12 The start of a mission!

It was around 6am and Naruto let out a deep sigh as he stretched his four legs out. He was currently lying in a twin sized bed next to a sleeping hinabi who was laying on top of him drooling all over his fluffy soft fur. He grunted as she snored rather loudly into his highly sensitive ear.

After passing out during his training and having woken up on the hyugas couch to a gushing hitome waving something that looked offaly like a recently taken photo to hashi who looked as bored as usual, hinabi had adamantly – and rather loudly- demanded he slept with her tonight, because 'she slept better with aniki' he had given in to the girl and aloud her to drag him off to her room. After he had transformed into his usual fox form he had aloud the small firecracker to cuddle into him and fall asleep, not soon after he had fallowed.

He let out a tired grunt as he glared half heartedly at the passed out kid and grumbled silently.' Kids are evil. They may be cute but they use that cuteness to brake down ones defenses and get what they want.' He heard a snort come from deep within his mind.

" shut up, you know you love the kid brat" kuramas voice was still deep and loud. Naruto shifted a bit, which got him a loud snore/snort from the tiny hyuga.

'Where the hell have you been kurama? You havent talked to me in like forever!' Naruto shouted back at the giant fox. He could practically feel the mega eye roll he got from the fox.

" I was sleeping. Do you know how boring it is in here kid? Think about it, im locked up in this empty cage with nothing else to do besides talk to you. Sleep is the next best thing." That got a snort from naruto.

' sorry?' The blond turned fox replied half heartedly. The conversation got cut off as the door to hinabis room slid open, showing naruto the form of hitome who had a pleasant smile on her face as she walked into the room.

"I see youre awake naruto" the mother of two got a small nod from the fox. Hitome stood next to him and rubbed his head- getting a small purr from naruto." Well it's breakfast time, so I thought id come get you both up." She took her hand off of the foxs head and gently shook hinabi awake.

Hinabis white eyes slowly opened as her snores stopped. She lifted her head and looked up at her mom with groggy eyes while clutching onto narutos back with her tiny hands." Hmmm, mommy?" Came the groggy girls voice.

" its time for breakfast my little flower" hitome leaned down and kissed the girls forehead." Did you sleep well?" Her smile widened when hinabi buried her face back into narutos fur and nodded." Good, well come on you two.

"Were coming" naruto spoke up as he lifted himself onto his paws- carrying hinabi on his back. He fallowed hitome out of the room and down the hall. They saw hinata standing just outside of her bedroom door rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Morning hinata" hitome rubbed the top of the six year olds head as she passed her by.

"Morning mo- eek!" Hinata yelped as she was suddenly lifted from the floor and onto narutos back. The fox had slid between the girls legs and his body grew taller, which picked the girl up with his back. He was now as tall as hitomes waist on all fours."n-naruto-kun!" Hinata blushed as she was now sitting behind hinabi who still had her face buried in his fur.

" good morning hinata-chan" naruto chuckled out softly as they made their way to the dinning room where the branch family had prepared their food.

After a healthy breakfast, morning showers and getting dressed naruto and hinata were ready to start their day.

" ill carry you to school today hinata-chan. Then I have to meet sensei for training." Naruto let a yawn out behind his mask.

" i-I can walk" hinata blushed back at the boy as they left her home.

" walk? Never!" Naruto replied in mock shock." No princesses walk!" Hinata blushed and stuttered madly when he called her a princess. But before she could reply she found herself mounted on the back of a large orange fox.

As the two traveled they ignored the bewildered looks of the villagers they passed on their way to the academy. Hinata absentmindedly ran her fingers through his fur."naruto-kun?" She spoke softly.

"Hm?" He tilted his head back a bit to look up at her.

"Whats being a real ninja like?" She asked softly. She almost giggled when narutos right ear twitched.

"So far all ive done is train with jiraya sensei. I havent gone on any missions yet." He answered. She just nodded softly.

