An S-Ranked Mission

Sarutobi studied the portfolio open in front of him incredibly carefully. Inside lay the the images and profiles of some of his most capable, and perhaps more importantly, his most trusted Shinobi. Should there be a mission of high importance, these were the ninja that would be called upon to do it. Of course there were a range of skill levels and abilities, from Umino Iruka to Hatake Kakashi; just about every possible mission or task that needed to be undertaken was covered. These were truly his 'best of the best'.

However, the latest task that would be assigned to one of these exceptional shinobi was proving to be particularly hard to match a profile to. It was to be a long term mission of the highest importance, and therefore would be S-ranked. meaning the mission details would be off limits to all but Sarutobi himself and the ninja undertaking the mission. Normally, this kind of mission would be left to the likes of Kakashi, or some of the especially high ranking ANBU. However, the cycloptic Jonin was due to take a Genin team in precisely a week, so he was out of the running. Not only that, but this mission was of extreme importance to the Sandaime himself; and as much as it pained the veteran Hokage to admit it, there were too few ANBU that he could fully trust, to be able to use one of the higher ranked for this mission.

He had narrowed down his choices to two candidates. They were both Tonkubetsu Jonin rank, one was still part of ANBU, the other part of the Interrogation and Torture department. Both were of adequate ability to fill out the role, however as memories of both candidates began to fill his mind, one candidate in particular began to stand out from the other.

A slight smile found it way onto Sarutobi's face as he rose from the chair in his office. He would have the shinobi summoned immediately.

Uzumaki Naruto however, had a very different dilemma. After his brief conversation with the Sandaime about the events of the previous night, he had been informed that the formation of Genin teams was being held back by a month. This would normally have outraged Naruto, but after that nights events; even he was had reached the limit of his stamina, and therefore the consequences of that particular announcement were not realised until midway through his breakfast.

Of course, the 'realisation' had not been subtle, and as a consequence he was now being 'forced' to eat breakfast at Ichiraku's. Also, if anyone were to ask if he knew anything about the Hokage's underwear being dyed orange... It wasn't him. He wasn't even there, Okay?

The delay in the creation of the Genin teams left him with absolutely nothing to do for a whole month, besides having to meet with the Hokage in the afternoon. And possibly again once the orange underwear he had nothing to do with was discovered. It didn't take him long to set his sights on what he wanted to do. Train. And then train some more. But that led to another problem, what should he focus on. While he was confident of his skills, he wasn't arrogant enough to believe that he didn't have any faults. His jutsu range was decidedly poor compared to the rest of the graduates. Most of the clan heirs had training in their family jutsu as well as the academy jutsu, even Sakura had a few genjutsu to her name. Not to mention he had no formal taijutsu style to speak of. He knew the katas to the academy style, and could perform them reasonably well. But despite this, every time he tried to spar using the style, he couldn't seem to get the movements to flow together.

Whilst he could try and learn some jutsu, or a taijutsu style, these things required a teacher. He would need to find someone who not only was willing to actually teach him, but someone who had the time. The only person who could fit the bill was Iruka-sensei, who had already thrown himself back into teaching at the academy. But Naruto knew what his reply would be should he ask him. Iruka would simply tell him he had to improve his basic knowledge and skills before he could be taught the more advanced things he craved to learn.

This led Naruto to a conclusion that he had been trying to avoid, he would have to go back and learn the basics. The blonde let out a groan in between mouthfuls. This was exactly what he had been so happy to get away from, all the boring reading; he couldn't see the point. Stuff from books can't be that important for being a ninja. That stuff was for posers like Sasuke who cared about class rankings. But then a thought crossed his mind.

His Father. The Yondaime had graduated top of his class, and two years early on top of that. Which would have meant that he would have had to have been really good at everything. Even the book stuff. His Father had told that he was proud, but would he still be proud if he could see him now? Still in denial about one of his most glaring faults? Naruto stood up as he finished his last mouthful of ramen. He had promised more than once to surpass all the previous Hokages, including his own Father, and he wasn't going to stop until he had. And besides, since when did Uzumaki Naruto break his promises?

Uzuki Yuugao was staring open mouthed at the Hokage. An S-ranked mission? She had never been on a mission ranked as high as that, even with ANBU. And the Hokage had already told her that it would be solo and outside of ANBU, which meant it would go on her official record and be public knowledge that she had completed such a mission. She didn't know whether to be ecstatic or terrified.

"Now Yuugao-san, I would suppose that you are wondering what your mission objectives are. Correct?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama" Yuugao nodded slowly as she spoke, her anticipation gradually rising the longer the Hokage drew out the conversation.

"Before I state the mission objectives, I want to let you know that this mission is of great importance to the village as well as being of great personal importance to me."

Yuugao visibly gulped, she couldn't fail this mission. She would give her life for both the village, and Sarutobi, many times over.

"Your mission, is to firstly train Uzumaki Naruto for the next month. This will go down as one S-ranked assignment in itself. For the second part of this mission, you are to protect Uzumaki Naruto whilst he is both in and outside of this village. Any questions before I proceed to explain the mission parameters in more detail?"

