The Konoha gate stood open, a promise of the road ahead.
Naruto, already there, bounced impatiently in his bright orange. "Come on, come on! We're wasting time!"
Sakura sighed, adjusting her gear. "Naruto, it's just an escort." She glanced at Sasuke, who stood silent, arms crossed, looking utterly bored.
Tazuna, the bridge builder, was already leaning against the gatepost, sake bottle in hand. He gave them a curt nod. "Ready? Let's go. Got a bridge to build."
Kakashi appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, his visible eye crinkling. "Morning, everyone. Let's depart." He gestured down the path. "Tazuna-san, we'll get you there safely."
Naruto whooped, already through the gate. Sakura followed, then Sasuke. As they walked out of Konoha, the village sounds faded. They were off, heading into a mission they thought they understood, but which would soon change everything.
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As they walked, Sakura noticed it first. "Sensei," she said quietly. "It hasn't rained all week, but there's a puddle up ahead."
Kakashi's visible eye smiled. "Good observation, Sakura."
As they drew level with the puddle, two figures erupted from the water. A chain with sharp, poisoned claws shot out, wrapping around Kakashi and shredding him into pieces.
"ONE DOWN!" a voice snarled.
The Demon Brothers of the Mist charged straight for Tazuna. But Team 7 did not panic.
"Protect the client!" Sakura yelled, her training kicking in. She immediately put herself between the charging ninja and a terrified Tazuna, a kunai held in a surprisingly steady hand.
Sasuke didn't freeze. The moment Kakashi "died," his newly awakened Sharingan flared to life. He saw the trajectory of the lead assassin, Gozu, and moved to intercept.
Naruto saw it all. He saw Sakura fulfilling her duty and Sasuke's crimson eyes activate. He saw the Uchiha moving to engage the first enemy. That left one for him. "Simple," Garp noted with satisfaction.
Sasuke, his Sharingan tracking every subtle movement, parried Gozu's poisoned claws with his kunai. At the same instant, Naruto used Soru to appear in front of the second brother, Meizu. He met the ninja's lunge by grabbing his extended arm, breaking the limb over his knee with a sickening crunch and felling him with a single, devastating punch to the temple. Seeing his brother fall, Gozu tried to disengage, but Sasuke's Sharingan predicted the retreat. He swept the off-balance ninja to the ground. Naruto was there a second later, a foot planted firmly on his back.
The engagement had taken less than ten seconds. Naruto stood over their defeated foes, planting a foot triumphantly on Gozu's back. He threw his arms wide and let out a booming laugh that echoed Garp's own.
"Ha! Did you see that?! That's Naruto Uzumaki for you! Hahaha!"
Kakashi reappeared from the trees, his face a mask of genuine, undisguised shock. He had expected competence, perhaps. He had not expected a flawless, coordinated takedown of two Chunin-level threats.
His gaze snapped to Sasuke, who was panting, the single tomoe in each of his crimson eyes spinning. The Sharingan? Already? Kakashi thought, stunned. It takes extreme stress or a life-threatening situation to trigger the first awakening. What in the world have these kids been doing in their spare time?
He then looked at Sakura, who was calmly standing guard over Tazuna, her kunai still held at the ready. "Sakura," Kakashi said, his voice filled with a new respect. "You handled yourself well. Protecting the client is priority one. When did you get so clear-headed?"
Sakura blushed at the praise but stood her ground. "I... I decided I didn't want to be a liability anymore, Sensei."
Finally, Kakashi looked at Naruto's boisterous celebration. And him... still a loudmouth.He tied up the Demon Brothers and turned his now-serious gaze to the pale and sweating Tazuna. "It seems we need to have a talk about what a 'C-rank' mission truly entails," he said, his voice losing all of its lazy warmth. "Bandits don't send shinobi-hunters after a simple bridge builder. You have some explaining to do."
Kakashi efficiently tied the two Mist-nin to a tree. "I have a few questions for you," he said, his voice dangerously low. A minute of quiet, intense interrogation yielded a name that made Kakashi's blood run cold.
He walked over to the pale and sweating Tazuna. "The intel I just 'acquired'," Kakashi said, his gaze like steel, "is that those two work for Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Hidden Mist."
At the mention of Zabuza's name, Sakura gasped. "One of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen! He's an A-rank rogue ninja!"
Kakashi nodded, his eyes never leaving Tazuna. "Zabuza is an elite Jonin who doesn't work for cheap. Which means someone with very deep pockets and a very big problem with you hired him. Someone like... Gatō, perhaps?"
"It seems our client has been less than honest," Kakashi said, turning his full attention back to the bridge builder. "This mission is, at minimum, A-rank. We are not equipped for this. We're returning to the village."
"Wait! You can't!" Tazuna finally broke, his voice cracking with desperation. He told them everything—about the shipping magnate Gatō, how he'd taken over the Land of Waves, controlling their economy and strangling their people with poverty. He told them about the bridge, the only hope for his people to break Gatō's stranglehold and restore trade and life to their home. He told them about his son-in-law, Kaiza, who had been a hero to the people before being publicly executed by Gatō as an example.
"This bridge is our people's only dream," Tazuna finished, tears in his eyes. "If you leave now, I will be killed before I even get home. My grandson will cry his eyes out, and my daughter will hate Konoha for the rest of her life for abandoning her father."
The team was silent, the weight of the old man's story settling heavily upon them.
Kakashi sighed. "This is a decision that is beyond the scope of your original mission. As your commanding officer, I'm giving you a choice. We can return to the village. No one will blame you. This is a fight with elite Jonin, far above your pay grade."
He looked at each of his students.
Sasuke spoke first, a smirk on his face as his Sharingan spun. "This Zabuza sounds strong. It's a perfect chance to test my new eyes."
Sakura, thinking of Kaiza and the village's plight, nodded firmly. "I agree with Sasuke-kun. I will not be a liability. I will help."
They both looked at Naruto. He was staring at Tazuna, his expression uncharacteristically serious.
"Tazuna-san," he said quietly. "Back in my village, there are people... heroes... whose names are carved on a stone." He looked at his own fists. "I made a promise to myself. I want to become the strongest man in the world, a man so strong that his very presence can stop wars. But what's the point of all that strength if you can't even protect one old man and his family from a bully?"
He looked up, a fierce, determined grin spreading across his face. "As the aspiring strongest man in the world, I will not ignore the pleas of the weak! We're taking the mission, Sensei!"
Kakashi's visible eye curved into a smile. He had expected this. "The decision is unanimous, then." He looked towards the path ahead. "Let's get a bridge built."