Naruto: BELIEVE IT

"...Finally."

It's been some time. He lost the count of how many times he failed.

But nonetheless, here Naruto was, standing on the water.

The water rippled and moved up and down, but Naruto, with experience, adjusted his chakra accordingly. Uncaring of the moving terrain, he stood, walked, ran, and jumped.

A huge milestone was reached.

"Naruto, it seems like you mastered it."

As a voice was spoken from the back, Naruto turned saw Kakashi standing on the water just as he was.

"Seems like so, Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi eyed the weight bands that Naruto was wearing up until now and chuckled in an amazement. He eventually said,

"Come, I have news to share with everyone."

So, they returned to the forest.

Sakura, sitting on a tree branch, huffing, perked up as she saw them coming.

Sasuke, who was standing inverted with his feet attached on another tree branch, looked at them with his same, impassive look.

They too mastered the exercise given to them.

There, Kakashi gave them the details regarding the A-ranked mission.

Sakura seemed frightened, neither unable to believe this situation nor understand the decision of higher-ups. However, she understood that she had no right to refuse the mission; missions from Hokage was absolute, and the only way to avoid the duty was to quit—permanently.

Sasuke seemed delighted, excited by a chance to become stronger and reach one step closer to his goal.

Naruto, on the other hand,

"Land of Waves?"

looked like he was deep in thought.

'I swear I heard something about that place before. Was a thriving region that served as the hub of trades, and continued to improve as time went by.'

And for some reason, no one paid attention. Or to be more specific, it would be correct to say that they intentionally burned a blind eye.

Naruto suspected that the reason behind this was 'bribery'.

'Gato Company, was it.'

It was the largest shipping company in the Land of Fire, and its headquarter lied in the Land of Waves as far as he knew. Furthermore, this company was the reason why the public deduced that the Land of Waves improved. If the region in the past worked by unorganized trades mediated by civilians, now, the company managed the processes in an efficient way.

Naruto smelled something here. The reason behind the appearance of Momochi Zabuza, the rogue ninja, and the escort mission of the client named Tazuna, someone from Land of Waves—

'...Hah.'

Naruto now understood. What Kakashi was intending them to do was that while he and Asuma were taking care of Zabuza, they, the students, would deal with those from the Gato Company.

Hiruzen was using this mission as an excuse to get rid of Gato Company and build a positive relationship with Land of Waves, for benefits over a long term. The reason why he was sending them over those of higher ranks was to avoid being shown as blatant or aggressive; if teams of chunins and jonins were sent, daimyo who received the bribery may intervene with a higher likelihood.

Sending one, small team consisting of the fresh new genins, however, wouldn't look as threatening to Gato and his company... although there was Hatake Kakashi, the force to be reckoned with.

And on top of that,

'First kill.'

killing isn't nothing. Statistics reported that a good amount of genins resigned after their first kill, unable to bear its burden.

Perhaps there still were things that Naruto missed, but so far, he believed that he has gotten the core.

"Now then,"

Kakashi checked the time; it was still early in the morning.

"Be prepared. We will be leaving right at midnight."

Enough time for a small rest to recuperate and prepare for the mission. Kakashi proposed a reasonable time, especially when considering that this mission was sorted as an 'emergency' one.

Kakashi then left, leaving the three of them by themselves.

"A... A-ranked?"

Sakura still seemed to be in a daze, engulfed by the worries.

"Tch... don't hold me back tomorrow. Act like a ninja if you're one."

Looking at her with an annoyed expression, Sasuke walked away with hands in his pockets.

Sakura, looked at Sasuke with widened eyes, before lowering her head with a bitter smile.

Meanwhile, collecting his thought, Naruto spoke to Sakura,

"Sakura,"

She slowly turned to Naruto with an expression filled with self-loathe.

"Don't be too worried. Think of all the training sessions we had so far."

"But still—"

"If anything, this is a huge chance given to us. It's something that doesn't come by easily, and in the world of ninjas, we are extremely privileged. It's A-ranked by name only, since the actual part that makes it A-ranked will be taken care of by Kakashi-sensei and Asuma-san."

Sakura still didn't seem convinced. Naruto attempted to soothe her,

"Should something go wrong, we will protect you."

"...Protect?"

Sakura stopped shaking as she repeated the word that Naruto spoke.

Even if Naruto wasn't as unlikeable as she believed, even if... he was stronger than Sasuke, for some reason, Naruto's words, ones that implied she was below him, hurt her pride.

"I don't need protection. I'm a kunoichi myself!"

Turning around, Sakura walked away angrily.

Naruto chuckled to himself as he watched the back of the lone kunoichi of the team,

"Now that's more like it."

It was as if he expected such an outburst from her beforehand.

__________

'Think ahead.'

In the evening, Naruto, sitting on his bed, was in deep thought.

'Don't look at the tree, look at the forest.'

Technically speaking, this mission was a milestone in his career as a ninja. Now, Naruto had to really think—of what his ultimate goal is.

'Become a jonin, get paid, and live like that till retirement?'

If the danger that comes with being a ninja was overlooked, this was quite a stable and achievable goal—from Naruto's perspective. However, the cons of this goal was that he was susceptible to the orders of the higher-ups. Though he finds Hiruzen as a reasonable person, he won't be on the seat forever.

