[Extra Chapter] Wave Country

Akamaru barked and was in savage pursuit. The poor cat was running for his life. Ahead of the cat a young girl knelt down and held out her arms.

"Come here kitty." Hinata said gently. The cat leapt into her arms and she took hold of him. She quickly had the cat relaxed and purring. She switched on her radio communicator. "This is Hinata, target has been acquired."

"Please confirm that the target has a ribbon the right ear that says, 'tiger.'" Kakashi's voice came over the line."

"Confirm team leader." Hinata replied.

"Good job team!" Kakashi said happily. "Mission: Find the missing pet, is complete."

As Akamaru returned to the top of his master's head he was looking at the cat in disgust. "I can't believe I just wasted an hour of my life finding a cat." Kiba complained.

Hinata frowned at him as she continued to pet the feline in her arms. "Oh be nice Kiba. The poor cat hasn't done anything to you."

He shook his head. "We used to chase Gamakichi like this for fun. And this is supposed to be a mission?"

"It's a D-rank mission Kiba." Kakashi sighed and tried to explain. "You are all brand new Genin. These kinds of missions are where you get the experience necessary to move on to bigger and better things." Kiba grumbled but didn't say anything more. "Come on let's get back to the Tower and report in."

XXXXXXXXXX

At the Tower they returned poor tiger to his owner, the Fire Daimyo's wife. Seeing her crush the poor animal in a hug even Kiba felt a little sympathy. It being a slow day the Hokage was actually among those handing out assignments. Since it was summer Iruka was also temporarily assigned there.

Tsunade smiled at them. "Another successful mission, your team is ripping through them at two or three a day. Now let's see, I'll give you a choice for your next D-rank. You can help paint a house, do some weeding, or do some baby sitting."

"No way! None of the above! I didn't train to be a ninja so I could rescues cats and baby sit! I want a real mission!" Kiba shouted.

Tsunade glared at him and felt a vein throb in her head. "What was that?"

"I said I want a real mission! Something that actually involves ninja skills!" Kiba continued to shout not feeling intimidated in the least by the Hokage's glaring at him.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Iruka spoke up. "You're all brand new Genin you can't possibly hope to do anything more than D-rank missions for now."

"For how long?" Kiba whined. "We've been doing D-ranks for a whole month!"

Kakashi knocked him on the head. "Kiba settle down. You can't just yell at the Hokage like that because you don't like your assignments."

Kiba rubbed his head and glared at his sensei. "Oh come on Kakashi-sensei! We're being wasted on these stupid jobs. We're ready to do a lot more." He looked over to his friend. "Come on Naruto back me up here."

Naruto shook his head. "Kiba we're ninjas it's our duty is to fulfill whatever mission we're assigned."

Kiba frowned. "Oh come on! You don't think we're ready to step up?"

Naruto frowned. "Well…"

Tsunade looked at him. "Tell me your opinion Naruto."

He looked at her. "Well Hokage-sama (he never called her godmother in the Tower) while I am happy to take care of any mission assigned to me I do agree with Kiba that we can do more."

"Hah!" Kiba shouted. Kakashi bopped him on the head again.

Tsunade leaned back in her chair and smiled. "You are still raw Genin. Why exactly should I assign you a higher ranked mission? Especially since I have yet to assign one to any of the other new Genin squads?"

Naruto shrugged. "Because we're the best and we're ready." He stated flatly. "We have a lot of talent on this squad and our work ethic can't be touched. We should be the first of the new squads to get a higher ranked mission."

Tsunade grinned. "My but you do have a high opinion of yourself Naruto."

He gave her a bit of a smile. "Well I'm not the only one. My godmother thinks pretty highly of me too, in fact she thinks I'll be Hokage one day."

Tsunade chuckled. "Yes, I know she does." She looked over the members of team seven again and glanced down at her paperwork. "All right, I'll give you something that's a little more challenging."

Hinata was shocked. Kiba's tantrum actually worked?

"All right!" Kiba jumped up. "Finally a real mission!"

Kakashi sighed. "Kiba, please quiet down you do want to hear what this mission will be don't you?"

"Oh, sorry." He smiled and stopped making so much noise.

Tsunade shook her head. "You will be escorting a bridge builder to his home in the Land of Waves."

"We're going to a foreign country? All right!" Kiba said. Naruto didn't say anything but he smiled and felt very excited.

"I'll have your client brought out so you can meet him."

In short order a fat, somewhat disheveled, old man with a bottle of beer in his hand entered the room. He looked over the squad and frowned. "What's going on here? They look like a bunch of wet nosed brats. Especially the dumb looking one with the dog on his head."

