"This is Sasuke, at point B."

"This is Sakura, I'm at point C."

It took a long while before Naruto replied.

"Naruto point A, believe it!"

The rest sighed.

(Y/N) was smirking from her crouching position; the cat was a few feet away from her. She smirked, flexed her legs, and then tackled the cat.

"TOO slow, Naruto." Kakashi complained. He waited for a few minutes for (Y/N)'s reply but didn't hear anything.

"(Y/N)!"

"Oh, right! (Y/N) here at point D, with the target captured." She stated from the mic.

"Okay, Squad Sev-! Wait what?" Kakashi exclaimed in surprise.

All her teammates jumped out of their hideouts. Their jaws dropped, as the cat played with (Y/N)'s hair.

(Y/N) smiled slightly, showing her slightly long canines. "He's kinda cute."

"How did you catch him?!" Naruto asked in disbelief, while pointing at her.

(Y/N) grinned in response. "Secret~."

"WHAT?!" Naruto's jaw dropped and a depressing aura surrounded him.

"You are good with animals, (Y/N)-chan." Sakura said with a smile.

The girl shrugged in response. "I guess it's in my blood."

"Is that the cat with a ribbon on it's right ear?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes." Sasuke replied.

"Okay then. Lost pet Tora: captured. Mission complete." Kakashi stated.

(Y/N) stifled a laugh when the cat jumped out from her arms and into Naruto's face. The other three sweatdropped as Naruto screamed.

"GET IT OFF ME! CAN WE GET A BETTER MISSION THAN THIS?! I HATE CATS!!"

~><><><~

"Uwaaah~! My poor little Tora! Your mommy was so worried~!" The fat woman cooed, as she squished the poor cat and rubbed their cheeks together.

(Y/N) sweatdropped. No wonder it ran away.

"Haha! That stupid cat deserves it!"

"No wonder he ran away."

Team Seven was reporting to the Hokage, waiting for their new mission to be assigned to them.

The Hokage stared at his papers. "Now then, for Squad Seven's mission....Hm...Among them is babysitting, helping with shopping, digging up potatoes, and-"

"NO!!" Naruto cut him off, forming an 'X' with his arms for emphasis. "I want to do a real mission! Something challenging and exciting! Not like those crappy missions you're giving us! Con, old man!"

He's got a point. Sasuke hned.

Sakura sighed. Naruto's such a pain.

(Y/N) hummed in agreement.

"How dare you?! You're just a brand new Genin with no experience! Like everyone else, you start with simple missions to develop your skills and experience!" Iruka, who was present, yelled at him.

"Are ya kidding me?! Babysitting is not a mission!" Naruto yelled and Kakashi punched his head.

"Can you put a lid on it." Kakashi grumbled with a sigh.

"But sensei..! Those missions are not missions for ninja!" Y/N) groaned.

"Listen you two!" The Hokage called, cutting her off before she could continue complaining. He tried to explain why they took those missions, but the Ryudo and the Uzumaki had started to talk about ramen, tuning him out, and surprisingly, the others were listening to them.

"Silence!" The Hokage yelled. Since when was ramen more interesting than my lectures?!

"Waaah! I don't get it! You're treating us like children! You're not our grandfather or something! We're ninjas now! And we want ninja missions!" Naruto retorted and the Hokage chuckled.

(Y/N) nodded with a pout. "Pleeeeeeeeeaaaaaaase Hokage-sama! Let us do something we can actually learn from!"

The Hokage chuckled with a small smirk. "They want to prove they're not brats anymore, but full fledged ninjas. They want a real mission? Then so be it." The Hokage said and their teammates gasped.

"YAHOO!" Naruto and (Y/N) high fived.

"I'm going to give you a C-rank mission. You'll be bodyguards in a journey." The Hokage announced.

"Really?! Yes! Who is it?! A princess?! A counselor?!" Naruto asked, excited.

(Y/N) grinned. "It better not be a boring dude!"

