The dark fox

1 week later

Throughout the week, Naruto has continued to train rigorously. As he is now specialized in primarily, stealth and assassination, he was trained in the art of silent killing and improving in speed and ninjutsus that are quieter. With Kakashi, who copied over a thousand jutsus, he learned two C-ranked and one B-ranked wind release jutsu although he has not mastered it as his Chakra control is still not at the most ideal level. He had spars every day with different ANBUs to not only improve each other at fighting but also to get used to their fighting styles. Despite his progress as a Ninja, he was told that he would only be sent on team missions, mostly low-ranked as he is still fresh and not strong enough to lead or to go on solo missions.

For him, this was expected. Comparing to the rest of the Anbu members, he was weak and his skill variety is limited to mostly just stealth and assassination. The other members told him that unless he improve upon his one on one combat, he would be sent on mostly retrieval and minor assassination missions for his specialisation. Naruto knew of his one-dimensional skill set and has spent more time on his other skills then he did before, with a heavy increase in spars and has been improving his chakra control.

However, today is different as he was to have his first actual mission, as an eight-year-old which is very impressive. The mission was to rescue a hostage from Bandits who took over a small village nearby. Naruto was a part of a team that includes Inu, Snake, and Tiger. They aimed to locate the hostage and retrieve him safely and to avoid confrontation if possible, but eliminate all threats that may be obstructed. If they were to be obstructed in their mission, they were to kill them. The anticipated threats would have hundreds of bandits as well as a dozen of C to B-ranked missing nins. Naruto was chosen for this mission as his stealth would be of great benefit for this mission, but he was told to try not to engage in fights due to the overwhelming men advantage that the bandits and missing nins have as well as the lack of experience. The village would take a few hours to get there and perhaps longer to get back due to the hostage. He was to meet up with his team members tomorrow by the gate.

The night before the mission, Naruto was preparing himself, specifically the mental side of the mission. As much as his skills improved, he had not had his first kill yet despite the Anbu training. He has been taught to hide his emotions in a mission, but killing another human being was something he could not prepare for. As he continued deep in thought while eating ramen, he recognized the potential for him to freeze after his first kill. The danger of that would be great as a moments hesitation could get you killed in a mission. Preparing for this possibility is difficult, something he did not know how to counter if happened.

The next day

It was finally time for the mission. The four of them began their journey to the village silently as they hopped between trees. The journey to the village was 5 hours, where the team ran non-stop. By the time they got there, it was night time as everything was dark albeit for a few candles and faintly lit areas of the village. The number of bandits and ninjas active were less than expected, although this could change in just a one miscalculation. Just before entering the village, Inu signalled to pause and gather around. Inu and tiger were to go to the left and Naruto and Snake to go to the right. Naruto and Snake jumped house from house to find a trace of the hostage. A few minutes went by as they heard a faint scream which was covered up immediately.

Naruto's heart hammered in his chest as he and Snake followed the trail of the scream. This could be the hostage they were to find. He felt a surge of adrenaline coursing through his veins, heightening his senses and reflexes. This may be his first actual action. Seeing the faint traces of blood and footprints on the ground, he could hear the rustling of leaves and the chirping of birds. Moving with swift and silent steps, his eyes darting around for any sign of danger. As he sensed Snake's presence close by, their movements in perfect sync as they neared the target.

Moving closer and closer, they recognize their hostage. They arrived at a small hut at the outskirts of the village, where they could hear the sound of muffled cries and whimpering. The hut was made of wood and straw, with a single window and a wooden door. There were two bandits guarding the door. With quick efficiency, Naruto and Snake knocked out the bandits quickly without sound as they layed them in the bushes next to the hut. Naruto gestured to Snake to take the lead, as he positioned himself outside the door. He held his kunai in his hand, ready to strike if needed. Snake nodded and slipped inside, his movements as stealthy as a shadow. Snake entered first taking the left while Naruto took the right.

There were a dozen bandits and one B-ranked Ninja in the hut, Snake told Naruto to retrieve the target while he would take on the B-ranked Ninja as the Ninja may notice them. Naruto created a shadow clone that was behind the target, unnoticed by the bandits. There were two bandits next to the target laughing loudly as they prepared to toture them. Reaching the pouch, He took out two senbons as he hit their neck, putting them to an unconscious state as they fell down, he took the hostage out of the hut.

For snake, as soon as the two bandits fell down, the Ninja barely sensed a small movement made by Naruto. As the bandits panicked slightly, ready to notify the village of this new predicament, Naruto created 10 shadow clones whom engaged with the bandits. As they were bandits, there wasn't much problem that was posed on him as Naruto efficiently took them out, knocking them out.

Snake was engaging with a B-ranked missing nin. This was usually not a big problem for him as Snake was a seasoned Anbu. The B-rank nin rushed to Snake, going for the kick to Snake's side, which Snake blocked. As Snake blocked the kick, the nin went for the punch to the temple. Snake, was much faster than him, which made it easier for Snake to grab his arm, and perform a roundhouse kick to the nin's stomach. Stumbling backwards slightly, he made handseals for Water release: Water bullet Jutsu. Snake then used Earth style: mud wall to block the bullets, before he ran around the wall and surprising the nin with a knee to his jaw, then reached for his pouch, grabbing a kunai and sliced his head, killing him quickly, the nin releasing a small scream.

The shadow clone with the hostage tried to escape as the the clone carried the hostage out as fast as it could, sticking close with the original in case of being dispelled. Snake and Naruto split up as the saw some people move towards them.

Due to the new sound of screams and the jutus, a few bandits and a missing-nin followed the noise and is approaching Naruto. He hid behind a bush, using henged shadow clones to pretend that there are more ANBUs in the mission than there really were, and ambushed the bandits. While his shadow clones were dealing with the few bandits there were with relative ease, the real naruto fought with a C-ranked missing-nin. Under the assumption that he was overwhelmed with numbers, he had a small second of hesitation which allowed Naruto to have the opportunity to test out a new jutsu he learned, Wind release: Air slash. Wind acted as a sharp blade that slashed at the enemy. As the missing-nin hesitated for a second, he barely dodged the jutsu which allowed Naruto to slice his neck using his Kunai. The shadow clones knocked out the bandits while Naruto froze.

First kill. Snake after dealing with his side of ninjas approached him as he saw Naruto freeze up slightly. It was a defining moment for a lot of shinobi after their first kill. Some may enjoy killing and strive to contiuously do that. Some may have see killing as nothing special. Some may dislike killing that they view it as a last resort.

Although not displaying, Snake wanted Naruto to be the last one despite being in the Anbu would need him to be the second one. Snake knew that Naruto unless something horrid happened to his life, would never enjoy killing and strive for it.

"First kill, huh?" Snake whispered to Naruto, whom nodded, "I remember my first one too. Everyone freezes up like you do. Sometimes it is necessary for the mission. Let's go and finish. Get up." Gradually, the tone went from comforting to authoritative.

Naruto nodded. "Necessary," whispered Naruto in a faint and almost unhearable volume, thinking out loud, Snake caught what he said, but ignored it. Naruto and Snake then left the scene as more ninjas and bandits focused on their general direction. Inu and Tiger appeared in front of them, telling them to leave the village and to their assigned rendezvous point, the shadow clone handing over the hostage to the original, while they would be behind them handling in case of something unexpected happened.

The rest of the way out of the village was without interference as they arrived to their rendezvous point.

First mission, give some feedback please.

Sorry for the shorter chapter, next one will be longer, hopefully.