7. First C-Rank: Journey to Tenchi Bridge

Naruto, Hinata, and Shikamaru stood in front of the gates of Konoha. The three members of Team Three were sporting backpacks and extra weaponry for their first C-Rank mission, and first time out of the village. They were all anxiously awaiting for their first 'true' mission to begin, with Naruto being the most excitement.

'My first time out of the village, my first real mission...this is going to be an awesome few days dattebayo!' The boy cheered inwardly, almost jumping up and down in place due to excitement.

This excitement soon changed to irritation after a few minutes passed. There sensei and client were nowhere to be found.

"...Anko-Sensei should be here by now, right?" Naruto asked his friends. "I mean she came to my house and told me 'Be here at 8:00 in the morning, or suffer the consequences!' So where is she?"

"I have no clue..." Hinata admitted with a sigh.

"Troublesome...I actually woke up early today for this and she doesn't even show up on time..." Shikamaru complained.

Minutes soon turn into an hour. It was at this point of irritation that Anko finally showed her face. She was accompanied by a short, rather large man who looked to be in his late thirties. He was wearing black pants and a large, expensive-looking blue shirt that had the kanji for 'respect' on the back. The man was also wearing a blue hat that covered most of his short blonde hair. He also was carrying two packs on his back that seemed full.

Anko didn't get the chance to speak before Naruto started to shout.

"Where the crap have you been sensei?" He asked.

Anko was about to respond but was cut off by the man that was walking with her.

"I am terribly sorry, Konoha shinobi. I am sad to say that it was my fault that we were late." The man bowed his head in apology. He had a very eloquent way of speaking. "When Anko-Sama came to pick me up for the meeting, I was still fast asleep. I had forgotten the time from our conversation yesterday, so she in fact woke me up. I had to prepare for the day right then and there, which I failed to do quickly! I am terribly sorry!"

Naruto blinked in response.

"I-It's fine sir. N-No need to a-apologize for a s-simple mistake." Hinata informed him.

"Er, yeah. No problem at all. I understand!" Naruto informed the man with a smile. Truth be told, that sounded like something he would do. Granted he wouldn't say it so 'wordy', but the point still remains.

'I'm jealous...' Shikamaru noted, upset he didn't have the luck of oversleeping.

Mitarashi Anko cleared her voice, getting everyone's attention.

"Well, brats, you just heard the man. That's why we are late leaving." She stated rather bluntly, irritation evident, before pointing towards the man next to her. "Anyway, this is our client: Yen. In case you all forgot, he is a merchant from Tsuchi no Kuni and it is our job to escort him to the Tenchi Bridge and deliver him to Iwa shinobi, who will escort him home."

"It is a pleasure to meet you all!" Yen spoke up, interrupting the purple-haired woman again. "This is your genin team, correct?"

"...yes. Yes it is." She responded, her face starting to get red from annoyance. "Anyway! We've wasted some daylight, so let's hurry up and get out of here!"

"HELL YEAH! FINALLY!" Naruto cheered loudly in excitement.

"Oh, this'll be exciting. I always love traveling, especially with company!" Yen stated, nearly as excited as the boy next to him.

The two blondes hurried off outside the gates of Konoha, heading towards their mission. Hinata, Shikamaru, and Anko watched the two speed off in silence. Anko was the one to break the silence with a sigh.

"I forgot what it's like to deal with clients like this. Kill me now." She grumbled to herself as she started to walk off. Her two genin started to follow her.

"He s-seems nice though..." Hinata noted, quietly.

"Oh he is: he's very polite. But he doesn't shut up. I've only known him since yesterday afternoon and I've already heard his voice too much!" Anko complained.

"Just what we need: another loud-mouth blonde." Shikamaru noted with a sigh, slightly joking and slightly serious.

When the three Konoha shinobi made their way out of the gates, they noticed that Naruto and Yen were standing off to the side of the road. Naruto was rubbing the back of his head sheepishly while Yen was looking down in embarrassment.

"Forgive me, Konoha shinobi. In my haste to leave, I had forgotten to check a map on which way Kusa no Kuni is." The merchant informed them sadly.

