Naruto : Path of Wind

"Besides, you stuck by me today. Better late than never, eh?" I venture. Sakura bobs her head in agreement.

"Thanks, Naruto." She says softly.

"No problem."

...

Sasuke and Kakashi don't appear when we exit the cluster of training grounds onto a busy market road, so we make the walk to the Hokage Tower by ourselves.

Around us merchants clamber to get rid of the rest of their daily stock before packing up their stalls and civilians and shinobi alike swarm around them for an early dinner. One stall in particular catches my eye, nestled between two squid and produce vendors, and I quickly grab Sakura's hand and tug her through the seething waves of Konoha citizens.

The woman behind the stall is old and rather small, her snow white hair tied into a neat bun, wearing a worn kimono smattered with vivid cherry blossoms and a placid expression. Her skin is almost as pale as her hair, and laugh lines and crows feet alike mark her advanced age.

We exchange some small talk while I peruse the myriad of tiny jars, and after a minute I decide on a maroon one. Counting out a few bills, I promptly grab Sakura's hand and yank her away once more, this time into a small alley.

"N-Naruto?" Sakura stutters. I offer her the jar.

"Here, rub this on your legs. It's a muscle relaxer." I say.

"What about you?"

"Waste of salve," I respond. "I heal fast. The bruises Kakashi gave me won't last the night."

She hesitates, glancing over her shoulder, but takes the jar. She pops the top and sniffs it. Then she dips her fingertips in and shifts a slit in her dress aside, rubbing it into a particularly bruised spot on her thigh. I force my gaze away, admiring the grimy gray bricks and overflowing trash cans on display in the alley.

"Ah," Sakura gasps. I grin.

"Good stuff, right?" I peek over and see her nod, bending down further to rub at her calf.

"It's so warm," she says blissfully.

"Yeah. That stall has saved me more than once heading in to classes at the Academy covered in really bad bruises, burns, lacerations..." I pause in my counting of the ways in which Sasuke has harmed my person at Sakura's horrified look. "Nothing too bad, of course! Just some... uncomfortable stuff. Point is, that old lady makes great salves," I finish lamely.

Finishing up on her legs, Sakura dips into the jar again and smears it on both her arms, covering the dark splotches. Her fingers go to the zipper on her dark green dress and hovers there. She bites her lip.

Oh.

I spin around, feeling my cheeks heat up, and leave her to it. My thoughts eventually drift off to the scroll back at my apartment, locked up in a strongbox under the wiggly tile in the bathroom. The S-rank Uzumaki clan jutsu. The heat drains from my face and my hands clench into fists. I'm missing something, I know it. There has to be a scroll I've missed in the library. The old man wouldn't screw me like that.

A slender finger taps on my shoulder, belonging to a certain blushing teammate of mine. She tries to hand me the jar back, but I wave her off, grabbing her hand for a third- fourth?- time and diving into the fray of the market district. I'm only doing it to make sure we don't get split up. Honest.

I let go when we finally make it through the worst of the throng and veer sharply towards the Hokage Tower, rising high above the buildings surrounding it, blotting out the setting sun. My mind settles back on the scroll in my apartment, and I'm pondering the connection between my defect and the special Uzumaki chakra when a thought occurs to me.

"That's right!" I cry, snapping my fingers. "I wanted to ask you about that stuff you said on the roof," I say, turning inquisitive eyes on Sakura.

She blinks, startled. "You mean about the Uzumaki?"

I nod. "I've never heard about the seven Yokai techniques before," I explain. "You wouldn't happen to remember the name of the scroll you learned that from, would you?"

"Ah, no. I read it a while ago." She looks down. "Sorry."

"No biggie," I assure her, carefully masking my disappointment. Looks like I'll just have to wait until the jackass that has it now returns it.

We finally arrive at the high-arching entrance of the Hokage Tower and proceed in, traversing the steps in silence. The secretary waves us through when we make it to the Hokage's floor, and the Anbu at the door steps dutifully aside. I shove the heavy wooden doors open, and the chaos within is revealed.

The soundproof doors did their job well, it seems. The thunderous shouting takes me completely off guard, even more so when I realize it's coming from just two people.

