56 Start of a mission
-A week later-
Appearing in the training ground Naruko would clap her hands. "Alright team, no more training today as discussed two days ago, we'll be having our first mission as a team." There was a glint in Sasuke's eye, whereas Sakura shifted nervously. "As you know, because of the Academy changes you've already done far more than the necessary D-Ranks. As such, our first mission as a team will be a C-Rank. As discussed - I'll be using a very, very, very powerful Shadow Clone to go on this mission. Now, head on off to the north gate, I'm already waiting there! If you need to do any last-minute preparation, do it now!"
With that said, she'd pop.
-North Gate-
Naruko would stare at Kotetsu and Izumo. 'I swear they are also at the South, West, and East gates. What are you, you Eldritch Abominations?!?'
The two of them talked amongst themselves while Naruko watched them subtly. 'Are they a hivemind? Do they have something like Mu's Jutsu? Are they all identical quadruplets?' She didn't know, like usual. Also, as usual, she shrugged it off a second later. 'Alright, there they are. Good! None of them thought they needed to run home.'
"Alright team, already signed us all out, everyone has food, water, a change of clothes, weaponry, and bandage?"
"Yes, Naruko-sensei."
She nodded. "Alright, then out we go!" She pushed herself off the wall she was leaning on and walked out of the gates. "Follow along minions! It'll be a few hours at the speed we'll have to travel."
Waiting for them all to catch up, Naruko would begin walking. 'The question remains how long until they ask what the mission is?' A few minutes passed, before finally, Sakura spoke up, "So Sensei, what's the mission?"
A grin appeared on Naruko's face. "Well, it's a simple one - don't worry. All we'll have to do." She stopped turning towards them, the shade of the trees making her eyes hard to make out, "Is slaughter an entire Bandit Camp." She instantly turned back around, already expecting all of the reactions.
"Don't worry, however. I'll be there to protect you. There is no anticipated contact with Chakra Wielders, let alone Ninjas." She continued walking but knew that while Sasuke and Sai were fine - albeit with far too much anticipation from Sasuke, Sakura, however, was shaken.
But, Naruko continued walking. "Killing isn't something a shinobi should strive to revel in. Every person you kill will have friends, family, and maybe even children. But, do you know why we kill?"
There was no response for a moment, and then Sai spoke up, "Because it's our orders Sensei?"
She didn't say if he was correct or not, but simply asked, "Does anyone else have an answer?"
Sakura didn't answer still too shaken, but surprisingly it was Sasuke, "Because the people who we're about to kill are monsters." There was a heaviness to his voice, and the obvious hatred was barely held back.
"Interesting answers. You're both partially right and partially wrong. To address Sasuke's answer first. Yes, the people we are about to end the lives of are horrific people. But they are people. Fully human sentient beings. They are murderers. They are robbers." She looked back still continuing to walk, "But I've killed more than them y'know. I've stolen more than them. I too am a 'monster'. So where's the difference?" She didn't let them answer and continued on, "The difference is why I do so. They do so to make money and purely money. I'm about to kill them to stop them from killing others. To stop families from being broken. Villages dying out because of poverty, and for our Country to stop weakening in times of war. But in the end, I too am destroying families."
Naruko was quiet for a moment before finally saying, "The difference between a Shinobi and a Bandit outside of the chakra, is the reason we do things. I won't burn down a village for the fun of it. A bandit might. I won't snap your neck because I think you looked at me funny, a bandit might. As for Sai's answer... you are correct. We are doing this because it's a mission. But remember, if you listen to every order blindly, then not only do you and your comrades end up dead, but you also leave the world a worse place. What happens when your superior orders you to destroy a village? Will you kill the children? The babies? The difference in the end between a Shinobi and a Bandit is our morality. We are monsters with morality. They are monsters without it. But perhaps most importantly..."
Naruko sighed, "We are monsters with permission to kill. They aren't. So yes, we will be killing these bandits. But do not feel joy or glee. Acknowledge what we are about to do, and the reasons we are about to do them, and not think for a moment that they are 'monsters' and we aren't. The second you place yourself above the person you are killing is when you become worse than them."
There was a long period of silence before Sakura spoke up, "Then Sensei, what if this mission is wrong, and they aren't bandits?"
Naruko looked back a heavy look in her eyes, before facing forward and answering. "You check first. If something seems wrong you watch, wait, listen, and learn. Then report back if that's your findings. But the thing with missions like these sadly, is that someone has already scouted out the bandits, and now it's our job to take them out. So if the mission is wrong - then that means you are proclaiming that your fellow Konohagakure Shinobi are wrong."
'It's one of the primary jobs of the Genin Corps and the numerous based Shinobi around the country - scouting.' "Now, there's something else you ought to know. I'm quite a... high profile Shinobi."
Sasuke would speak up, "How high profile, Sensei?" In response, Naruko would stop and lean against a tree, before pulling out a brown leather-bound book and tossing it to her team. "Take a break. Check it out, I'm on page 9. It's a bingo book from the underground specifically for all Konohgakure Shinobi."
She closed her eyes and began her break, while her team huddled around the book.
-Sasuke Uchiha-
Opening the book, the first thing that he saw was a large name. Hiruzen Sarutobi. Next to the name was a picture of the Sandaime Hokage himself.
Hiruzen Sarutobi
Rank: Sandaime Hokage, Flee on Sight
Bounty: 500'000'000
Following that, there were numerous different descriptions of his publically known abilities in combat. 'The Sandaime Hokage...' He ignored the talking of Sakura and Sai and looked towards the second page of the book.
