"Sasuke! What are you doing?!" Sakura yelped out in horror when she saw Kakashi falling over and Sasuke in a post-throwing stance. "We weren't even told to start yet!"
"He said for us to go at him with the intent to kill…I guess we called his bluff." Sasuke drawled as he straightened up though Ryōga seemed oddly quiet about the whole thing.
"Funny, because I'm actually impressed…That just means you're taking this seriously." Kakashi remarked from behind Sasuke, earning a frightened yelp from Sakura and a stagger backwards from Sasuke. "Though you seemed to forget that the Body Replacement Jutsu is a key staple for a Ninja to have." He lectured before flicking Sasuke on the forehead.
"A-Alright, then try something like this!" Sakura stammered before weaving a few handsigns together and moulded the Chakra in the way that she practiced; "Water Style: Water Hail!" She called out as she clapped her hands together and thrust them forward with a few dozen droplets of water shooting out from the hole between her cupped palms like a machine gun.
It barely took Kakashi a second before he weaved around the radius and quickly kicked Sakura's hands to the side so the tiny bullets deviated into the treeline. "Huh…Not a bad response to a sudden approach but there's still cracks in her outlook…" Kakashi mused as he glanced back to see that the projectile that hit the trees managed to carve out small golf ball sized holes in the trunks. He knew that a Jutsu like that could be pretty bad if it hit dead on so he decided to trim down their competition by trapping Sakura in a Genjutsu.
With Kakashi now distracted by focusing on Sakura, Sasuke jumped in with a series of quick Taijutsu strikes. Despite being smaller and more limber than Kakashi was; Each hit was caught by the Jonin and barely even registered a hurt. "You're pretty good at dodging but I haven't even seen you fight back yet!" Sasuke berated the man, forgetting that he was still a Jonin and his teacher on top of that.
"Really? Then you should probably focus on making sure those hits hurt." Kakashi sniped back at him, hitting Sasuke where it really hurt; Taking advantage of his speechless stint and swung a kick to knock him backward.
"That's it…I'll burn you away!" Sasuke growled as he weaved between a good few handsigns, smirking a little to himself as he saw Kakashi recognised the combination before drawing a deep breath in; "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" The small spark of fire ignited in the air and grew bigger as it traveled through the air, eventually it went from the size of a tennis ball to the size of a carriage as the grass and the trees slowly became seared, Sasuke smirked to himself as he saw the prone Kakashi on the floor covered in burns.
Though that quickly changed into frustration as he poofed away again into a charred looking log, this was the second time that he got duped….And the Heir to the Uchiha Clan does not get duped. "Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu!" A voice called out from underground as Sasuke blinked before finding himself straining his neck to stare up at Kakashi.
"Let. Me. Out…." Sasuke growled as he fruitlessly tried to struggle out but since he was buried up to his neck in earth, that didn't amount to much.
"A Ninja must be resourceful…Find your own way out…Now I just need to find your Cousin and I can round off the three of you…" Kakashi snarked as he hunted around; Surprised that the one person who had the most to prove hadn't even made a move yet. Though when Kakashi left; Sakura returned after the nightmarish Genjutsu that she had been put under had passed, her immediate response to seeing what she thought was her beloved's head stuck out of the ground, she fainted.
"Come on, Ryōga…I already caught your cousin…It's only a matter of time before I…Find you…" Kakashi muttered but then saw Ryōga sōanding prone and trying to form handsigns albeit rather awkwardly. "I guess good fundamentals doesn't always equal effectiveness in a fight…I'll have to show that lesson harshly." Kakashi mentally reminded himself as he then decided to use a handsign to use an Earth Jutsu: "Earth Style: Earth Spine Grudge!" He called out as dozens of pebbles and rocks came under his control before shooting towards Ryōga like an artillery barrage.
Ryōga however hadn't noticed any of the oncoming debris and ended up getting perforated by dozens of rocks before collapsing backwards on the ground in a heap.
