4

Standard Disclaimer: I own nothing save my plot and any OCs that might run rampant through the story.

"I know you're not eyeing that last piece."

An eyebrow was raised in challenge to the proclamation. "Oh? And what if I am?"

"You shouldn't be. That piece is mine!"

A snort. "Says who? First come, first serve is what I say. Isn't that right Akamaru?" Yipping greeted the statement. "That's right. Looks like you're out voted."

Naruto shook his head. "He has no say in this and you know it."

Kiba growled, "Who says he has no say?"

"Well it's not his food now is it? Why should he have a say in something that has no place in this argument?"

Kiba shook his head. "He's a part of the team too, and this is a team matter."

Naruto aped at the dog ninja. "How is this a team matter? It's a piece of meat!"

Kiba shrugged. "Well, sensei's paying, and Ino's eating too. Why shouldn't they have a say in this?"

"Maybe because Ino's already finished the piece you two are so intent on squabbling over," Asuma drawled lazily. He enjoyed the immature squabbled between his team members as much as any sensei could, but it got out of hand sometimes.

"What!" came the simultaneous near screech of his two male students. They both turned incredulous eyes on the third member of Team Ten. The girl sat casually in the booth they occupied, opposite both boys, and simply stared back at the two genin passively.

"I figured that I would solve the problem on my own," said responded with a casual shrug, a smirk playing at the corners of her mouth.

"Why?" That was Naruto.

"Neither of you were getting anywhere with your…discussion."

"But you can't do that!" That was Kiba.

The blond girl tossed him a smirk. "I thought it was first come, first serve," she threw his earlier phrase back at him. Kiba just sputtered incoherently for a moment before settling on a glare that sent Ino into peals of laughter. Naruto just shook his head at the unfairness of it all.

"Pfft, whatever. I gotta split anyway," Kiba grunted. "Thanks for the meal sensei."

"No problem Kiba," Asuma said. "You wouldn't be going home, would you?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Thought it'd be a good idea to talk to your mom about that taijutsu training I recommended for you."

Kiba grimaced. "Yeah, she wasn't all too happy about you trying to get me to move up in the clan style."

Asuma tilted his head to the right, the picture of boredom. "That's why I should talk to her personally. Let her know my side of the story."

Kiba shrugged once more. "Sure. I guess you can come along. Don't blame me if she yells at you though." The boy shuddered comically.

Asuma chuckled at his student's expense. "I think I'll live." He turned to Naruto and Ino. "Just tell them to put it on my tab, guys. I'll see you for training tomorrow."

"Bye sensei."

"Later."

Kiba and Asuma disappeared through the front door of the grilling establishment Naruto had lunched at with Asuma on the first day of his tenure on Team Ten. Sensei and student left the remaining members behind.

"So…" Naruto began after a few moments' silence.

"So," Ino responded with a slight smile.

"…How's life?" Naruto asked awkwardly.

Ino giggled at his awkwardness. It was cute, in its own way. She'd have to find a way to relieve him of that somehow. "It's all good, Naruto. How's yours?"

The boy shrugged. "Can't complain really. Training in between team training and not much else."

Ino nodded along with him. "You know…you never really explained it."

That got Naruto's attention. "Explained what?"

"That dream of yours. S-rank?" she asked, her gaze focused intently on him.

Naruto's eyes widened and he shifted a little uncomfortably in his seat. How did one explain that they had a group of likely S-class shinobi after their head? It wasn't really conversation worthy material. At least not for genin.

"Well…you remember how I used to always shout about wanting to be Hokage?" Ino nodded, memories of their early Academy days surfacing. "Well, at some point along the way, I realized just what that would entail. Random genin with head's too big for their shoulders don't get the hat," he said with a small chuckle.

"So S-rank is a jumping off point?"

Naruto shrugged. "I guess, but it's more of something to strive for in general. Being Hokage isn't top on priority list these days. I figure if I set the bar high enough, I'll get further than someone who just dreams of being an average jonin."

Ino nodded in acceptance. It wasn't a bad idea. She was somewhat surprised to hear such mature thoughts coming from her sometimes – read most of the time – goof of a teammate. The boy could certainly be a mystery. A girl likes a guy with a little mystery, Ino thought with a concealed smirk. She wasn't lying either. The mystery surrounding Sasuke had been the kick start of her ill fated crush on the boy.

She had moved on to more important things these days, however. Like actually being a kunoichi. Asuma had seen to that.

"I notice you don't ask me about Sasuke so much anymore." Speak of the devil and he shall appear…in conversation.

Ino shrugged, a bit uncomfortable with the change in topic regardless of the fact that she had been thinking about it of her own accord. "And that's a bad thing? I thought you didn't like it when I did that."

Naruto nodded. "True. I'm just wondering what happened, that's all. You over him or something?" he asked casually.

Ino was having none of that. She tossed him the best salacious smirk she could manage. "Oh? Why? You interested perhaps?"

Naruto coughed and sputtered as he tried to formulate an answer. A nearly unbearable heat rose to his cheeks and Naruto inwardly cursed himself for blushing. "What, no!" he began before noticing Ino's stormy expression. "That's not to say that you're ugly or anything, Ino!" he quickly backpedaled. The girl in question just sat there contentedly, enjoying watching the boy make a fool of himself. He really was too cute at times.

"Well…I…uh…" he trailed off lamely. He shook himself and eyed Ino from across the table. "Maybe I should just go. Yeah, that's a good idea." Ino nodded absently at him. Her blank expression gave him pause, and a blush rose to his face once more. "Well, uh, bye then," he said as he made his undignified exit.

