Wish Upon the Night Sky (Naruto Fanfic)

Chapter 20

Usagi twenty


>>>>CHAPTER 20<<<<

>>>>Is This Mission Really C-Rank?<<<<

"Are you in position?" Kakashi asked through the small microphone.

"I'm at point A."

"Point B."

"Point D."

... Usagi, who was at point C didn't speak.

"Usagi, if you’re in position, tap the microphone." Kakashi sighed. It was troublesome how she never spoke around other people.

There was a muffled tap heard through the earpieces.

"Alright... Go!"

The four genin quickly grabbed a nearby cat, which proceeded to claw Naruto’s face off.

"Our target has a ribbon on its right ear that says Tora. Make sure there’s no mistake." Kakashi spoke through the earpiece.

"Target confirmed." Sasuke said. There was a red ribbon and Tora was written across it.

"Good! Then mission: find the missing pet, is complete."

--At the Hokage’s office--

Lady Shijimi suffocated her poor cat, shoving the terrified creature in her boobs and squeezing the life out of it. "My poor little Tora! Good kitty-kitty... I was so worried about you!"

Usagi bowed her head, praying for the poor kitty. 'Poor thing, no wonder he ran away.'

As Lady Shijimi left with poor, poor Tora, the Hokage went on to announce the next missions.

"There's baby sitting... Running errands for neighbouring villages... Digging sweet potatoes..."

"NO WAY!!" Naruto screamed, fed up with all the boring missions. "Give us something different to do! Something important, something amazing!!"

"Don't be a fool!" Iruka-Sensei yelled.

He then went off on some giant lecture, and the Hokage even joined in.

However, everyone had stopped paying attention.

"Are you listening?!" The Hokage yelled, gaining everyone's, except Usagi’s, attention.

"... Usagi." Kakashi called out, but there was no response. She was in a world of her own, gazing out the window.

Only one way to bring her back. Kakashi whacked a book over Usagi’s head.

"Pay attention." He scolded Usagi as she put a hand on her head.

"As I was saying," The Hokage cleared his throat. "You will be going on a C-ranked mission. Your task will be to protect a certain individual..."

"Who is it?!" Naruto asked, a huge smile on his face. "Some great lord? Maybe even a princess?!"

"Compose yourself." The Hokage said. "I'll perform the introductions right away. Please invite him in."

Two seconds later, an old drunken man stood in the doorway, taking a swig of his sake. Straight from the bottle. 'Cause that's classy.

"What’s going on here?" The drunk complained. "They're a bunch of snot nosed brats. Look at them, especially those two midgets. Ones got the face of an imbecile, and the other’s as tiny as a two year old. It’s a joke, right? Kids like you aren't really ninja, are you?"

"Usagi! He called you a midget and an imbecile!" Naruto yelled.

"He said it to you too, loser." Sasuke crossed his arms.

"Wait, I'm not short!" Naruto said, not understanding the insult.

The four then lined up. Sasuke was the tallest as 150cm, Sakura second at 148cm, Naruto third at 145cm, and Usagi was last at a tiny 138cm.

It took a moment, but he finally realized what Tazuna had implied. "I'LL KILL YOU!!" Naruto, both an imbecile and a midget, charged at Tazuna, but was held back by Kakashi.

"No killing the old man you've been assigned to protect." He scolded.

[Old man, don't underestimate us.] Usagi held up her notebook.

"Great, she’s a mute too." Tazuna rolled his eyes, taking another swig of his sake.

Usagi’s eye twitched. She found this man very irritating. Too judgmental.

"I am Tazuna. The great bridge builder. Until I am safely back in my own country, where ill be completing my next bridge, I expect you all to protect me... Even if it costs you your lives."

Usagi decided she really didn't like this man, but she hoped she'd just gotten a bad first impression of him.

----

They five ninja met Tazuna at the village gate.

"Alright!" Naruto cheered. "Road trip!"