"Well…That was certainly an overkill…Guess I don't know my own-" Kakashi remarked as he intently used the blunt pebbles and rocks to hit him like stun bullets but he hadn't intended for Ryōga to hit the ground like a ton of bricks. Though that disappointment quickly turned to surprise when "Ryōga" turned brown and started to sink into a perfectly carved hole in the ground. "A Mud Clone? And a surprisingly well made Tunneling Jutsu….He's pretty meticulous in planning, I'll give him that…" He tracked Ryōga's trail with the help of a small Hound from his Summoning Contract to follow the tunnel until he saw Ryōga weaving handsigns on the spots where Sakura's Water Jutsu was dispersed to and made the ground under him muddy.
"Gotcha…Earth Style: Earth Flow River!" Ryōga called out as he slammed both palms into the wet ground and created a quickly rising stream of mud to flow downward and hit Kakashi like a jet of water before sending him down the flow. "And now to get my bell…Earth Style: Mud Wolves!"
Kakashi was fighting against the voluminous waves of mud that crashed against him but he started to internally panic when he saw a pack of mud coated wolves rushing him; "Okay, I seriously underestimated him…He's an Uchiha alri-Huh?"
While Kakashi was preparing for a full out escape; He noticed that a couple of the Wolves dissolved into the dirt and left a pair still running at him while the Mud River slowed down, the look on Ryōga's face was one of tiring out, of wavering focus but the biggest factor was his face was the look of stubborn determination. "Let's stop this before he ends up hurting himself…" He thought as he let the wolves clasp their jaws around him to let it grip before using a Substitution Jutsu to swap himself with a log, used his speed to close the gap with Ryōga and then clocked him on the back of the neck to knock him out; "Three down…Time for the review…."
—Later—
"So….Let's go over some of the things that the three of you did." Kakashi mentioned as he looked over each Genin; Sasuke was more sour than month old milk and his glare at the Jonin was enough to prove it, Sakura was still a little out of it since the Genjutsu she had been put under was a nightmare of seeing Sasuke getting brutalised in front of her and that messed up her thinking while Ryōga was currently trying to keep himself sat up after the shocking amount of Chakra drain exhausted him. "First off, lets start with you." He then stopped in front of Sakura.
"I-I…."
"First off; We need to rip off that bandaid, your insistent worrying about Sasuke and ignoring Ryōga is distracting both yourself and each other from making any worthwhile moves which will end poorly if you don't shape up for your missions." Kakashi admonished her but then placed a hand on her head; "But, in contrast to that; When you noticed a threat, you took action with a solid Jutsu so I can't fault you for your quick thinking."
Sasuke snorted, he thought he had done better than the other two but primarily he was waiting for him to get praised and for Ryōga to get berated. "Typical…It's only fair that I get the good words since she was only clinging to me and Dud was too busy being a fraidy-cat…."
"And now we move on to you." Kakashi then walked over towards Sasuke with a smile that he made with his eye; "You handled things pretty well, you took the initiative when I told you to go for the kill." Kakashi started with the positive. "The fact that you had pretty good handle on your Fire Jutsu was also pretty impressive."
Sasuke smirked, "That's it, keep it coming…" He mentally goaded Kakashi as he was practically basking in these praises.
"BUT….You were also too stubborn to take the backfoot or to try any different approach besides full on aggression, that might work against some opponents but if you're up against someone faster and stronger than you then it'll mean you end up real hurt or real dead." Kakashi followed up with the bad points almost as quickly, "Your judgement of your surroundings too also could use some work; you saw "Me" collapsed on the ground and you let down every single defense to enjoy your supposed victory…I mean, even Ryōga had the common sense to come up with a strategy."
Sasuke was seething as this Jonin had the audacity to point out potential flaws AND compare him of all people to a lesser Uchiha. "I…You….How dare…"
"And last but not least, Ryōga…Despite my initial opinions of you, you managed to outdo these two in different ways; You managed to not just stay focused and mindful enough to not get caught by surprise but you also demonstrated some pretty constructive uses for both of your Chakra Affinities…Something I remember telling the three of you to try manifesting but never implementing." Kakashi started but ended that sentence with a pointed look to Sasuke. "BUT you've also managed to score some bad points as well; You not only separated yourself from everyone else but you also put YOURSELF at great risk by layering one Jutsu on top of another in quick succession…It's a good idea to come up with a plan but with the way you were going about it, you were going to exhaust yourself and get left in a dangerous position."
"So…Did we pass?" Sakura asked as she was still confused by the lesson, Kakashi might have told them to get the bells but she felt like there was still something else to this.