"Bye, Naruto," she chirped, delighting in his haste to get out of the restaurant. Only once he was away did she let herself laugh at his expense. That was just too easy, she thought happily. She would have to make a habit of making him uncomfortable like that.

Her eyes followed Naruto out the door of the restaurant, and her thoughts turned back to their conversation. She really had all but moved on from Sasuke. Asuma had taken a sadistic pleasure in disabusing her of all the thoughts she had about the myopic boy. It had been hard to see him in the same light when all his faults had been laid out in front of her so casually.

Her opinion had been forcefully reevaluated. It was pretty easy to see, now that she chose to, that Sasuke was far from the tragic prince that he had seemed back in the Academy. Sure he had a troubled past, far more troubled than most ninja, but that didn't really excuse his almost verbally abusive behavior toward so many people. Hell, even Naruto called him a bastard, and he was Sasuke's only real friend, as far as Ino knew.

The blond girl shook herself as she placed the meal on Asuma's tab. He frequented the grilling establishment quite a bit. It wouldn't do to dwell on Sasuke anymore. She had far more important things to think about: like being a true kunoichi, and maybe a certain blond teammate who was just too much fun to tease.

/~/

Naruto tilted his head to the side calmly. It wouldn't do to lose his cool here. He'd lose his head if he did.

The whoosh of air greeted him as he ducked under a second slash. The form was good. It was clean, efficient, and deadly. He'd likely compliment the girl on her skill if he wasn't in such a precarious position.

He twisted his body acrobatically to avoid being sliced, and used the gathered momentum to bring his kunai around in a horizontal sweep at the girl's eye level. It was blocked easily, but that was the beauty of having two kunai.

The second blade impacted the tanto, halting the first, and the short blade gave way. The girl pulled back and ducked under Naruto's follow up kick. His sandal had just missed her face.

Naruto landed gracefully, and pushed off. His right kunai came up in a cross slash at the girl's face. She dodged it. It would have been perfect had he been using wind chakra, he thought. As it was, he was barely resisting the temptation to bring his element into the fight. The idea of wrapping his kunai in deadly Fuuton chakra was tantalizing.

If only it wasn't forbidden. Bloody restrictions.

It evened the playing field, in any event. He had little doubt that Ino's tanto wouldn't last long against the wild nature of the wind.

If only the girl wasn't quite so good with it.

He blocked an overhead slash with both kunai, and used his position on one knee to leverage his throw. Ino righted herself in mid-air with a small application of chakra, and landed gracefully. Naruto was on her before her second foot touched the ground.

He struck out in a series of lightning fast slashes, keeping his arms close to his body. They were like punches, in a way, and Naruto wanted to lessen the effect of the girl's blade by getting in close. It worked well. Her blade occupied by one of Naruto's kunai, it was easily knocked out of her grip by the second of Naruto's weapons.

The blond girl recovered quickly, and struck out with her own kunai almost faster than Naruto could track. She had gotten good. He barely blocked with the tip of his left blade, and redirected the stab just past his left shoulder. He turned defense into offense, and used Ino's off balance state to utilize a bit of tai-chi.

Cerulean met sea blue as skin was a hair's breadth apart, before Naruto was spinning past and Ino was sailing through the air. The girl glared as she righted herself. Naruto grinned.

He was upon her as fast as the eye could blink, but the first strike was deftly caught. She leaned back to avoid the second one, but Naruto used his weight to pull her into him. Her breath caught as she was pushed into his chest, the developing muscles not being a great cushion. It has its own upside, she decided.

She was on the ground just as quickly, a kunai at her throat. Naruto's devilish smirk was reflected on the face of his fellow blond as the girl disappeared in a burst of leaves.

"I win, Naruto-kun," Ino breathed into his ear. The girl's heated pants were in sharp contrast to the icy cold of the tanto at his neck. The boy barely repressed a shiver at the sensation. God dammit. He was a hormonal twelve year old in puberty. The feel of her breath on his ear and neck did things to him that he didn't want to think about. It didn't help that he actually liked the girl.

"Do you now?" he asked as he enacted a quick Kawarimi, keeping his voice level through force of will alone. His huge chakra reserves easily displaced her own, and Naruto swiftly found himself on top. His kunai found its way to the girl's flawless skin. "I think that I win."

"Didn't know you liked this position, Naruto-kun," Ino spoke. Her voice was slightly muffled from her face being face down in the grass. "I didn't think you liked to play rough."

Naruto snorted, though he blushed to the tips of his hair. He was glad Ino's face was on the ground. It would only provide her with more teasing material. "Hardly, Ino." He let her up. He was used to her perpetual teasing. Mostly. She had started almost two months ago, and there was little Naruto could do but grin and bear it. He even retaliated occasionally.

"Aw." She pouted cutely as she brushed the dirt off her clothes. She gave him a sultry look. "Done already? That's too bad, a girl appreciates a guy with a little stamina." The look was positively vampish.

Naruto locked eyes with her. "I wouldn't worry about it," he said while turning away. "There's plenty left in the tank," he tossed over his shoulder.

"Ohh." She was positively cooing now. Her breath was suddenly on his ear again. How did she get so close? "That sounds promising." Her words were melting in his right ear. He shivered. She chuckled throatily. She knew exactly what she was doing to him. "Tell me, Naruto-kun, can you take my breath away?"

She didn't wait for his answer as she sashayed away, her hips swaying pleasantly. Naruto shook his head at her antics. So undignified, he thought with annoyance. It was almost humiliating, the effect the girl could have on him. Their little flirt sessions had become normal in the past two months. If not for the fact that Ino did it outside of training, he would have thought that Asuma had gotten her to do it as some sort of bizarre training against seduction specialists. His personal comfort was pretty far down on the jonin's priority list.