"Yeah...um...what way we are going?" Naruto asked, voicing his and the merchant's concerns.

Hinata sweat dropped, Shikamaru gave off a sigh, and Anko face palmed.

'That's another thing wrong with the client: he's impulsive and scatterbrained. Just like another blonde I'm in charge of...' Anko moaned inwardly.

"...just follow me." The purple haired woman informed everyone present as she started off on the path towards Kusa no Kuni.

The three genin and the merchant nodded in response and followed behind. Team Three's first C-Rank mission had now officially begun!

An hour had passed since Team Three had left the gates of Konoha. They were currently on the road to reach Kusa no Kuni. According to Anko's map and memory, they should reach Kusa no Kuni on their third or fourth day, depending on their speed, and reach the Tenchi bridge one day later.

The tokubetsu jonin was currently conversing with Yen. The woman did not seem to happy to be talking to him and answering all of his questions, but she was making an effort to be polite and respond to them.

The two adults reached a conclusion to their conversation. Hinata decided to take this time to get to know her client.

"S-So Yen-San, did you enjoy Hi no Kuni while you were here?" She asked the merchant.

"I did indeed, Hinata-Sama. Your country is very beautiful." Yen complimented with a smile.

Hinata was about to respond, further questioning about his time here, but was cut off by the loud voice of her crush.

"Hey, Yen-San, why do you add sama to our names? I mean...you're our client. You shouldn't really be calling us that...not that I mind or anything!" Naruto asked, rushing his last statement in hopes of not offending. He was just simply confused.

"On the contrary, you all deserve the title, Naruto-Sama. After all, you are shinobi!" The merchant informed him as if it was a simple concept. "Sure, I'm paying you all and you're working for me, but you are protecting me! You all have the power to do that, something I don't have. That's what makes you worthy of that title! You are all stronger than me and are protecting me."

Hinata couldn't help but blush at the merchant's praise. Surprisingly, neither could Naruto. The boy had never been praised as much from someone he had just met. He had a large grin on his face.

"From what I've heard, most clients don't think as highly of us as you do, Yen-San. Your belief says a lot about your character." Shikamaru noted with a smile of his own. From the stories he has heard from his parents and his dad's teammates, he had heard a lot about the 'awful', 'horrible', and 'condescending' clients who call for escort missions.

'Thankfully he's not a pain in the ass.' Shikamaru inwardly sighed in relief.

"As you can tell from my outfit, respect is very important to me." Yen declared, pointing to the kanji on the back of his shirt. "My parents taught me to give the proper respect to everyone that they deserve, and that's what I do!"

Comfortable silence filled the air after his words. The Konoha shinobi, even Anko, seemed very pleased with the man's ideology and statements.

The silence was soon broken, though, as Yen started to speak.

"If you don't mind, may I ask you three a few questions about being shinobi?" He asked them. "I've discussed most of these questions with Anko-Sama, but I'm interested in hearing from the perspective of a genin squad."

"Sure." Hinata stated politely for her and her friends.

'Oh, you fools. You know not what you are doing.' Anko sang in her head. She remembered all the questions Yen had for her the day before and just before he started to talk to her genin. She had an idea on exactly what was going to happen.

The tokubetsu jonin's speculation was proven correct. Yen immediately bombarded the young genin with multiple questions. The questions ranged from simple topics, such as information on chakra, the shinobi lifestyle, and the way Konoha is run, to personal questions, such as their reasons for becoming genin, any famous shinobi they look up to, their favorite jutsu they know, etc.

Naruto, Hinata, and Shikamaru attempted to answer everything the merchant asked. They found themselves overwhelmed by the man's multiple questions.

'...he talks way too much...' Naruto noted, unaware of the irony that he was complaining about someone else talking too much.

'No, I change my mind. This guy is a pain, just not in the way I expected...' Shikamaru mentally grumbled.

Despite the internal complaining, the questions continued throughout the rest of the day. They only stopped when the group stopped traveling for the day and could sleep for the night. The genin members were all grateful that Anko was taking first watch, as they wanted to sleep and get some time to relax and sleep after the long question session they went through.