Kakashi shook his head and sighed; "You three still haven't grasped the fundamental that I had been telling you about, so as far as I'm concerned…No, none of you pass this test so therefore; that means none of you get lunch…I'll get our next lesson ready so make sure you think on what you missed while your tummies are rumbling." Kakashi mentioned as he vanished to get his plan ready.
"You outdid me, Dud?! What kind of moronic idea does he have in that brain of his that he thinks YOU could accomplish anything!" Sasuke lashed out as he felt slighted that Kakashi felt the need to show that Ryōga managed to one up him.
"I thought of a plan and put it in action, it's not my fault that you ended up trying to steamroll him with Taijutsu and failed." Ryōga snapped back, the blame falling on him plus the Chakra exhaustion and the hunger was making him feel snippier than normal.
"W-Wait, look!" Sakura stopped them as she saw something that was originally behind Kakashi; a stack of lunchboxes that looked like he left them behind. "He's left the food here…" Sakura and Sasuke both felt their guts twist in a knot and cautiously snuck over to the boxes and opened it up.
"You two are going to get us all into trouble! Leave them alone because Kakashi will bump us back to the Academy if he catches us." Ryōga warned them as he did have a point; "Besides, we still haven't eve-" He was then interrupted as they took the food and started to eat.
"He's left us alone with them, he can't exactly blame us if we're too hungry to ignore them, dud!" Sasuke also pointed out as he swallowed down a tomato from his box and Sakura was tenderly trying to eat while simultaneously trying to keep restrained from devouring the whole thing.
Ryōga however wasn't convinced and he was determined to try staying honest to the instructions; "If you guys wanna go back then fine…I'll just…keep an eye out for you two…" He grumbled as he watched out while sitting in a meditative pose, though a quick grumble of his stomach and a barely restrained groan betrayed the fact that he was equally starving.
Sasuke sighed as he picked up the unopened box and hesitatingly handed it to Ryōga; "Here…You can't act as a sentry to us if you can't even move right, Dud…Just take the food." He grumbled as Ryōga took it and opened up, though before they could take it any further; a sudden burst of smoke and a very angry looking Kakashi was standing there.
"YOU THREE….."
Each of them froze up, realising that they were caught meant one thing and one thing only….
"You guys pass." Kakashi quickly changed his tone and seemed a lot more happier with their actions. "Congrats."
Needless to say; All three of them were thrown for a loop at the mood whiplash. "Wh-Wha…."
"It's taken a while but you've finally managed to crack that lesson I've been trying to get you to understand." Kakashi explained; "Throughout all these fights and the talks I gave you about your good and bad points, it looks like you've got it."
"It's teamwork…isn't it?" Sakura asked curiously; "You were quick to point out our faults when we went out on our own or didn't talk with each other." She detailed as Sasuke thought on it but quickly hmph-ed.
"Exactly, This is the whole point of you three being in a team together; You look out for each other and cover each other's weak spots…." Kakashi elaborated as he mellowed out that little bit more once he knew they got the message.
"But we still broke the rules…We ate the food even though we were told we failed." Ryōga pointed out; Considering that they had indeed failed, they still disobeyed what Kakashi told them.
"A friend of mine once said "Those who disobey the rules are scum…But someone who turns his back on a teammate is even lower than that." and I still believe that to this day." Kakashi mentioned; "So with that in mind, I say we can call this a successful lesson and we can start with taking up missions now." He acknowledged as the others started to pep up once they realised they passed.
—A few weeks and several D-Rank Missions later—
"Can you see the target ahead?" Kakashi asked over the earpiece as Ryōga hid in the treetops, Sakura was hiding in the underbrush while Sasuke was sat on a tree branch waiting.
"Yep; Brown cat, red bow…I'll handle this in record ti-"
"Actually Sasuke, maybe we should let Ryōga handle this one…" Sakura suggested, being on a team with the two may have been a mixed blessing for her but even she had to acknowledge that Ryōga was probably the better choice due to his gift with animal handling.
"What?! I can absolutely handle some mangy housecat! Name one good reason why you think I should hand over the credit for the capture to a weakling dud like him?!"