"What?!" Kiba roared. "I'll kill him!"

Fortunately Kakashi had a hold of him. "No Kiba, no killing the client."

The old man took a long sip of his beer. "I am Tazuna, a bridge builder of ultimate renown. Until I'm safely back in my own country where I'll be completing my next bridge, you'll all be expected to protect me, even at the cost of your own lives!"

"Geez what a pleasant guy." Naruto said under his breath.

XXXXXXXXXX

At 8 a.m. the next morning team seven assembled at the gate with their client. Tazuna was looking over the ninjas and not feeling a world of confidence.

"Am I really expected to put my life in the hands of children?" He complained.

Kakashi sighed. This would be a very long mission. "There is really no need for concern they are all fine ninjas and I am an elite ninja and will be accompanying you as well."

He took a sip of beer. "My confidence in under whelmed."

"What is this jerk's problem?" Kiba said quietly.

"Maybe he is just under a lot of stress." Hinata offered.

"Yeah and maybe he's just a jerk." Kiba offered.

Naruto sighed. "Don't worry about it Kiba it's our first real mission. Try and enjoy it!" Kiba gave him a look that questioned his sanity. Naruto didn't care. Even if the client was a jerk and the mission was a boring escort he was finally out of the village. He was finally doing something. He felt a sense of real freedom. He was finally taking his fate into his own hands.

XXXXXXXXXX

Kushina stood near the gate and watched her son go. Even though she knew it was foolish she had to fight down the urge to go after him.

"Are you all right?"

Kushina looked behind her to see Tsunade smiling. "Oh I'm fine. It's just…"

Tsunade nodded. "I know, but you knew this day would come."

Kushina nodded. "Of course but it's still very hard to let him go off on his own."

"He's not alone you know. He has Kakashi and his teammates with him. And even if he were on his own you have done an amazing job training him. I'd say he's already a match for half the Jonins in this village."

"I know that but I can't help but worry about him now that he's somewhere I can't reach." She sighed. "Even with the servants the house is going to seem very lonely without him there."

Tsunade put a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder. "Why don't you come and have dinner with me and Shizune tonight at the Hokage mansion?"

Kushina thought about that a moment and nodded. She would appreciate the company.

"Any way it's a simple low priority C-rank just something to give them a little bit of experience. I'm sure they'll have an easy time." Tsunade reassured.

XXXXXXXXXX

As they walked along the road the three Genins had taken the lead and were together as a group about fifteen feet ahead of Tazuna. Kakashi was bringing up the rear about ten feet behind the client. As they walked along Kiba was watching Akamaru chase a butterfly and both Naruto and Hinata were enjoying the scenery. As they walked he noticed a puddle of water in the middle of the road. He knew it hadn't rained in a few weeks.

"I'm going to talk to niisan for a second." Hinata and Kiba both simply nodded. He dropped back to where Kakashi was. He was next to Kakashi as he approached the water puddle.

"You noticed the puddle." Kakashi said quietly.

"Yeah," he replied just as quietly. "Ambush?"

"Probably, warn the others and be ready."

Nodding Naruto half walked half jogged back to Kiba and Hinata trying very hard not to look as though he were alert. "Kiba, Hinata," he said in a whisper. They both gave him their attention. "Act casually but we're about to be attacked." They both stiffened a bit but didn't anything more. "Hinata-chan activate your blood line."

She gave the barest of nods. "Byakugan." She used her blood line to search the area. "There are two behind Kakashi!"

In an instant his sword was in his hand and he had pivoted around and was rushing towards Kakashi. "Kiba with me Hinata cover the client!"

Tazuna froze as the three children who had been walking in front of him suddenly turned and were rushing towards him. His eyes were drawn to the blonde boy with the red and black clothes he had a sword in his hand. He saw the boys face for just a second before he was past. But that one look was enough to freeze his spine. The little girl stopped in front of him and was in some sort of weird stance. It was only as he turned around to watch the boys rush past that he suddenly saw two foreign ninja about to rip Kakashi apart.

That was what Naruto saw as well. Two ninjas with respirators, each wearing a gloved metal claw with a nasty barbed chain running between. They had already wrapped the chain around him and before Naruto could get there he saw his niisan torn apart.

"Niisan!" Naruto howled.

"Kakashi!" Kiba cried out.

The two clawed ninjas wasted no time and rushed towards them.

"Take the one on the right." Naruto ordered as he bore down on the other one. Even as furious as he was he still felt his mind do an evaluation on the choice of weapons. He decided that their choice was stupid. A claw and a chain were no match for a good sword. As the enemy closed on him he quickly dropped the sword low in front of him. And when he was on top of his opponent he drove his sword straight up and out in one smooth motion. He didn't miss. From the man's groin clean up to his neck his katana bit deep. The enemy ninja was gutted like a fish. His chest showered out blood and man fell to the ground flapping about for a bit before he was still.

