"Hello, Hokage-sama." I walked into the old man's office like I owned the place.
He was puffing on his pipe over some paperwork and, as usual, answered my greeting and immediately asked:
"What brings you here, Naruto?"
"Give me an A‑rank mission." I decided to start high so it'd be easier to bargain down to what I actually wanted.
Two wide, round eyes stared at me.
Silence hung for a couple of seconds.
Then Hiruzen choked on his smoke and went into a coughing fit.
"Kh‑kh… Naruto." The Hokage pulled the pipe from his mouth, stared at it thoughtfully for a second, then set it aside. "Right. I must've misheard. Gone completely deaf… Repeat that for an old man…"
In answer, I repeated my request with a perfectly straight face, earning a look of pure skepticism.
"Ah…" He was clearly struggling to find the words, but still tried to dig out a grain of sanity in what I'd said. "Why?"
"Following Koharu‑sensei's instructions, I'm lacking real combat experience." I shrug. "Working under the pressure of mortal danger and killing an enemy—that's exactly what would suit me."
A whole parade of emotions flashed across the old man's face. Before he blurted something he'd regret, I decided to dial the whole thing down a notch.
"But I'd like to start with something lighter. How about a B‑rank mission?"
His face tightened, went serious. Almost immediately it smoothed out again, and the Hokage scratched his head under his hat like some regular old grandpa.
"Okay, but why?"
"To…" I trailed off; time to leave some things unsaid. "To get stronger? Same old desire to protect myself and maybe others… You remember. We've talked about it a few times. Back at Ichiraku…"
"Yes…" Hiruzen drawled. "I understand your reasons. But isn't it too early? What are you rushing toward?"
"Strength is always necessary." I shrug again. "Danger lurks even inside our village. Not to mention we're at war with the Cloud."
"Oh? And where do you get ideas like that?"
"Orochimaru did experiments on Konoha citizens. He could've grabbed me too."
"I wouldn't have allowed that." Hiruzen grimaced at the mention of his wayward student. Catching my skeptical look, he corrected himself: "Leaf shinobi would've pulled you out. Orochimaru's a lost sheep… He's not as bad as a lot of people think."
"Anyway, back to the topic—are you going to give me a mission? Konoha needs missions done too."
In response to that carefree line, I got a very loud, very long sigh. After another ten seconds of him drilling holes in me with his gaze, Hiruzen bent down, pulled a thick folder from a drawer, opened it and started flipping through it quickly.
"No respect for an old man's nerves," he muttered, shaking his head. "What A and B‑rank missions? You're not even a genin…"
He kept grumbling as he skimmed page after page.
"Oh, this will do nicely." Holding the sheet so I couldn't see it, he lifted his head and looked at me. "Naruto, I'm your guardian. I can't deliberately put you in danger. Even if you want that. More importantly, our village has laws, and I can only issue missions to Leaf shinobi. You're not one yet. Your desire to grow is praiseworthy. But you're too young for anything serious. So I'll give you something entry‑level. So there's progression, as you say, toward mortal danger. A long progression… At least until you become a genin. Also, you are definitely going with an escort."
Listening to Hiruzen's tirade—logical enough on the surface—I was reading the mission sheet with my Soul Sight and trying to keep my expression neutral.
This is… is he really going to make me do this?.. I'm… strong. And this is…
"Here's a D‑rank mission." He finally handed me the paper, and I just stared at it blankly. "You need to catch a brown cat with a red bow on its left ear. It has a long stripe on its forehead, crossed by three more."
"A cat… With an escort? The lowest‑rank mission, inside the village… with an escort?" Now it was my turn to doubt my hearing.
"An escort is mandatory. That's the law. Until you become at least an experienced genin. But the mission really doesn't involve much danger, so your teammate will be only one chunin."
"But I need to get stronger…" I reminded him of my motive, and he smashed it without mercy.
"Strength is made up of many factors. Until you formally become a shinobi, we can polish a lot of other skills. No need to be so bloodthirsty. Tracking is what you'll be doing. That skill is very multifaceted and touches on such important parts of a shinobi's life as escape and concealment."