"What are you babbling about?" Sakura rolled her eyes.

"This is the first time in my life I've ever been outside of the village!"

Tazuna pointed at Naruto. "Am I really expected to place my life in the hands of this fool?"

Kakashi sighed. "There's no need to worry. I'm a jonin, and I'll be coming along too."

"Listen you old geezer!" Naruto yelled. "You don't ever mess with ninja! Especially a good one like me! I'm the best of the best! In fact, one day, I'm gonna be Hokage! Believe it! You better remember my name! Its Naruto Uzumaki!"

"Hokage eh?" Tazuna raised an eyebrow. "The leader of your village? The best of the best? I don't think you have it in you."

"We'll you're old and stupid!!" Naruto yelled. Usagi giggled as Naruto continued to rant. "I'm doing all the right things, and I'm doing then fast! When I become Hokage, you're gonna wish you were a lot more respectful to me!"

"Respect you? I don't think so." Tazuna took another swig of his sake. "Not even if you did become Hokage."

On that angry note, they headed off, but not without Naruto trying to rip out Tazuna’s throat.

"You're dead!" He yelled.

"I said no, you dunce." Kakashi held him back, once again.

They continued walking for a while until Sakura asked Tazuna’s homeland, the land of waves.

It was established that there are no ninja in that country, and that-

Oh hey, a puddle. It hasn't rained in a week. Wonder what that's doing there.

It would seem Usagi and Kakashi were the only ones who noticed this small puddle. After exchanging a small glance, they knew what they had to do.

After a little bit more walking, two ninja came out of the puddle.

They went for Kakashi first, who was soon chopped into pieces. Even though Usagi knew it was fake, it was still hard to watch.

Moving quickly, Usagi jumped into the fight, activating her rinnegan, she quickly used the Asura path, which turned her into a human shield.

She blocked the enemy's chains with her bare arms, leaving the enemy stunned, especially when she was completely unharmed.

Sasuke moved quickly too, jumping in to help Usagi. He quickly used their chains against them by pinning them to a tree.

Usagi quickly moved in, punching one of the enemy straight across the face. Seeing as her body was made of metal armour at the moment, the punch hurt. His jaw broke, and that was when Usagi barely used any force.

Sasuke kicked the other ninja, but despite their injuries, they still charged on.

As one ninja charged for Naruto, the other charged at Tazuna.

Sasuke and Sakura jumped in to protect Tazuna, so Usagi jumped to help Naruto... But having an armour body tends to slow you down a little bit.

Usagi got there a second too late. Naruto’s hand had been cut, but before anymore damage could be done, Usagi kicked the enemy in the stomach, sending him flying into a nearby tree. Upon impact, the tree broke, and the enemy lost consciousness.

Kakashi had jumped in, grabbing the other enemy ninja.

"I'm sorry Naruto." Kakashi apologized. "I should have moved to help before you were injured. I didn't think you'd freeze up like that. Good job Sasuke, Usagi, Sakura."

As Kakashi approached the other enemy ninja, Sasuke approached Naruto. "Hey... Are you okay...? You big chicken."

"Naruto! There's no time for arguing now." Kakashi said, setting down the unconscious enemy ninja and securing a rope around them and a tree. "Their claws were poisoned. We have to clean that wound as soon as possible. If we cut it more deeply, the blood flow will wash away the poison. For now, keep still so it doesn't spread." He then turned his attention to Tazuna. "I need to speak with you."

---- ---- ---- ----

"Our attackers are chunin from Kirigakure. They are shinobi renowned for their willingness to fight on until their goal is achieved, even if it costs them their lives. Obviously, they were watching and waiting for us. The suns out, and it hasn't rained for several days... So there shouldn't have been any puddles."

"If you knew all that, why let them attack?" Tazuna asked.

"I could have killed them at any time... But I wanted to find out who their real target was." Kakashi said.