It was downright annoying most of the time. It didn't help that his attraction to the girl simply added to the overall effect she had on him. That just made it more annoying.

It would have been fine if he wasn't one hundred and ten percent sure that she was still fixated on Sasuke. Someone didn't just get over a crush that fast. As it was, it felt like she was leading him on, and that just wasn't right. There was little he could do about it though. She wasn't about to stop, and a small, masochistic part of him didn't want her to.

He actually enjoyed spending time around the girl. They were remarkably similar in nature. Both were loud, somewhat obnoxious when it suited them, and each could get serious when it mattered. He had taken to hanging out with Ino whenever he could, outside of the regular team activities, and was more than a little pleased that she stopped bugging him about Sasuke so much.

"Ah, I see you two finished," Asuma drawled from his position against a tree. Kiba was nearby, licking his wounds from his spar with the jonin. Akamaru yipped when the two genin made their presence known. "And?"

"I won sensei," Naruto piped up before Ino could add her own commentary. The girl stuck her tongue out at him.

"You look like you want to say something, Ino." Asuma was amused. His voice betrayed him, though he tried to keep his face schooled in neutrality.

Ino caught Naruto's eye and scowled. "Nothing, sensei." Naruto grinned. The ninja who complains is a dead one. The girl had let her guard down at a critical moment, and it cost her. It was unlikely that she would make the same mistake again.

Asuma raised an eyebrow at the small byplay, but let it slide. They were mature enough to handle their own problems. "Alrighty then. If we're all in good enough shape, I think we'll ask the Hokage for a C-ranked mission today." He gazed at his three students, gauging their reactions. "That is, if you all feel up to it."

Ino raised her head determinedly, she wasn't about to back down at the prospect of a C-rank mission. She was still fresh, despite the spar she had just finished. Even if she wasn't, she likely wouldn't have backed down.

"Hell yeah, Asuma-sensei! Me and Akamaru are ready to go!" Kiba's answer wasn't hard to interpret. Akamaru's barking just added to the cacophony of noise his partner was making.

Asuma's eyes met Naruto. The blond raised an eyebrow. "Is that a question?" His sensei just chuckled. He hadn't thought for a second that Naruto would deny the opportunity for a C-ranked mission. He didn't think the others would have either. It wasn't in their nature.

"Well then, shall we?"

He strolled out of the clearing, puffing on his cigarette casually. His students followed in his wake with excitement. It wasn't their first C-rank, it would be their fifth, but the prospect of leaving the village for a mission was always exciting for the young genin.

Naruto scowled from between his teammates as Ino bumped hips with him. Again. He was sure that it was to make up for the way he had "won" their little spar. The girl delighted in making him uncomfortable, in any event, and Naruto was developing an immunity to her games. It was coming along far too slowly for his liking.

The threesome made idle conversation as they passed through the village. There wasn't all that much going on in the village, and they all had the same friends for the most part. The chatting revolved mostly around those who didn't graduate the Academy, or were in the Reserve Corps. Ino, especially, had many friends in the Reserve corps.

"It's really annoying, too. Their training hours are almost longer than ours, most of the time. And that doesn't even include the time spent in class," Ino grumbled.

"They need the extra training," Kiba pointed out. "Those scrubs need all the extra attention they can get."

Naruto snorted at Kiba's eloquence. Ino shrugged delicately. "Maybe, but I feel like they're avoiding me a lot of the time. I see a bunch of them running around the village on their off hours, but they never want to hang out anymore."

Naruto sighed as Ino's insecurities were brought to the fore. He hung around with the blond girl on a regular basis, so he became the sounding board that she talked to more often than not. Most of her friends that didn't graduate the Academy were downright jealous and hostile to the pretty girl, and it looked like the ones in the Reserves were starting to follow. She had been the most popular girl in the Academy by far. Seeing so many of her friends leave her out of jealousy wasn't an easy experience for the blond.

"Bah, they probably just don't want to hang around such an obnoxious girl like you anyway," Naruto quipped. He held back his smirk as Ino's expression grew progressively darker. "Loud, annoying, pretty perverted too, right?" he asked Kiba playfully. The dog boy nodded with a feral grin.

"Baka!" Ino screamed at him. "I'm not a pervert!"

"Could've fooled me. You seemed pretty excited back in the training ground, or was I imagining things?" Asuma and Kiba both chuckled at the girl's incoherent sputtering. He mentally patted himself on the back for bringing his fellow blond out of her funk.

Ino huffed in annoyance and turned away, hiding her blush from her teammates. The chatter devolved into ideas about what their mission might entail. The team had taken four C-ranks before this one, and all four had been simply escort missions. The most eventful had been their first. They had escorted a merchant to the Fire Capital and had encountered a bandit troop along the way.

The three had made their first kills along a dirt road in the wilderness, and Asuma had held an impromptu counseling session for the three. Well trained they might have been, but they were still children. The first kill was always traumatizing.

Naruto perked up as they reached the Administrative Building. Team Eight was exiting. He wasn't all that familiar with Shino or Hinata, but Chouji had been one of his running buddies back in the Academy. "Oi, Chouji!" he called.

He caught the attention of both teams. The boy in question smiled when he saw his blond friend. "Hey, Naruto! What's happening?" The genin teams converged in the street. Asuma immediately stuck up a conversation with their jonin, a pretty red eyed woman. Kiba was doing his best not to be caught staring.

"Not much, man. Just getting a C-rank mission," Naruto boasted proudly. "You?"

The large boy munched his chips happily. "Just got back from our first! Escort to Otafuku Gai."