"D-do you think im strong?" She blurted out before blushing and covering her mouth with her left hand. Naruto turned his head and looked up at her with his silverish ringed eyes.

"What brought that question up hinata-chan?" He asked curiously. Said girl blushed lightly and looked down while fiddling with her fingers.

"W-well its just that... im not really good at the gentle fist, a-and some of the people at sc-school are really strong and they call me weak" a sad look came over her face.

" are you being bullied at the academy hinata-chan?" Naruto asked softly as he stopped walking. They were only a block away from the school now.

"W-well i-i.." she lowered her head sadly and that was all naruto needed in order to confirm his question.

"Why didn't you tell anyone till now?" He questioned.

" I didn't want you or anyone else to worry." Hinata stated quietly.

" well when we get there youre gonna tell me whos bullying you and ill deal with the rest." It wasn't an option, he was gonna woop some ass. He faced forward with narrowed eyes as he kept walking. He took a deep breath in order to calm the anger he was currently feeling. Hinata just nodded her head slowly.

As they strolled into the academy playground naruto saw it was full of kids, ranging from the six and seven year olds up to the fourth year kids who were around twelve and thirteen. All of the kids seemed to stop and stare at them. He didn't blame them either, after all it was probably weird to see a large fox walking next to a six year old hinata.

"Naruto?" The duo looked to their left and watched as ino and the rest of their friends came walking up to them. " its been forever! Where have you been? I havent seen you in awhile." The blond asked.

" yeah man, I heard you graduated already!" Came the loud shout from kiba.

" hey guys, ive been busy with training so I havent had much free time." Came the foxs reply. He ignored ino and sakura who were petting him as he looked at hinata." Point them out now" he ordered, confusing the rest of their friends.

Hinata blushed and pointed across the field. Naruto fallowed the direction and locked eyes with a large kid that looked to be around twelve. He had black hair, chubby face and was surrounded by three other kids his age but naruto didn't pay them any mind. To other kids he wouldve looked intimidating, but to naruto he looked like an idiot. " stay here" he ordered.

He walked away from his friends who were now looking at him as he slowly strolled across the yard and up to the group hinata pointed at.

The group of fourth years stopped their chatting and watched the large fox walk up to them. It stopped about two feet away from them before it sat on its hind legs and just stared at them.

"What the hell?" The 'group leader' spoke first as he stared at the fox. He walked closer to the fox and grinned down at it.

" kimo, I wouldn't get to close. Its probably wild!" One of 'kimos' lackys spoke up.

"Shut up hiro. I saw it walking with that stupid hyuga girl. She probably sent it over to scare us." Kimo laughed and grinned at the fox.

'So kimo is his name' naruto thought.

"Look at it, it looks stupid!" Kimo stuck his tongue out at naruto." Did that hyuga bitch send her puppy to-" he was cut off when the fox lunged at him. He screamed out as the foxs paw pushed him to the ground and held him there.

"Get it!" One of the goons shouted before running at naruto, but before they got close enough to hit the fox, it looked up at them and its ringed eyes seemed to pulse for a second. The next thing they knew was a bunch of small rocks seemed to float off the ground before shooting at them, peppering their bodies and cutting up their faces. They fell to the ground crying in pain.

Naruto looked down at kimo and glared into the boys terrified eyes." So youre the one that's been bullying hinata huh?" His voice was deep and demonic, naruto had sent chakra to his throat to make his voice deeper.

"W-what- i-!"

"Shut up boy" naruto growled out, getting a terrified squeak from the older boy." How old are you?" He asked.

"Th-thirteen" kimo replied, tears and fear in his eyes as naruto bared his fangs.

"So you like picking on a six year old? Why?" Naruto demanded. By now everyone in the play ground was looking at them and whispering to one another." Is it because she looks to be an easy target? Maybe its because you like to feel bigger than everyone else? Did mom and dad not hug you enough? Or is it something else?" Naruto guessed.