"Don't be so impatient. I will bring him in now." The Hokage turned to the door. "Send him in!" He called out, and an old man with a straw hat entered the room.

"What the?! A little bunch of snot-nosed brats?!" He said and drank sake. "And you, the little ones with idiotic looks! Do you expect me to believe you're ninjas?!"

Naruto and (Y/N) laughed. "Haha! Who are the little ones with idiotic looks?"

The four genin lined up. Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto, and (Y/N).

A large tick mark appeared on Naruto and (Y/N)'s forehead.

"I'll kill you/ I'll demolish you! You little!-" Naruto and (Y/N) yelled, trying to get away from Kakashi's and Sasuke's grip.

"You can't demolish our client, you two." Kakashi sighed, as he held Naruto.

"Hn." Sasuke hummed as he struggled to hold back (Y/N), who was flinging her body all around, while baring her fangs.

"Let me at him, Duckbutt!"

"Hn. Shut up, Lizard."

"UGH!!"

~><><><~

Team 7 was ready to set out on their journey, along with Tazuna.
(Y/N)'s face kept a smirk on, as she looked at the bruise that had formed on Sasuke's eye.

"YEAH! ALL RIGHT!!" Naruto walked ahead, yelling excitedly, as the five of them exited the village. (Y/N) kept skipping with a grin, while humming a song softly.

"What are you so excited about you two?" Sakura asked them.

"This is my first time ever leaving the village! I'm a traveler now, believe it!" Naruto answered excited. (Y/N) nodded with a grin. "Uh huh!"

"Hey! Am I supposed to trust these runts with my life?! They're a joke!" Tazuna yelled out.

Both (Y/N) and Naruto grow tick marks, and their eyebrows twitch, as they tremble in anger, barely holding themselves from jumping on the drunkard. He's the worst client ever!!

"I believe you'll be fine. This is only a C-Rank mission, and I am a Jounin." Kakashi states, while Sasuke growls and touches his bruise, almost inmeaditely recoiling his hand with a grunt. (Y/N) smirked widely, starting to tease him.

"Hey! Don't insult us! We're going to be Hokage's one day! You'll look up to us! I am Naruto Uzumaki, remember it!" Naruto said, while pointing at Tazuna.

(Y/N) nodded, pointing at the old man. "Yeah!" She then pointed to herself with a scowl. "And I am (Y/N) Ryudo!"

Tazuna scoffee. "A Hokage is powerful and wise. You are puny, brainless brats." Tazuna said, rolling his eyes.

(Y/N) raised her fist, with a scowl on her face. "Shut up! We'll do anything to become Hokages! No matter what it takes!"

"And when we do, everyone will admit that we're the top ninjas including you!" Naruto finished for her.

Tazuna snickered. "You could be Hokage a thousand times over and over, but to me you'd still be losers."

Kakashi-sensei gripped (Y/N) and Naruto's collars before they could beat the hell out of the old man.

"I'm gonna make you pay for that you Old Geezer!"

"I'll demolish you!"

"Let me at him! I'll show him!"

"Naruto, (Y/N), we're supposed to protect him remember? Not attack him." Kakashi said with a sigh.

Sasuke and Sakura deadpanned. They're both such a pain.

~><><><~

The group had been walking for a while in silence. Well, except for (Y/N) and Sasuke, who kept arguing.

"Ne, Tazuna-san." Sakura suddenly spoke up.

"What is it?" He questioned.

"You're from the Land of Waves, right?"

"What about it?" Tazuna asked bluntly.

"Ne, Kakashi-sensei, are there any ninjas in the Land of Waves?" Sakura asked.

"No, there aren't. But while the culture and customs of other countries might be different, Hidden Villages and ninjas do exist." Kakashi-sensei said. "To the people of this continent the existence of shinobi villages means military strength. In other words, that's how they protect themselves and mantain the balance of power with neighbouring countries. The ninja villages aren't controlled by any government, they're independent, and have equal status. Now a small island like the Land of Waves has natural protection from the sea, so there's no need for a ninja village." Kakashi explained to Sakura, as (Y/N) yelled to Sasuke from in front of them.