"…" I looked from the sheet to the old man in confusion. Tracking, escape and concealment? Are we even talking about the same mission?
Understanding my silent question, Hiruzen filled in the missing pieces:
"This is the cat belonging to the wife of our country's ruler, the daimyo. It's a very capable cat, I'm serious. It's already run away from its owner several times and hid perfectly from genin. Usually shinobi of that rank still manage to find it in the end. You've had much better training. And I believe you'll cope."
"I've tracked animals in the forest with Koharu‑sensei," I confirmed my skills, though the skepticism inside me didn't go anywhere.
But… Hm. My safety… Hiruzen really did care about it. Just like he cared about the safety of all Konoha residents. This mission is… complete crap, honestly. But something inside tells me they're not going to give me anything better.
Thinking it through rationally, I figured that if I refused this, I'd just lose my chance to build any trust or authority with the old man. I'd show him I wasn't serious about what I'd asked for, and then I probably wouldn't see any missions at all until I made genin. So I had to take what I could get.
"Thank you for this, Hokage‑sama."
I dipped my head a little, showing my respect.
"Oh, no need, no need." He waved a hand. "A young sprout grows into a branch that will support the leaves on the tree of Konoha. How can I not be glad about that?"
Hiruzen let himself drift into his favorite philosophy for a moment, then quickly brought the conversation to a proper end.
"I'll write up the mission now and give you the address of that ninja. His name is Fumaro." He started scribbling quickly on a new sheet in pen and handed that to me as well. "Here. You have until evening."
After saying goodbye, I left the office and headed where I needed to go.
Using the rooftops, I found the chunin's house in under a minute.
Knock‑knock.
A minute after I knocked, the door slid open and a man of about thirty appeared. Spiky black hair, confused expression with two vertical scars on his face, plain black clothes. He would've looked intimidating if not for that expression.
When he lowered his eyes to me, recognition flashed there, but he chose not to show it.
"What do you want, kid?"
"Fumaro?"
He confirmed with a nod.
"We've got a mission together. Get ready."
I handed the surprised shinobi the two sheets. He took them, looked them over, and went inside to get ready.
"Well, this is unexpected." He came back already in a green vest with pouches for shuriken, kunai and other ninja gear like wire or paper tags, plus a thigh holster for the same stuff. "Usually the Hokage doesn't do it this abruptly. Well, with missions of this level. But if he did, then I, the great Fumaro, will complete this assignment!"
On those last words he proudly jabbed his thumb into his chest and puffed himself up.
"You're sure you're a chunin?" I raised a brow.
"To you, kid, I am Fumaro‑sama!" Not the least bit offended by my, apparently for such a person, disrespectful tone, he corrected me. "I specialize in combat encounters. You should be happy you'll be working with such a respected ninja!"
"We've got a tracking mission." His tirade didn't impress me at all. I was wiping the floor with guys like him half a year ago, so imagine now.
By the way, what Fumaro said about how to address him was interesting, even if not surprising. Even though Hiruzen is my guardian, I call him "Hokage‑sama," as local etiquette requires. First and foremost he's the village's ruler, not someone's dear old grandpa. And I… don't like that kind of policy. Though, probably, it makes sense. Still, calling him that really is a sign of respect. Not a fake one.
But those rules imply that his family comes second, while the village comes first. That kind of self‑sacrifice to the village gives me this strange sense of not getting it. I don't think I'd put the value of all humanity on the same level as my loved ones. They're… loved ones.
Anyway. More philosophy. If that old man were actually my real relative, I'd probably blow off the customs and just call him Grandpa. From some stories I know a lot of clans do that. In some, they don't. But what matters there is what I and my close ones think.
Eh… a certain bald man would probably be proud of me right now.
"We've got a tracking mission, Fumaro‑sama," he corrected me.
"You called me a kid right off the bat. So I'll talk to you the same way. Our positions aren't different enough for me to let that slide."