Danzo Shimura
Rank: Advisor of the Hokage, S-Class Shinobi
Bounty: 300'000'000
'Who is this? Why is his bounty so high?'
Reading through the information listed, there was practically nothing on the man. Looking up Sasuke would ask, "Sensei. Who is this Danzo Shimura?"
Naruko would hum slightly before answering. "To the public Danzo Shimura is simply the former teammate of Sandaime Hokage and his advisor. In private, he was the other candidate too being Sandaime Hokage, the greatest Wind Style user alive, and also controls the entirety of our nation's underground, black-market, and spy-ring."
Nodding along, he'd look back down towards the next entry.
Orochimaru of the Legendary Sannin
Rank: S-Class Nukenin
Bounty: 150'000'000
'One of the legendary Sannin, and yet, his bounty pales in comparison to the Sandaime and this Danzo person.' He flipped the pages.
Tsunade Senju
Rank: S-Class Shinobi
Bounty: 130'000'000
'Another one of the legendary Sannin.'
Itachi Uchiha
Rank: S-Class Nukenin, Akatsuki
Bounty: 125'000'000
His breath hitched as he stared at the name, hands shaking before he steadied himself. 'Remember. Control. Control... Control.' Unkowingly his eyes had turned red, two-tomoe spinning in one eye, and three-tomoe in the other. Taking a deep breath, he'd go to the next page.
Jiraiya of the Sannin.
Rank: S-Class Shinobi
Bounty: 125'000'000
Sasuke would look back down at the book. 'As expected. But who's this?'
Kakashi Hatake of the Sharingan.
Rank: Jonin, S-Class Shinobi
Bounty: 65'000'000
'This picture... he has the Sharingan? How?' Almost as if reading his mind, Naruko would speak up again. "Kakashi Hatake was the student of the Yellow Flash and was teammates with Obito Uchiha. Obito Uchiha was killed in the line of duty, and the Uchiha clan allowed Kakashi Hatake to keep the Sharingan so that he would bring Obito's Will of Fire forever forward."
'I see... Then in that case, can he help me? Teach me how to use the Sharingan?' "In case you were wondering, he's the best user of the 3-Tomoe Sharingan, perhaps if you discount Madara Uchiha himself - ever."
'That good?!? How could a non-Uchiha use a Sharingan better than a Uchiha?' His eyes dove across the page absorbing all the information. 'He can use all five elements? Why haven't I heard of him before?'
Taking a deep breath, he'd move on to the next page.
Might Guy
Rank: S-Class Shinobi
Bounty: 50'000'000
Looking over the information he'd frown slightly. 'All that's here is that he's a Taijutsu Master and he can use something called The Eight Gates Formation.'
Looking it over, he'd flip to the next page, and a voice would interrupt him. "I don't have a picture, because they refuse to publish any I or any of the nations send in. Apparently, they don't think we're being serious in how I dress."
Naruko Uzumaki - The Demon of Konohagakure
Rank: Jonin, S-Class Shinobi
Bounty: 50'000'000
Taking a pause, Sasuke would look over her name again. 'Why does she have a title, and no one else does? Is it because of the Kyuubi?'
Looking over the page his heart shuddered. 'These public battle records... This is absurd! All of them have titles as well... 'Slug Demon of Kirigakure', 'Ape Demon of Iwagakure', and 'Cat Demon of Kumogakure' all of them are noted as S-Class. But...' He stared at the mention of another battle. 'Ox Demon of Kumogakure, SS-Class Shinobi. Flee on Sight order from all nations...'
"Sensei who is this Ox Demon of Kumogakure?"
Naruko opened her eyes, staring at him for a moment. 'That look in her eyes...' His sensei finally spoke up, "Killer Bee. Sworn brother of the Fourth Raikage, Jinchuriki of the Eight-Tails, one of the most dangerous Shinobi alive, and also the only one who has ever beaten me in battle." There was a heaviness to her tone, "If you ever meet him. You aren't to flee. You aren't too attack. You're too conversate. Any other option would lead to your death. I'm only alive because he was friends with my father."
His eyes looked back down. Before he asked another question, "What does S-Class mean Sensei?"
A sigh escaped her. "That's hard to say. In essence, S-Class is beyond Shinobi. Your typical Jonin would be rated as B-Class in the Bingo Book. Kakashi Hatake and Might Guy before recently were listed as A-Rank. S-Class are people who can theoretically become Kage of the Five Great Nations. A team of standard Jonin if lucky would last a couple of minutes against an S-Class shinobi - if they're in a playful mood."
'So Konoha has 7?' He flipped through and his heart shuddered.
Dragon
Rank: Anbu Commander, S-class, Flee on Sight.
Bounty: 151'000'000
'8. Konoha has 8 S-Class Shinobi. The ANBU Commander... What kind of monster is he to have a bounty higher than the Sannin?'
-Naruko-
"Alright, enough of that. You three can study it later. Now that our break is over, you should understand why I'm about to do this." Naruko would reach up and tap her left shoulder, and a moment later her form began to shift. She grew taller, her face subtly shifted and matured, and her hair & eyes changed shades.
In the place of Naruko now stood someone who could pass as a Yamanaka Jonin. "When on missions outside of the village, you'll be calling me Tsubaki-sensei. Alright?"
"Yes, Sensei."