What if a crazed one takes over his seat as Hokage? Trying to overthrow the daimyo and stand as the ruler of the Land of Fire himself... knowing his personality, Naruto knew that he would either defect or attempt a coup if that were to happen.

'Stability is but an oasis in this accursed world. Hypocrites and mentally ill ones exist everywhere.'

Then what? Become a Hokage himself?

'Rule over those fucking civilians? No thanks. If I were to take the seat, I may become a tyrant myself.'

However, Naruto didn't necessarily want to leave the village either. Though he bore negative feelings against the good majority of the people here, he knew that this place was the safest and will continue to be the safest for him. He needed a place to call it home.

'...Hokage. Ho for fire, kage for shadow. Meaning fire shadow. Funnily enough, the title of the seat is shadow, and yet, the owner of the title exists as one of, if not the most well-known of all.'

It was ironic to Naruto, especially when considering that the most valuable advantage that a ninja could hold over another was secrecy. Information becomes especially important when anyone can be assassinated by one shot.

'...I think I got it.'

The image that popped up within Naruto was one of the elders. Naruto didn't want to rule as Hokage. He wanted an authority that was of equivalence but didn't want to bear the duty for the civilians.

He will greedily take all for himself.

This is what this village created with their unreasonable hatred—the most selfish being among them. And probably, it was already too late to change, even if they were to start showing kindness.

Will of fire?

'Will of fire my ass.'

If anything, this was the will of shadow.

__________

The night arrived. Within the cold atmosphere, the four ninjas gathered on the spot.

Two boys seemed to be calm and collected. Though the girl seemed nervous, she tried her best to hide it.

Kakashi saw in her eyes though, the determination to not become a burden for the team. He applauded on the inside, seeing that Sakura too, since the start of the team, made notable growth.

"Let's go. Expect possible attacks in the way."

With everyone having mastered the tree-walking, the travel was fast and smooth. Dashing from branch to branch, the three students were able to catch up to Kakashi who purposely kept his speed at the level which they could match.

As they traveled, Naruto couldn't help but frown lightly in confusion.

They were traveling in the shortest route possible—and that unsettled him.

The shortest route, being almost straightward from start to end, was the most predictable path that enemies could predict. If the situation was really that urgent, this would've been the only option, however, from what Kakashi explained, they had time. They could choose a more complex path to avoid enemies, sneaking right under their noses.

It was as if Kakashi was purposely trying to make enemies attack them—

'...I see.'

Naruto interpreted that Kakashi was certain of enemies' sneak attack. After all, just as how Asuma had the time to recover from his injuries and send a message to Konoha, the enemies too had the time to think and draw a conclusion—that backup would be coming.

In this state, Kakashi turned and checked how the three were doing. While Naruto was unfazed, Sasuke was sweating slightly and Sakura seemed exhausted, due to not being used to moving at night.

"Let's take some rest."

At his call, everyone placed the bags down. Sakura immediately sunk to her butt and began collecting her breath. Sasuke, leaning on the bark, crossed his arms and waited for the time to pass by.

Naruto inspected Kakashi, who stood in front of them, in the open ground. With his hands in his pockets, his guard was fully down.

Naruto's eyes narrowed.

"Hey, Sasuke,"

Within the darkness, Naruto called Sasuke. Surprised by Naruto's sudden words, Sasuke silently looked at the blonde.

"The moon surely is bright, isn't it?"

Sasuke's eyes widened. So did Sakura's, instantly understanding what Naruto meant.

Kakashi stood under the moonlight, fully exposed. Forming an eye-smile, he said to Naruto,

"Well, it certainly is brighter than ever. It's as if I'm basked in the warmth of the sun—"

In an instant, the chains flew in, circled around Kakashi, and...

...severed him in numerous pieces.

Naruto's eyes darted as he sent his right hand to his back. On his back were Sakura and Sasuke who were shocked by the scene ahead of them.

Naruto sent hand signals at them.

'Four. Kakashi's alive.'

Thankfully, they immediately understood his signal.

Anyhow, 'four' meant a lot. It meant that they were expecting one team of four to arrive.

'Did they read the letter and let it be sent regardless?'

"...One down."

A hoarse voice spoke. As if not intending to hide, the four people revealed themselves from the dark woods, crackling a maliceful laughter.

"Now what? Three kids?"

"Boss said that we can do whatever we want to them."

Four men, with each wearing forehead protectors from different nations... crossed horizontally, meaning that they were rogue.

"Kill the boys. The girl, however,"

One licked his lips, and Sakura flinched, definitely shaken.

"...On my call, you two."

For some reason, Naruto didn't feel frightened. Colder and sharper than ever, he whispered.

The four enemies dashed at them, holding chains and sharp weapons in their hands. Glaring at the three with bloodshot eyes, they leaked a killing intent, enough for Sakura to be caught off guard for a moment.

Then,

'Shadow Clone jutsu.'

With a puff of smoke, four clones of Naruto appeared, interrupting the four ninjas' advance.

"Now."

With this cue, Naruto and Sasuke charged at the four caught off guard.

A metallic screech arose in the forest, signaling that violence was at the scene.