"Anything happen?" Ino interjected, casually leaning against Naruto for reasons unknown.

Chouji didn't question the contact, but he looked surprised. So did the rest of the squad. Naruto just brushed it off as her usual antics. "Nothing out of the ordinary. The man was nice enough when we got there. He showed us some great restaurants."

Naruto chuckled at his friend's obsession with food. "I bet you loved that, didn't you? All good back there, Shino, Hinata?" he asked, trying to bring the less vocal members of the team into the conversation. Shino stood to the side, observing the rest with his usual stoicism. Hinata had her gaze turned on Ino with an unreadable expression in her white eyes.

Shino shook his head without a word; he had always been weird like that. Hinata turned her gaze from Ino and blushed at being addressed. "A-ano, we are fine, N-Naruto-k-kun. How a-are y-y-you?" she stuttered. She had always been weird like that too. Naruto thought it odd that the heir to such a large and powerful clan was so timid.

"S'all good, I guess," he replied. He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I guess we ought to be going, if Kiba's done checking out your sensei that is." He elbowed the dog ninja in the ribs. Ino smacked the back of his head. Kiba stuck his tongue out at the two blonds without a word. It was all par for the course.

Naruto missed Hinata's violent glare at Ino's head as he turned to the two senseis. "We good, Asuma-sensei?" The smoker nodded, though he seemed annoyed at being dragged away from his conversation.

"See ya' around, guys!" Naruto called. They each responded in kind.

"Oh, I bet they're dating," Ino gushed quietly once Asuma had taken the lead into the tower.

"Who?" Naruto and Kiba asked simultaneously.

"Asuma and Kurenai! I could see it in their body language."

Naruto and Kiba exchanged a disbelieving look. "Since when are you are you good at reading body language?" Kiba asked. "You're not even all that good at anything else."

Ino gave him the finger. "Call it woman's intuition, dog boy, but I could sense it!"

"Last I checked, Ino, you were still a girl. Don't you need to be a woman to have woman's intuition?" Kiba asked snidely. Naruto snorted at the byplay. Ino growled before crossing her arms in a huff.

"Look sharp, team," Asuma ordered as they reached the missions office. He put out his cigarette as they entered.

The Sandaime glanced up from his mound of paperwork as Team Ten entered the office. Naruto was surprised to see Iruka seated next to him. The scarred chunin looked haggard and worn down by the immense amount of paper in front of him. He perked up as he saw the team of genin.

"Team Ten reporting for duty, Hokage-sama," Asuma drawled. Naruto noticed that there always seemed to be a lack of respect between his sensei and the Hokage. He wondered at their odd relationship. He knew form his research about Asuma that they were father and son, as well as the man's own admission. Their relationship seemed strained, however.

"Ah, of course." The Hokage smiled benignly at the genin team. They all looked down and shuffled their feet in the presence of the grandfatherly legend. The old man chuckled at their bashfulness. "Will that be another D-rank, or are we in the market for a C-rank mission today?" he asked.

"A C-rank, if you will?" Asuma asked stiffly. He never was comfortable in his father's presence.

"My, my, that will be your fifth. An impressive record for a rookie squad. Wouldn't you agree, Iruka-kun?"

The scarred man nodded hesitantly. It was his first day in the office and he wasn't so used to being addressed by the Hokage directly. "It is. Are you sure they're well prepared, Asuma-san?" The concern for his former students was evident.

"Quite. I'll thank you not to question my teaching ability in the future, Iruka-san. They are my soldiers now. Not your students," the jonin said tersely.

The Hokage just chuckled at his son's mood. "Now, now. Iruka-kun, why don't you get that mission we set aside earlier?" The chunin looked a little surprised at the request, but complied anyway.

The Sandaime flipped open the mission file. "Ah, yes. I had originally saved this for Kakashi's squad of genin, but he's late. I don't feel like making the client wait much longer than necessary, you see. It's bad for business," the old man rambled on. Naruto snickered at the image the man projected. Ino and Kiba were far more at ease given the Hokage's friendly behavior. It was easy to be at ease with someone who appeared so eccentric, rather than a real living legend. Naruto knew full well how serious the man could be, given the right situation. He had seen it many times in his youth, not to mention their most recent encounter.

"Send for Tazuna-san," the elder Sarutobi ordered Iruka. "It's a standard bodyguard mission. You will be escorting Mr. Tazuna to his home country in the Land of Waves. The full mission includes a month long stay in Wave Country and the overseeing of the completion of Tazuna-san's bridge." He passed the information packet to his son. Asuma gave it a once over before nodding once, sharply.

The door opened behind the trio of genin, and they swiveled to see an old man dressed in working clothes. He had a scraggly beard and was holding a large sake bottle. "Where are my super bodyguards? I know I paid for them. And who are these super brats, here?" he grumbled, adjusting his spectacles absentmindedly.

All three genin narrowed their eyes at the man. His breath stank of the cheap rice wine.

The Hokage chuckled behind them. "These are your bodyguards, Tazuna-san. I assure you that they are quite well trained and prepared, despite their age. Team Ten is one of our foremost genin squads."

The man scoffed. "Coulda fooled me. A shrimpy blond, a little girl, and some kid playing with his dog. Is this the best you have to offer?" The three genin growled at the man who dared insult their skills, not to mention the slight against the Hokage. The disrespect was ridiculous. They exchanged a look. Some good natured pranking would have to take place to teach the codger a lesson, it seemed.

The Hokage seemed used to dealing with difficult clients, however, if his easy smile was any indication. "Rest assured, they are quite competent. Even so, my son is their jonin sensei. Should any trouble arise that they cannot handle, he will be more than capable." Asuma raised an eyebrow at the praise, but said nothing.