"I-I d-don't kn-know!" Kimo cried out, tears and snot running down his face. Naruto stared down at him with cold eyes.

"Where do you live?" The fox asked.

" n-next to th-the candy shop i-in th-the market area!" Kimo quickly replied.

"Next to the candy place?" Naruto patted the boys big belly with his paw." That explains this. Anyways now I know where you live" naruto leaned his snout down next to the boys ear and growled." If I ever hear of you bullying anyone else, ill come to your home and drag your soul into the shinagamis stomach myself, okay?" The boy nodded fearfully. Naruto stepped back and nodded."good talk"

With that the fox turned away and walked back to his friends who were gaping at the fox as he approached. Naruto casually sat in front of them and licked his paw.

"What the hell was that!" Kiba shouted, breaking everyone out of their shock.

"What was what?" Naruto asked innocently. He had to lean back a bit as sakuras face appeared mere centimeters from his.

"You can just go around beating people up!" She shouted at him.

" he was bullying hinata" naruto defended his actions.

"N-naruto-kun" hinata blushed and poked her fingers together.

" what the hell was that rock thing?!" Ino demanded." Howd you do it?"

"I thought it was pretty cool" choji added as he snacked on some chips.

"Troublesome" shikamaru spoke up.

"We want answers!" Ino and sakura cried out.

"What is that!?!" Naruto pointed behind them all with his paw. Everyone turned around quickly and when they saw nothing they looked back at naruto only to see him gone, a few swirling leaves in his place.

" that son of a bit-"

-    With naruto-

Naruto strolled into his training grounds back to his usual human form. He whipped the sweat from his brow.

"Im here sensei" naruto called out as he walked up to jiraya who was leaning against a post with his eyes closed and arms crossed.

The sannin cracked his eyes open and looked at the boy." So you are, hows the Summoning tattoo so far? Any problems with it?" He questioned the boy.

"Nah" naruto looked down at the mark on his wrist." Its not hurting like it was last night anymore." Jiraya nodded at that." So what are we doing today sensei? More training?"

"Nope" jiraya replied. Naruto was surprised as they usually worked on practicing his tijutsu or ninjutsu. " we have a mission"

"Finally!" Naruto wooped out. He stared at his sensei with stars in his eyes." What are we doing? Saving a princess? How about a small country!?! Hurry up and tell me!" Jiraya smacked the boy in the head.

"Shut up!" Jiraya rubbed his head." Now by we I meant you. I of course will be going with you to supervise, but youll do all the work." At this naruto grumbled something about lazy senseis." Here, look over the mission info." He threw a scroll to the boy.

Naruto fumbled for a second before catching the scroll. He quickly opened it and began reading. The further he got into the scroll the paler he seemed to get. He finished reading and looked up at his sensei who had a grim look on his face. " are you s-sure this is the right scroll?"

"Yes." Jiraya replied in a serious tone." Youre going to be taking care of a small group of bandits a few miles away from here. Prepare yourself naruto." The blond gulped as he rolled up the mission scroll.

" i-i.."

"I want to get your first kill out of the way as soon as possible naruto." Jirayas tone softened." I hate killing and I know you will to. But think of it this way-" the sannin rubbed the boys head." If we get it out of the way now then the next time you have to do it, you wont freeze up and potentially get your comrades hurt or worse, killed."

Naruto lowered his head and sighed. He knew that he'd eventually have to kill. After all he was a ninja, it's literally in the job description. He just didn't think hed have to do it so soon.

But jiraya was right. He needed to get it out of the way, both for himself and his future comrades. He couldn't bare the thought of one of his precious people getting hurt or killed all because he froze up. So with a hardened heart and determination in his eyes he looked up at the sannin and nodded.

"Ill get my stuff around and meet you at the west gate." Jiraya just nodded and watched the boy run off in the direction of his apartment. He crossed his arms and spoke softly.

" minato and kushina would be proud of the man youre becoming naruto."