Are They Always This Brave?

At the Konoha Gate, Tazuna leaned unsteadily against a gatepost, a gourd of liquor slung across his back.

He saw Kakashi approaching with a few brats and slumped against the post.

"Well, well, the esteemed ninjas of Konoha have finally arrived." Tazuna drawled, taking a swig from his gourd and wiping his mouth.

"I've been waiting for an hour. My legs can barely hold me up."

He reached out and shakily grabbed the gatepost.

My old bones still have to travel all the way back to the Land of Waves. What if I run into bandits or pirates on the way? What am I supposed to do then?

Kakashi stopped in front of him. "Mr. Tazuna."

"Yes, what is it, esteemed ninja?" Tazuna's eyes shifted beneath his lids.

"When you hired us, you said this was a C-Rank Mission. But there are two Mist Village rogue ninja in the Land of Waves now."

Tazuna stiffened, at a loss for words.

"One of them has bandages wrapped around his face, and his chakra is close to a jonin's level," Kakashi continued. "This is no longer a C-Rank Mission. It's a B-Rank Mission."

"The esteemed ninja really are impressive." Tazuna straightened up. His slumped shoulders slowly lifted, and the eyes that had been narrowed to slits opened wide.

"So when you played the helpless old man in Konoha and mooched food and drink, it was because you couldn't afford the reward for a B-Rank Mission?" Kakashi tilted his head.

Tazuna chuckled, baring his teeth.

"I really couldn't scrape the money together. If you charged me for a B-Rank Mission, there's no way I could pay."

"So you acted pitiful, hoping we'd handle a B-Rank job for C-Rank pay?" Sakura frowned.

"That's right, young lady." Tazuna didn't look the least bit embarrassed. Instead, he puffed out his chest. "But Konoha sent people, didn't it? That means we made a deal."

Kakashi sighed and turned toward the village outskirts. "Come on. We'll talk on the way."

The cedar trees lining the dirt road swayed in the morning breeze as the six of them walked in single file.

Kakashi led the way, with Tazuna behind him. Naruto and Sakura walked in the middle, while Sasuke and the two Root members brought up the rear.

Naruto had barely walked half a mile before he started chattering.

"A B-Rank Mission! Hahaha! I'm doing B-Rank Missions before I've even finished all my D-Rank ones!"

"Kakashi-sensei, how strong are the Mist Village rogue ninja? They can't be stronger than me, can they?"

"Who knows?" Kakashi replied without looking back. "But at the Mist Village's Ninja Academy, the graduation exam has students kill one another."

Naruto's cheerful expression twisted at once. "Huh?"

Sakura frowned. "Kill one another? So they even have to kill their own classmates..."

"That's right." Kakashi's voice remained as lazy as ever. "So any ninja who makes it out of the Mist Village alive has blood on their hands."

He paused and glanced back at his three students.

"Scared?"

"Scared of what?" Naruto slapped his chest. "I'm going to be Hokage!"

Sakura, however, had other questions on her mind. She hurried up beside Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei, I have a question."

"Go ahead."

"The Land of Waves is so poor it can't even afford the reward for a B-Rank Mission." As she walked, Sakura tapped her Forehead Protector lightly with a finger, looking thoughtful.

"Why are we taking this mission?"

Naruto turned to her, puzzled. "Sakura, what are you talking about? Of course we do a mission if we're given one. Isn't that what ninja are supposed to do?"

"Naruto... Even though we've been together for three years, I still hope you'll try thinking for yourself." Sakura looked at Naruto seriously.

"Even if we complete this mission, the reward we get won't be enough for a B-Rank Mission."

"Konoha needs to make money, and we need to eat. Why would we take a job at a loss?"

Naruto's brain overloaded completely. "o.O?"

His mind raced, and his face practically said, "Loading..."

"A mission... A mission's just a mission, right? If there's a mission, we do it. What does money have to do with it?"

Looking at Naruto's expression, Sakura couldn't help laughing.

"That's a good question, Sakura." Kakashi sounded a little surprised and a little pleased.

"Thinking about the interests behind a mission is an important sign of a ninja's growth."

"Then why are we doing it?" Sakura pressed.

Kakashi raised a finger and waved it in front of them.

"The ability to gather and piece together information is an essential quality for a ninja."

"Think it over yourselves. See if you can figure out the answer."

Naruto snorted and turned his head away.

"Isn't it just about building a bridge in the Land of Waves? What's there to think about?"

