It seems he was just staying low.
Now he’s the sensei of his supposed student, Uzumaki Naruto and Kakashi just found out that Han is the Tsuchikage’s nephew! It was too close for comfort. The man has shown no indication that he traces Naruto and Minato-sensei but if he did, Kakashi finds it odd for him to stay quiet about it.
Sasuke eyed the foreign shinobis and Sakura was wary of the tall Iwa shinobi. Iruka-sensei explained to them about the program and how Naruto was one of two Konoha genins who were selected for it. They have already met the creepy Zabuza and his genin team and Sakura has to fight a redhead four-eyed freak from Kusa because she said Sasuke has a very beautiful chakra and that caught Sasuke’s attention.
Kakashi did not like how Han eyed Sasuke with interest. He wanted to curse. He tried telling Sasuke to stop wearing clothes with his clan’s crest on it. The Uchiha is famous around the world and it doesn’t help that Sasuke is a potential target. After all, many people would want the Sharingan, and Sasuke is the only viable option available if they plan to kidnap him. So, wearing his family crest is like putting a target on his back.
Sasuke was jealous at first that Naruto was recommended for this selection program. Why wasn’t it him? He’s an Uchiha and Rookie of the Year. He’s a better representative for Konoha. Then he heard the Kakashi Hatake, his sensei is one of the top jounin in the village. But for some reason, the man is nothing more than a lazy pervert who never leaves his orange porn book behind. Still, it was better than having an Iwa sensei, right? I mean, why would an Iwa shinobi train a Konoha shinobi properly?
“Hey, I’ve never met you before.” Naruto looked at the black-haired pale boy who was with Sakura-chan and Sasuke-teme.
The boy smiled at him. “I’m Sai.”
“I’m Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage!”
“I’m Fuu!” Fuu came beside Naruto, twirling and smiling. “Hey, maybe after the missions, we could play a game or maybe you want to take a bath together?”
Sasuke and Sakura stared at Fuu in bewilderment. Kakashi didn’t know whether he should laugh or not. Sai just smiled.
“Nice to meet you, dickless, flat-chest,” Sai said. Everyone in the room gaped at Sai.
Han grabbed his students before they could jump on Sai.
“LET ME AT HIM, I’M GONNA CLOBBER HIM DATTEBAYO!”
“I’M GONNA KILL HIM, SSU!”
Sakura and Sasuke’s eyebrows rose. They were surprised that the green-haired Taki genin was female.
Kakashi sighed. Sai’s attitude has caused constraints not only to their teamwork but also caused other teams to be angry at them. They were already having teamwork problems because Sakura was too busy fawning over Sasuke, Sasuke believed that everyone was on his way but getting jealous of Sai and Sai’s name-calling didn’t help. The other teams don’t even want to work with them.
Sai turned towards Gaara. Gaara glared at him. “Don’t even think about it.” And sand started swirling around him.
“Mah! Mah!” Kakashi tried to calm them all down. “Now is not the time to go crazy. We’re supposed to be heading out!” then he turned to Sai. “You and I are going to talk later about that attitude of yours again.” The boy only gave him a smile making Kakashi sigh.
“Our mission is to get that stupid cat again! There’s nothing exciting about it!” Sakura complained as team seven left the mission room with the Hokage who was amused at the situation.
Han faced the Hokage when the Kakashi team left. He also knows who Kakashi is based on the constant rambling from his uncle about the Yellow Flash. It was a miracle they never even faced each other in battle.
“Ne, jiji, are there any better missions, dattebayo?” Naruto asked.
Iruka sighed. “Naruto, we talk about this. Genins are at the lowest level. At this time, you are given D-rank missions!”
“Those aren’t missions! They’re chores!” Naruto whined. “Why can’t we get missions like fighting bandits? Something with a little ass-kicking, dattebayo!”
Iruka was going to reprimand Naruto, but “I agree, ssu! If I get another babysitting mission, I’d murder the babies!” Fuu complained. Iruka gaped at her. He wasn’t sure if she was kidding or not but the Hokage simply chuckled.
“Better missions,” Gaara said stoically. And blood! Shukaku screamed. Gaara was getting restless, he hadn’t proven his existence in weeks! He didn’t mind the babysitting missions. It was a nice feeling that the children weren’t afraid of him (he will never admit that) but Shukaku is stirring restless now and he can’t make a move in Konoha without suffering any major consequences.