It all took just a few seconds. With one enemy down he quickly pulled his sword back into the ready position and turned to his right. He saw Kiba nail the other one with his fang over fang technique. He hit his opponent square in the chest and he was down on the ground. Naruto rushed over to his last enemy's side and raised his sword over his head ready for another killing blow.

"Naruto stop!"

Naruto froze and looked behind him. "Kakashi niisan!" Kakashi was standing just a few feet behind him. "But…" Naruto looked to where Kakashi's, 'body' had been. There he saw a roughly severed log. "Oh! You used a substitution!" His relief at his niisan's survival was quickly replaced by anger. "Why did you let us think they'd killed you?"

"Sorry about that. But I thought it would give me a good chance to evaluate you all in real combat situation. Are any of you hurt?" Everyone shook their heads. "You all did excellently! Hinata good job covering and protecting the client. Kiba excellent attack, it was very effective. And Naruto, I couldn't have done better."

He smiled and nodded. Kakashi had a way with words. "Thanks niisan."

"But Naruto, from now on don't call me that when we're in the field. I'm fine with it when we're training or at home. But on missions call me sensei or just plain Kakashi."

"Why?"

"You give an enemy an advantage. If they hear you call me that they're likely to think we have a special bond and change tactics accordingly. Let's not give our enemies any more information than we need to. Now then." He picked up the survivor. "I'm going to have a little chat with our friend here." He lifted the survivor over his shoulder and carried him into the woods to 'chat.'

Naruto calmly took out a rag and began wiping off his blade. He slowly became aware that all three people still there were staring at him.

"You killed that man." Tazuna said in a small voice.

Naruto looked up from his cleaning and smiled at the old drunk. "Still think we're just a bunch of wet nosed brats?" Tazuna quickly shook his head and took several steps away from him. Hinata and Kiba were both looking at him oddly. Naruto let out a sigh. "This is the first time you've seen someone killed isn't it?"

Kiba and Hinata both nodded. "Are you all right Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked worriedly.

He smiled and nodded. "This isn't the first time for me remember? This is the eighth person and fourth ninja I've killed."

"Do you feel all right? Are you upset or bothered?" She asked.

Naruto shook his head. "I'm fine Hinata-chan. I've learned to turn my feelings off when I kill."

"You turn your feelings off?" She asked sounding a little stunned.

He looked at her seriously. "The very first time I killed Hinata-chan was that time at the academy. I killed a Chunin and four villagers. Looking at what I had done to those men tore me up inside. My mom told me that the only way to be able to kill and not go insane was to turn your heart off at those times and stop feeling."

"Naruto that sounds horrible!"

He nodded. "That's just what I said to my mom. But it's the only way to be able to do it and not go insane. We're ninjas and we have to kill some times, there is no changing that. But we can still be human and we can still feel, just not at those moments. For those moments we have to stop being human and be only shinobi."

Hinata slowly nodded. She knew her Naruto-kun had a kind and loving heart. She could never have loved him the way she did if he hadn't. But she had just witnessed another side of him. It was a hard and ugly side, but she understood that it was something every ninja had to have in order to survive. She suddenly wondered if she had it as well somewhere inside.

XXXXXXXXXX

Kakashi came out of the woods about fifteen minutes later. "I've tied our friend up to a tree. I'll send a message back to Konoha and have the ANBU pick him up." He now turned to Tazuna and the frosty look he gave him made the old man shiver a bit. "As I suspected those ninjas were here for you. You were their target. He claimed not to know the reason why he was hired. But I suspect that you do."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Then let me make things clear for you." Kakashi spoke with a harsh tone. "I believe you were being deliberately deceitful when you put in your request for this mission. This mission was assigned a C-rank because you informed us you were concerned about ordinary bandits and criminals. Had we known you were in danger from other ninja we would have assigned it a B-rank or higher and a much more veteran squad would have been assigned to you. As it is you have deliberately lied to me and my team and what is worse to the Hokage! Therefore I am terminating our contract with you and returning my team to Konoha."

"You can't do that!" Tazuna exclaimed.

"Oh I most certainly can! Willful deceit is grounds for terminating any contract with my village. As my squad's sensei I am responsible for their lives and well being. I am not about to put them in a situation they aren't ready for."

"If you break our contract I'll sue your village!"

Kakashi shrugged. "Feel free. All right team seven we're going back to the village."

"Wait!" Tazuna shouted, truly panicked. "If you go I'm a dead man!"

