Naruto : An Uchiha's Tale

18 Chapter 18: D-rank?!

The next morning, The three of them woke up early and headed towards the Hokage's office. Where Sakumo had decided they would meet up to receive their first mission. Jin and his cousins were excited, as this would be the first time they would brandish their headbands while working as a real ninja. Not students.

As they arrived, Sakumo was already waiting there. After some chatter, the four of them headed upwards and entered the Hokage's office. Hiruzen was not there, so his advisor at the time, Shimpei Nara took over and greeted them.

"Sakumo-kun! I haven't seen you in a while... Are these the prodigy Uchiha trio I have been hearing so much about?" Shimpei was pleasantly surprised seeing that the three of them had managed to pass Sakumo's test.

"Good morning, Advisor Shimpei. I am here to request a D-rank mission for my newly established team. And yes, they are stronger than I thought." Sakumo himself was happy about the students he had received this year, he really felt like they could achieve big things in the future.

"D-Rank?! Aren't we strong enough for B rank missions already?!" Hideki had his mood ruined. He had come here with the hopes of getting some action to brag about in front of Jiraiya and Duy later, it seemed this was not going to happen though.

"Sakumo sensei... What is the meaning of this." Fugaku himself was frowning. He wanted to get stronger quickly, and doing mere D-rank missions would only be detrimental to his goal.

Jin was unfazed. He knew the procedures and was willing to take D-rank missions to increase their teamwork with Sakumo in the process. The had met him two days ago after all.

"Aren't you guys eager. It's merely a formality to start off with D-rank missions to increase our teamwork. As I see us improving as a team, I will think about applying for us to take higher ranked missions in the future."

Fugaku and Hideki were still angry after sensei's explanation. They felt like their teamwork was solid enough already, and that it would only increase if put under tough situations. They were right, but it was necessary to not take any risks for now, especially since Kumogakure was lurking in the shadows. Not mentioning other countries.

"Well, we do have a suitable mission here." Shimpei took out a scroll from one of the drawers next to him. "D-rank Mission: Find the cat of madam Shijimi, the new wife of the current Daimyo."

Madam Shijimi?! How old was that woman in the Anime? Jin looked on with disbelief. Maybe cats also had a higher lifespan thanks to this being the ninja world.

"We have to chase a cat? I'd rather train back at home than do such useless things." Fugaku was less than impressed as he turned around to leave.

"Fugaku. Stay, here and listen to sensei." Jin didn't even look back as he said in a harsh tone.

"Cheh..."

Fugaku had respect for Jin, so he followed through with his demand. Thinking back on it, he did not want to get on the bad side of his sensei.

"Alrighty, do not underestimate that cat. I heard that he is extremely hard to catch and has put many genin under pressure before you. In fact, you are the tenth team t attempt this mission in the past few days only." Shimpei said with a sneer as he looked at the disagreeing Fugaku.

"It's just a mere cat... Those genin were incompetent, that's it."

The four left the room as they went towards the location where the cat had been seen for the last time. It was a small patch of forestry in the middle of Konoha, where the found some imprints after a little bit of searching through with their Sharingan.

"Hideki, how do your new eyes feel?" Jin asked Hideki who had awakened his Sharingan after the battle with Sakumo. He had noticed when he woke up and started training the next day. His vision had improved, and he could go faster without worrying about being able to keep up with his own movements.

He went to Goro to seek advice, and after some probing, they found out he had awakened his eyes. It came as a pleasant surprise since he had just graduated and this would become a boost to his abilities.

"It feels amazing. Everything is so much clearer now, and I feel like I could now keep up with Fugaku. Hehehehe"

Fugaku sneered at the comment. "You? Beat me? Dream on." Hideki smiled and said nothing. He would not let his cousins move away from him, as he would become stronger to keep up with and protect them. That was his ninja way and the manifestation of his own, powerful will of fire.

Back at the paw traces, Sakumo found that they split at one point. The cat was way smarter than he had thought, as he asked for Jin to deduce what they should do. It wasn't that he couldn't do it, but he needed these three to gain some experience in tracking.

"Judging by the marks, the cat probably went backward to cover his trail twice. Since there are no more marks leading anywhere, it probably jumped upwards... Hideki, check the tree branches in our vicinity."