"You actually hit me for no reason! You idiot!"

"Bastard Duckbutt! You were the one who tried to hold me back!"

"You were the one stupid enough to attack our CLIENT!"

"He was insulting us Duckbutt!"

"He was telling the truth Lizard!"

"Ya little piece of-!"

Kakashi sighed, ignoring their childish fight, as he continued with his explanation. "The five ninja lands with shinobi villages are the Lands of Fire, Wind, Lightning, Water, and Earth. They each occupy vast territories, together they are known as 'The Five Great Shinobi Nations'. The Land of Fire has the Village Hidden in the Leaves, the Land of Water has the Village Hidden in the Mist, the Land of Lightning the Village Hidden in the Clouds, the Land of Wind; the Village Hidden in the Sand, and the Land of Earth the Village Hidden in the Stones. Only the leaders of these villages are allowed to have the title 'Kage', shadow. The Hokage, Mizukage, Raikage, Kazekage, Suchikage are the leaders, the five shadows that reign over thousands of ninja."

Sakura gasped. "Then Lord Hokage is really important!" She exclaimed. Hn! Is that old man really such a bid deal! I'm not buying it, cha!

I got him with my Sexy Jutsu, he can't be that great, believe it. Naruto thought with furrowed brows in disbelief.

(Y/N) smiled faintly. Yep, he is a great old man, that geezer.

"Hey! You all just doubted Lord Hokage, didn't you? That's what you were thinking." Kakashi interrupted their thoughts.

"Uh..." Sakura and Naruto shook their heads rapidly in denial.

"Well, anyway Sakura, there are no ninja battles in a C-ranked mission sp you can relax." Kakashi reassured.

"And we're not gonna run into enemy ninja, are we?" Sakura asked still hesitant.

"Haha, not likely."

As they continued walking they passed by a puddle.

(Y/N) furrowed her brows. It hasn't rained in days....It must be an enemy. She glanced at Kakashi to see if he had noticed, and he gave her a look 'Stay-on-guard'.

Then suddenly, two ninja came out of nowhere and threw spiked chains around Kakashi and pulled, cutting him to bits.

"Ka-! KAKASHI-SENSEI!" Naruto yelled before the other two ninja came behind him.

(Y/N) furrowed her brows. He wouldn't die just like that. Substitution...

"Now it's you turn!" One of them yelled.

But (Y/N) acted faster than Sasuke, and punched both ninjas in the face, quickly jumping in the air, as she and Sasuke threw kunais at the chains, pinning them to a tree. Meanwhile, Sakura was in front of Tazuna holding a kunai, and Naruto was frozen.

"Ugh! I can't get loose!"

(Y/N) landed on one of their heads, harshly kicking him down, while Sasuke kicked the other. But their chains broke off and one of them ran towards Naruto, while the other to Sakura and Tazuna.

"Stay behid me!" Sakura yelled, standing in front of Tazuna with her kunai. Sasuke saw what was about to happen and rushed in front of her to protect her, while (Y/N) stood in front of Naruto, baring her fangs.

But suddenly, Kakashi appeared and pulled their chains to him, pulling the ninjas along with the chains, he kicked both in the face, and trapped them in a headlock.

"Hi." Was all he said, as Naruto and Sakura gasped.

Kakashi-sensei is alive after all! Sakura thought cheerfully.

Hmph. Show off. Sasuke grunted.

Huh?! Naruto thought in confusion.

And (Y/N) grinned triumphantly. Knew it. Substitution Jutsu.

Naruto pointed at Kakashi. "Huh?! But he was-!" He turned to look at 'Kakashi's' pieces. But in their place there were scattered logs.

"Kakashi-sensei used the replacement jutsu." (Y/N) explained.

"Naruto, sorry I didn't help you right away, I didn't mean for you to get hurt, I just didn't think you'd freeze up like that." Kakashi apologized, as (Y/N) grew a tick mark.

They saved me after all. Tazuna sighed in relief.