Kakashi gave the man a very flat stare. "I'll give you one chance to explain yourself. I warn you, if you leave anything out then I will terminate the mission."

Tazuna nodded. "I understand. You're right I did know there'd be ninja after me."

"Baka! Why didn't you tell us that?" Kiba demanded.

Tazuna sighed. "Because if I had your Hokage would have assigned it a B-rank and I simply couldn't afford that. The Land of Waves is a poor country and I simply don't have the funds available."

"So instead you ask a Genin squad fresh from the academy to do a job that should be handled by a team of Jonin and Chunin?" Kakashi inquired.

"I am sorry about doing that but I am desperate. A real scary man wants me dead."

"And who is this scary man?" Kakashi asked.

"You've probably heard of him. He's a billionaire in the field of marine transportation. His name is Gato."

"Wait a second! You mean the shipping and transportation magnate? That Gato? They say he's one of the richest men in the world."

"Oh he is." Tazuna nodded in disgust. "He is also a murderous criminal who will break any law to turn a profit. He came to my country a year ago under the guise of a business venture. Before long a horde of criminals descended on us to enforce Gato's will. By fair means and foul he quickly gained a monopoly on all transportation in Wave country. For an island nation marine transport is our life's blood. He swiftly destroyed our economy and drained off all the wealth of the land. The only thing he has to fear is the completion of the bridge I have been working on for some time."

"I see," Hinata spoke up. "And as the architect of the bridge and the overseer of its construction you Tazuna-san are very much in his way."

Naruto nodded. "That means the ninja who attacked you were working for Gato."

Kiba nodded and tried desperately to keep up with the conversation.

"So that's the whole truth. Gato wants me dead to prevent completion of the bridge. So are you still going to abandon me to my fate and condemn all of Wave country to that monster's control?"

Kakashi let out a deep sigh. "Tazuna, I sympathize with your situation, I really do. But the fact is my squad is just not ready for this sort of mission."

"Who says?" Kiba spoke out. "Kakashi-sensei we can definitely do this! I mean what's the other choice? Run home with our tail between our legs?" His grimace showed what he though of that idea.

"Kiba, there is no disgrace in withdrawing when the situation is more than you can handle. It's called a tactical retreat." Kakashi stated.

"I agree with Kiba." Naruto said firmly. "I say we need to continue with this mission."

Kakashi frowned. "This isn't a game Naruto."

Naruto deliberately looked over at the body that was still lying in the middle of the road. With the summer heat it was already starting to attract flies. "I know that nii… uhm sensei. But like Kiba said, who says we're not ready? We dealt with these two easily and that was without your active participation. Why aren't we strong enough to continue?"

"Naruto these two were Chunin. I could have dealt with them by myself. The next attack will either involve greater numbers or a Jonin or even a few Jonin. Do you feel up to that?"

He nodded confidence never wavering. "Yes I do. I think we have an amazing team and I think team seven can do whatever it has to. Besides, Tazuna and the people in Wave country need our help."

Kakashi sighed. "They're not even paying for the amount of help they need."

"Is it just about the money then?" Naruto frowned. "Because I thought being a ninja was about helping people who need your help."

"It's about helping your village and carrying out the missions your village assigns you." Kakashi clarified.

"Well we have a mission from our village. And even if it has been given the wrong ranking I think it's worth doing! I say we help Tazuna and the people in Wave country."

"Hell yeah." Kiba agreed. "Come on Kakashi-sensei how can we abandon them now that we know what they're facing?"

"Kakashi-sensei I also want to continue this mission." Hinata stepped forward. "I agree with Naruto-kun and Kiba-kun, this mission is truly worth carrying out."

Kakashi looked at his three students. Damn it they were earnest! I am going to regret this. He slowly nodded his agreement. "All right, if you're all willing to continue in the face of the danger we'll push on."

XXXXXXXXXX

The little man was yelling and complaining and almost hysterical that the demon brothers had failed. The ninja shook his head. Why did money have to be so damn important? If the world worked properly skill and power would be the only things that mattered. But no, money mattered too. With enough money he could buy enough supporters to pursue his dream again. I will be the Mizukage one day! I will return to the village hidden in the Mist and have my revenge!

The little man glowered at him. "And now he's hired ninjas to protect him you damn fool!"

With ease he brought his massive sword to the man's throat. "Watch your damn mouth. Who do you think you're talking to? I am Momochi Zabuza, the Demon of the Mist. I will take the hit myself and eliminate this man that worries you so much. Then you will pay me what you owe me."

"Fine," the little man said and looked relieved as the sword was pulled away. "But you had better not fail."

The ninja laughed. When it came to killing he never failed.