Return of the Flash by Kamikaze132

Chapter 8

"Welcome to the wonderful world of D-ranks."

Naruto was starting to hate those words by now. It had been two weeks since the bell test had taken place. Kakashi had kept to his promise and started taking missions for the team the day after.

Only Naruto, and by extension his teammates, refused to believe whatever they were doing were missions.

Menial tasks such as fixing fences, taking dogs out for walks, manual labor on farms...Naruto was confused as hell as to how these tasks could be labeled in the same category as missions. He was sure Sasuke and Sakura were too.

Speaking of which, Sasuke had started asking questions about how Naruto knew wind and water ninjutsu, his taijutsu style. He even had the nerve to demand from him all the jutsu he knew. Naruto had told him in no uncertain terms that unless Sasuke was willing to share jutsu from his own repertoire, Naruto had no intention of telling him what he wanted to know.

Of course, Sasuke refused to share any jutsu of his, believing that they were Uchiha clan jutsu and as such, no one besides him could know. Naruto had scoffed at that, but Kurama had straight out burst laughing. The great beast had told him he knew at least twenty people who could perform the great fireball, only two of which were Uchiha.

Naruto had smartly countered that argument by toeing the line that was Uchiha Sasuke's pride. He had condescendingly asked if the great Uchiha library was not enough for him. Sasuke did not want to admit that he could not access it without his sharingan and he honestly believed all jutsus available outside were weak and so, did not bother to learn them.

He stopped bugging Naruto after that, much to the blonde's relief. However, Sakura had started bugging him on Sasuke's behalf to get him to hand over the jutsus, saying that a loser like him does not deserve them. Naruto was quick in shutting her up, turning her own argument against her.

He had smartly questioned her if she was implying he was weak. Sakura, unaware of what she was putting her foot into, scoffed and replied that she was not implying, she knew he was weak. After that, everything went smooth like butter.

Naruto replied that if he was weak, then by extension, the jutsu he used were also weak. And Sasuke wouldn't love Sakura if she handed him weak jutsus, right?

Sakura had adopted a worried frown at his question and seemed to come to the conclusion that he was right. She did not once question why Naruto accepted himself as weak, which was opposite of what he had displayed in the bell test. Regardless, after mocking him some more, she went back to Sasuke, who ignored her as usual.

Kakashi-sensei was also onto him, but he was a lot more cautious in his approach. He subtly framed his statements such that Naruto would have difficulty in avoiding the correct answer. But Naruto knew that if it got out he had received training from an early age, Sasuke might throw one of his tantrums, which would then result in the civilian council removing him from the ninja program.

No thank you.

Naruto, while subtle talking was not one of his strengths, decided that he would avoid talking to Kakashi outside of missions and training.

Speaking of training, Naruto tried out the taijutsu simulation his father left for him. Needless to say, he was excited as hell when he fought the first level. And he was more than surprised at how difficult it was. He may have reached a level in his resistance seals that actually permits him to try all seven levels, but only the first level's victory came at the cost of some very impressive bruises. It taught Naruto that his taijutsu, while very good, was not good enough. He increased the resistance on his body, believing if he was faster, he would be better