"Good job, Sasuke, (Y/N), very smooth. You too Sakura." Kakashi congratulated his pupils.

I was useless! And (Y/N) and Sasuke were so cool, as if they had done this a thousand times! Didn't they feel scared? They looked so calm, not a scratch on them, and I was so lame that (Y/N) had to come up and save me! Naruto thought, angry with himself.

"Hey." Sasuke called to Naruto, as he smirked. "You're not hurt are ya, scaredy cat?" He mocked.

"SASUKE UGHH!!"

"Naruto." Kakashi interrupted him sternly. Before (Y/N) could step in and give Sasuke a new bruise, Kakashi noticed that she had a scratch on her arm, from when she had protected Naruto.

"Stand still, these ninja had poison in their claws, we need to take it out of you quickly!" Kakashi warned her, as Naruto and started to freak out and (Y/N) had a blank look.

"EEH?!?! (Y/N)-chan! I'm so sorry! This is all my fault!" Naruto started to freak out, jumping up and down while pulling his hair.

(Y/N) blinked slowly, processing their sentences. Then, she flinched. "Oops."

"OOPS?!"

"We have to open the wound and remove it, it's in your blood, so don't move around, that will only spread te poison. By the way mister Tazuna." Kakashi said.

"Ugh, yeah, what?" He stuttered.

"We need to talk." Kakashi sternly stated.

~><><><~

Kakashi had tied the ninja to a tree, and everyone was now surrounding the duo.

"They're chuunin from the Village Hidden in the Mist, their specialty is relentless attacks, they keep fighting no matter what the sacrifice." Kakashi explained.

"How did you know about our ambush?" One of the Mist Ninja asked.

(Y/N) snickered, as she was pressing her wound, to stop the poison from spreading faster. "Even I knew. The puddle. It hasn't rained in days."

"Exactly." Kakashi nodded.

"In that case, why did you leave the Genin to do the fighting?" Tazuna asked confused.

"I could have taken them out quickly, but then we'd have learnt nothing. We had to know who their target was, and what they were after." Kakashi explained neatly.

"Hm? What are you getting at?" Tazuna asked.

"We needed to know whether they were after us, ninja attacking ninja, or if they ere after you, the master bridge builder." Kakashi explained. "When you put in your request you asked for standard protection from robbers and highway men. You didn't say there were ninja looking for you, hunting you down, if we had known this it would have been a B-rank mission or higher. Our task was simply to get you to your destination and protect while you finished building your bridge, if we had known we'd be fielding attacks from enemy ninja we would've staffed differently and charged for the cost of a B mission." Kakashi continued, as Naruto felt guilty in the background, freaking out about (Y/N)'s wound. "Apparently you have your reasons, but lying to us is not acceptable, we are now beyond the scope for this mission."

"We're genin, this is too advanced for our training level, we should go back to the village." Sakura said.

"What?! But we've come so far!" (Y/N) protested, as she still put pressure on her wound.

"Stop." Kakashi scolded her, making her lower her head in disappointment.

"And I really think we should treat your wound, (Y/N), and get the poison out as soon as possible. Back in our village we can take her to a doctor." Sakura continued.

Naruto, meanwhile, sulked with a frown. This is all my fault. If I hadn't froze, (Y/N) wouldn't have gotten hurt protecting me. Why is it I can never protect her?

"Eh?!" (Y/N) exclaimed in protest.

Kakashi sighed. "(Y/N)'s arm could become a problem, I guess we should go back to the village." Kakashi decided.

(Y/N) frowned. "No way!" As quickly as she said it, she stabbed her wounded arm with a kunai, making everyone gasp.

"Why am I so different?! I...Now I'm being a burden to my team in an actual mission..Gah!" (Y/N) said, as she pushed the kunai further into her wound, making it bleed a lot.

Sakura and Naruto ran to her. "Stop that (Y/N)-chan! What are you doing?!"

