About three months after Naruto had graduated and started learning from Kakashi he took a mission out of the land of fire for the first time.
“You got all the stuff I told you to get?” I asked as we headed to the village gates with him on the day he was set to head out.
“Yeah I got it all, don’t know why I’d need any of it though since we’re just escorting this rude old guy to his home.” Naruto said with a bit of complaint.
“It’s not about whether or not the mission calls for it but rather if something unexpected happens you’d be better prepared. Like what if you came across a missing nin or something and you guys got injured? A medical kit would come in pretty damn handy then wouldn’t it?” I asked and he begrudgingly admitted I had a point.
That wasn’t the only thing I had him pack though as I made sure he brought soldier pills, explosive tags and plenty of shuriken and kunai. In addition I even gave him a type of medicine that I created during my time with my sensei that was basically a soldier pill but worked but overdrawing ones resources for a short boost of power. The downside though was that after it wore off you’d get put out of commission for at least two weeks.-
It was a last resort type deal and I made sure that he knew it when I gave it to him while also making it clear that under NO circumstances was Kakashi to eat it as that would leave the three genin highly vulnerable. Their sensei was the only Jonin level threat in their squad so if he gets put out of commission like that it was on the genin to get home safely which was harder than you may think with the constant secret squads from other villages that go through the land of fire.-
Missing nin were also a big problem as due to the bounties on their heads they rarely settled in a single place and instead wandered the land in an unpredictably manner. My concern about them encountering one on this seemingly easy mission was as a result rooted in actual past events that occurred similarly. I wasn’t sure why but something told me that this mission wouldn’t be so simple for their squad and this was the best I could do to help make it easier on them.-
(Third person pov squad seven)
At the gate to the village an old man with a grumpy look was waiting along side a man with silver hair and most of his face covered and two children. This was of course Kakashi and two of his three genin, Sasuke and Sakura. They were waiting for the last member of the squad to arrive as he was late by a few minutes.
“Sorry I’m late! Kenzo kept me back to make sure I packed all the stuff he told me to!” a blonde haired boy yelled as he ran up to the group.
“Being prepared is an important part of being a shinobi but so is being on time, remember to leave early from now on Naruto.” Kakashi said calmly and Naruto nodded.
“If we are done wasting time lets get a move on already.” the old man said grouchily.
With that the group officially set off towards the edge of the land of fire and the land of waves. At first everything seemed normal as they traveled along the road but soon enough after they got about halfway to their destination they were ambushed. The ambushers were low level genin from the hidden mist that were hiding in puddles at the side of the road.-
“I think it’s time you explain why a C rank escort mission has shinobi coming after you don’t you?” Kakashi confronted the old man sternly.
“Please you have to understand! I am not a wealthy man and B rank or higher missions are too expensive for me to afford so I may have left out some details in order to get the help of shinobi! I didn’t mean any harm but that bastard Gato has the land of waves in a chokehold and now he is trying to prevent us from building a bridge that would break his hold on the land.” the old man said ashamed but sincerely.-
“Who is this Gato guy and why would he try to kill you?” Naruto asked confused.
“Gato is the founder of the Gato trading company that he has used to take control of the economy of the land of waves by cutting off our access to the rest of the world. However is secretly a drug peddler and smuggler with no moral bottom line so long as he gets more money. My village which is located at the edge of the land of Fire and the land of waves decided to try and build a bridge to break his hold. Gato has sent people to harass us every step of the way but now that the bridge is almost finished he is desperate to stop this threat to his control. He is likely hiring shinobi to kill me and my family in a final bid to stop us. We had expected this however which was why I went to the hidden leaf to hire shinobi of my own to protect us.” the old man said seriously.
There was a discussion between the squad about what should be done and the majority voted that they should still try and help the old man since there was no telling if Gato may try and extend his greed to the land of fire as well. After that the old man was markedly nicer to the squad as they traveled. Two days later a thick mist rolled over the group and Kakashi got into a fight with a missing nin that Naruto recognized as someone Kenzo had spoke of, Zabuza Momochi!-
The attack started with the massive blade flying at the bridge builder and getting repelled by Kakashi. Zabuza created a thick mist to cover the area while Kakashi opened his sharingan. What followed was a masterful game of deception and countering as Zabuza sent two water clones to attack the bridge builder while Kakashi countered the mist and then the attack on the bridge builder. At one point Kakashi got caught in a water prison jutsu that kept Zabuza in place while a water clone was sent to fight the genins.-
Naruto proved the deciding factor there as he created many shadow clones that all distracted the water clone while the real one transformed himself into a Fuma shuriken to be thrown by Sasuke. The real Zabuza easily dodged the shuriken but was forced to release Kakashi after it transformed back into Naruto who threw a kunai at him while he was in mid air. Kakashi then got into a jutsu battle with Zabuza where he would off balance the man by copying everything he did including his speech. The battle ended however when a masked bounty hunter “killed” Zabuza and stole the corpse.