75 Naruto : Uchiha : Chapter 75
Next Morning
A few miles outside the village walls
"You know I think we weren't on our best behavior back there…"
Duy's murmur was the only voice that broke the serene and calm silence in the thick foliage surrounding and hiding the most revered of the Five Great Shinobi villages.
"Really?!" Sakumo's voice was lacing with sarcasm, almost dripping with it - something that their green spandex wearing teammate didn't quite pick up on - as was usual.
"Yeah, I mean back there we…" Sakumo sighed, hearing on about his 'youthful' teammate pointing out and rambling about the things he had remembered from a couple hours back in the morning.
Naruto decided to be the intelligent one, and smartly stayed out of Duy's way - lest he came under Duy's radar and became his primary point of focus.
Something, that he was quite glad to let his silver haired friend deal with.
Because, he for one, most definitely could not handle his over enthusiastic and 'youthful' friend as well as Sakumo could …
Or so he told himself ...
...
A few hours earlier
Council Chambers
"Squad Six…!"
Everything from the most basic of tasks, to the most complex of political matters were being handled by the council right now - missions assignments included.
So, here we are…
Squad Six, with Hiruzen in the lead and his three genins following him in the huge council chambers to get their first dose of the outside world, in what had been a quiet down time for almost the whole village.
But quiet and silence could only last for so long - especially for a hidden village that is…
"Ah…" the unmistakable smile upon seeing the son of the highly respected Sarutobi clan head caused many faces to brighten up considerably. But what caused a complete change of hearts in the primarily dense environment were the genins stalking behind him - more specifically, the Senju heiress assigned to him this time.
Her little smile and complete return of life in her eyes was the primary source of relief in almost all of them. Even the ever stoic Hyuga couldn't help but smirk ever so slightly seeing their beloved princess back to her usual fervor, raring to go and take on some missions.
"Squad Six reporting for missions…" Hiruzen decided to get the formalities started upon seeing the eerie silence that had befallen the room upon their entry. It did achieve what he had wanted though, and it did serve to break them out of their stupors.
" ... yes, of course. But isn't it a bit too early to throw them out in the field Sarutobi-san?" the question did cause Hiruzen to blink, in a manner of complete and utter disbelief.
Well this was a first ...
Though, it only took a moment for him to catch on to the slight nudge they all were pointing at behind him - to his lone kunoichi, to which he instantly downed their offer with a negative shake of his head.
It was Tsunade's mental health they were worried about he concluded.
"They are quite ready, the mission if you would please?" he asked curtly. His tone was such that it reminded them his patience were running thin. It was one thing to care about a certain shinobi or a clan heir/heiress, but to outright show favoritism…
Tobirama would certainly have a field day with these buffoons if he so much as got a wind to this - be it his own grand niece or otherwise…
But that was a matter for another day, for today he wanted a mission.
"Of course-of course, just checking…" his statement was waved off dismissively by the council - as if it weren't even a valid thing to be annoyed about. That did cause his eyebrows to knit together in subtle irritation, but he remained calm - they were the council and in charge of almost everything - right now that is, he reminded himself.
"There…" the whole lot of Squad Six perked up hearing that.
Finally, each of them whispered in relief. "…a B-rank assignment. You will be assigned to escort our client to his home town - the Fire Capital. It should serve to be a suitable mission for this squad given the circumstances." Hiruzen's gruff eyebrow raised in a manner that showed his surprise.
He certainly did have the experience to gauge a mission such as this for what it truly was. Quite clearly in fact, if those non subtle hints in the council's voice were any indications.
It was supposedly a C-rank mission, only bumped up in rank due to their clients status - if his end destination was anything to go by…it certainly did seem that way in his mind for all the good reasons.
But he begrudgingly nodded in acceptance. If anything, it would serve to be a good comeback mission for his team after the vacation, a nice little mission to get them back into their gears.
So, all was well and good when he took the scroll from the assigning chunin and started making his way out of the chambers, his subordinates in tow.
"Squad Seven…!"
This shout made Tsunade, and much more surprisingly Hiruzen to almost skip a step. As far as he remembered, his father was still comatose in the hospital ward. And if memory served him right, squad seven was assigned to the downed man.