The old man huffed. "If you say so, Hokage. I just thought I'd get a team of super ninja for my money."

"If you were willing to pay a higher price, I would happily assign you a team of chunin. Would that satisfy you, Tazuna-san?" the Sandaime asked pleasantly.

The bridge builder looked nervous for a moment, but collected himself. "Ah, no. That won't be necessary."

"In that case, I bid you a safe journey."

/~/

Clothes were rolled, weapons were stacked and ordered, and utilities were neatly arranged on Naruto's bed. He wondered how he was going to fit them all into his pack. The answer came to him like a slap in the face. Storage scrolls.

He really was an idiot sometimes.

Five minutes and four storage scrolls later, the bed was free of all clutter. He was set to meet his team in half an hour at the west gate. He'd indulge himself for the time being. One cup of boiling water and three minutes later, the blond was grinning around his instant ramen. Life was good with the best food in the world.

He considered his position as he munched on his favorite food. The team was progressing nicely. He, Kiba, and Ino had developed a solid rapport and camaraderie, with Asuma as their leader. He had always had a few friends at the Academy, but they never had quite the connection that he and his teammates possessed. Not even Sasuke. He supposed it was natural. Team Ten was like a family in certain ways. A highly dysfunctional family, but a family nonetheless.

Asuma especially, had come to play a major role in Naruto's life. The man had taken a keen interest in the boy's development, as well as a more personal interest in the young blond. The man had made himself available to the blond whenever it was necessary. While Naruto liked to deal with his own problems, it was nice to have someone to talk to about them.

Naruto blinked as his internal clock told him it was time to leave. Being late wasn't one habit he wanted to develop. That was doubly so given the more volatile client he was currently employed by. The blond briefly weighed the pros and cons of showing up late, before deciding that pissing off Tazuna wouldn't be worth the ration of crap his team would give him.

He needn't have worried. Apparently Kiba and Ino had had his same idea, though they chose to act upon it. Tazuna looked pissed after fifteen minutes. Asuma was barely containing his amusement. "You're late," he said in a passing imitation of annoyance.

"Sorry, sensei." Kiba couldn't have been more contrite looking.

"I apologize, sensei. An old lady was crossing the street in front of me and I stopped to help like a proper kunoichi." Ino bowed low to conceal what Naruto knew was a smile. He was impressed. Apparently he wasn't the only one who had heard about Hatake Kakashi's legendary excuses.

"An honorable reason. Apology accepted," Asuma declared in a solemn tone. He was a good actor. Tazuna was gaping at the sight. The jonin regarded their client. "If you are ready, Tazuna-san, we can be off."

The drunken bridge builder just nodded, grumbling under his breath about stupid brats. Naruto gave his teammates discreet low-fives. It wasn't bad for now, but he would have to come up with some more suitable punishment for the insults he threw them earlier. Nobody fucked with his clique.

Asuma spared the gate guards, a pair of bored looking chunin, a wave as he lead the troop out at a sedate pace. Naruto groaned as he realized that they would have to walk for Tazuna's sake. The travel time would make this mission last even longer. It was just what he needed, more time around a volatile and disrespectful drunk. He'd likely end up killing the man before the mission ended. He caught Ino's gaze; it wasn't hard. She was kind of staring at him. They exchanged a look of mutual trepidation. This mission was going to suck.

The group moved westward along the dirt road. The three genin made idle conversation amongst themselves, but it was stagnate. There was no denying the boredom. Naruto even took to glancing at the trees and animals along the side of the road for amusement. At least Akamaru was having fun. Kiba had let his dog go to chase chipmunks down the path.

"Are there any ninja in your country, Tazuna-san?" Ino asked, mostly out of boredom than any real interest. Of course there weren't any ninja in Wave, he would have hired them, rather than Konoha shinobi.

The old man seemed surprised at being addressed by the girl, but answered, "No. I would have hired them if there were. A super bridge builder like me deserves a super ninja escort, so I came to Konoha," the man proclaimed proudly.

"Wasn't he griping about us being super brats not too long ago?" Kiba asked Naruto under his breath. Naruto choked out a laugh.

"Hn," he replied in a passable imitation of Sasuke's disinterest. Kiba scowled at him for the reply.

Asuma was giving Ino a lesson on the various satellite nations who patronized Konoha with their business for missions. "Wave, like River Country and Tea country, all come to Konoha for their missions. It's why reputation is such a huge deal in the shinobi world. If people think that we can't get the job done properly, they'll go somewhere else for business. That's not good for us, obviously," he summed up. Ino nodded absently. She had been the second best academic student in their graduating class. She knew all of that already, and Asuma was well aware of that fact.

It was a testament to how bored they all were that the unnecessary conversation actually happened.

They continued on. Naruto was getting increasingly more agitated with their client. Once he had satisfied his need to grumble incoherently, he started in on Naruto. The boy had the unfortunate fate to be walking closest to the man.

"You're a bit short to be a super ninja, aren't you, kid?" Tazuna asked. Naruto narrowed his eyes. He wasn't really that short. He was average height for his age, standing at five foot one. He was just around taller people more often than not. Tazuna was one of those people.

Ino, Kiba, and Asuma all palmed their foreheads. Here we go, they thought.

"You'll find, Tazuna-san, that size doesn't matter all that much," he began, launching into a full blown speech, eyes closed and hands behind his head in relaxation. He flipped Kiba the bird over his shoulder at the boy's snort. "Having a compact form can be helpful in many situations. For example, in close combat, my shorter limbs give me an advantage over my taller counterparts. Whereas their more sweeping attacks are rendered useless by my proximity, I have a full range of motion."