Sure enough, after a while of searching, Hideki found some trails on the branches of the trees, seemingly having served as the escape path for the cat. Sakumo was impressed, as he led the way towards where the marks took them.

They reached a small clearing, and Sakumo stopped them before leaving the forest cover. Signaling for them to keep quiet as he approached slowly. The cat was licking its private area as it rested on top of some fruits it had collected for itself. It looked very relaxed.

Sakumo then spoke in a hushed voice to the three. After receiving orders, the immediately took action. Fugaku threw a kunai next to the cat, as it jumped in fright. Hideki then flickered out of nowhere and grabbed it by he paws.

"Now aniki!"

Jin opened his eyes and stared into the cat's soul. His two commas spinning around like wheels. The cat then stopped moving and allowed for Hideki to hold it and pet it. Jin had put him under a genjutsu where it thought it was safe.

"Nice one, that was way easier than I thought. I guess the Sharingan does have its perks huh?" Sakumo was smiling as he led his team back o the Hokage's office to report.

As the entered, an obese woman ran straight towards Hideki and yanked the cat out of his arms, pressing it against her cheeks as she moaned in happiness. The cat seemed to have severe PTSD as it instantly snapped out of the genjutsu upon contact with the woman, and started to scream for help.

"Ay, I would run away too if I had such an owner..." Fugaku couldn't hold his words as Hideki and Jin nodded in full agreement.

"My Tora! Oh my dear Tora! I missed you so much!"

Sakumo smiled awkwardly and went towards Shimpei, who was working on some documents. Seeing the mission had gone without a hitch, he was pleasantly surprised.

"Already finished? How did you do that? Don't tell me you intervened Sakumo..." Shimpei had a skeptical look on his face as he looked at the four.

"Having the Sharingan made thing easy for them. I did not do a single thing apart from giving them some directions, they truly are good at this." Sakumo was proud and puffed his chest outwards when speaking about his students.

"Well, they do seem like a bunch of strong kids. Due to the speed of completion, your part of the reward will be increased. Is that okay with you?"

"It is, thank you." Sakumo looked back at his students who were still full of energy and decided to ask for another mission."Give me two more D-ranks please, I believe we will be able to do them before the end of the day."

Shimpei smiled and took out two more scrolls.

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Two weeks of doing missions had passed. They had already completed around twenty or so of them. Sakumo had even decided to apply for a C-rank escort mission for the Madam Shijimi, Jin was giddy during his first time outside of the village, and had expected for something to happen to them like the Zabuza arc. The mission went without a hitch, as they came back to Konoha without having fought a single battle on the way, shattering his dreams.

He came back depressed, and his cousins had no idea why. Duy came to train though, and livened up the mood instantly. He told them that if things continued the way they were, he would graduate next year at most. They then trained all night, barely sleeping at all. Another piece of good news was that Fugaku's Sharingan had evolved upon so much usage. He never felt so proud and challenged Jin to a duel.

As always, he got decimated and lost the will to fight him anymore.

The next day, they met up with Sakumo once more in front of the Hokage mansion. "I have good news for you three. Today, we will take on a B rank mission!" They had been performing at a high level lately, So Sakumo believed they were ready.

"B-B Rank?!" The three were exhilarated as they thanked heir sensei immediately. Sakumo took them to the Office to receive the special mission that they had been waiting for.

"Hey Sakumo, It's nice to see those three grow up so much in a few weeks. What are you here for today? Another C rank?" Shimpei smiled. He really liked those three Uchiha, they broke the stereotype of being hateful.

"No, Today we are here to request a B Rank mission! I feel like they are more than ready to take on one of those."

"Ahahaha, they are finally going to fight. I am looking forward to the result, Fugaku-kun." Shimpei liked teasing Fugaku since he was so proud.

"Wait and see."

"Well, that aside... we do have a nice mission over here." Shimpei pulled out a scroll from another drawer and read its contents out loud. "B-rank mission: Assassinate an illegal slave trader that has been expanding his market towards the land of fire. He is guarded by at most one Jonin and two Chuunin."

Jin and the other two gulped in fright. This mission sounded like it was not going to be an easy journey.

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