(Y/N) smiled weakly, as she bled. "Naru...We both worked so hard to get here. Training for hours, anything for our dream! We trained until we dropped...How could I just stop now? I promise...I won't be a burden ever again and I won't lose to Duckbutt." Everyone stared at her with wide eyes.

Naruto frowned with a small smile. (Y/N)-chan...You...I Naruto clenched his fists. I promise I'm gonna protect you next time!

(Y/N) furrowed her brows and took out the kunai harshly, as she bled more. "I know I am sometimes annoying and a burden to everyone...I hide my emotions so no one needs to care about me... But.. I swear on this wound ya geezer!" She pointed at Tazuna with her bleeding arm. "I'll complete this mission and protect you with my own hands. A real ninja never gives up, and neither will I!" She exclaimed, clenching her wounded arm, making it bleed even more, as the blood started to gather in a bloody puddle. She smiled slightly. "Don't cha worry! I'll be fine! Now let's go and complete this mission!"

Sasuke sighed. Lizard...

Naruto grinned. That's my bestie!

"Uhhh. Haha, that was really cool (Y/N), how you took the poison out and all, but if you loose anymore blood you're going to die. It would be a good idea to stop the bleeding now, seriously." Kakashi said, oddly brightly with a small laugh.

"WHAT?!"

"AGH! NO! I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE!" (Y/N) freaked out, while Naruto pulled his hair.

"EH?!?!"

Kakashi sighed. "Show me your arm."

"(Y/N)-chan, you've got a self abusive personality, it's called masochism." Sakura scolded her, as (Y/N) and Naruto started to calm down.

Kakashi's eyes widened when they landed on (Y/N)'s arm. The wound....it's almost completely gone.

"Umm...."

"Hm?" Kakashi hummed.

(Y/N)'s frowned in worry. "You have a really serious look on your face, you're scaring me, am I okay?" She said with a shiver. Naruto shivered and turned to Kakashi, expecting an answer.

"Uhhh, yeah, you should be fine." Kakashi reassured (Y/N) and Naruto before wrapping a bandage around her arm, to conceal the healed wound. This healing power...is it the Dragon's?

~><><><~

Team 7 and Tazuna were now on a boat, on their way to the Land of Waves.

"The fog is so thick I can't see anything." Sakura whispered, loud enough for the others to hear. It was silent. (Y/N)'d call it 'the calm before the storm'.

"The bridge isn't far now, our destination is just ahead: The Land of Waves." The man steering the boat informed. Then, the mist dissipated a little, and everyone's eyes were caught by the bridge.

"Whoah! It's huge!" Naruto yelled. (Y/N) quickly slapped a hand over his mouth, and shushed him.

"Quiet! I told you no noise, why do you think we're travelling like this, huh? Cutting off the engine and rowing, moving with the dense fog so that they can't see us." The man whispered yelled at Naruto, scolding him. (Y/N) sweatdropped.
"He's sorry." She whispered for him, as she took her hand off his mouth.

"Mister Tazuna, before we reach the peer I wanna ask you something. The men who were after you, I want to know why, if you don't tell us then I'm afraid we'll have to end this mission before we reach the shore." Kakashi demanded.

"I have no choice but to tell you the truth." Tazuna sighed. "Like you said, this is beyond the scope of the original and mission, the one who seeks my life is a very short man who casts a very long and deadly shadow." Tazuna confessed.

"Who is it?" Kakashi asked.

"You know him, or at least you've heard his name before, he's one of the wealthiest men of the world, the shipping magnet Gato." Tazuna described.

"Gato? Of Gato Transport?" Kakashi asked incredulous with wide eyes. "He's a bussiness leader, everybody knows him."

"Who? Who? What? What?" Naruto questioned quickly, obviously clueless.

"Gato is a very powerful tycoon from a famous company, that's true. But below the surface, with tbe same ruthless meddles he uses to take over businesses and nations, he sells drugs and contraband, using gangs and ninja. It was one year ago when Gato first set his eyes on the Land of Waves, he came to our island and used his vast wealth to take total control of our transport and shipping, anyone who tried to etand im his way simply disappeared. In an island nation a man who controls the sea controls everything; finance, government, our very lives. But there's one thing he fears: the bridge. When it is complete it will join us to the land and break his control. I am the bridge builder." Tazuna explained.