Day two of traveling began shortly after everyone got up. After a small breakfast that Anko prepared from the supplies she brought, Team Three and their client were off again towards the Tenchi Bridge.

Time passed by. Yen continued to chatter with the four shinobi in his presence, asking them even more questions about Konoha and being shinobi.

After a few hours of walking, the group noticed that a young man was walking down the path going the opposite direction. He gave a wave to the group walking, but seemed to pay special attention to Yen. His eyes were focused on the merchant. Anko noticed this and immediately readied a kunai.

When the group finally passed the man, he made a signal with his hands. At that moment, ten more men jumped out of the forest, each holding axes. All men charged at the traveling group.

"Ah!" Yen gasped in surprise, almost falling to the ground in shock. As if on cue, the man was surrounded on all sides by the members of Team Three.

"Stay calm: we'll handle this. They're just common bandits." Anko informed him as she tossed one of her kunai knives. It landed directly in the temple of one of the bandits, killing him instantly. "Naruto, Hinata, Shikamaru, defend your client by any means necessary!"

The three genin nodded and immediately went to work. Naruto used the Fuuton: Great Breakthrough to blow away two of the incoming bandits. They flew backwards into the forest again, hitting their heads against trees and knocking themselves out. Hinata activated her Byakugan and attacked the chakra network of two incoming bandits. Considering the little amount of chakra they possessed, the two men passed out from chakra exhaustion immediately. Shikamaru activated his Shadow Possession Jutsu, freezing two incoming bandits. He dropped the hold just before Anko tossed two kunai at them, killing them. The remaining bandits were handled by Anko, who hit them directly into their heads and killed them all instantly. The young man who signaled for the attack was the only one not unconscious or dead.

"I always find it funny when bandits like you think you can take on shinobi just because you outnumber them. Face it: you made a serious mistake in judgment when you attacked us." Anko told him with a grin as she walked towards him, a kunai raised.

"Y-You shinobi are so cocky!" The man blurted out in a mix of anger and fear. "J-Just you wait. My r-remaining men will f-find you. They're waiting out in the forest later on and t-they'll kill you all!"

"Oh really? Doubt they'll be much of a threat. But thanks for warning us about your friends and their sneak attack. You're a smart one!" The purple-haired tokubetsu jonin laughed. "As a reward, you'll get a painless death!"

The sensei of Team Three immediately tossed her kunai at the man's head. It connected and death came instantly.

"...i-is it s-safe?" Yen mumbled nervously, still in shock from the attack.

"For now yeah. Unfortunately, the guy said there were more weakling bandits. They won't be much of a challenge, but they'll be annoying." Anko noted with a sigh. She then turned to Hinata. "Do you think you can spot them from here?"

Hinata focused her vision further along the path they were heading. As she looked further, she saw three bandits hiding in trees a little less than a kilometer away.

"If you can see them, mind taking them out for me?" The woman asked.

The Hyuga heiress nodded as she took out her bow and arrow set from her backpack. She readied an arrow, aimed, and fired.

The arrow hit one of the bandits straight in the neck. The man, who was sitting in a tree, gasped in pain and fell off of it in shock. His head hit the ground hard, killing him. The other two bandits looked at the sight in shock and immediately fled, in fear of dying as well.

"T-There were three bandits. I f-fired an arrow and killed one. The other two f-fled immediately after." Hinata reported to her sensei.

"Oh thank you! Thank you all so much! I knew there was a reason I needed to request shinobi company. You all saved my life!" Yen informed them gratefully.

Hinata was about to smile back when the reality of what just happened occurred to her. The girl had just fired an arrow and killed a man. She had just killed someone. She had just made her first kill.

Anko, Shikamaru, and Naruto accepted the praise and smiled in response. Hinata, however, started to shake in response. She remained quiet as she started to stare at the ground.

"...Hinata? Hinata-Chan? Are you okay?" Naruto asked.

Hinata didn't say anything. She just continued to stare downward.