"But…" His eyes met mine; mine clearly suggested he shouldn't waste our time. "Fine. So, the mission says the cat was seen in the district… We'll start there. You… can track small animals, right?"
"…Yeah." I rolled my eyes. "I can track by scent at medium sensory ranges. I've got special skills in that."
"O‑oh… So your lot can do that too. Mhm‑mhm, makes sense. Beasts and all…"
"Our lot?" I clarified.
This guy was starting to annoy me. Might as well have some fun watching him try not to tell me I'm a jinchuriki. The Hokage's ban on that is still in place. No one knows that I know.
"That's… you… You're hallucinating. You didn't hear anything."
"…"
A real master of keeping secrets, this one.
"Shall we go?" he asked.
"Let's go."
We set off.
No matter how much time passes, moving fast is still fun. The wind is so loud it drowns out your hearing. Dozens of houses flash past under your feet every second. And if I push just a bit harder, my speed jumps to a level even the fastest race cars in my previous world couldn't reach.
Fumaro… Yeah, he's a chunin, I can see that. Maybe he really is good in a fight. But on this mission he's probably just ballast. Well, ballast and a decent chunk of backup in case some random strong jonin‑level enemy decides to drop out of nowhere. Together, we'd last a few seconds. After that, I'd flare my chakra so hard the sleeping shinobi on the other side of the village would feel it. Then we wouldn't have to hold out any longer—support from a village full of ninja would definitely show up, at least ten faces minimum.
Attacking a conscious jinchuriki, in the middle of a ninja village, is a good way to die like an idiot. Unless the attacker is on the level of this body's daddy.
Though, thinking through that scenario… it's kind of a dumb one. I've lived here several years and no one's touched me. Why should someone show up exactly the moment I leave on my first mission?
Soon we arrived at the place.
Forming the seal of concentration, I focused, gathering the right properties of chakra in my nose to sharpen my sense of smell.
"We're lucky. Only three trails fit the timeframe and the cat's sex—we're looking for a female. First we'll check the northern track, then the southwest one, then the eastern one."
Fumaro had nothing to argue; this wasn't his area. So we moved out without extra words.
It didn't take that long. About half an hour while we followed two trails and found the wrong cats. These furballs could wander pretty far. Unfortunately we got unlucky with our first choice of direction.
Should've sniffed the daimyo's wife. Her smell had to be on her pet. Only she was currently at her residence, even if that residence was still inside the Leaf. Getting to her would've taken… honestly, less time than following three different cat tracks. But since we'd already checked two routes, there was no point in turning back and causing extra trouble for a supposedly important person.
Soon we'd reached the far edges of the Leaf Village. The village, by the way, is enclosed by a wall that forms one huge circle. From wall to wall it's probably over thirty kilometers. I'm not exactly a local geography expert. I just know that the inhabited part of the village only takes up a small portion of that circle. The rest is training grounds, forests, fields and all sorts of other useful things.
Eventually we began wandering into a strange forest.
With my senses on edge, I could feel seals embedded in the trees. With Soul Sight, I could even see the symbols on those seals—immobilization formulas—and sometimes wires running from one seal to another.
Soul Sight. Over time it just kept turning out more and more useful, even though the overall capabilities of the soul aren't that impressive.
Unfortunately, I still don't have a solid theoretical base on how the soul is structured. I need experiments. And experimenting on yourself… isn't a great idea.
Soul energy behaves very differently from chakra. In terms of raw power, it's fallen even further behind my now‑grown chakra. I've just hit a ceiling for now, only steadily making sure not to forget to develop this unique soul of mine.
The width of my soul's field of view has expanded, by the way. Same for the "reach" of the energy. I can't call the soul useless. But at this stage it's definitely barely useful.
After about a kilometer, having already noticed three traps, I was about to ask Fumaro where the hell we'd wandered off to.
Didn't get the chance. Because this genius, whom I'd still been considering at least a bit of an experienced shinobi, stepped right into the next trap.
He was running at easily over a hundred kilometers an hour, stepped on a seal—and turned to stone on the spot.
