Sasuke's twin sister, But Neji's first love

A Dangerous Mission!! A Journey To The Land Of Waves Pt.2

When Sasuke and I finally arrived, we saw only Sakura, the client, and Kakashi-sensei waiting.

"Do we really have to wait for Naruto?" I thought to myself with a sigh.

Eventually, Naruto came sprinting up, panting but grinning. As we started heading out the village gates, he shouted, "YEAAAAAAH! All right!!"

"Why are you so excited?" Sakura asked, blinking at him.

"Well, it's my very first time ever being outside the gates! That means I'm a traveler now! Believe it!" Naruto exclaimed proudly.

I immediately zoned them both out. Ugh... They're giving me a headache.

Suddenly, the bridge builder, Tazuna, spoke up in irritation. "Hey! Am I really supposed to trust my life with that runt?! Come on, he's a joke!"

That brought me back to attention. Hmm... This could be interesting.

"He's with me," Kakashi-sensei replied calmly. "And I'm a Jonin, so you're fine."

But something must've snapped inside Naruto because he spun around and pointed at Tazuna. "Hey! Never insult a ninja—it's a big mistake! I'm one of the greatest ninja ever! Someday I'm gonna be Hokage and you're gonna look up to me! Believe it! My name's Naruto Uzumaki! Remember it!!"

Tazuna took a long swing from his sake bottle and scoffed. "Hokage are strong and intelligent. You're puny and brainless. The day you become Hokage is the day I sprout wings and fly."

"AHHHHHH! SHUT UP!" Naruto exploded. "I'm willing to do anything to become Hokage, no matter what it takes! And when I do, everyone will have to admit I'm the top ninja—including you!!"

Tazuna just grunted. "You could become Hokage ten times, and to me, you'd still be a nobody. A loser."

"I'M GONNA MAKE YOU PAY FOR THAT RIGHT NOW!" Naruto screamed, lunging at him.

Kakashi-sensei held Naruto back with one arm like it was nothing. "Naruto, we're supposed to be protecting the client—not trying to murder him," he said dryly.

With that, we continued our journey.

⸻

Formation Order:
  Kakashi, Naruto
    Tazuna
      Sakura
        Sasuke and me

⸻

Sasuke and I walked in peaceful silence—until Sakura decided it was time to get his attention.

"Sasuke-kun, why don't you walk next to me?" she asked with a hopeful tone, adding a wink. "Then maybe we can do a little talking..."

I turned to Sasuke, who looked absolutely horrified. He slowed his pace just enough to drift slightly behind me and subtly used my body as a shield from Sakura's flirtatious gaze. I shivered, feeling secondhand embarrassment for my brother.

Then I saw Kakashi-sensei glance at a puddle of water.

Hmm... That's weird. It hasn't rained in a while, I thought, narrowing my eyes.

Moments later, chains shot out from the puddle and wrapped around Kakashi-sensei, tearing him apart right before our eyes.

"KAKASHI-SENSEI!" Naruto and Sakura screamed in horror.

Sasuke and I stood frozen, staring at his remains. Sasuke was the first to snap out of it. He nudged me sharply. I blinked, realizing I had completely left myself open. I immediately pulled out a shuriken and kunai.

"Sakura! Protect the bridge builder at all costs!" I ordered.

"Right!" she responded, moving in front of Tazuna with her own kunai raised.

Sasuke and I turned our focus to the two attackers. They were chained together, their movements synchronized. Sasuke acted quickly—he threw a ninja star and kunai, pinning the chain to a tree.

The chain snapped, and they split off—one charged Naruto, the other went straight for Tazuna. Sasuke ran to protect Sakura and the client, while I rushed toward Naruto. I pulled out two kunai and two shuriken—when suddenly, Kakashi-sensei appeared and grabbed both enemy ninja by the neck.

"Hi," he said coolly.

Kakashi-sensei... he's alive?!
Hmph. Show-off.
How...?
Hn. Must've been a substitution jutsu.

"Naruto, I'm sorry I didn't step in sooner," Sensei said. "I didn't think you'd freeze up like that."

⸻

Ryuko's POV:

I heard Tazuna sigh behind me and glanced over. His face looked conflicted, like he was hiding something. I turned to Naruto—he was glaring at Sasuke with a look that could burn holes in stone.

"Hey," Sasuke called out.

"Yeah?" Naruto grunted.

"You're not hurt, are you? Scaredy-cat," he smirked.

"Sasuke, don't be mean. Naruto didn't freeze on purpose—he was just caught off guard," I defended him.

"Hn. Whatever."

I gave Naruto a small, friendly smile to help calm him down, but it didn't seem to work. He growled, clearly seething.

"Naruto, don't move too much," Kakashi-sensei warned. "The kunai they cut you with was coated in poison. The more you move, the faster it spreads. Also, Mister Tazuna—we're going to have a little talk."

Naruto went pale with panic.

After tying up the enemies, Sensei began his explanation.

"These are Chunin from the Hidden Mist Village. Their specialty is relentless attacks—they fight no matter the cost."

One of the Mist ninja scowled. "How did you know we were there?"

"A puddle on a clear day, when it hasn't rained in weeks," I said before Kakashi-sensei could answer.

"If you knew, then why did you let the genin take care of it instead of you?" Tazuna asked suspiciously.

"I could've taken them out easily," Kakashi replied, "but then I wouldn't have learned anything. I needed to know who their target was—us, or you."

"What are you getting at?" Tazuna replied, now visibly tense.

"Don't play dumb," I cut in. "You know exactly what Kakashi-sensei is saying. He needed to know if they were after us as ninja—or after you, the master bridge builder."

"Our mission was to protect you from common threats—robbers and bandits. Not trained ninja. If we'd known the truth, this would've been classified as a B-rank mission."

Tazuna looked down, clearly guilty.

"I don't think we can handle this," Sakura said anxiously. "We should go back and treat Naruto's wound before it gets worse."

Kakashi nodded. "Yeah... that hand might become a problem."

Behind us, Naruto suddenly growled. I turned to ask what was wrong—but then he took out a kunai, gritted his teeth, and stabbed himself in the hand to force out the poison. Blood gushed out.

I gasped. We all did.

"Why am I so different?" Naruto shouted. "Why do I always fall behind?! I worked hard for this—pushed myself past my limit to get stronger and achieve my dream! I'll never freeze again. I'll never lose to Sasuke. Upon this wound, I make this pledge—BELIEVE IT!"

He turned to Tazuna. "Bridge builder, I swear to protect you with this kunai! Don't worry, I'll be fine!"

"Um, Naruto," I said, pointing to his bleeding hand, "that's heroic and all—but if you don't stop the bleeding, you're going to die."

Naruto immediately broke into a cold sweat. "AHH! I'm too young to die like this! Noooo!"

Kakashi-sensei chuckled softly. "Now would be a good time to stop the bleeding, Naruto."

⸻

I sighed and ignored their chaos. I turned to Sasuke. "Do you think higher-ranked ninja will come after Tazuna again?"

"Hn. I don't know," he muttered. "We'll just have to find out."

And with that, we continued walking.