"Hinata?" The blonde asked, his concern growing even more.

"Okay, team, let's make a move on! Time's a-wasting!" Anko informed everyone, interrupting the boy's questioning.

Hinata was the first to start walking forward, with Yen and Shikamaru following closely behind. Naruto and Anko carried up the rear, as Anko decided she needed to talk to the boy.

"Naruto, I know you care for her, but let her be for a little bit." She told him.

"Huh? Why? She's not feeling good at all! She needs some help!" Naruto informed her, irritated that his sensei didn't want him to help his friend.

"Naruto...I know what's wrong with her. I've seen that face before. Hell, I remember when I had it! She just made her first kill." Anko explained with sad, understanding look on her face. "Taking a life for the first time is never easy. She's probably beginning to have a lot of mental and emotional pain."

"Well what can we do to help?" Naruto asks, feeling even more concern for Hinata.

"Nothing for now." The tokubetsu jonin stated sharply. "Don't force the issue on her and make her talk when she's not ready for it. It'll just hurt her more. Let her try and come to grips on her own. The most effective thing you can do is give her the space she needs for now and, when she decides she wants to talk, to be her friend and talk to her."

Naruto stood in silence for awhile, thinking about the situation. He had yet to make his own first kill, so he didn't fully understand what exactly Hinata was feeling. He could only imagine the feeling. He wanted to help his friend out badly but he couldn't think of an exact way to do that.

"...fine. I'll wait for her to talk about it." The boy sighed. "In the mean time, I'll try and think of a way to help, or something to say. And I'll just be her friend. Whatever I can do to help her feel better."

The purple haired woman gave a sincere smile at her student's words. "She'll probably talk to you soon. You mean a lot to her. Just be her friend."

With those words, the conversation was dropped. Naruto and Anko hurried up to the group traveling with them. Silence filled the group: even Yen wasn't talking! Everyone remained in their own thoughts. Naruto, especially, spent his time thinking.

'...I'll figure out what to say. Hinata, I'll help you!' He mentally promised to his distraught friend.

After a few more hours, the group set up camp again. Anko had the first watch as her students slept until their turn.

...or tried to sleep. Hinata stayed up all night until her turn, just staring blankly into space.

"Um...N-Naruto-Kun?"

Naruto woke up from his sleep with a loud yawn. He brushed off his tiredness as quickly as he could and turned to look at the source of his 'wake up call', Hinata.

"I-It's your t-turn to do w-watch..." The girl informed him quietly.

Naruto noticed Hinata revert back to her excessive stuttering and frowned. He wanted to do something to help her, but he remembered his sensei's words from earlier.

"Okay. Thanks Hinata-Chan!" He told her politely as he got up from his sleeping bag and started to look around for any possible threats.

The Uzumaki genin continued his watch for a few minutes until he noticed that Hinata had never laid back down asleep. She remained standing, just staring at him, as if she was debating something within her head.

Naruto realized something then and there. '...does she want to talk?'

The boy made the hand signs for his shadow clones, who started to perform his duties of keeping watch. He then walked over to his friend.

"Hinata-Chan?" He asked quietly.

"N-Naruto-Kun?" She responded back, hesitantly.

"You okay Hinata-Chan? What you still doing up?" He asked. Naruto felt he needed to make sure she really did want to talk. He really didn't want to hurt her or make her feel worse than she already did.

"Ah...um...I'm...h-having t-trouble s-sleeping..." She mumbled. "Um...and...well...um...I-I..."

Hinata couldn't continue with whatever she wanted to say. Her tears were starting to come back. She immediately grabbed onto the nearby Naruto and pulled him closer to her as if he was her life support. She then started to cry hard into his jumpsuit.

As if by instinct, Naruto hugged the girl tight against him. He started to rub his hand on Hinata's back in an attempt to calm her down. He didn't say anything. 'She just has to get it all out. She has to let go of all her tears.'

The two stayed in that position, with no sounds made except for Hinata's crying. After about twenty to thirty minutes, Hinata started to calm down and stopped crying.

"S-Sorry...f-for that..." Hinata apologized.