Naruto was on a roll. It was well prepared and executed defense. "Similarly, in long distance engagements, my smaller form is a more difficult target for all but the most accurate of shinobi. Shortness of stature can also translate to speed. It does in my case…" His team shook their heads collectively as Naruto rambled on about the merits of being short. They had all heard it before. Many times. They had learned not to insult the boy's height, not if they didn't want to be bored to death. He always seemed to come up with new material as well.

Tazuna just nodded his head continually as the boy delivered his long winded spiel. "Yeah…" he finally drawled, "I just don't see it."

Naruto scowled fiercely at the muffled laughter of his teammates. The man had insulted his skills, his team, and now his height. He happily switched places with Ino before he caused an incident. "Ya' think it would be so horrible for our reputation if he was killed? In an accident, that is. Never can be too careful with bandits in the area," he mumbled to Kiba and Asuma.

"Aw, did he hit a sore spot with your height, Naruto?" Kiba ribbed him.

The blond just snorted haughtily. "Just you wait. You can bet your ass he'll insult Akamaru at some point. Then what, dog boy?"

Kiba just shrugged. "My clan would understand if something were to happen."

Naruto just snorted and pulled out one of his guides on elemental manipulation. The leaf and water splitting exercises had been completed recently, and he was finally able to channel some Fuuton chakra. It had only taken him three months. Asuma had given him a few basic wind techniques to learn, and the blond was happy with his progress. He now had two Fuuton jutsu to add to his meager collection of ninjutsu, bringing his total up to four. Fuuton: Diatoppa and Fuuton: Reppushou had been easy enough for the blond to learn. They required little focus and precision, and were basic techniques to be known by Fuuton users. The lack of control needed helped Naruto immensely, his chakra control still not being his strong point.

It was downright frustrating. The more he did chakra control exercises, the more chakra he developed. More to burn, he reasoned.

The Renkudan, on the other hand, required an intricate formation and manipulation of the wild wind chakra. It made the C-rank ninjutsu harder to master and control, but that much more deadly. He was still working on that one.

His work with wrapping the Fuuton chakra around his weapons had come surprisingly easily to the blond. He had to fight the urge to feel the rush of wind during his spars with his teammates. Unrefined though his manipulation was, it could still deal plenty of damage.

He was moving on to Doton manipulation. It seemed the natural step to take after he had the basics of his true affinity down. He had already plowed through two earth techniques without knowing the proper way to mold and guide the chakra. He hoped that the knowledge in the elemental scroll would make using the techniques more chakra efficient.

His mind retreated to the present as Kiba nudged him in the side. "What's up, dog boy?"

"Seriously, man, you've got to shower more," the Inuzuka grumbled. Naruto was on guard immediately.

"What the hell do you mean?" He took a whiff of his armpit. "I smell fine, idiot."

The boy shook his head, unusually serious. "Not to this nose. You might as well have just jumped in a sewer."

Naruto swatted at the back of Kiba's head. "Bah, you don't know what you're talking about, mutt!" He coughed lightly as a glob of saliva got lodged in his windpipe. He spit it in a nearby puddle he passed. Fucking scrubs.

The team continued on in relative peace, Ino and Asuma snickering at the byplay between the two boys. Tazuna just sipped more of his sake and glanced about shiftily.

The sound of displaced water brought a smirk to Naruto's face, and he turned just in time to see Asuma ripped to shreds by two masked men in rusted armor. The sight of his sensei's demise froze him for a second, but he regained his senses after his eyes picked up the shredded form of a log. Nice one, sensei!

The smirk returned.

"Look sharp, Ino, Kiba!" he called as the two masked and armored men charged him.

"One down!" the chain wielding duo snarled.

Naruto hit the ground as the duo approached, and watched a brace of shuriken fly toward the men courtesy of Ino. A slight disruption of chakra alerted him to a genjutsu being placed, and he turned to see Ino and Tazuna disappearing in a haze. Perfect.

The shuriken hadn't hit their target, but had successfully separated the two men, who had detached their chain into two parts in order to avoid the incoming weapons. Naruto and Kiba took the initiative.

Almost faster than the eye could blink, Naruto palmed two kunai. The wind howled behind him as the knives were enveloped in wind chakra.

He fell to his knees and slid under a chain swipe at his neck. A deft flick of the wrist sent one of his kunai flying to intercept the chain closer to the masked man, and the wind enhanced blade split the weapon with ease. The man cursed as more than half of his chain hit the ground, utterly useless.

He recovered quickly, however, and sent three shuriken racing toward Naruto, who deflected them with his own throwing stars. Drawing three kunai, he flicked them toward the masked man before following with a seal sequence. The wind roared and the unannounced Fuuton: Reppushou propelled the throwing knives at triple their normal speed.

The man was quick, and managed to avoid all but one of the enhanced knives, which pierced his unarmored left shoulder. His scream of pain as the blade tore through him was music to Naruto's ears.

The momentary distraction was all the time Naruto needed. The boy put on a burst of speed as he approached the armored assailant, and delivered a devastating drop kick to the man's re-breather. The heavy metal crunched into the man's face and made a series of jagged, painful lacerations. The scream was muffled as blood spurted out from underneath the metal.

A newly palmed kunai was in an ice pick grip and thrust into the man's skull with Naruto's accompanying roar of triumph. He moved on before the body hit the ground, his kill already forgotten in the rush of battle. He paid little mind to the blood on his hands as he scanned his surroundings.

Noticing Kiba struggling with his opponent, Naruto momentarily disengaged his resistance seals. The unsuspecting man was swept off his feet by a charging Naruto, before he was ruthlessly plowed into the ground by a rapidly spinning Kiba.

