"Is this really okay? Are you here to protect me or take these brats on a field trip?"
The moment they stepped out of the village, Tazuna started complaining.
He had come for the Leaf's reputation, and they'd sent a bunch of kids.
The loud blonde one in particular made him feel unsafe.
If the Leaf hadn't at least sent an Elite Ninja as lead, Tazuna wouldn't have dared approach the Land of Waves with them.
"Relax, relax! We're all ninjas here. Qualified ninjas," Kakashi said, a bit embarrassed.
It was hard for civilians to grasp ninja power. Even these teens were far stronger than any normal adult.
Kakashi felt a bit shaken himself.
Though it was his call, doubts crept in.
He kept quiet. It was just a C-Rank mission.
Time for these kids to see real action.
"Noah, aren't you excited?" Naruto had finished bickering with Tazuna and turned to his quiet teammate.
"It's our first time out of the village! How are you so calm?"
"What do you want me to do? Jump around like a monkey like you?" Noah shrugged.
"It's just a mission. It's not like we're never coming back."
"Hey! I'm not a monkey! Dammit, if I could actually beat you..." Naruto got right in Noah's face, shouting.
"Alright, alright, pipe down." Noah rubbed his ear and looked at Naruto's hair.
"By the way, is that natural? It's a good color."
In Noah's memory of anime, blondes were always special. Naruto seemed to be doing alright-miserable at first, but turning around.
Sasuke glanced at them.
Noah's words carried a hint of mischief.
He didn't comment.
Naruto was an idiot. Kakashi... well, Sasuke no longer thought him an idiot.
A month ago, after Noah's jab, Sasuke had asked his father about Kakashi's past.
He learned Kakashi was more legendary than his own brother. Most importantly, Kakashi possessed the Uchiha's special Eye Technique.
Fugaku hadn't explained how Kakashi got it. He told Sasuke, "If you want to surpass your brother, learn everything you can from Kakashi."
As for Noah, Sasuke didn't dare mention him at home.
It was too embarrassing.
He'd never beaten the guy and only passed the final exercise because of him. A blow to his pride.
They traveled east.
The journey wasn't dull-mostly because Naruto refused to let it be.
As they neared the forest by the Land of Waves, two small puddles appeared by the side of the road.
Kakashi glanced at them, then at Noah, and kept walking as if nothing had happened.
A moment later, two shadows lunged.
Chains wrapped around Kakashi, and in a spray of blood, he seemed torn in two.
"Quite a performance," Noah muttered.
He didn't move.
He had seen Kakashi's look-the man knew Noah had spotted the trap.
These small fry were well within Sasuke's ability.
Things played out like the original story.
Sasuke pinned a chain to a tree with a well-placed projectile, forcing the attackers to drop their weapons.
They reacted quickly, bypassing the mid-air Sasuke and lunging at their targets: Tazuna and Naruto.
Hmm?
Noah tilted his head. Things were deviating.
Kakashi made no move.
Noah realized Kakashi was testing his reaction.
Sighing, Noah formed a rapid sequence of seals and slammed his hand onto the ground.
Energy surged into the earth.
A high wall instantly rose around Tazuna and Naruto.
The attackers slammed face-first into it.
Noah's lip twitched.
Mid-level ninjas? Their reaction time was pathetic.
He didn't stop there.
Another seal, and stone spikes erupted from the ground.
Amid the panic of Tazuna, Naruto's frozen shock, and Sasuke landing after his move, two piercing screams rang out.
If this were a comic, exclamation marks would explode overhead.
Naruto and Tazuna hadn't realized what happened until the wall appeared and the screams came.
When the wall lowered, the enemies lay on the ground, blood pooling beneath them.
No need to check for pulses.
"Such a fast release..." Sasuke noted.
He was frustrated. His techniques weren't that fast. He relied on martial arts instead.
Noah was fast physically too.
That Body Flicker made Sasuke doubt his own reality. He'd be kited from a distance.
Sasuke wasn't hopeless.
He hadn't awakened his special eyes yet.
He believed that once he did, he could put Noah in his place.
(A grand dream, since Noah already had a version of those eyes.)
Naruto finally processed what had happened, staring at Noah in disbelief.
Even Tazuna was terrified.
He hadn't expected the lazy, unassuming kid to be so lethal.
"Is this... what it means to be a ninja?"
"Yes. They're young, but they are ninjas. Sasuke, Noah-well done."
Kakashi emerged from hiding.
He praised Sasuke for the tactical response and Noah for the decisive finish.
He turned to Tazuna to explain why there were ninjas on a C-Rank mission.
Ninjas weren't supposed to be involved-even if these two were... unconvincing mid-level ones.
"Honestly, Kakashi-sensei, could you make the acting more believable next time? I don't think you fooled anyone but the old man and these two idiots," Noah said, gesturing to the fallen Mist ninjas.
"Sorry I didn't leave them alive, but they looked like Mist operatives to me."
"It's fine. I get the gist," Kakashi said.
He had hidden for two reasons: to see how the three reacted, and to identify the target.
He had his answer. Live prisoners weren't necessary.
He was struck by Noah's ruthlessness.
This boy wasn't like the other Academy kids.
He didn't hesitate to strike.
Kakashi watched Noah return to his spot, expression unchanged after glancing at the corpses.
That's a real ninja, Kakashi thought.
But how did Shisui train him?
Did Shisui take him out of the village? No, impossible.
Illusions, maybe? I need to talk to this kid.
Uneasy.
"Uneasy" was an understatement.
Naruto stared at Noah like he'd seen a ghost.
The attackers had massive holes in their chests, blood everywhere.
It was gruesome.
Sasuke didn't look great either.
This wasn't the Sasuke who had seen his clan slaughtered. This was his first real brush with death.
His instincts were good, but he might have hesitated to take a life.
He recovered quickly.
He'd been raised for this. Given time, he believed he could do the same.
Hmph.
Once I have the eyes, I won't lose to you.