The past few days had been… rough.
"Another D-rank mission?" Naruto groaned, dragging his feet as he returned to the Hokage Tower. "I swear, if I have to chase another cat—"
"You're the one who volunteered to climb the tree," Sakura reminded him.
"Only because you were too scared of the bees!" Naruto shot back.
Yang stifled a yawn, tossing her braid behind her shoulder. "That garden cleaning mission really brought out my allergies."
"That wasn't allergies," Weiss said coolly. "You kicked up half the pollen on the continent."
"I'm pretty sure I cleaned that river better than most of the village volunteers and cleanes," Blake added.
As the newly formed Team 7 stood before the Third Hokage once more, the old man smiled calmly. "Team 7, your mission today is—"
"No more D-rank missions!!" Naruto suddenly yelled, slamming his hands on the desk.
Weiss crossed her arms. "I agree. These tasks don't challenge our skills at all."
Even Sasuke chimed in with a nod. "We're not being tested."
Hiruzen raised a brow, amused. "I see. You want a more dangerous mission?"
Naruto puffed up. "Yeah! Give us something real already!"
Ruby leaned toward Weiss. "He's being really passionate. I guess all the D rank missions got to him"
Yang leaned toward Mikasa. "Think he'll cry if he sees blood?"
Mikasa just kept a neutral expression, but her hand gently touched the hilt of her blade. "Let's hope not."
Hiruzen sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Very well. You're all now officially Genin, so I'll give you some explanation."
He gestured to a chart on the wall.
"Missions are ranked by difficulty. D-rank are the easiest, for helping villagers. C-rank may involve guarding a person but usually without enemy ninja. B-rank and A-rank involve higher risks, combat, and enemy shinobi. And S-rank…" he trailed off, eyes sharpening, "...those are often life-threatening."
Naruto and Ruby weren't listening.
Ruby was twirling Crescent Rose in her hands, totally absorbed in maintaining her scythe. Naruto had zoned out, imagining fighting off fifty ninja in dramatic, slow-motion battle glory.
Blake was quietly reading Mist Country Myths: A Hidden History. Yang was filing her nails.
After a long pause, Hiruzen looked to Kakashi and Mikasa.
"They're… ready enough. Let them have a C-rank mission."
Mikasa gave a tiny nod. Kakashi smiled under his mask.
"Send the client in."
The door opened.
In walked a scruffy-looking older man with a bottle of sake in one hand and a large scroll tucked under the other. He wore a brown cloak, and a straw hat sat loosely on his head.
"This is Tazuna," Hiruzen said. "He's from the Land of Waves. Your job is to escort him back home and protect him while he completes a bridge construction project."
Tazuna stared at them.
"These are the ninjas who'll protect me?" He blinked, then squinted at Naruto. "This brat looks like he'd trip over his own sandals."
"WHAT'D YOU SAY?!" Naruto roared.
He lunged, but Mikasa was already behind him, holding him up by the collar with one arm.
"Stand down," she said coolly.
"Okay, okay! Sheesh," Naruto grumbled.
Back at the village gate, the team prepared for departure.
Sakura was checking her bag obsessively. "Food pills? Check. Antiseptic? Check. Backup kunai?"
Sasuke sat silently under a tree, flipping a kunai between his fingers.
Weiss used ice release to make the water bottle compact from frozen vapor in the air. Ruby tested her grip on Crescent Rose's new collapsible form. Blake wrote in a travel log. Yang leaned against a post, arms folded.
Naruto bounced on his feet. "Our first real mission! I'm ready for anything!"
Mikasa and Kakashi walked side by side at the front of the group, silent as always.
As they traveled down the dirt road leading out of the Land of Fire, Kakashi finally broke the silence.
"Now that we're leaving the safety of the village, it's important you understand how our world is structured."
He pointed toward the horizon. "There are many countries. Each is governed by a Daimyo. Some of these countries have hidden villages, like ours—Konoha. These villages train shinobi who serve as military power."
"And each village has its own Kage," Mikasa added. "The strongest ninja. They lead and protect their people."