"Because the last time that you tried catching Tora on your own, you ended up needing stitches when she bit you on the nose." Ryōga pointed out as he remembered watching Sasuke struggling with the cat's claws; "Besides, I know how to handle animals like that so just let me handle it and maybe I can try getting the owner to make sure they don't run off again."
There was a brief pause but then Kakashi chimed in; "Alright Ryōga, make it count." He said to give the go ahead; "Remember everyone, keep your guard up…."
Ryōga found the brown cat sat on a tree branch and started to growl at him when she saw this person coming back to take her back to the Daimyō's Wife and her crushing embrace. "Mrrrrr…."
"Easy…I know it's rough but we're trying to help you from getting eaten…There are foxes and other animals here that'd use you as a snack." Ryōga started as he tried to talk the cat down but kept his distance to make sure he didn't spook Tora.
Tora hissed at him and swiped a paw at him to warn him to keep away from her. "MROWR!"
"Look, I know the stories about you, you're that runaway cat that keeps escaping from the
Daimyō's home…And the stuff that his wife puts you through; I can imagine it's not ideal."
The cat kept up a warning growl but settled down a little when she realised that Ryōga was actively treating her like something more than a pet.
"Look, I can't let you run off and not come back but I also can't go telling off the head of our country for being too clingy…How about this? If you come back with us calmly then I'll give the Daimyō and his wife some pointers and tips on how to act and treat you while you're around….It's not a quick fix but I think that if it keeps you around then they'll try." Ryōga offered as he quietly and calmly held his hand out to the cat while he got closer, keeping his palm up and under her chin so she could see what he was doing.
Tora hesitated for a brief moment and then made a few tentative steps towards him; Sniffing his hand lightly before figuring out that he wasn't a threat to her, so she decided to accept his offer by rubbing her cheek on his palm.
Ryōga chuckled a little as he gently scratched her under the chin, listening to the sound of the cat's purring made him feel a little more relaxed. After letting Tora get used to him and his touches; Ryōga carefully lifted her up so he could carry her in his arms; "Alright, it's a bumpy trip so I'll be careful." He assured her as he gave a thumbs up to Kakashi and the others.
"Well…Mission accomplished." Kakashi said with a satisfied tone as they made their way back to the Hokage's office to deliver the cat, though it seemed like Ryōga "triumph" over the famous Demon Cat had spread fast among Chunin, Jonin and anyone who was tasked to reclaim the legendary runaway cat that fought tooth and nail to escape them.
"Very well done, Kakashi. I must admit that your team surprised me, that was the fastest time that I've seen someone complete this particular kind of mission." The Third Hokage complimented them; "Good teamwork to make sure things didn't go wrong and it's astonishing to see the least social Genin having the nerve to try talking to the Daimyō's wife about it." He mentioned as he saw Ryōga talking to the taller and more regal looking woman and gesturing to her like he was holding a baby and he could pick up small parts of the conversation; "Honestly, I'd be even more surprised if that lady takes his advise to heart…It'd save the Daimyō's money in constantly trying to catch that little demon but it's always in one ear and out of the other with her when it comes to advise…" He thought before taking a pensive puff on his pipe.
"Why is HE getting all the praise?! I put in as much effort to get that damn claw-happy furball, it should be ME that gets all of those praises…Just because the dud is an antisocial loser who only has animals as friends!" Sasuke was practically boiling like a tea kettle at the fact that someone he considered his lesser was being laden with praise by not just the Hokage but by Chunin and even some younger Jonin who had some very scared recollections of when they had to try catching the cat.
Sakura was equally perturbed by the fact that her and Sasuke were getting the lighter part of the adulation for this mission but neither of them understood why. "Um, Lord Hokage? I don't mean to sound ungrateful but why is this such a big deal? Ryōga was the one who caught the cat but why exactly is that such a high praise?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi laughed a little since he figured that this kind of story would have been commonplace; "Well, ever since that cat was a small kitten; It's been a constant challenge for our Genin and even our Chunin to reclaim her to the point where we've called her the little Demon…The reason this is praiseworthy is because that cat absolutely refuses to let anyone near it, so whatever it was that Ryōga did…It must have been something impressive."
"Okay Ma'am…As long as you're more careful with your…Affections when Tora's around, she shouldn't be as much of a problem, just give her space if she wants it and try not to get too aggressive about it." Ryōga explained like he was a vet elaborating on how to take care of an animal.