"So that's it, since you're in charge of the bridge, you're in that gangsters way." Sakura concluded.

"That means those guys we fought in the forest worked for Gato." Sasuke added.

"I don't understand, if you knew he was dangerous, knew he would sent ninja to eliminate you, why did you hide that from us?" Kakashi asked.

"Because the Land of Waves is a poor nation, even our nobles have little money. The common people who are building this bridge, they can't pay for an A or B-ranked mission, it's too expensive. If you end the mission when you drop me ashore, there'll be no bridge, they'll kill me before I reach home." Tazuna explained. "But don't feel bad about that, 'course ny little grandson will be upset, he'll cry 'Grandad, I want my grandad!'" Tazuna tried to manipulate Team 7 into submission. But no one's buying it, they just stared at him.

(Y/N) and Sasuke scoffed. Yeah right.

"Oh, and my daughter will condemn the ninja of the Hidden Leaves, blaming you for abandoning her father and living the rest of her life in sorrow." Tazuna added. "Oh well, it's not your fault, forget it."

Kakashi scratched his headband and chuckled awkwardly. "Well, I guess we have no other choice, we'll just have to keep guarding you." He shrugged and sweatdropped.

"Ooh, I'm very grateful." Tazuna 'thanked', turning his head around. I win.

"We're approaching the shore." The man steering told them. "Tazuna, we've been very fortunate, no one has noticed us so far."

"Nice going." Tazuna complimented.

~><><><~

We went through a tunnel, and after coming out we were met with a beautiful view.

The man dropped us off at the peer. "That's as far as I go, good luck."

"Right." Tazuna replied. "Thank you for taking such a risk."

"Just be careful." Was the last thing the man said before starting the engine and disappearing with the mist.

As soon, as he was out of their fields of sight, Tazuna spoke.
"Okay, take me to my home now. And I mean get me there in one piece."

"Right." Kakashi said. He narrowed his eyes. The next ninja they send won't be chuunin. They'll be Jounin. Elite ninja with deadly skills.

They started walking. (Y/N) and Naruto ahead, with Sasuke behind. (Y/N) had her hands in her pockets and was tching every five seconds. Sasuke suddenly started walking faster and caught up with the two. Automatically, both glared at Sasuke, and ran ahead.

They stopped, and stayed still for a few seconds, looking around.

(Y/N) narrowed her eyes. Someone's following us.

Suddenly, Naruto threw a kunai at a bush. "There!"

Everyone flinched shocked except Sasuke and (Y/N).

"....."

"It was just a mouse." Naruto said.

"Just a mouse?! Yeah right! Everyone can see through your stupid act, it's embarrassing!" Sakura scolded him.

"Naruto, those are kunai knives, they are dangerous." Kakashi reminded him, as if he was a little kid still learning.

"GRR! STOP TRYING TO SCARE ME YA LITTLE DWARF!" Tazuna raged.
(Y/N)'s ear and nose twitched, and she narrowed her eyes. We're not alone.

"Hey is someone hiding over there? Nope over there! Ah over there!" Naruto exclaimed, throwing kunai at a bush quickly.

"That's it Naruto!" Sakura punched him in the head. (Y/N) inmeaditely glared at her, making her shiver.

"Why'd you do that?! Someone is following us, I mean it!" Naruto protested.

"Yeah right! Quit lying and acting like a dumb kid!"

(Y/N)'s eyebrows twitched. But he's right! She ran over to the bush, and picked up...a scared white rabbit? She walked back to Naruto, and raised the rabbit to her eye level. Huh... She squinted her eyes. Then, her eyes widened. This is...!!

In half a second she turned around and saw a metallic glint. "LOOK OUT!" She exclaimed, as everyone dropped to the ground as a huge sword was thrown at them.

*BONK*

The sword got stuck on a tree.