Chapter 3

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Chapter 3: First Mission

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Naruto ran towards the gate at full speed to see Yūgao filling out a form in the check post. "Hey sensei," Naruto called out and Yūgao smiled lightly at him before handing the form to a shinobi stationed in the check post. After that, she gazed at Naruto and started, "What did you bring for the mission?" Yūgao questioned and Naruto started listing out the items he brought, he studied somewhere that shinobis had to inform their leading officer of all the items they were carrying on a mission.

"I brought a set of kunai and shuriken, food pills, a medical kit, a sleeping bag, and a change of clothes." Naruto listed out and Yūgao nodded her head with a satisfied look. "Good, now let's head out. We'll meet our client just outside the gate, we are to escort him to his house without harm" Yūgao said and Naruto nodded to her.

Naruto saw a man standing near the gate and scowled. 'Is he the person we're escorting? I smell alcohol from him.' Naruto thought with a scowl. Noticing Yūgao, the man walked up to her with shaky steps. "You're finally here," The man said and Yūgao nodded her head. "Yes Tazuna-san, Naruto, meet Tazuna-san, he's the person we're escorting today." Yūgao introduced and Naruto nodded his head. "Hello Tazuna-san," Naruto said bringing his hand up for a shake which was ignored.

"Yeah yeah, don't waste time, take me home fast," Tazuna commanded as he started walking away from the gate. Yūgao sighed and followed the man after slowly patting Naruto's shoulder. "Come." She whispered to Naruto who huffed before following her.

With that, the student-teacher duo along with Tazuna started heading for his house. Along the way, Naruto found out that Tazuna was a bridge builder and he was currently constructing a bridge in his hometown.

Naruto kept a serious face as he walked, keeping an eye for any ambushes. Yūgao simply giggled as she saw Naruto try to act serious but fail miserably. She knew Naruto was trying to be aware of the surroundings but his inexperience was visible clearly. The fact that he didn't notice those shinobi hiding in a buddle a few feet away from them didn't help.

Suddenly, Yūgao found herself trapped from head to toe by a chain. Naruto looked at his trapped sensei with shock evident in his eyes but before he could do anything, Yūgao was ripped apart by the chains that trapped her. Naruto didn't get a chance to get his bearings as two shinobi started rushing at him.

Enraged that his sensei was killed, Naruto intercepted his sensei's murderer with a scowl. The two shinobi tried trapping Naruto with the same chains that they used to rip apart Yūgao, however, they found themselves unable to do so as Naruto had shot two projectiles at the chains successfully sticking them into a tree.

Before the foreign shinobi could discard the chain, Naruto quickly ran towards one of the shinobi stabbed two kunai into his thighs, and kicked him away. The other shinobi seeing his partner being attacked quickly discarded his chains and rushed at Naruto with the intent to kill him.

Naruto who had his attention drawn towards the other shinobi didn't notice the shinobi approaching him. He heard a gushing sound behind him and turned his attention to the other shinobi just to find in lying on the ground.

His eyes widened as he noticed the state of the shinobi. Yūgao was standing there with her sword drawn while the Shinobi that was approaching Naruto was lying on the ground, split into multiple pieces. Naruto suddenly puked looking at the condition of the shinobi. After he was done, Naruto got up from his position and found Yūgao discussing with Tazuna.

He noticed Tazuna sporting a pleading look and walked over to question what was happening. "Tazuna-san, what you did was a serious crime. You, not only lied about the seriousness of the mission, but you endangered the lives of me and my student by not informing us of your condition. You can return to your village by yourself, Konoha isn't responsible for whatever happens to you from here." Yūgao sternly said.

"Please reconsider, the current state of my village is very fragile. We can't afford a B-rank mission right now, we collected all the extra money we had so that we can hire your shinobi. Please don't leave me." Tazuna requested Yūgao who sighed. 'I am tired of fake missions.' During her life as a Shinobi, she had come across many missions where the clients had lied to them about the gravity of their situations. Although frowned upon, the Hokage being the kind person that he is, made an unofficial rule that states, "If the reason for such an act is found to be appropriate enough, it lies within the commanding officer to decide the outcome of the mission."

Before Yūgao had the opportunity to think, however, Tazuna interrupted her train of thought by adding. "If you leave me right now, my whole village will be subject to Gato's tyranny, we won't be able to feed our family, and everyone will suffer for eternity." at this point, Tazuna was bowing at Yūgao who was torn. If she decides to complete the mission, the Land of Wave will have a better future but the risk of her student getting hurt during the mission was something she wasn't ready for. But if she cancels the mission, there is no answer to all the things Gato can do.

She decided that it was better to return to Konoha and sent a specialized team to Land of Waves instead of risking the life of her inexperienced student. This kind of mission was too risky for a mere genin. However, before she could propose her thoughts, her student had already made a decision as he proudly stated, "Don't worry Tazuna-san, we'll come with you and protect you with our lives."

After Naruto said that, Yūgao looked at him with a plain look. Naruto returned her look with a serious look, there was a small hint of challenge in her look that dared her to disagree with him. Yūgao being an Anbu, simply discarded his challenging look but she wasn't ready to overlook his seriousness.

Just then it hit Yūgao, her student was a shinobi of Konoha, he wasn't a kid who needed protection, the fact that he was wearing the forehead protector showed his position. 'I was internally judging Naruto's ability as a shinobi and was about to hold him back because I didn't want my student to be hurt. I let my personal feelings take over, not so professional.'

Yūgao knew that such a mission was impossible for a genin, but at the same time, she could tell that if she decided to abandon this mission, Naruto's trust in the shinobi system might fail. After a full minute of thinking, Yūgao finally came to a decision.

She looks at Tazuna pointedly and says, "Those shinobi, they are B-Rank Nukenin of the village hidden in the mist. The fact that they attacked us makes me inclined to expect a possible future, if my calculations are correct, this mission is most definitely an A-Rank. Konoha expects you to pay the full amount of an A-Rank mission after your village is stabilized enough to generate the amount." Yūgao says and Tazuna nods his head with a small tear trailing down his face. "Thank you so much."

And with that, the trio continued on their journey to the Land of Waves, with Yūgao keeping an eye out for him while Naruto continued with his 'serious lookout' the entire way.

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