This was not what she had been expecting. She naturally wouldn't say no, not after the emphasis the Sandaime had placed on its importance. She also knew why she had been selected to undertake this mission. She had already spent six years in ANBU protecting the child, and had formed some kind of attatchment to him, even though they had never actually met face to face. But, she suspected the reasoning behind choosing her was more to do with the fact that she bore no grudges against the boy. Not to mention the fact that she had noticed similarities between Naruto and a certain village leader, and when confronted the Sandaime had simply said,

'What a ridiculous suggestion. And even if it was true, such information would be an S-ranked secret.'

It wasn't the words the Hokage had spoken that gave it away, but rather the ten foot grin he wore where his mouth should have been.

Despite this, she had her doubts. She had never taught before, and had no idea how she would go about it. Not only that, but she didn't have a clue what Naruto's ability level was and so had no idea what she should teach him.

"Hokage-sama, what exactly would I be expected to teach Uzumaki-san?"

"Ah, I will explain that when I talk about the mission parameters in more detail. Was that your only question?"

Yuugao nodded once more, and the Hokage smiled. He was giving her plenty of time to turn down the mission, but she showed no sign of wishing to say no.

"So for the first part of the mission you will be expected to tutor Uzumaki Naruto for the coming month. Currently, his academy report states that his skills are way below average in most of the shinobi arts. He has not been able to learn any taijutsu style, his ninjutsu is non-existent and genjutsu is completely out of his reach due to awful chakra control. Finally, his basic academic knowledge is quite frankly appalling." Sarutobi breathed out slowly before continuing.

"However, he has an incredible amount of chakra at his disposal. And his notorious ability to prank, and evade capture display his aptitude for on the spot planning and strategising. On top of that, last night as you know; he broke into the Hokage Tower, evaded countless ANBU scrolls and escaped with one of the most highly guarded treasures here. What you may not know however is that he mastered a B-ranked Kinjutsu in under an hour."

Yuugao had to prevent herself from gaping at the last sentence. It was absolutely incredible that a twelve year old academy student could pull that off, especially one considered a 'dead-last'.

"Now Yuugao-san, what does that tell you about the academy reports?"

"It could mean that they are outright wrong, which is highly unlikely. Or, it could mean that Uzumaki-san education was being intentionally stunted."

Sarutobi nodded grimly at the conclusion he had reached the night before.

"Now I understand that is far too much for you to cover in one month. So instead of working on his most glaring faults and weaknesses, I want you to work on giving him am advantage, much like a clan technique would. The B-ranked kinjutsu Naruto learnt was the Kage Bunshin. I believe that with a certain amount of thought and consideration, the use of Kage Bunshin in conjunction with his almost limitless chakra supply, could be utilised to create a taijutsu style that is both unique and lethal."

Yuugao nodded in understanding. With the blonde's chakra capacity, using a highly co-ordinated Kage Bunshin taijutsu style would not only be plausible, but should the correct amounts of time and effort be put in, it was potentially devastating.

"Should we be aiming to turn this into a formal, recorded style, Hokage-sama?"

"That is mostly up to Naruto, as it would be his own style." The Sandaime replied before adding, "although, it would be useful for later on if that were to happen"

"How about Nin or Genjutsu?"

The Hokage paused before answering, looking slightly reluctant.

"Whilst I would love to be able to indulge the boy in Ninjutsu, I feel that most would be out of his reach because of his poor chakra control. As a result, I believe that is the other thing I want you to work on with him. Work on getting his control up to par. There is a large probability his Sensei will be Hatake Kakashi".

Yuugao's eyes widened slightly in understanding. Kakashi was renowned for his mastery in ninjutsu making him the perfect teacher for that area; but there was more to it than that, the Sandaime was giving Kakashi the chance to teach his sensei's son.

"Moving on to the second mission objective, the protection of Uzumaki Naruto both inside and out of the village. Normally with Kakashi his sensei, this wouldn't be necessary. However, later today I have a meeting with Naruto. There I will discuss whether or not he wishes to release information with regards to his heritage. Should it be decided that the information will be released to the general public, Naruto will become a target."

Yuugao was stunned. Iwa and Kumo were both famous for their disdain for the Yellow Flash, and they alone were a significant threat. This was before you counted the endless enemies the Yondaime made amongst the criminal underworld.

"However, this is a separate mission from training Naruto. I have two other candidates who I trust enough to carry this out. If you are to accept this mission, I will require your commitment in improving your own skills, in order to be able to combat any threats that come Naruto's way." The Hokage paused before looking straight into Yuugao's eyes.

"Do you accept the S-ranked assignment of training Uzumaki Naruto? You will be paid accordingly throughout the duration of the mission. Also, as it is an S-ranked mission, the details are confidential to all but you and myself." The Sandaime asked, his voice taking on a commanding tone that didn't quite fit the aging man behind the desk.

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Yuugao replied, slightly unnerved by the fact his gaze never once wavered as she answered.

"Do you also accept the long term assignment of protecting Uzumaki Naruto from harm until otherwise stated by the current Hokage? You will be paid for a long term S-ranked assignment, and a special commendation will appear on your record upon completion."

It took Yuugao slightly longer to answer the Kage this time, but in truth she had already made up her mind.

"Hai, Hokage-sama. I accept"