"Don't apologize for anything Hinata! You can talk to me. You shouldn't be afraid to show your emotions to me!" Naruto informed her, still rubbing her back. "If anyone should be sorry, then it's me. I'm sorry about what happened..."

"...d-don't be." The girl sniffed. "...I s-shouldn't be either. W-We're ninja. T-This is what we d-do. I-It's just..."

"Hinata, although we are ninja, we are also human! It's only natural to feel this way about...yeah." Naruto replied. He didn't want to outright mention the word 'killing'.

"I-It's just...that man h-had a family. H-He had a life. A-And I ended it. I...I-" Hinata continued to sniffle, tears starting to form again.

"Hinata, that man would have tried to kill Yen. He has a family too and a life. You helped keep our client alive!" The blonde stated. He moved his hand away from her back and wiped away some of the tears away. "You helped save a life."

Hinata's sniffling died down. The girl still looked troubled though. Naruto gave it a little more thought before he spoke again.

"We are ninja. We may have to kill people in our line of duty, but we do so to protect others. It could be clients, civilians, our teammates...even each other. We fight to protect everyone around us!" He stated sincerely, giving off a smile. "Hinata, you were strong. You stepped up and helped protect our client. You are a true ninja and someone I'm glad to call my teammate and friend."

The Hyuga heiress's troubled look seemed to completely vanish. She looked over at her crush in complete awe at everything he had just told her.

'...Naruto-Kun...you never cease to amaze me...you really are a one-of-a-kind.' She thought to herself, a blush starting to form on her face again. A smile soon joined that blush as she brushed any remaining tears.

"Naruto-Kun...thank you. Thank you for everything. I don't know what I would do without you..." The girl told him. Her tone of voice was much more relaxed, and much more happy.

"It's no problem at all Hinata. I know you'd do the same for me. And I have no idea what I would do without you!" Naruto replied back with a grin. He gave her one last squeeze before he let go from the hug.

Hinata significantly reddened, finally noticing that she had been hugging Naruto for quite some time now. She was about to say something but her words died when she found herself yawning.

"Heh, looks like you're tired." Naruto pointed out with a more playful smile.

"Yeah...I am. Sleep would be nice..." Hinata thought tiredly.

"Get some sleep Hinata-Chan. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" The blonde told her.

"O-Okay." Hinata replied. She then, pushed to action by instinct, walked over to her crush and gave him a hug. "Goodnight Naruto-Kun. Thank you so much for everything. You really helped me feel better."

The girl then went back to her sleeping bag, leaving a slightly blushing blonde behind. Naruto eventually shook off the blush, gained a large smile on his face, and went back to his watch duties with his clones. He was relieved that his friend was feeling better and back to normal again. Hinata, herself, laid down within her sleeping bag. For the first time in the past few hours, she was smiling. She found it rather easy to sleep.

Three more days passed by. They had finally reached Kusa no Kuni, but were no done with their mission. The group continued to travel on the road. Their journey didn't end until they reached a medium-sized arch bridge that crossed a giant ravine.

"There's the Tenchi Bridge." Anko told the group, excitedly.

"You ninja are truly extraordinary! Thank you so much for your assistance!" Yen praised the Konoha shinobi happily.

"It's no problem at all." Hinata bowed in acceptance. She then took a close look at the bridge herself and saw figures standing in front of the bridge. "We aren't alone. There are a few other people there at the bridge."

"Most likely the Iwa team." Shikamaru noted.

Naruto groaned at this realization. The moment was finally here: they were about to meet the team from Iwa. They were about to meet the group of ninja that were enemies to Konoha: shinobi from the village that fought and killed many Konoha ninja in the Third Great Shinobi World War.

Naruto remembered all the stories he had heard about Iwa ninjas from the academy teachers and the older orphans who lost their parents in the war. The boy remembered every horrific crime that he heard they performed.

He was not excited at all for this encounter.

The group continued their approach closer to the bridge. As they arrived, the figures were easier to identify. There were three of them standing in front of the bridge and they were indeed Iwa ninja, as identified by their forehead protectors tied on their heads.

