[1st POV]
"Send in our visitor," the Hokage said with a smirk.
We all turned towards the door, waiting in anticipation who it was that we were going to protect for the mission. Naruto said it could be a princess, Sakura predicted it would be a wealthy businessman while Sasuke expected a weakling who needed others to protect him.
When the door to the room opened, the man was revealed.
"Huh? That's some drunk old man!!" Naruto exclaimed.
And indeed it was. An old man leaned on the doorframe while downing a whole bottle of booze. He was shaggy looking with unkept beard and small circular glasses. His cheeks were red, an obvious sign of intoxication.
To give credit, at least he was polite enough to not drink in front of the Hokage. He downed the whole bottle in one go before he crossed the threshold.
"Are these brats really the ones that's supposed to protect me?" he asked while wobbling inside.
"Yes they are. These are Team Seven of Konoha, and my student Suyou Hoshigawa will also join along with this mission," the Hokage answered with his grin still present.
I remember this scene. It was the mission where Team Seven encountered Zabuza. It was the first major arc in the original Naruto series.
I glanced at the Hokage and his grin. Looking at his visage, I got the feeling that he knew exactly what was going to happen and what this mission would entail. After knowing him long enough, I was not fooled by his aged appearance or his seemingly unfit behaviour. The old man was a schemer through and through.
"Hey you, the little one with an idiotic expression. You don't expect me to believe you are a real ninja do you?" the drunk man questioned.
Naruto grinned and nudged at Sasuke, "I think he's talking to you,"
I grabbed him by the shoulder, "Naruto... you are the shortest one."
Naruto froze and for a second, he analyzed the room and realised he was the shortest one among us. I was the tallest, Sasuke coming in second only by a few centimetres, Sakura was next and finally, Naruto was the shortest.
"I'll demolish you old man!!" Naruto raged immediately but Kakashi held him by the scruff of his jacket to stop him. Knowing Naruto, I was sure he would be more than willing to hit our client.
"Let me go!! Let me show him what a real ninja looks like!!" he screamed while waving his hands around madly.
Kakashi gave an eye smile, "Ignore the children. They are with me, and I am an elite jonin. You can rest easy Mr Tazuna."
"Huh, that changes things then," the drunk man said in satisfaction.
"I need to return to my home in the Land of Waves. I am building a bridge there and you should have to be willing to give up your life for me. My job is of utmost important," the drunk man, now I remembered as Tazuna said.
"No one's giving up their life for your smelly ass!!" Naruto said, still struggling to come down from Kakashi's grasp.
"Naruto, you need to be polite to our client," Kakashi scolded him with a sigh.
"Why? He don't look important anyway. And even if he was, I wouldn't care!!" Naruto said childishly.
"It's okay even if you disrespect me. Just make sure you protect me from any danger we encounter," Tazuna said.
"That's a given Mr Tazuna. We will do our utmost best, as a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf," Kakashi said.
"Good. Then we leave tomorrow," Mr Tazuna said at last before excusing himself and leaving the room.
After he left, Kakashi finally dropped Naruto on the floor.
"You heard our client. This mission is going to be long, the journey alone should be at least 3 days and you will need to protect him until he finishes building the bridge as the mission says," the Hokage said, "You should prepare well and start packing."
"You're dismissed."
Team Seven left the room afterwards, with Naruto still complaining all the way. After they were gone, the Hokage addressed me alone.
"Since I will be unable to accompany you in any mission, we will make it a habit for you to tag along in missions done by different teams," the Hokage addressed me.
"Sounds good to me sensei."
"And be careful in this mission Suyou. You might encounter more trouble, you never know when it comes to missions. You should know that better than anyone," he said.
Indeed, my parents were both killed in a C-rank mission gone wrong. My mother was mostly retired but the specific mission they took would've taken longer than usual. That was why the reward was high as well.
My mother decided to tag along due to the duration. I was already considered adult in this world, and they wanted to use that chance to have alone time and maybe try and give me a sibling. But things went horrible.
So horrible that I did not even know what actually happened. It was classified information.
I looked at the Hokage deeply for a moment before I nod.
Then I left the room to head back home early and prepare for the journey ahead.
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(The next day)
"Am I the last one to arrive?" I asked when I reached the agreed location which was outside of the Konoha main gate.
The walls around Konoha were massive, and the gate itself was big enough to fit many cargos. If I stood on my shoulder, even ten of me would fit the height of the main gate.
"Sorry," I apologized when I saw everyone there.
Sasuke clicked his tongue at me. Sakura followed her crush's action and gave me a disapproving look.
"Not at all Suyou! You were right on time," Naruto on the other hand, greeted me with a bright smile and a thumbs up.
I'll admit. It was hard to be early when you are fast enough to be considered instant teleportation. You become not very mindful of time when you can move that fast.
Kakashi on the other hand remained quiet and stared at me for quite long. I didn't think he minded my arrival, but more so he was impressed at the speed at which I reached here.
"If everyone's here, lets move. We don't have time to waste," Tazuna said. He actually looked dignified now that he sobered up.
And so began our journey.
The journey was never boring with Naruto walking with us. His silly antics was enough entertainment. Not to mention he was also quite the chatterbox, constantly asking me questions about how I have been and him answering what he had been up to when I asked.