At the same time, a niche opened in a nearby tree, and senbon shot out at him at high speed.
Landing on the nearest branch, not wasting a second, muttering something not very PG‑13 under my breath, I whipped out several kunai and threw them along the senbon's flight paths. My projectiles knocked down some of the needles, but several still embedded themselves in Fumaro.
"Damn…" Closing the distance quickly, I caught the falling shinobi. His eyes shut and he passed out.
There can't seriously be a poisoned trap inside the village, can there?
I immediately started checking my teammate's body for signs of poisoning.
Looked like simple paralysis…
Or a slow‑acting poison?
Hm. No, better be sure. I have to get him to the hospital. Doing a deep field diagnosis myself might be beyond me. And I can't rule out that this is something fancy that only a few very experienced specialists could even detect.
Maybe I'm being paranoid. But the guy's life could really depend on this.
But… the mission.
In this society, failing missions is heavily frowned upon. And if I fail one this easy, it won't make me look great. Even if, realistically, saving a teammate's life should outweigh the mission. The stain would still be there.
A dilemma…
Luckily, not really. Because…
I crossed my fingers, and a shadow clone popped into existence next to me. I handed him the unconscious chunin.
I've got this wonderful technique, and I've polished it pretty well over time.
I'll finish the mission on my own. The hospital staff will manage without me. When it comes to poisons, there are a few shinobi there far more experienced than I am; I'd just get in the way.
Following the cat's scent again, soon I vaulted over some fence topped with wire and moved on.
The forest was getting… bigger? Or rather, the trees were. They were turning into enormous colossi—two or three dozen meters in diameter, hundreds of meters tall. Their leaves completely blocked out the sky.
But the smell is strong. The cat's close.
I stopped and put my hand to a trunk.
Sent out a pulse of chakra.
Nope, still can't pick a small animal's chakra out from the background. Sensors don't distinguish chakra by "species" anyway; they use other criteria. Easier that way.
However… Oh, this is getting interesting. There are a lot of chakra sources in this forest. Mushroom pickers?
I get it. With trees like these, imagine the mushrooms.
There wasn't far left to go, and in a bit I was going to cross paths with one of the chakra sources.
Seriously speaking, I knew there were no mushroom pickers living here. My nose still worked, and I could clearly tell there were only animals around.
I wasn't too lazy to walk around the beast; it wasn't bothering me. Taking a small detour, I stepped out onto a little clearing where the kitty smell was strongest.
Not bothering to be quiet, I crashed through the bushes and walked up to the roots of a giant tree.
"Come on out. Or I'll drag you out," I said to the cat sitting somewhere among those roots.
No answer.
"Eh… Poor tree." I shook my head, went around the trunk and, finding the burrow where the cat was apparently hiding, started digging.
Hard earth crumpled easily in my hands and flew out behind me into the bushes. Like I was in a sandbox, like some overgrown mole.
The burrow was deep, and roots blocked my way. So I had to bend and break them with a little effort.
After about half a minute of digging, with clumps of dirt rustling through the leaves above, I could tell I was almost at my target. But a clearly felt chakra source behind me made me irritably stop and turn.
"What are you sticking your mug in here for, huh? Place is taken, can't you see?" I turned toward the big bushes, from behind which a gigantic bear snout, about my size, poked out.
"Grrrrr…" The animal lumbered forward in all its glory. The bastard was about seven meters at the shoulder.
All of a sudden, images from my past world flooded my brain. Scenes from the lessons of a truly great Sensei, explaining how you're supposed to act in situations like this.
"Go ahead and growl. Now get lost before I knock your block off!"
Turning fully, I straightened up and stared the beast right in the eyes.
As I spoke, a powerful wave of chakra burst out of me—a warning.
Didn't help.
Drool was hanging from the bear's jaw. It was hungry. And it clearly wasn't planning to leave.
"GRRRRR!!!" It rose up on its hind legs, almost doubling in height.