The first one was a short, brown haired boy with sunglasses on. He had on a camouflage colored jacket and was wearing brown cargo shorts. The boy seemed to come off rather plain and seemed to almost blend in the area around him.

The second figure was a tall boy with green eyes and black hair that went down to his back. The boy was wearing black pants and a tight-fit red-black shirt that showed off his muscular build. He also had a scabbard attached to his pants, a sword sticking out of it.

The final figure was a girl with short black hair and pink eyes. She was wearing a red shirt that lacked her right sleeve underneath a brown jacket. She also had on fishnet tights underneath a red skirt.

The girl was the first of the three Iwa genin to see the approaching Konoha shinobi. She immediately put on a slight scowl as she rushed over to them. Her teammates followed right behind to meet the Konoha shinobi.

"About time you guys got here. We've been waiting for awhile!" She informed them, her scowl turning more into a frown as she thought about how long she was there.

"Well sorry, we had to make sure we got our client here safe. You know, since that's the point of the mission." Naruto pointed out to her, giving her a scowl of her own.

"Of course it is. We know that you idiot!" She replied. "However, you obviously didn't do that good of a job if you ended up taking this long to get here!"

"Kurotsuchi, save your breath. The Konoha baka probably thought they were making good time." The sun-glasses wearing Iwa ninja informed her with a laugh.

"What'd you say punk?" Naruto shouted, turning his attention to the boy who just spoke.

"Roto was just saying the truth, Konoha shinobi." The sword-carrying ninja informed him, emphasizing the words 'Konoha shinobi' as if it was venom.

"Naruto, calm down! Don't start anything!" Shikamaru informed his friend sharply before he snapped at the Iwa ninjas anymore.

Naruto fumed inwardly, glaring at the Iwa genin. He had many things he wanted to say to these three, but he knew that saying anymore could maybe ruin the mission. This would ruin any chances of this mission creating 'peace' between Konoha and Iwa.

"Listen to him: he seems like the smart one in the bunch. Not that it means anything truly special to be smart in Konoha." The sword-carrying Iwa ninja told Naruto.

"While I don't mind a little joking, the Konoha ninja is right. That means you shouldn't antagonize them either Risho!" Kurotsuchi informed him sharply.

Silence seemed to fill the area. The two Iwa male genin, Roto and Risho, were glaring at the Konoha genin. Naruto was glaring back. Kurotsuchi and Shikamaru were looking annoyed by the situation. Hinata and Yen were standing off to the side awkwardly. The Hyuga heiress and the Tsuchi no Kuni merchant were trying to think of something they could do to diffuse the tension.

The ice was broken by Anko, who decided she didn't like the awkward silence.

"Name's Mitarashi Anko, and this is my genin squad. We were assigned the mission of delivering the merchant, Yen, to an Iwa team. I need to clarify that you guys are the team we are handing Yen off to. Do you guys have this scroll?" She asked as she pulled out the mission scroll, containing Yen's request of escort.

"The name's Kurotsuchi. I'm a genin of Iwa. These are my teammates, Kurogane Risho and Yowamusi Roto. We are the genin team assigned to pick up Yen." Kurotsuchi greeted the tokubetsu jonin.

"As for the scroll, our sensei has it." Roto informed her, slightly nervous. He seemed to be trying to show more respect to a Konoha sensei, considering she was probably tougher than him.

"Well, where is your sensei?" Naruto asked, slightly out of curiosity.

"He has more important duties than dealing with you worthless Konoha shinobi!" Risho answered sharply.

"Risho! What did I just say?" Kurotsuchi informed him sharply.

"Worthless? Who are you calling worthless, Iwa scum?" Naruto fired back. He was starting to get fed up with the remarks and was very close to reacting against his better judgment if they continued.

Naruto soon found himself face to face with the sharp glare of the Iwa female. Kurotsuchi was now in front of him with cold eyes focused on him.

"Iwa scum?" She hissed. "I'll keep my fellow teammates in line, but you should keep yourself quiet as well. Don't ever speak that way about my village!"