"Oh, such a sweet young man! Caring for his Daimyō in such a way brings a tear to my eye, come here you handsome little devil~" The Daimyō's wife would practically cry tears of happiness as she lifted the Uchiha off of the ground in a bone crunching bear hug.
Tora sat on a nearby table and seemed to look at Ryōga with a mix of sympathy and schadenfreude that only a cat could muster towards another living being. As it stood in terms of whether she escaped again; Tora now had a hierarchy for whom she'd rather have come find her.
At the bottom was the Daimyō's wife, she was very much the demon that threatened her with her hugs if not careful.
Just above her was the Scarecrow Man aka Kakashi mainly because he stank of the most vile thing that any cat could ever think of avoiding; Dogs.
Higher still was Sasuke, or the sullen scratching post as she preferred to see him as because he was equally as vocal with catching her as he was fun to torment.
Taking the second place was Sakura or the Bubblegum Watcher as the cat visualised her; Tora saw this girl as annoying to listen to and to look at mainly because every trip back was about the boy she liked or the fact that that shade of pink hurt Tora's eyes to look at, the only reason that she'd tolerate her was because she was kinder towards the cat and she seemed to smell nice.
At the very top or what was labelled as "Favourite Human" position was Ryōga now, mainly because he didn't treat Tora like it was some common animal that couldn't think straight but she also found him a very agreeable perch if he was the one to catch her first because unlike the other two, he knew how to properly carry a cat rather then Sasuke's rough hold or Sakura's fingers that anxiously moved back and forth to avoid annoying Tora.
"Um, Lady Daimyō….We'd appreciate it if we could keep our Genin alive." The Third Hokage called out to her when he noticed that Ryōga's face was turning blue.
Once he was let go and the Daimyō's wife handed the Hokage the money for the mission, Ryōga came back to join the others and unfortunately it was at the time when Sasuke finally snapped during the Hokage's options for more missions.
"This is RIDICULOUS! Why am I?! The last remaining Uchiha reserved only for common grunt work! Give that to the dud, you can see all his expertise is in dirt throwing and goofing off with mangy animals." Sasuke ranted with an angry tic on his temple; "Just give us a challenge already, something that's higher ranked than simple chores!"
"Sasuke, you can't make demands of that from the Hokage like that." Kakashi reprimanded him lightly, even though if it had been anyone else; Kakashi would have come down on them like a hammer but he seemed to be more aligned towards Sasuke as a teacher…It wasn't fully visible but anyone who looked hard enough could see that.
"DAMN RIGHT! JUST GIVE US A MISSION WORTHY OF SASUKE'S TRUE MERIT!" Sakura's inner voice spoke up in her head while she maintained a look of nervousness around the Hokage.
"I hate to admit it but Sasuke does have a point…Can't we at least try a higher level mission? All we've done for weeks are D-Rank missions and we can't exactly improve if we're given menial work…" Ryōga tried to argue for their case although he too wanted to try improving himself, he just had a better sense of restraint than Sasuke did.
Kakashi sighed; "They do kind of make a valid argument sir, maybe a low level C-Rank could change up the pace…They HAVE been improving themselves a lot so maybe this can test to see how they are in a more challenging scenario." He vouched for them as he was starting to get a headache from Sasuke's literal tantrum.
The Third Hokage however still looked skeptical but he ultimately resigned himself; "Alright, I suppose that I can pass a C-Rank your way….But Genin, I want you to listen to me closely." Hiruzen would state with a serious tone that held no desire for backtalk. "This mission will be more intensive for you to embark on so I expect you three to maintain a focused and disciplined attitude; This means no goofing around, no complaining if it's too hard and if your teacher deems it too much for you to handle then he has every right to have you returned here."
"Yes Sir." The Three of them said with determination in their voices and a small level of excitement at what a C-Rank would entail.
"You three and Kakashi will be charged to escort this bridge builder back to his Village in the Land of Waves." The Hokage explained as he started to list off the details of what was to come about and told them to meet Tazuna at the Village Gates in the following morning.
If there was one thing that was certain, the risk between a D-Rank and a C-Rank was a stark one but it was Team 7's choice to make.