Chapter 5
Kakashi made them do a lot of D-rank missions, definitely more than the amount they did last time. By the end of each day, Sasuke was cranky and annoyed, only Naruto's amused laughter could cheer him up. Since he had told Sakura about his feelings, she was putting more time into focussing on their tasks than on him. She was convinced that if she became strong Sasuke would finally acknowledge her. As he remembered, Kakashi did not really teach them anything useful and focused on his books instead.
That made him really annoyed because this Kakashi was still dismissive of their team. (No wonder they fell apart so easily last time). He and Naruto had taken to sparring and practising during the time they waited for their sensei to come. They even roped Sakura into their exercises, her chakra control was as good as it had been, she learned tree and water walking with ease.
Then one day he told Kakashi he wanted to be a medic. All three members of their team stared at him in surprise. Naruto had never heard him mention that before.
"Really? I didn't know you were interested in medical ninjutsu" Kakashi said when he bought it up. And he wasn't, he just had time to learn a new thing and his chakra control was good enough to be able to heal non-life-threatening injuries.
"I have lost enough people by not being able to do anything" he said shrugging, it was a good reason. And he really wanted to piss off the council in whatever ways he could.
Kakashi looked like he wanted to protest, of course, he did, he was an Uchiha, expected to be on the front lines during wars, his Sharingan being an important weapon for Konoha. But he couldn't exactly say that, so he just nodded and told him he could him get an apprenticeship with one of his acquaintances in the hospital.
Sasuke gave a small smile at that, Kakashi thought it was mocking him about having to deliver this development to the Hokage. As if he already knew about it.
He really was done with the Uchiha.
Later that day, when they were going to bed, Naruto asked him what was up with the new interest.
"I already know my jutsus and am good at taijutsu, as well as with a sword, I just need to bring this young body back into shape to be able to use all that. I thought it's better to actually use this time to learn something new." he said and yawned right after.
"That's cool I guess, I'd try something new too, but I already have my hands full with all these seals."
Sasuke nodded absentmindedly. He was examining a seal Naruto had been working on for weeks. He traced it with his Sharingan, remembering every stroke and brush. He still couldn't figure it out.
"What is this for?" he asked, not for the first time.
"Can't tell you yet, it's incomplete, It's for you though, well, not just you, it's really amazing."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow at that, because while Naruto knew he was great at seals, his voice was full of excitement as he talked about this one, and Sasuke just had to know. But it was clear he wasn't getting any answers now, so he dropped it.
----
As expected, Naruto whined and got them their first C-rank mission within weeks. Sasuke scoffed when the old bridge builder walked in and started insulting their team.
Naruto was more nostalgic than anything, his smile not slipping off the whole time they were being briefed.
"Right. Report at the village gates tomorrow at 8am, don't be late" Kakashi informed them before he shushin'd away.
He was confused and annoyed. From what he knew, Sasuke Uchiha had been a quiet and distanced boy throughout the academy, he didn't care for anything and threw himself into training. But here he was, interacting with his teammates, no trace of revenge on his mind. He seemed to follow his sensei's son wherever he went, didn't show any signs of insulting him or thinking himself to be superior.
Naruto Uzumaki was the dead last of the class, he was loud and hyperactive, caused trouble with his ever creative pranks and yelled about being the Hokage. He was also seen with a smile all the time despite the village's treatment of him. But again, he barely pranked anyone now, Kakashi hadn't heard him say even once he wanted to Hokage. And while most of the time he was all bright and sunshine, he could notice that sometimes his smile dimmed when angry civilians sent hateful glares and words his way.
He wanted to snap at them, tell them that his student was the son of the very hero they all had loved and admired. But he couldn't do anything, because after all, he to was a shinobi, and couldn't disobey his orders. He never had to intervene, Sasuke was always there to hold his hand and distract him from the others. Neither of them knew about the Kyuubi, they didn't know why everyone hated Naruto, and sometimes all he wanted to do was to break the law and tell them everything. But he couldn't, the Hokage promised Naruto would be informed about it when he was a Chunin. He just hoped he wouldn't resent the village when he did. He wouldn't blame him if he did, but the council and others wouldn't stand for the jinchuriki not being completely loyal.