"Well then, roast bear for dinner it is." Having decided the animal's fate, I reached into the pouch on my back and felt a tough, chakra‑conductive wire slide between my fingers. Almost a razor‑wire saw. "You're fucked, bear."
A little earlier. Hokage's office. An interlude about the old man for real this time, since he's gray now.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, as usual, was sitting and thinking about the past. This time—the recent past.
Not long ago, he'd clashed with his son Asuma. A conflict sprang up between them over their views on what a shinobi should be. What he should believe in and what he should protect.
In Asuma, the old man had seen a possible successor. The boy was talented enough that, if something unforeseen happened, he could at least partly replace the Hokage.
To Hiruzen's regret, it got to the point where the young shinobi left for a monastery…
Or rather, joined the daimyo's guard, part of which consisted of monks.
Maybe Hiruzen had been too persistent. Maybe Asuma had just let the blood rush to his head.
Either way, what's done is done. Once again, the position of Hokage had lost a candidate.
Unfortunately, his other child—though more sensible—had simply not been blessed with much talent. A Hokage can't be weak; that's the cruelty of this world. Hiruzen couldn't dump the responsibility on someone who couldn't carry it.
Sarutobi also had pupils, each undoubtedly outstanding. But… Tsunade was who‑knows‑where, Jiraiya was too flighty, and Orochimaru… Better not remember him at all.
Of course, besides his "inner circle," there were other strong shinobi in Konoha. But they weren't suitable either.
The son of the White Fang, Kakashi, was stuck in the past and just couldn't return to reality. A boy with a very tragic life—he'd lost everyone.
His rival Gai was an extremely impressive shinobi. But, let's say, not exactly well‑rounded. Not stupid, no, just completely wrapped up in taijutsu.
There was also the head of the Uchiha clan. Strong, very responsible and caring, even if he tried to look like an emotionless rock. But because of Tobirama‑sensei's old policies—his hatred of the Uchiha—things with that clan were very complicated. Hiruzen had long since outgrown childish prejudices about Sharingan‑bearers. Many other shinobi hadn't. Especially given that Hiruzen's rival in his youth, Danzo, not only shared the attitude of Tobirama, who'd been their team leader for a while, but was even more cruel about it.
The rest of Hiruzen's old teammates were already helping him run the village, but they were far too weak to become Hokage. Danzo… he was strong enough, but his treatment of subordinates was far too harsh. Shimura didn't understand that Konoha wasn't just a military organization; it was a family, and every member has feelings.
The Fourth had been the perfect candidate. He understood the village's legacy—the Will of Fire—very well and was devoted to the village… But tragedy took him.
Hiruzen desperately wanted to pass on the post that weighed on him. Or rather, that's not quite right: it was fear for the village's uncertain future that truly bothered him.
He couldn't hand the village over to someone who'd lead everyone to ruin.
New talented ninja were being born in Konoha. Maybe, taking all his past experience into account, he should ease his criteria a little.
Thinking about this, Hiruzen saw that for several years now he'd already had what looked like a good candidate.
Minato and Kushina's son…
At the memory of the boy's face, a smile that was both sad and proud appeared on the old man's lips.
The villagers—and Hiruzen himself—remembered how shinobi children had lived before the creation of the Great Villages. They had no childhood. At five years old, sometimes even earlier, they were given a sword too big for them, stuffed into armor and dragged off to yet another war. Over the years, an unspoken tradition had taken root in Konoha: let children have a childhood. They hadn't shed blood to build a village for nothing, right?
Usually that tradition held. Only rarely, for clan heirs, were exceptions made. As inhuman as that was to Hiruzen, he had to reckon with the clans—as long as it didn't threaten the whole village.
The old man wanted his ward to have the same carefree period his own children had. A time when Naruto could just enjoy life within the village walls, not knowing the dangers outside.
But the brat turned out to be smart beyond his years, and very curious. Hiruzen often noted that Naruto, for some reason, faintly reminded him of a mix of Orochimaru—only without the inner darkness—Jiraiya with his shamelessness but without the perversion, and a chunk of Tsunade with her desire to punch someone… And why had he remembered that particular trait of his student? She was also quite talented, after all. And as for Jiraiya's perversion, it was probably too early to judge; the boy wasn't even six yet.