'...wait...' Kurotsuchi started to study the blonde more closely as she was now in his face. '...he looks just like the Yondaime Hokage! Is he...no...'

'Why is she staring at me like that? Am I some meat to her or something?' Naruto wondered, his scowl getting even larger.

'Damn it! Things aren't going good.' Anko cursed, looking at the situation. 'I can feel the tension between them. We can't have any conflict happen...I have to do something!'

The snake summoner was about to intervene and try and quell the tension when she was stopped. A new figure jumped in between Naruto and Kurotsuchi, pushing them both back away from each.

The new figure was a man wearing red plated armor that covered nearly his entire body. A furnace was attached to the back of his armor and appeared to be letting out steam each second. Over his armor, he was wearing a black gi and had on black gloves over his hands. There was cloth that covered his mouth and the side of his head and he was also wearing a red straw hat.

Anko gasped at the sight of the man. 'Wait...he's the jonin sensei? Well...fuck. I didn't even know he was still an Iwa ninja!'

"Kurotsuchi, Risho, Roto, I thought you would not antagonize the Konoha shinobi. We wouldn't want to do anything to displease Tsuchikage-Sama, would we?" The man asked his students. His voice was notably cold and distant.

"N-No. N-Not at all s-sensei." Roto stammered nervously, bowing his head in shame. He was actually starting to shake under his sensei's hard stare.

"No." Kurotsuchi simply replied. She looked saddened as she stared into her sensei's eyes. Eventually, she turned over to the Konoha shinobi and bowed. "I shouldn't have let my temper got the best of me. Forgive me."

Naruto was taken aback by this. He found himself unconsciously doing the same thing. "It's fine. I was out of line myself. Sorry."

The blonde then turned his attention over to the armor-wearing Iwa ninja. Naruto was staring at him in complete surprise. The man managed to push him and Kurotsuchi away from each other without them even realizing he was approaching. His very presence also seemed to create fear in his students. 'Just how strong can this guy be?'

But that wasn't all the Konoha jinchuuriki noticed. He also noticed the man's light brown eyes. In a way, they reminded him a little of his own, only his were more hardened, cold, and distant. Still, he saw the same pain and loneliness in them.

The man noticed Naruto's gaze and stared back. He broke the silence after a few more seconds of staring.

"Anyway, allow me to introduce myself. I am the Iwa jonin in charge of these genin. My name is Han." The man informed everyone.

Omake: Teach me that Jutsu

Day three of traveling was unusually quiet for the group. Unlike the previous two days, Yen was not chatting with the Konoha shinobi. He seemed deep in thought while on the road.

After an hour of silence from the client, the members of Team Three started to feel uncomfortable. They were starting to wonder if there was something upsetting the man. Anko, surprisingly, was the one to finally address the issue.

"Hey, Yen-San. Are you okay?" She asked her client with concern in her voice.

"Oh, I'm fine! No need to worry. Just thinking about something." Yen dismissed her worries with a smile. "...actually, may I ask a question?"

All of Anko's concern went away and was replaced with a feeling of dread. The sensei nodded hesitantly in response.

"...is it possible that you could teach me how to do some ninjutsu?" The merchant asked.

Anko's eyes widened in response. Her genin, who were listening, were equally surprised. Nobody had expected this request from their client! They started at their client, waiting for him to elaborate.

"I was thinking about it since the attack yesterday. If it weren't for you all, I would be dead. So, I was thinking, I should learn how to perform ninjutsu so that way I can defend myself if I need to!" Yen explained.

A mental image appeared inside the merchant's head. He saw himself as a skinner, more muscular man with a forehead protector on that had the symbol for 'ryo' on it. He pictured himself surrounded by bandits, who were about to strike at him with knives. The Yen he pictured jumped up before they could attack and made necessary hand signs. He then unleashed a massive blast of wind that blew all the bandits away to unknown territory faraway.

Yen laughed excitedly at the mental image.

"Er...I guess it's possible. I mean, anyone can become a ninja with training after all." Anko shrugged. "But...well, Hinata, how much chakra does he have?"