"Squad Seven reporting for missions…" it was Sakumo's voice that cut through the small lapse of silence surrounding the chambers. All the scribbling and whispering ceased as three silhouettes made their way into the middle.
"Your sensei?" the chunin asked, lacking any sort of warmth or interest he had shown mere moments ago for the previous squad. In fact, if one were to look closely - all the light hearted feeling had left the confines of the huge chambers.
The only feeling left was one of cold indifference, pointed specifically to the blonde haired azure eyed boy standing in the middle of the trio - whose usual lazy smirk plastered over his face spoke volumes of the interest he had in what they thought of him.
Which was practically nothing whatsoever…
"He's out of commission due to medical reasons, but we three are fine." Sakumo decided to be the one to do all the talking. Naruto was just too lazy when it came to these matters, and Duy was…
..
..
Well … he was Duy.
Let's just leave it at that…
The chunin at the front desk, clad right in front of the circular table hogged down by members of the shinobi council - all included, outright frowned.
Focusing a mild glare on the blonde, the chunin narrowed his eyes at the three inquisitively. All in an attempt to make himself seem a bit more intimidating, so as to daunt his authority over them.
It did anything but that...
Sakumo was completely indifferent to it, as was shown by his bored face. Duy was scribbling down something furiously in his notepad - 'something' so furiously, that made it seem his pencil was on the verge of igniting the thing into flames.
And Naruto ... oh Naruto…
He was the most interesting and unpredictable of the bunch.
His reaction to their hostile intentions made each and every member, bar the members of Squad Six behind them, bristle in anger and pure contempt.
Each of them squirmed around, looking to tear apart a new one to the brat - the brat who actually had the gall to;
Yawn softly in front of them!
He looked the most bored out of them all, and quite frankly he was.
These glares and little snide remarks were almost completely immune to him now. It had been far too long, and they weren't quite inventive enough for him to pay heed to these stupid actions anymore.
He wasn't five anymore.
Not that they mattered anything to anyone anyways…
"The mission…?" Sakumo drawled out indifferently, bonking Duy when he whispered something into his ear. Something, that made said genin shiver from his friend's sudden and sneaky voice blowing in his ear.
"Of course." the chunin almost growled out, looking through the piles upon piles of scrolls building up - ones that had yet to be assigned to the numerous teams free for taking them.
"Alright, anything for 'these' three genins without a jounin sensei…?" the chunin on the front desk rummaged in the scroll holder placed upon his desk. And his eyes stopped onto one particular scroll - one that made him stop instantly, almost abruptly upon it.
Every council member, too interested in this particular assignment - narrowed their own eyes at 'that' particular scroll which had gone through each and every one of their hands first for classification - and they all smirked in unison.
It was perfect…
Many nods were given to the assigning chunin, who had the decency to look at them for permission for permission. And he nodded back at them, before turning to the waiting team in front of him.
Quite surprisingly, in a sudden turn of emotions. He smiled warmly at the three.
"Squad Seven will be going for a C-rank assignment." Sakumo rose an eyebrow at the sudden change. Even Naruto's lone eye glancing at the chunin sideways had narrowed slightly at the strange occurrence.
It was just ... odd. And it did cause an alarm bell to go off in their heads.
But letting bygones be bygones, Sakumo stepped ahead and took the scroll being held towards them before returning back by his team's side. All, looking ready to hear their instructions for their newest venture outside the village walls.
"You three shall be heading to Hayakawa village, and deliver that scroll to the elders of Fūma clan residing there …" Sakumo did interrupt him in between, something that made the chunin twitch at being interrupted in between. "…what is in the scroll?" was his simple question - all the while eyeing it warily.
"It has orders for a weapons consignment we need restocked. You shall deliver the order to them and carry back all that they have available at present, and order the rest to be made ready and delivered to us at a later date.
Complete this as soon as possible, this mission is of the utmost importance to us and you three are the fastest genin team available at present." all three genins nodded, with Sakumo tucking the scroll in his pouch and turning around to leave as quickly as he could.
A hand clasped his shoulder - quite firmly in fact. Causing all three of the boys to stop mid stride and look at the source of said interruption.
It was Hiruzen.
...
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