Ruby nodded. "So… Hokage is just the title for the leader of Konoha?"
"Exactly," Kakashi replied.
Naruto raised a fist. "Then I'll become the strongest Hokage ever!"
"Not if I beat you to it," Ruby teased, spinning her weapon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hours passed.
The forest thickened as they traveled. A rustling came from the bushes behind them.
Suddenly—clang!
Two ninja leapt out, cloaked in brown, their faces hidden behind rebreathers. Chains wrapped between them, snapping forward like a whip.
"Ambush!" Kakashi shouted—then vanished in a puff of smoke.
Mikasa too, disappeared—shadow clones.
The rogue ninja roared, aiming directly for Tazuna.
"Protect the client!" Blake ordered.
Sasuke moved first, launching a kunai with precise aim. One rogue batted it aside, grinning.
But Blake vanished into the shadow beneath his feet—Shadow Step Jutsu. In an instant, she emerged behind them, slashing with twin kunai.
Chains snapped—Ruby appeared mid-air, her scythe spinning. With a clean swing, she severed the chain between the two enemies.
"What the—?!" one of the rogues exclaimed.
Weiss formed a quick hand sign. "Water Style: Glacial Bind!"
From the damp air, ice tendrils shot up, locking their legs in place.
Yang charged in. "My turn!"
With a resounding boom, she punched one of them in the chest, sending him flying into a tree. The other one barely had time to react before Blake knocked his weapon from his hand and disarmed him.
Naruto and Sakura had formed a protective triangle around Tazuna. Sakura held a kunai out, trembling slightly. Naruto stood firm.
Just as the dust settled, Kakashi and Mikasa dropped down from the trees.
"Well done," Kakashi said, brushing dust off his shoulder.
"You handled that well," Mikasa added.
"You knew it was coming?" Sasuke asked.
"We suspected," Kakashi said. "You all needed a real fight. Consider this your introduction."
Naruto stared at the unconscious bodies. "They were… ninjas. Stronger than I thought."
Weiss walked over, conjuring a small stream of water with her jutsu and cleaned the splattered blood off Naruto's face.
"You dork. Don't stand there gaping in the middle of a fight."
Naruto scratched his head. "Heh. Thanks."
Kakashi turned to Tazuna. "You said this was a C-rank mission. But there are rogue ninjas… that's at least B-rank level."
Tazuna sighed, shoulders slumping. "I was afraid this would happen. The truth is… someone's trying to stop me from building the bridge. His name is Gato. He's a corrupt shipping magnate who uses thugs and rogue ninjas to control our country."
"And you lied," Mikasa said flatly.
"I didn't have the money for a proper escort," Tazuna admitted.
The team exchanged glances as they discussed the next course of action.
After two minutes they decided.
"We're continuing," Naruto said. "We're not backing down now."
"You sure?" Kakashi asked.
"We didn't come this far just to run away," Blake said.
Sasuke gave a single nod.
Ruby spun her scythe. "Let's build that bridge."
"He can pay us back later when the bridge is built" Weiss said thinking ahead and Sakura agreed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After a long walk, they reached the foggy shores of a riverbank where an old man waited with a small boat.
"No lights," he whispered. "We'll move under the mist."
One by one, they boarded. The boat creaked as it cut through the mist-covered waters. Visibility dropped to almost nothing.
A few minutes later they reached land.
Then… a sudden chill ran down their spines.
Weiss frowned. "This isn't natural mist."
Ruby scanned the treeline. "Everyone—stay alert."
Mikasa drew one of her long blades, eyes narrowing.
That's when it happened.
A massive sword embedded itself in a nearby tree—bigger than anything they'd seen.
A figure stood atop the water, his presence like death itself. He wore bandages over his face and wielded a massive cleaver-like blade.
"Ah," the man said, voice low. "I found you."
Tazuna gasped. "That sword… it can't be—!"
Kakashi stepped forward. "Zabuza Momochi. Demon of the Hidden Mist."
The fog thickened.
Ruby gripped her scythe tighter. "Guess this mission's about to get serious."
Yang brings her knuckles together "time to brawl."