Hinata activated her Byakugan and stared at Yen for awhile. She then frowned, not looking forward to explaining her discovery.

"Um...w-well, he d-does have s-some chakra. B-But he has a r-really small amount. N-Not enough to d-do most ninjutsu..." Hinata said quietly. Her stutter worsened, knowing that Yen was not going to like her answer.

The merchant frowned in response. "But aren't there ways to improve one's chakra capacity? That's what I understood from our previous conversations. Maybe you all could help me work on chakra exercises! I could then teach myself various jutsu!"

"Well...I guess. Why not?" Anko mumbled, not really looking forward to the idea.

"Ooh! I know a jutsu he can learn!" Naruto stated excitedly. "I have a jutsu doesn't take any chakra at all really. And it would take down anybody that tried to attack dattebayo!"

"Really? You know a low-chakra style jutsu?" Anko asked, incredulously. "...what one? Why haven't you used it before or said anything about it? Well, Whiskers, show it to us!"

'...oh God, I think I know what it is...' Shikamaru groaned inwardly. He had a feeling he knew exactly what jutsu his friend was going to show.

Naruto smirked at his sensei's request and made a hand sign. "Transform!" Smoke then appeared, covering his body.

'Transformation? Really? I know it doesn't take much chakra...but that's lame!' Anko complained mentally.

The smoke dispersed itself. Naruto was no longer in sight. In his place, a fully nude woman stood there, posing in a provocative manner. A few smoke clouds remained, covering her 'assets', but that didn't change the fact that they could see everything else.

'I knew it...' Shikamaru grumbled as he tried to fight his nosebleed.

'Naruto-Kun...' Hinata frowned and blushed in embarrassment at her crush's antics. He may have been her hero, inspiration, and crush, but that did not mean she had to like this jutsu of his. 'Why do you know this?'

Anko and Yen made no comments. They merely stared in surprise. Anko broke from her stupor first and immediately smacked Naruto across the head. The impact Naruto's transformation away. He groaned in pain, which only got louder when Anko smacked him again.

"First time was for using such a stupid jutsu! Why the hell do you know that shit!? The second time was for using such a jutsu in front of our client!" Anko shouted.

"Ah..." Naruto grumbled in pain.

Anko then turned her attention to Shikamaru, who she smacked across the head as well.

"Ah!" He hissed, grabbing his head. "What the hell did I do?"

"Nosebleed. You stared for too long and enjoyed what you saw." The tokubetsu jonin deadpanned. She then smacked him a second time. "Second time for talking back to me!"

Shikamaru grumbled about 'troublesome woman' while rubbing his head in pain. Anko didn't really pay attention, as she turned back to face Yen. "I'm terribly sorry for my student's jutsu. It was completely inappropriate and I hope that it doesn't change your view on us and Konoha."

Yen still had a surprised face on. A minute after Anko's apology, his face shifted to a more neutral face.

"Naruto-Sama..." He began. His face then shifted into a 'perverted' grin. "...you've given me more reason to want to learn ninjutsu."

Anko blinked in surprise. Part of the reason she was upset with Naruto was because she was afraid his jutsu would make Konoha look 'inappropriate' to their client. To see such a reaction surprised her, but not in a good way.

The woman started to scowl and smacked the client across the head as well. He grabbed his head in pain as well, joining the other two males.

"Perverts. All of you!" She snapped. "...you know, we are taking a small five minute break. Heal your pain, or whatever. I don't care. Just you guys don't bother me right now! Hinata, you come with me though!"

"Eh? W-Why?" The Hyuga questioned.

"Because I can at least tolerate your presence right now. Now hurry up and follow me!" Her sensei responded.

Hinata nodded hesitantly before following her sensei into the woods. Anko continued to storm off for a second, still very irritated at the jutsu and the other guy's reaction.

However, there was a small thought running through her mind. She would never in a million years admit to it, but she couldn't help but think it.

'...you know, I have to admit it, Whiskers did make a pretty sexy chick...'

'...I wonder what the guy version of that would like?'