"Tsuuga!" the feral boy screamed.

Naruto spun his remaining knife around his finger as he approached the groaning form. The man was playing possum, however, and his clawed hand shot out to stab Naruto's chest. The boy brought his kunai to bear, but it proved unnecessary as an invisible blade of wind neatly sliced the metal gauntlet off at the hand, blood covering Naruto as it gushed out.

Naruto smiled at the familiar form of his sensei while his attacker screamed in pain. "I take it you had a reason," he stated more than asked, sweeping the blood off his clothes with disinterest.

"Of course," was the given answer. He said nothing else as he picked the man up by the back of his neck and placed him, none too gently, against a tree.

Naruto walked over to Kiba and Ino, who had dropped her cloaking genjutsu. The girl gave him an appraising once over. "You all right?" she asked gruffly. Naruto smiled at the hidden note of concern.

"'Course, Ino-chan. Scrubs like that don't have nothing on me," he proclaimed proudly. He puffed his chest out. The girl shook her head in exasperation as she playfully hit him in the chest, disregarding the blood still there.

"Idiot," was all she said, though she smiled fondly at him.

Naruto laughed at her reaction. He always enjoyed some fake posturing. "How 'bout you, Kiba?"

"Pfft, as if I would be any worse. I didn't even need Akamaru for that scrub!" Ino slapped the back of his head.

"As if! I saw you getting run over until Naruto gave you an opening, baka! Stop trying to sound so cool." Naruto chuckled heartily at the byplay, and Kiba and Ino joined in soon after. Sharing a good laugh after a life or death situation always served to diffuse the tension. They had learned that after their first kills. They had made a note to do it after every incident they were involved in.

Tazuna watched the team's interactions with an eye filled with trepidation. He had just seen two of his bodyguards – children, no less – deal with his attackers in a spectacular fashion. After their sensei had been torn to shreds! The blond one had even killed one of them! And now they were laughing about the whole thing like they hadn't just been lethally attacked. He shook his head as his hands shook involuntarily. This ninja business was scary.

He took a hearty swig of his sake, silently lamenting his small stock he had brought with him.

Naruto noticed their client's look. He smirked devilishly. "Aren't you glad you hired us, Tazuna-san. There's no telling what might have happened if we hadn't been here, right?" The man just nodded quickly. Naruto could just sense the fear rolling off him. He found that he liked the thought of the man fearing him. It showed respect for his skills.

His triumph over his civilian client was interrupted by Asuma's hand on the drunk's shoulder. His expression was stormy as he regarded their client. "Tazuna-san…we have to talk."

The man stuttered and sputtered as Asuma hit him with a small dose of killing intent. "W-what's the p-p-problem?" he asked nervously.

"You are, unfortunately." The killing intent abruptly vanished. Naruto made note of the technique. By giving the civilian a small dose of what he could do, Asuma would likely never have to consciously intimidate the man again.

"What do you mean?" Tazuna had regained some of his capacities, what little of them there were to begin with.

"I mean that, after I was "killed", I saw my two attackers racing toward you," Asuma said with severity. "Now, those two were chunin nuke-nin from Kirigakure no Sato. I would understand if they were after me. I have a nice sized bounty on my head. But they weren't. Why, exactly, would two C-ranked missing-nin be after you, Tazuna-san?"

The bridge builder visibly wilted at the verbal dressing down. "We weren't informed of there being ninja after you, Tazuna-san. This mission is at least a B-rank right now, possibly higher. We need to know what we're getting in to."

"Sensei," Naruto spoke. "If this mission has been upgraded to B-rank, we should return to the village." He let Kiba's and Ino's immediate protests wash over him. Did they not think his pride was stinging from this? "If these two were chunin rank, we can assume that a jonin would be our next opponent…" he left the statement hanging. He was confident in his skills, but he knew that he couldn't take a jonin.

There was no doubt in his mind that Asuma was very skilled, he had done his research on the man, but he would be hamstrung by both protecting Tazuna and his team. It was those subtle details that often decided ninja battles. His pride might have been hurt from visibly backing down, but he had no desire to see Asuma or his teammates in a lethal and uncontrollable situation. A smart shinobi knows when retreat is the best option, he consoled himself.

Asuma was visibly stunned. Of all his team, he had expected the bold and somewhat headstrong Naruto to be the last to back down. He's more mature than I thought. He was impressed.

"Wait!" Tazuna yelled. "Sensei, Asuma-san, it's true that this mission is likely outside of your duties." He seemed to shrink inside himself. "The truth is, I have a super dangerous man after me."

"Super dangerous?" Ino asked. Tazuna nodded quickly.

"Yeah…you might have heard of him. Gatou."

Asuma's eyebrows were in danger of taking flight. "The shipping magnate? He's one of the richest men in the world, what could he possibly want with you?"

Tazuna leaned against a nearby tree as he began his tale. "That he is, but there's an underbelly to his business. He traffics drugs and other illegal materials using his business and hired shinobi. He even uses ninja and gang members to take over other businesses and even countries!"

What a piece of work, Naruto thought harshly. Whether it was directed at Gatou or their sniveling client was unclear.

"About a year ago," Tazuna continued. "He set his sights on Wave Country. I'm not sure why, but it probably has to do with Wave's proximity to the ocean, along with the fishing business. Anyway, he managed to completely take over Wave's economy through the shipping business. All he has to fear is my completing of the bridge."

Asuma nodded in thought. "Your bridge will destroy his monopoly over Wave's economy, thus limiting his influence." The trio of genin all nodded in understanding of the situation.