One a tall, muscular man with an awful looking bowlcut, an admittedly awesome green leotard and orange leg band combo, and a pair of absolutely monstrous eyebrows bellowing indignantly at Kakashi, who's leaning against a wall serene as ever. The second, equally loud source, is what looks to be an identical copy of the jounin, sans vest, wrestling around on the floor with... Sasuke.

Wait.

"No, Uchiha-san!" The bizarre genin cries spiritedly, squirming out of Sasuke's grip. "You must secure my arms! Like this-" And then he flips my teammate over and slams his face into the plush carpeting, twisting his arms behind his back. "You see, now you'll only hurt yourself if you try to escape!"

Is he giving Sasuke advice?

I turn incredulous eyes on the only other two people in the room I don't know, who I assume to be the rest of this demented little genin team. The one closest to me stares right back at me with cool, pupilless eyes of the Hyuuga clan. He's wearing a pair of dark blue shorts and a high-collared beige shirt. His hair hangs in a long, womanly ponytail, in typical Hyuuga fashion.

The other is a girl, standing a few inches taller than me, with her head in her hands. Her light brown hair is pulled up into twin buns, and her ensemble consists of a pair of long dark green pants and a light pink top.

"What is he doing?" I ask. The girl lifts her head and flashes me an embarrassed smile.

"It's nothing, he's just-"

"Arch your back, Uchiha-san! Don't let me lock my legs!"

"Oh for the love of..." I sigh, striding forward. I reach down and catch the back of Sasuke's shirt as he comes rolling on top and yank him up and off the boisterous genin, who thankfully lets him go. "What have I told you about getting into fights with strangers?" I ask him sternly when he turns on me, snarling. I strike quick as lightning, smacking him upside the head. "Don't do it if you can't win!"

My words are sharp and mocking, but my palm speaks my true intention, and he calms after a few short puffs of air. That weird genin doesn't seem like he meant any harm, but I can see the fury burning in Sasuke's eyes. The sting can only be lessened so much by good intentions when you're getting coached by the guy happily kicking your ass.

I throw a short glare Kakashi's way, which he smoothly ignores.

"Well, now that we're all here, I believe introductions are in order," The old man calls happily from his desk. The large green shinobi breaks off from his tirade, bowing low.

"Hokage-sama, apologies on behalf of my team and myself. That was a most unprofessional display!"

"It's quite alright, Gai," The old man says graciously. "As I was saying, Team 7, this is Team 9. They graduated from the Academy a year ago, and are a heavy assault team just like yourselves. They'll be accompanying you on your first mission."

"Excuse me?" I ask. Old man Hokage raises a single gray brow.

"Your sensei didn't tell you? There is a procedure that all rookie and veteran genin teams must follow for their first few missions. I like to call it the Shinobi Sibling program.

Its purpose is to provide the rookie genin with a safety net of sorts while they take their first steps into the shinobi world. It also serves the bonus purpose of allowing the veteran genin to assume some beginning leadership roles in preparation for their ascension to chunin."

"Why can't we take an easier mission instead?" Sasuke asks, glaring coldly at the leotard-wearing genin and the Hyuuga as well, for whatever reason.

"I'm afraid there's no such thing as an easy mission, Sasuke," he says. "If you're caught and detained in an infiltration and reconnaissance mission, the fact that you're looking for a list of simple smuggled items instead of the plans to a coup d'etat will not save you.

If you find yourself caught in the crossfire of a demolition mission, the relatively small scale of the building coming down on your head won't matter. And if your sensei were to misstep in a strike against a group of bandits, they would treat you no kinder than a high-ranking shinobi." He smiles thinly. "They'd likely treat you worse."

Sasuke nods sullenly, subsiding.

"It is only until we can be certain of your abilities," old man Hokage says sympathetically. "It will be over before you know it. And who knows? Perhaps you and Lee will look back on this in a few days and laugh about it."

"Indeed!" Said genin pipes up, flashing pearly white teeth at us. I hold back a snort, but just barely. Sasuke isn't normally one to hold grudges, but when he does he not even a woman scorned can match up to him.

I'll have to remember that name, though. Lee. Where have I heard that before?

The old man coughs, shuffling through some papers on his desk before procuring a scroll sealed with the official symbol of Konoha, dyed a deep red around the edges. "If that's settled, let me brief you all on your mission..."

...

 PS : don't forget to write a review and throw power stones for the story :)

...

if you want to read ahead of the public release you can join my p atreon :

 p atreon.com/CarriePoppins