Namikaze Naruto- The Unpredictable Shinobi

Chapter 13: D-Rank Missions & a Bridge Builder

Team 7 have been doing D rank missions. They were mostly helping out civilians in their chores like weeding, farming, baby-sitting, etc. Fresh genins were always with the mindset that they were strong enough to fight in higher ranked missions and hated D Ranked missions. Naruto understood their importance, but put up the act of despising the missions. Here is a typical Tora-cat-mission.

"Kakashi here, state your locations."

"Sakura, 15 m east from the target."

"Sasuke, 15 m west from the target."

"Naruto, 15 m north from the target-dattebayo." Ah yes. The verbal tic- Though Namikaze Naruto has it completely under control, Uzumaki Naruto doesn't have it under control.

"Okay team, approach slowly... Now you're 5 m away... and... Now!" The three of them pounced on their target, the cat Tora, that was dubbed oh-so-fondly by every shinobi as the Demon Cat. Sakura caught it, "Sasuke-kun! I caught it! Did you see-" she was interrupted by the cat who scratched her face before jumping away, only to get caught by Sasuke who grunted with a smirk, "Hn." The smug smirk was scratched away by Tora before it jumped away again, only to fall in Naruto's arms. She petted the cat, and soon, it was purring contentedly and sleeping in her arms. The Jounin sweat-dropped, while the genins fumed at this. A red ribbon on its right ear was the confirmation required to identify Tora, as if its violent behaviour wasn't enough.

They headed back to the Hokage tower to report and return the cat to its owner, the wife of the Daimyo of Hi no Kuni. She was a sweet and kind lady, but this side was missed by everyone who retrieved her cat as she squeezed the life out of the cat out of love before it escaped again. 'Serves the cat right' were the thoughts of the all genin except a sunny blonde, as they see the treatment received by the cat in the hands of its mistress.

After the 20th time of retrieving Tora, Naruto replaced herself with a shadow clone and approached the Daimyo's wife. This was one of the rare occasions when her husband accompanied her. They were walking when Naruto, in her male form, caught up with them and escorted them to a spot in a park nearby, where they would be away from the eyes of the rest, but had a good view of the park. She politely gave the Daimyo's wife tips to take care of Tora by herself and discussed minor politics with the Daimyo. But it was mostly him teaching her indirectly. This wasn't planned, however, but wasn't unwelcomed. She earned herself the affections of the couple and the Daimyo's respect, before they parted and went off their separate ways.

Other D-ranked missions Naruto found them enjoyable as long as the civilians involved didn't insult her or make things more difficult for her or treat her as trash. She used the missions to try bonding with her team and the villagers. Some villagers warmed up to her, many remained neutral, while some still despised her.

After a certain D-rank mission one day, team 7 reported to the Hokage. "Team 7, your next D-rank mission-" "NO!" a pink haired genin shouted as a black haired genin grunted in approval. Sakura continued, "Give us a better ranked mission like the shinobi we are!" "Sakura, show Hokage-sama some respect!" Iruka who was assigning the missions chided her. Sarutobi chuckled and cut him off, "It's alright Iruka. Kakashi, do you think your team is ready?" Said Jounin was sceptical. Their teamwork was horrible. Perhaps better than at the bell test, but still horrible. Each had their individual skills, and if anything would go wrong, the jounin would protect them and back-up can be requested in the worst scenarios. As long as the mission wasn't A or S-ranked, he could deal with the enemy and protect the defenceless genin. And surely the Hokage wouldn't dump dangerous missions on the fresh genin, would he? A slightly higher ranked mission might encourage them to work better together. It's worth a shot, but the Jounin leader should be on high alert. "Yes Hokage-sama, they are ready." Sakura and Naruto jumped in excitement, while Sasuke smirked triumphant. Naruto was thinking through as to why Kakashi agreed, all behind the bubbly façade.

Sarutobi asked a ninja to bring in a certain 'Tazuna'. Naruto turned to see a drunk old man, and the smell of sake (alcohol) filled the room. The fact that Naruto had heightened senses due to being a Jinchuuriki and had practised honing her senses didn't help her. Drunks brought her bad memories, especially the one on her 4th birthday. Once she had realised that she had almost be raped, she had been traumatised for nearly a month. Back to present, Naruto did the most logical thing she thought, and cut off her sense of smell, and kept her temper under control.

"What do I get for my payment? A bored Ninja, an emo with hair like duck, a pink fangirl, and an idiot face of a blonde." Now Naruto might have ignored any insult directed at her, and the drunk might have given a tolerable insult to Kakashi. However, by saying that her face was idiotic, he had insulted her father, whose face she had inherited. She let some of her anger show as she lunged sloppily at Tazuna, only to be stopped by Kakashi. "Maa, Naruto, we can't go on killing our own clients, can we?" Naruto huffed.

"Team 7, this is a C-Rank mission. You have to escort Tazuna to his home in Nami no Kuni- Land of Waves, and guard him from bandits as he completes building a bridge he is working on now. Bridge builder Tazuna, here is your team of protectors." Sarutobi introduced. Tazuna scoffed, "Wow, now I'm more worried for my life." Though the tone had been sarcastic, Naruto didn't miss the seriousness and worry that was evident in his eyes, and gave a slight frown. Kakashi reassured him, "Don't worry Tazuna-san. I'm a skilled Jounin able enough to protect you. My team is worthy of your trust too." He turned to his students, "Alright team, meet up at the village gates in 1 hour."