The Hokage's office stood tall at the heart of Konoha, its wide windows casting warm light onto the polished floor. Scrolls lined the shelves behind the Hokage's desk, and the scent of old paper and tobacco lingered in the air.
"No! Thank you!" Naruto Uzumaki screamed, his voice echoing through the chamber. "I want more difficult missions! I'm a ninja, not a babysitter!"
"Naruto!" Iruka snapped, slamming a hand on the Hokage's desk. "Don't be such an idiot! You're all still too inexperienced for harder missions!"
"I don't care!" Naruto shot back, face red with frustration.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, let out a long sigh and took a puff of his pipe, smoke curling lazily around his aged features. "It seems I need to explain what missions are once again, Naruto…"
Naruto grumbled and flopped onto the floor, arms crossed like a sulking child.
Hiruzen began patiently, "Listen carefully. Thousands of mission requests come to our village every day—from babysitting to murder."
"There's a great variety of missions," he continued, voice steady. "They're ranked by difficulty: D, C, B, A, and S. From easiest to most dangerous."
"In the village, ninja are assigned missions according to their rank and ability. At the top are jonin like your sensei, then chunin, and then you… genin."
"The reward for each mission is split—the village keeps ten percent, and the rest goes to the team."
"You are still genin," Hiruzen added, lifting a brow, "so you're assigned D-rank missions for now. It's necessary—"
He paused mid-sentence.
Naruto had completely turned away from him and was now whispering over his shoulder, "Hey, Sakura, wanna get some ramen later?"
"Naruto!" Hiruzen barked, finally losing his patience.
"Sorry, Lord Third…" The sensei of Naruto's team scratched the back of his silver-haired head, his single visible eye curved apologetically. He wore the standard jonin attire, his headband slanted to cover his left eye, and the signature mask hiding most of his face.
Naruto spun around again. "You're always lecturing me, old man!" he huffed. "I'm not the same troublemaker little kid you think I am!" And, perfectly contradicting himself, he pouted and turned away again, arms crossed.
"Sigh…" Naruto's sensei sighed.
Iruka stared at Naruto, disappointment flashing across his face. After the Mizuki incident, he'd hoped Naruto had matured. But no—this was still the same loud, impulsive kid.
But Hiruzen just smiled beneath his robes, his eyes twinkling. He took another puff of his pipe.
"Fine. I understand."
"Ah?!" Everyone in the room gasped.
"Since you insist so much…" Hiruzen said with a hint of amusement, "I'll approve a C-rank mission for your team."
"Really?! Awesome, old man—" Naruto began to cheer when a dry, unimpressed voice cut through the air.
"Lord Third, you can't be serious…"
All eyes turned toward the doorway, where a man with slouched shoulders and a perpetually sleepy expression stood.
It was Tadao.
He strolled in slowly, hands in his pockets, as if this whole situation was just mildly annoying background noise. Behind him stood his team—Shin, Ayaka, and Ryuuji—watching embarassedly. He had just barged in because he had thought the conversation the Hokage was having was interesting, and when the guarding ninjas denied him access, he just used the excuse of having something very urgent to report.
"Giving a C-rank mission just because a genin throws a tantrum?" Tadao yawned. "Doesn't sound very professional."
"Who the hell are you?!" Naruto immediately shot back at Tadao, not even noticing Shin, Ayaka, and Ryuuji standing behind him.
Shin, watching Naruto scream, smiled faintly. It had been a while since he'd seen him. Between missions and spending all his time training in Kenjutsu and Medical Ninjutsu, Shin hadn't interacted with anyone much lately.
"Naruto—" Hiruzen tried to stop him before Tadao could open his mouth. Tadao had been the same type of troublemaker Naruto was as a kid. When two guys like that met… it wasn't always a good combination.
"Huh?" Tadao said nonchalantly, leaning closer to Naruto. "You talking to me, ugly duck?"
"Ugly duck?! How dare you?!" Naruto barked, stepping forward, their faces inches apart.
"Yeah… with that shitty blonde hair, you remind me of a duck…" Tadao replied with a shrug.
Sigh… Hiruzen sighed, rubbing his forehead.
"What kind of ducks have you seen—" Naruto started, but was suddenly yanked backward by the collar of his orange tracksuit.
Sigh… "Sorry, Tadao…" Naruto's sensei said, gripping his student with one hand.
"Kakashi… why don't you buy a leash to keep that ugly duck in place?" Tadao said with a smirk. "I think your work as a sensei would be much easier."
A few stifled laughs slipped out. Even the Hokage and Iruka chuckled.
"Hey, shut up, you—!" Naruto started again, only for Kakashi to calmly tap his hand over Naruto's mouth.
"Yeah, you're right, Tadao," Kakashi said with a soft chuckle.
"Tadao… how many times have I told you not to barge in like this…" the Third Hokage muttered with a sigh.
'So it's not the first time he's done something like this? And the guards still believe him?' Shin, Ayaka, and Ryuuji thought, stunned.
"Yeah…" Tadao yawned, scratching the back of his head.
Sigh… "Then, Tadao, what do you think of your team participating in this mission with them?" the Hokage asked.
Naruto suddenly broke free from Kakashi's hand and dashed forward, pointing at the Hokage.
"No, it's our mission!" he shouted, fire in his eyes.
"Stop it, Naruto." Kakashi calmly grabbed the collar of his orange tracksuit again, effortlessly halting him mid-run. Naruto's legs kept moving uselessly in the air, like a cartoon character running in place.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto protested, flailing but going nowhere.
"It might be a good experience for both teams," Hiruzen said thoughtfully, puffing his pipe. "What do you two sensei think?"
"Well…" Kakashi scratched the back of his head with his free hand, still holding Naruto like a misbehaving puppy with the other. "I don't really care that much."
"Lord Third, me neither…" Tadao yawned, hands in his pockets.
"Oh, then it's settled." Hiruzen smiled, eyes twinkling with amusement. "Both teams will go together."
Naruto's eyes widened in horror. "Whaaat?!"
To be continued...
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This was the arc, the Zabusa arc (I don't remember how its called). I know some of you wanted an original arc, but I need this to put forward a path for Shin.
Be sure to check out my original novel, Hyperborea!