Then there was the third member of the team, Haruno Sakura, top kunoichi of their batch, smart and knowledgable but no field presence. She was more worried about her hair and dress than she was about being a ninja, and she was a complete fangirl and supposedly in love with Sasuke. At least this one had originally fit the category of what was described to him, but only after a few days of being on the team, her behaviour changed as well. She wore standard shinobi wear that didn't disrupt her movements, and had taken to wearing her hair in a bun. She also concentrated more on training and their missions, but he could still see her hero worship for the Uchiha.
Well, at least they had an excellent mission completion rate. Maybe he should start getting them trained in basic chakra control after the wave mission. For now, he had to report to the Hokage about the developments of their team.
----
"What do you mean the boy wants to be a medic?" Koharu asked as he finished explaining how the team was coming to be. Great, it was today the council had to be present there.
"It would seem that the traumatic experience of his family has left him feeling helpless, so he wants to take up medical ninjutsu." he replied stiffly, not really comfortable with sharing his student's personal choices with them.
They couldn't just force him to abandon his interests, but from their looks, they very much wanted to.
"You should tell him about all the other options he has, maybe once he gets his dojutsu he will change his mind" the Sandaime said, his chin resting on his hands.
"Ah, he already awakened his Sharingan before joining the team."
This earned him four surprised looks, even Danzo seemed interested now.
"Oh, did he tell you how he got it? And have you been training him with it?" The Hokage asked.
"No, he refuses to mention it, and he doesn't seem to be keen on using his Sharingan. Every time I bring it up, he says he doesn't want to learn anything about it from me." and it was true, to be fair, Kakashi hadn't been very enthusiastic in offering him help with it, every time he did, he was shot down and the Uchiha said he wasn't intending to learn from him.
"The Sharingan is a powerful weapon, the boy will eventually have to use it, he'll ask for assistance when he needs it." The Hokage said with a tone of finality. Kakashi nodded, relieved, he felt he was somehow betraying his students when he talked about them without their knowledge.
They asked him some more things about their missions and growth before dismissing him. He bowed and left.
Kakashi hated the elder council, Danzo wasn't even a part of it anymore, for some reason he had been relieved of his position by the Hokage four years ago. Yet he was still present and got to listen to everything about the genin. He wished the Sandaime would see sense and look past his friendship to see what the other was up to before it was too late. (It had already been too late when he tried having him assassinated.)
---
Sakura walked happily to their meeting point the next morning. The mission will take more than two weeks, which meant two weeks alone with her team, with Sasuke-kun. She bought food for the journey and extra clothes for herself. Naruto and Sasuke had agreed to bring tents for the night and medical supplies. She was still jealous that both of them were already so close, like a real team. They started including her during their morning practices and taught her new things, but it always felt she was a replaceable piece amongst their strong bond. Hopefully, with this mission that will change.
When she reached both her teammates along with Tazuna-san were already there.
"Good morning" she greeted when she reached them and Naruto waved at her with a big smile. Sasuke nodded at in greeting, Sakura pouted at the lack of enthusiasm, well, at least he didn't ignore her anymore.
"Tazuna-san, from what I know the wave country is tense these days, is something wrong there?" Sasuke asked and watched as the old man became stiff, before he could probe further Kakashi shushin'd to their meeting spot with an annoying smile and wave.
"Wha... You're on time?!!" Sakura cried out pointing a finger at him accusingly.
"WHO ARE YOU? WHERE IS KAKA-SENSEI!?" Naruto yelled joining in.
Sasuke himself was a bit surprised, since when did Kakashi follow the timings he set.