Sakura frowned too. She walked with her head lowered for a while, then began quietly reciting the information she knew.

"The Land of Waves is an island nation with no hidden village and a weak economy. The bridge is being built to connect it to the mainland and break Gato's monopoly on sea transport."

She pressed her fingers to her temples and rubbed hard.

"But what does that have to do with Konoha...?"

"Think about where the Land of Waves is," Sasuke's voice floated over from behind.

Sakura's steps faltered.

The Land of Waves lay between the Land of Water and the Land of Fire.

The scraps of information in her mind suddenly began fitting together like puzzle pieces.

The Land of Water had recently opened up. After years of isolation, Kirigakure was now starting to trade with the outside world.

The Land of Waves sat right between the Land of Water and the mainland.

"It's about trading with the Land of Water!" Sakura lifted her head sharply, her ponytail swinging over her shoulder.

"The Land of Waves is the only route between the Land of Water and the mainland! The Land of Fire can get a head start on trade with the Land of Water!"

Kakashi closed his book and looked at Sakura, amusement shining more brightly in his right eye.

"Correct."

Naruto snapped out of his daze.

"So that's it! That's what I was thinking all along!"

"You just said there was nothing to think about." Sakura tilted her head.

"W-well, I was testing you! As the future Hokage, I have to give my teammates opportunities to grow!"

Naruto didn't so much as blush. He planted his hands on his hips, his voice louder than before. "Right, Sasuke? You thought I was playing dumb just now too, didn't you?"

Sasuke glanced at him, then turned away and kept walking.

"Yeah. Playing dumb."

"What was that pause for? You definitely don't believe me, do you?!"

Sakura covered her mouth and giggled, her shoulders shaking.

Kakashi reopened his book, hiding the curve of his smile.

Sasuke glanced at Naruto's flushed face but said nothing.

At the very back, Tatsu and Mi remained silent, their expressions hidden behind their Fox Mask and Badger Mask.

The dirt road curved ahead, and a puddle appeared by the roadside.

Sunlight glinted white off its surface. The earth around it was dry, and the puddle sat alone in the middle of the road.

Naruto was still arguing with Sakura about whether he had been playing dumb. His peripheral vision caught the puddle.

Kakashi turned a page, his gaze still on his book.

The shadow beneath Sasuke's feet rippled almost imperceptibly.

The puddle's edges suddenly spread outward, and its surface churned. Two hands emerged from beneath the water with a pair of splashes.

"Water Prison Technique!"

"Here's the second one!"

Two ninja wearing Mist Village Headbands sprang out of the puddle. Their chains rattled as they lunged at Tazuna from either side of the group.

Meitou flung a chain with a hooked claw from his right hand, while Yetou held the other end of another chain. The two chains were connected.

The Demon Brothers.

Meitou flicked his wrist, sending the hooked chain straight for Tazuna's neck.

Then he got a good look at the formation around Tazuna.

There was a white-haired guy in front. An orange-haired brat to the left. A pink-haired girl to the right. A black-haired brat behind him.

And behind the white-haired guy stood two more people wearing masks.

A thought flashed through Meitou's mind.

Six of them?

"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

More than a dozen fireballs burst from Sasuke's mouth, arcing outward through the air and cutting off the Demon Brothers' escape route.

The flames struck the chains. The intense heat made the metal glow red, and Meitou grimaced in pain as he stumbled back several steps.

Naruto reacted, chakra rapidly compressing and vibrating around his right fist.

"You guys hiding in the water! I spotted you ages ago!"

He dodged the chain flung by the burly man, planted a foot on its end, and used it to launch himself at Meitou.

Naruto punched Meitou in the chest. Meitou flew like a cannonball and smashed through a cedar by the roadside.

Yetou's hand twitched as he tried to pull back the chain, but Tatsu had already drawn the short blade on his back and cut through its end.

Mi circled around behind him and held a Kunai against his neck.

"Don't move."

The fight had lasted less than twenty seconds from start to finish.

Meitou lay in a heap of broken wood chips, his clothes covered in scorch marks and splinters, a dent in his chest.

He struggled to get up, but his limbs trembled uncontrollably.

Yetou stood frozen, Mi's Kunai pressed to his neck.

Naruto looked down at Meitou, still twitching on the ground, and grinned with his hands on his hips.

"Sasuke, Sasuke, are they always this brave? Aren't they scared of my teammates?"