"What do you mean by that?" Tazuna asked.

"Were they after you, or one of us ninja? There has been no word of any shinobi trying to take your life. You requested protection from thieves and bandits, ordinary dangers. In any case, its clear that this is more than a B-Rank mission. To protect you from ordinary dangers is one thing... But if you are being targeted by ninja... Then this would have been classified as a jonin level mission. You may have had your reasons, but it’s never a good idea to conceal the facts when you ask for help. As it is, this task falls far beyond the boundaries of the job we were assigned."

Sakura looked worried as she spoke. "We're not good enough to handle something like this... Can we quit? We need to return to the village and get Naruto’s wound checked."

"Hmm." Kakashi frowned. "This is complicated... Do we go back home and make sure Naruto receives proper medical attention?"

That was when Naruto stabbed himself... Yep.

"Naruto!" Sakura freaked out. "What are you doing?!"

"With this kunai... I promise you... I will protect the old man." If it wasn't completely masochist, it would have been kinda cool.

"... Naruto, you needed a free flow of blood to clear the poison... But you've exceeded the need. You could bleed to death." Kakashi ended his sentence with a smile.

"NOOO!! IM NOT GONNA DIE LIKE THIS!!" Naruto panicked.

"Show me your hand." Kakashi said. Naruto held out his hand, but not without Sakura complaining.

"What are you? Some kind of masochist? Do you get off on pain?"

Usagi was relieved as Kakashi wrapped Naruto’s hand, saying he'd be fine. She was glad everyone was alright, but she was still rather shaken up by what had happened.

"Usagi?" Kakashi noticed she was rather nervous. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He put a hand on her head.

"Don't do that again." She whispered quietly, so only her dad would hear.

"I'll try not to." Kakashi smiled, making Usagi scoff. She was back to normal now.

"... Sensei, sir..." Tazuna called Kakashi, a guilty look on his face. "I have something I need to say... Uh... You should know about the request I made... As you guessed, the job is more dangerous than you were informed. There's a real scary man who wants to see me dead."

"Who is he?" Kakashi asked, standing up, and facing Tazuna.

"You've probably heard of him. He's a billionaire in the shipping industry. His name is Gato."

"You mean... Gato of shipping and transport? The Gato? They say he's the richest man in the world!"

"That's the one. On the surface, he looks like a businessman, but the truth is, he's a ruthless murdering criminal who employs gangs and shinobi and ships in drugs and contraband. He starts out taking over companies... And ends up running entire countries. He lives by every low and vicious trade known to man. It was just one year ago... He set his sights on the land of waves. In no time at all, he was running the place. The only thing he fears is the completion of that bridge."

"I see." Sakura said. Usagi nodded in agreement. "You're in his way."

"So, the ninja who attacked us work for Gato." Sasuke said.

"I still don't understand..." Kakashi said. "If you knew you were the target of such a thing, why not mention it when asking for help?"

"The land of waves isn't a prosperous land. Even our lords are poor. I have no money at all. A B-Rank mission is much more than I can afford. But, if you all turn away from me now, I'm as good as dead."

Tazuna was using the guilt trip. "But, that's not your concern! You won't be there to see my daughter and ten year old grandson cry all day and night! Oh! And you won't mind if my daughter vows eternal hatred against all the ninja of your village as she lives the rest of her life alone! But don't worry, its not your fault!"

"... Well, I suppose it can't be helped." Kakashi gave in. We'll continue to protect you. At least until you return to your country."

‘Gotcha! Heheheh... Suckers...'

____________________________________________________________________________________

AN/ My apologies for any grammar mistakes. I edited this chapter in two minutes

If you haven’t, please read the authors note from last chapter. It was really long, but kinda important. (To me anyway. Comment on what I wrote to make me smile :3) Also, my writing is much better in my recent, unposted works. I wrote this story at least a year ago so I've improved since then.

Thanks for reading!


-C