Han-sensei did give him some meditation lessons. He said that Gaara should use it as part of the training (though Han intentionally did that to keep Gaara calm from lack of sleep). But the meditation doesn’t always work. There better be something worthwhile in this mission or there will be a Bijuu on the loose.
Han groaned. “You brats never let me speak first. I was planning to get our first C-rank mission because you have done so well during training, but if you keep complaining I’ll stick with the D-ranks.”
“No, sensei! I’ll be good!” Naruto replied.
“Yeah! A C-rank!” Fuu grinned. “More places to meet new friends, ssu!”
Han wanted to groan at Fuu’s comment. She wouldn’t be saying that if the person she’s facing would rather kill her than become her friend.
“Are you sure Han-san? Do you think it’s a little early?” Iruka asked looking a little worried at the blonde.
“Gaara and Fuu have already been through C-rank missions in their village. (What? Naruto gaped) but we fulfilled the requirements of D-ranks in this village, I’m sure Naruto would benefit from the experience of being the only member who never has a higher-level mission.” Han explained. Also, Han was considering allowing his team to take individual D-rank missions in their spare time in the future. He knows that Naruto will need the money. He saw his apartment. He almost burned it up when he saw the word “Bakemono” spray painted on the wall of the apartment building. It will also help give Naruto an incentive to invest in his training. Gaara also needs money. While his apartment is paid for under the program, he does need equipment, food, and many other necessities on his own. Suna is a poor village. They don’t have the necessities to send allowances and Gaara has no people to help him with his daily necessities. He has to do that on his own since in Konoha he is just another genin, not the Kazekage’s son.
Naruto pouted. He’s the only one on his team who has no experience? Why are they always ahead of me?
Iruka turned towards the Hokage who nodded, then read the mission scrolls. “We only have one C-rank mission available. An escort mission to the Land of Earth.”
Sarutobi almost choked on his pipe. The Land of Earth? He glanced at Han, that’s too close to Iwagakure. This isn’t an attempt to kidnap Naruto, is it? Besides, all three of the genins are Jinchuuriki from different lands. Rasa (the Yondaime Kazekage) and Shibuki (the current Taki leader) will have their head if anything happens to them.
“Your client is Kurame Buchi. He has also hired Iwa shinobi to escort them through the Land of Earth. Your job is to protect him from bandits to the border at the Land of Grass…”
Sarutobi wasn’t sure about this. A mission to the land of earth? Han asking for a C-rank mission? Meeting with Iwa shinobis at the border? What if they would recognize Naruto? Is this just a coincidence? Sarutobi eyed Han for any sign of foul play but he couldn’t find any. It was hard to read someone whose face was covered. There is no way Sarutobi would agree to this. There must be another mission. But if he tries to stop them, it could prove distrust of an Iwa shinobi, something out of line with the purpose of this program.
Han was surprised that the only available mission was to the Land of Earth. It’s the boundary of his homeland. What a coincidence. He glanced at Naruto and the Hokage; he could tell that the Hokage’s mind was running a million thoughts right now.
“There are no other C-rank missions?” Han asked.
“This is the first one. There are probably others later, why? You want to wait for a different C-rank?” Iruka asked.
“NO!” Naruto groaned. “No waiting! Let’s do this Han-sensei!”
Han turned to Fuu and Gaara who both agreed with their orange-clad teammate.
“Oh, alright. We’ll take the mission.” Han said.
“Yeah! A mission outside the village! I could get a chance to kick some bandits!” Naruto said, excitedly.
“Normally nothing happens on escort missions,” Han replied.
“It’s better than babysitting, ssu!” Fuu said with glee. “Let’s take it!”
Gaara on the other hand hoped something would happen.
*****
When Han and his team left, Sarutobi couldn’t remove the thought that something was going to go wrong. He tapped his desk three times and an Anbu in a cat mask flickered next to him.
“Yes, Hokage-sama?”
“Neko. I have a small mission for you. I need you to keep an eye on Han and his team while they do their mission.”
“Just for this mission, Hokage-sama?”
The Hokage’s eyebrows frowned in thought. “Not sure. We’ll see. But for this time, I would like you to keep an eye on them, and protect them if necessary but keep hidden. You know how very special they are.”
The Anbu bowed. “Of course, Hokage-sama.” And the Anbu flickered.
Sarutobi knows that even when Anbu was there, nobody sensed his presence, but him. He hoped nothing bad would happen and that Han truly was just doing a mission and returning with the genin safely.