"We did only D-rank missions, it was so boring I could die. But luckily, now we are doing a real mission!!" he said, "This is just the start to my legendary shinobi career. I wouldn't stop until I become the Hokage believe it!!"
"The Hokage? Pftt, the day you become Hokage I will sprout wings and fly," Tazuna who was listening to our conversation commented.
We were walking in a proper formation with our client in the middle. Kakashi took the lead, Naruto and I were not far behind. And at the very back was Sasuke and Sakura. We were walking in a tight group, so everyone could hear everyone.
Naruto turned back, "What did you say old man!! I will become the greatest Hokage!"
"I'm barely trusting you with my old life here so forgive me if I can't imagine the whole village putting their lives on you," Tazuna said with a shrug.
Naruto gritted his teeth in annoyance.
"Speaking of which, Mr Tazuna, your country is the Land of Waves right?" Sakura asked.
"Yea, what of it?"
"Don't you have ninjas there? Why do you entrust your life to the hands of the shinobi in Konoha?" she asked.
"I'll answer that," Kakashi said to Mr Tazuna. As their teacher, it was his job to teach his students.
"The Land of Waves doesn't have any shinobi. But in other countries, they have hidden villages the same as Konoha with their own different cultures and shinobi. In this continent, the existence of a shinobi village means military strength. The different countries keep power balance this way. But the Country of Waves is a small island and is protected by the mist and the sea, hence they don't really need a village," Kakashi explained.
"Oh, I understand now. I remember reading about this," Sakura said with a voice of realisation.
"The countries that have shinobi villages are the countries of Fire, Earth, Lightning, Water and Wind. These are referred to as the Elemental Nations, and the five villages are called the Five Great Shinobi Villages. The villages act as an independent government ruled by the Kage, so while they offer protection, most countries would rather not have such a powerful state in their country," Kakashi said.
"Are there not any other shinobi villages in the other countries then?" Sasuke asked.
"No, there are still some hidden villages. But these villages do not have even a fraction of the Five Great Shinobi Villages," Kakashi said.
We continued our journey while discussing such things. Kakashi was surprisingly a good mentor, especially when it came to shinobi-related knowledge.
But around four hours into the journey, after we left the last security station offered by Konoha, we encountered a suspicious puddle on the road.
I said suspicious because I sensed chakra from the puddle. Water should not have that kind of chakra unless created by a jutsu.
Kakashi's eyes lingered on that puddle too and then we both made eye contact. He put a finger on his lips to gesture me to shush. Then he took out a log from his bag and performed the substitution jutsu.
He then tossed the same log into the bushes.
"Do you always carry a log with you for that?" I asked, a little weirded out because why not just use a kunai?
"Well, like I said, each village has their own style and culture," he said with a side smile.
After we walked a few more steps, the anticipated attack happened. The puddle turned into a shinobi and another one came down from the trees.
"Now!!" they screamed and their first target was Kakashi.
They attacked from behind, quickly wrapping their chains around Kakashi and then completely crushing him with the sharp blades on said chain. Kakashi exploded in a gore of blood and chipped flesh.
Judging by their speed, they were chunin or above.
"Kakashi sensei!!" the three screamed when they witnessed the scene. Their eyes wide with surprise.
The enemies immediately moved again, wasting no time to even check if Kakashi was truly dead or not. That was a silly mistake I would never make from here on out.
"Watch out," I said and pulled Naruto by the scruff of his jacket. The scene of his sensei being ripped apart like that completely froze him.
With my help, Naruto dodged a sweep of steel chain. But they didn't strike again. Their target wasn't us, it was Tazuna.
Sasuke burst into action. Like always, he was fast. I witnessed how fast he was in our spar firsthand.
But that was a week ago. Now, the movements were slow. It was not slow motion to the naked eye at all as he literally blurred into afterimages. But during that time, I already held back multiple reactions.
Sasuke leapt into the air before throwing kunais that pinned the chaotic chains on a tree and on the ground. He then landed on the outstretched arms of the enemies and kicked them both at the same time.
They were thrown away by the force. But they didn't waste a single moment as they burst out, completely blitzing past Sasuke and aiming for the client.
Sasuke abandoned his role as the protector just to deal with the enemy. That was a bad move, you never knew how many enemies are.
I finally decided to move too. I used the body flicker jutsu to appear in front of Tazuna and Sakura. The two enemies threw their hands at me, they had weapons shaped like claws on their hands.
I did not back away, instead I ducked slightly to move away from the claws. My faster speed allowed me to completely move away from their attacks.
I had kunai on both hands and I pushed them towards their faces. Their own momentum and my thrust was going to pierce their face. The blade would reach their brain faster than their claws would reach their target.
But then I saw a vivid blur. Kakashi used the body flicker to deal with the two enemies, saving them from the dead end of my kunai. He locked them on his forearm and the sudden stop knocked them out instantly.
There was an abrupt pause, the battle was suddenly brought to a stop.
Kakashi looked back at me, "We don't want to kill them when we can get information."
I stood up, "My bad."
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Author: The original Naruto characters were weak. Fights are mostly about tricks and outsmarting your opponents even at jonin level. This is quite the contrast to Naruto Shippuden.
So for this book, I am going to scale them from Shippuden. These characters are going to be powerful and fights are going to be insanely fast paced as it should be. No monologues or pause in between.
Fights will be completely different from here on.