You can't force someone into a mold, as they say. Hiruzen knew very well from experience how true that was. Because of that, when Naruto asked to work on his development, the old man didn't refuse. And he still didn't regret it.
Whatever Koharu‑chan said, Naruto accepted everything he was given with gratitude and dedication. He did everything asked of him responsibly, all to, as he said himself, become stronger. That sense of responsibility added a lot of points to the boy in Hiruzen's eyes.
His former teammate had also said the two of them were similar in some ways. She hadn't gone into detail.
Naruto's motivation did worry Sarutobi slightly, though. The boy seemed to feel like he was in danger. The Hokage had noticed that long ago and, of course, ran several checks on the caretakers, but never managed to find the source of that feeling.
So the old man hoped it would pass with age.
On the whole, the picture looked good. Very good, actually. Naruto's results were simply astounding. It was like every possible talent had come together in one body: incredibly strong chakra, almost jeweler‑level control and an unstoppable desire to use it all.
He'd taken on several disciplines at once—and moved with incredible speed in each.
Sometimes, when looking at the portrait of the First hanging in his office, Hiruzen felt that something new might be coming. That maybe, in just a decade, a new God of Shinobi would appear in the world—one to whom Hiruzen himself wouldn't be able to compare.
But that would be in a decade.
For now, the old man didn't see a deep, burning Will of Fire in his ward—but he didn't see rot either. His qualities suggested that if you entrusted him… Not now, of course, but in the future… with the village, then it was very possible he wouldn't just preserve it, but lead it into an even brighter future. Maybe… he'd even manage to break the world's cycle of hatred.
No. That was Hiruzen getting carried away.
Although… that prophecy.
No.
You had to rely on your own actions.
Naruto was his ward, whom he'd promised to protect. How would he look Minato and Kushina in the eye, in the Pure Land, if something happened to their son?
The boy was also a citizen of Konoha, and of the Land of Fire, whom Hiruzen, as Hokage, had sworn to protect.
Therefore, the ruler's goal was to ensure safety.
Lost in these thoughts, the old man didn't notice how far he'd drifted from his work.
He sighed.
Since Naruto had left his office, he still hadn't touched the paperwork… That needed to be fixed.
But…
Curiosity got the better of Hiruzen.
He pulled open a drawer and took out a crystal ball on a cushion.
Well then… Sarutobi would take one little peek at how the brat was doing, and then he'd definitely get back to work.
Forming a few hand seals to simplify the technique, Hiruzen tuned his chakra to the familiar signature of Naruto's.
Soon the ball glowed, and an image formed inside it. What he saw there made the old man clutch his chest.
His ward was, for some reason, alone. And not just anywhere, but in probably the most dangerous place in the entire Land of Fire—the Forest of Death. And right now he was standing on a massive branch, face grim, tightening a wire that ran under that very branch and looped around the neck of a huge bear that had to weigh twenty tons at least.
Now that's strength…
The beast was trying to break free, jerking its whole body and paws; judging by its open mouth, it was trying to roar. But it probably couldn't, with its airway cut off. Its claws couldn't tear the chakra‑reinforced wire either.
At that moment the door in front of Hiruzen swung open and an ANBU stepped in.
"Hokage‑sama, reporting: Uzumaki Naruto is in the hospital with Fumaro. I came straight here as soon as they arrived!"
"…" Eyes bulging, shifting his gaze from the ball to his subordinate, back to the ball and back again, Hiruzen started cursing for the first time in a very long while:
"What the fuck is going on here?!"
_____
How do you like the hero's first mission? The continuation will be in the next chapter, but you can share your thoughts already.
P.S. Not all fights will be described in such a joking manner. This is a serious story. Just not everywhere.
P.P.S. You can support me and read up to 20 upcoming chapters ahead of release at –> patreon.com/Welydora