"Ma, ma, my cute little genin, time is precious to a shinobi, let's not waste any and set for our trip." he said and started walking outside the gate, Tazuna hesitantly following him. Sasuke didn't have the energy to call him out on his pointed lateness to every meeting so he just sighed. Both Naruto and Sakura were staring at him suspiciously and kept asking him what made him actually appear on time but Kakashi remained stubbornly silent.
As soon as they reached the wave country both Naruto and Sasuke were on alert. They walked through the forest and spotted the puddle of water but remained silent. This didn't go unnoticed by Kakashi. He noticed both his students paying attention to the puddle but all of them remained quiet and simply moved closer to their client, ready to attack.
Soon enough the two Kiri chunin appeared and 'killed' Kakashi, Sakura screamed but stood in front of her client without wavering. Sasuke and Naruto both attacked one shinobi each and had them tied up in minutes. Neither of them wanted to kill without a genuine reason.
Kakashi was impressed, he didn't expect them to lose, but he expected injuries. Both his students moved like their movements were well practised but their bodies were still awkward in adjusting.
"Good job protecting the client, Sakura. Naruto, Sasuke, you did well to tie them up"
"YOU'RE ALIVE!" Both Sakura and Tazuna screamed looking relieved.
"Ma, of course, have a little more faith in your sensei kids." he says airily, before taking a serious tone, "Now, Tazuna-san, when we came to this mission we expected bandits and such, these two are chunin from Kirigakure, why would they be attacking a bridge builder? My team is not advanced enough to take up such threats"
"I-I don't know what you mean! Why would I know why they appeared?" Tazuna stutters, Sasuke rolls his eyes, this man was as subtle as a huge rock in an open field.
"In that case, we should return to Konoha and you can put in a B-rank mission request"
After pushing a little bit, he finally told the story regarding Gato and the bridge. Naruto didn't even have to fake being sympathetic because he truly felt sorry for the village. When all three of them agreed to continue the mission, Kakashi accepted and they resumed their journey.
Zabuza engaged Kakashi in a fight while the three genins focused on protecting their client. Sasuke and Naruto worked quicker to free Kakashi from the water prison and he used his Sharingan in the fight, defeating Zabuza. Haku came disguised as a hunter nin and took his supposedly dead body away, but this time Kakashi wasn't tired enough to pass out. They made their way to Tazuna's house and took some well-deserved rest.
It was only a matter of time before Sasuke and Naruto would have to leave their teammates behind. It hurt, even though Sasuke wouldn't admit it to himself or anyone else. But it would be beneficial for all of them, and knowing Naruto he would always come back for his teammates, be it after a very long time.
----
There was no need for learning tree walking this time. They enjoyed the shocked looks from Kakashi when they informed him all three of them could already walk on trees and water.
Kakashi instead gave them each a scroll containing all necessary instructions for a D-rank jutsu that they could do regardless of their elemental affinities. It was meant for stealth and infiltration, helping them blend with the colours around them.
In Sasuke's opinion, Naruto's 'invisibility' seal was a hundred times handier, but since he couldn't make it himself, he decided another jutsu would never hurt. Beggars can't be choosers and all that.
It was fairly easy and by evening all three of them could do it. Naruto and Sasuke could easily do it after a few minutes, but then, that would be suspicious, maybe not from Sasuke, but certainly from Naruto, who had shit chakra control in his early years.
The next morning, when Naruto had originally encountered Haku, both Sasuke and Naruto made way for the clearing they found him in.
As predicted, he was picking herbs when they found him.
"Haku" Naruto greeted and he turned to them, kunai in hand already, Sasuke looked heavenward praying that his blonde idiot would develop at least some sort of survival instincts.
"We're not here to fight" he added before the Kiri nin could speak.
"I know you don't really want to do this, you can see the condition of the village, Gato is responsible for that" Naruto spoke, reaching forward slowly.
"I am a shinobi, we do what we have to for the sake of survival," he said, looking ready to attack.