"Why would you hide from us, though?" Naruto questioned, curiosity overriding his anger at the man. "I there were shinobi after you, you should have gotten a more expensive mission, with more experienced bodyguards."

Tazuna dropped his head. "Wave Country is super poor. Not even the Daimyo has any real money anymore. Gatou's drained it all. No one has enough money for a more expensive B-rank mission."

"Even so," Asuma interjected. "The Hokage would have understood your plight. It wouldn't have been much trouble to loan you the money necessary for the mission. You could have paid it back at a later date."

Tazuna looked surprised at the thought, and then wilted once more. "I understand your reluctance. If you choose to end the mission now, my life is forfeit." Naruto sighed at the obvious guilt trip the man was trying. "But don't worry about it! If I die, my super cute grandson will only cry for a few days. Oh yeah, and my daughter will just hate leaf ninja for the rest of her life. But it won't be your fault!" he finished with a smile so fake it was painful to watch.

He can't be serious, Naruto thought with a deadpan expression. Unfortunately, he was, and it was working.

"Sensei, I don't know about you, but I want to complete the mission," Kiba declared. "I may not like the guy, but I won't let him and his family suffer." It was a surprising declaration. It was most likely the boy's pride talking, but he made it sound good at least.

"That goes for me too, Asuma-sensei," Ino said. Her eyes bored into Naruto's, as if daring to disagree with her. He met the gaze with his own, trying his best to get her to back down without resorting to actual words.

The jonin nodded at his team's declarations. "Looks like you've been out voted Naruto." The blond boy nodded in resignation. "Thankfully, I'm still team captain, and my decision is the only one that counts." Naruto perked up again.

"Then we're going home?" he asked hopefully. Neither his teammates nor the sob story had persuaded him.

Asuma sighed. "No, we'll complete the mission. But, I'll place a note for the ANBU for when they retrieve the bodies. Proper back-up will be arranged and sent."

Naruto nodded his acceptance, though reluctantly. He wasn't happy, and he had a bad feeling about the mission as a whole, but he'd abide by his superior's decision. He knew better than to try to change his sensei's mind.

Asuma retrieved a scroll from inside his jonin vest, and swiped some blood on it. A small, mechanical bird popped out in a burst of smoke. One quick scribble later, and the yellow mechanical bird was in flight toward Konoha.

"Well then, good work team. Your response to an outward threat of shinobi was well timed and executed." Asuma gave the three twelve year olds a proud smile. They had worked well together. "We'll go over the ins and outs of your performance when we reach Wave Country."

All three genin puffed up proudly. Their hard work was paying off.

"Now, Tazuna-san, I would hope that you would be willing to move a little bit faster. In the interest of safety, of course."

The bridge builder acquiesced without so much as a grumble. He realized what position he had placed the team in, and wasn't willing to push his luck any further than he had.

While the team restocked, Naruto jogged around the clearing to pick up the discarded weapons he had used. He stopped near a tree where his dead opponent was rapidly cooling. He blinked as the memories from the fight resurfaced. He had barely noticed when he stabbed the man in the head.

Unbidden, the memory of Asuma cautioning the team after their fist kills came to mind.

"The midst of battle is the most dangerous time for a shinobi. I know it sounds obvious," the man continued when his genin gave him looks, "but it is that way for more reasons than you might imagine. The training you received at the Academy always told you to keep a clear head in a fight. It's harder than it looks."

"What do mean, sensei?" Ino had asked, her voice shaky.

"Bloodlust." The whispered answer came from Kiba, surprisingly enough. Asuma gave the boy a nod.

"Your family?" he asked the boy. Kiba nodded. "The Inuzuka clan is much more in touch with their animalistic side. The concept of bloodlust is far from foreign to them," he explained to the other two puzzled genin. "In any event, Kiba is absolutely right, though his answer is incomplete. Bloodlust is just one of the dangers that shinobi face when they enter combat."

The smoker lit a cigarette as he sat back on his haunches. "There's no real term for it, but as your careers continue, you'll probably notice it as you get older. It happens in the middle of fights, mostly, but a ninja can lose themselves in the battle. It's seen mostly in large scale battles, but even in the smaller ones, you might notice that the battle ends and you have no real memory of what happened. That's extremely dangerous. While not always the case, it mostly happens when a shinobi completely relies on instinct during a fight."

He sighed heavily, taking a calming drag form the cancer stick. "You guys are probably the best team I've ever had and I don't want to scare you, but you need to know this. While instinct is all well and good, a clear mind in a fight is always better. You can adapt more quickly if your mind is sharp. Acting on instinct and impulse has gotten many a good ninja killed by not paying proper attention and just reacting."

Asuma's brown eyes locked with each of his genin's in turn. "Don't let it happen to you. I'd hate to have to know one of you ended up dead because you didn't think during a fight."

Naruto shook himself to get rid of the memory. He had been lucky that the man hadn't killed him when he hadn't been thinking properly. It was a scary thought, that he could find himself so lost in a fight that he didn't even remember the kill stroke.

What might happen next time if he allowed himself to become lost in a fight? He didn't want to think about what might happen. Not only to him, but to anyone he was with at the time.

"Naruto!" Ino called. "We're getting out of here, idiot. Hurry up!"

A disturbed and thoroughly shaken Naruto returned to his team as they moved closer to Wave Country.

/~/

In the woods surrounding fire country, a yellow bird flew through the treetops on its way to Konohagakure no Sato.

Out of sight of the ninjas who had sent it, a thin needle moving at high speed removed it from its flight. Wood splintered and cracked as the projectile pinned the machine to a nearby tree.

It would stay there until the needle melted to water, a day later, and it dropped to the ground. No one was around to hear the noise.

/~/