"Yes. I know that, but Gato isn't even planning to pay you! He would-" Sasuke stopped him before he could go on saying things he shouldn't know.
"We heard it from the people. He always kills Ninja he employes once their job is done, it is in your better favour to kill him and take his money. We could have already called for backup from Konoha, there is no chance of you winning" Sasuke says calmly, and watches as the other hesitates.
"That is not up to me to decide, Zabuza-sama makes the decision."
"Because this is more than just money isn't it? With Gato's connections, you have safety from Kirigakura as well" realisation dawns on Sasuke, from the look in Haku's eyes, he is not wrong at all.
"Then you can come to Uzushio!" Naruto butt in, "No one will ever look for you there, and well, the place is completely in ruins right now, but Sasuke and I are gonna rebuild it! You could live there without worrying about Kirigakure."
"It's not that easy... you don't understand, you have a loving village behind you..."
"We do understand. I am the last of my clan, Uchiha clan, you must've heard. And Naruto is an orphan, he never had anyone to fall back upon, Konoha isn't all sunshine and everything good." Sasuke isn't stupid enough to mention the Jinchuriki factor, even if they are on somewhat better terms, he isn't going to tell him something they themselves aren't supposed to know about.
"Why.. why would you help us? If you really are ready with reinforcements then why not just get it over with?" there's something like desperation and hope on the other's face and Naruto's own expression softens.
"I had a friend in the Yuki clan," Naruto ignores the surprise on the others face, "If I have a chance to save one of their last, then I'd take it. " he gives a hesitant smile.
"Also, if we are going to rebuild the village," Sasuke looks pointedly at Naruto as he says this, (who just scratches the back of his neck sheepishly) because this is something they didn't really talk on yet, "It would be beneficial for us to have allies with bloodlines, as well as one of the seven swordsmen."
"I understand. I will talk about what you said with Zabuza-sama, he will decide what to do," Haku says, maintaining composure even though both of them can see how hard he has to try to keep it.
"Here," Naruto says, stepping forward and handing the other boy a three-pronged kunai, "If you apply chakra to it I will be able to find you immediately, don't hesitate to use it if things are really bad, hopefully, we'll see you in Uzushio," he says with a bright smile, even receives a tentative one in return, before the black-haired boy shushin's away.
"Happy?" Sasuke asks him once they make way back to Tazuna's house and Naruto rolls his eyes and hits his arm in response.
"Uh... I know we didn't really agree on Uzushio, but... " Naruto trails off, trying to search for what to say.
Sasuke holds one of his hands and nods, "I know, it's home. Maybe one day it'll be one for me too. We planned to leave Konoha anyway." he says, because he can see, how much this matters to the blonde. The brighter than sun smile he gets in return is worth it, there is probably very little Sasuke wouldn't do only to see that smile forever.
God, he is so far gone.
----
In the end, the news of Gato's death spreads like fire, and the village rejoices. They stay long enough to help them build the bridge and celebrate with the villagers. Tazuna names the bridge 'The Great Naruto Bridge' again, after all, he is the one who helped the most with his clones, all four of them leave the land of waves with content smiles and lighthearted banter. Sakura feels that the trip really has bought them closer as a team, and maybe, just maybe, now she can fit in there as well.
Kakashi is confused about the two missing-nin, but he believes that either Zabuza really died and the hunter-nin really was a hunter-nin, or they had a change of heart and killed their employer.
It could be any of the options, or a completely different one, but they did their job, and his team of little genin performed admirably. He worries about Sasuke and Naruto's codependency a little, because ninja die all the time. No matter what he wants to believe, one of their chances of dying is the same as any other genin.
But his two students, always kept at an arm's length away from the village have finally found someone to rely on again, and who is he to rip that away? Maybe after some time, when the four of them are really are close enough to talk about it, he'll bring this up, but that is future-Kakashi's problem, he'll deal with it.