"I assume you're here for another mission," Minato said while directly staring at Fugaku.
There is a tense silence in the room. Satsuki and Hinata stared at their sensei with their eyes slightly narrowed. Fugaku smirked and raised his eyebrow upon seeing this.
"Yes, Lord Hokage," Fugaku slightly nods. "I believe that Team 13 is ready for their first C-rank mission. The minimum requirement has been met, and I do believe that the three of them are ready for this."
"You're right. Your team does reach the qualification for this mission, Fugaku." Minato nods slightly. "They've performed more than any other rookie team within the village so far," Minato added while handing Fugaku the scroll outlining the details of their mission.
"It's a simple escort mission. It shouldn't be much trouble for your team as well as a perfect opportunity for the Genins to experience" Minato continues and uses the telephone on the desk to order his secretary to send the client to the room.
Not long after, an elderly man who reeks of alcohol and is wearing glasses and a large hat enters the room. The elderly man stared at Team 13, studying them carefully before finally speaking.
"This is it? I didn't pay my money for three rabbits." The elderly man wipes the alcohol on his chin.
Hinata and Satsuki felt insulted, especially after seeing the condition of the elder man, who was clearly drunk. Meanwhile, Naruto simply ignored the client.
Fugaku also didn't pay attention to the elderly man and focused on his students. "We'll meet up tomorrow at the village gate at the same time we usually meet up at the training grounds." The three Genin ignored the elderly man and stared at their sensei.
"From there we will head out to the Land of Waves. We'll be escorting and guarding Tazuna while he completes a bridge project for the nation. Pack enough supplies for at least a month," Fugaku added in an authoritative tone, to which his students responded with a nod.
Throughout all of this, Minato has been watching Naruto discreetly.
Many things had changed since Naruto didn't return back home and the action he did a few weeks ago. Kushina is greatly saddened about it, so she asks Minato about where Naruto's current place is so she can talk to him.
Minato did order the ANBU to find the place where Naruto currently resides, but after searching for a few weeks, they came back empty-handed. Even after following Naruto, the latter always manages to escape from their eyes.
This really shocked the ANBU division and also made them more wary about Naruto's capabilities.
While they manage to create a theory that Naruto is currently living in the forest due to Naruto's lack of money to purchase a property, especially for a newbie Genin, they still haven't found Naruto's place.
Throughout this investigation, the ANBU accidentally found Orochimaru's secret laboratory, which really alarmed Minato, and he had to force the ANBU to search for Orochimaru's other hidden laboratory.
Aside from Kushina, Yayoi was also saddened after learning the fact that Naruto didn't return to the Uzumaki Namikaze Estate, while Menma found himself happy in the situation. Mito, on the other hand, just ignored the problem and focused on her growth.
This situation really made Minato's heart ache, especially after seeing the reaction of his two children.
Minato's and Kushina's eyes also started to see the terrible action of the villagers when they interacted with Naruto, and they were greatly shocked to learn that the villagers' actions towards Naruto were always that bad, making them curse themselves for not seeing it.
They even learned of Naruto's terrible reputation long before his disrespectful action that day. This really made them realize how long they had been neglecting their eldest son and why their methods to restore their relationship with their son always failed.
Of course it will always fail since the objective of theirs was to restore their relationship, but there's no relationship between them to begin with.
Both Minato and Kushina wanted to correct their wrongdoing to their eldest son, but the question is how? That question is something that troubles them throughout this entire time.
Naruto knows that he is being watched by Minato, and before the latter could even say a word, Naruto leaves the room and starts his preparation for tomorrow's travel.
Naruto especially had to inform the Jujutsu Society higher-ups about this development as well as his temporary absence from his duty of killing cursed spirits who spawn at the Village Hidden in the Leaf.
Minato secretly sighs after seeing his son leaving the room.
The next day.
Naruto is standing in front of the village gate alongside Satsuki and Hinata, but unlike the two girls, who are carrying backpacks on their backs, Naruto doesn't and just wears his usual attire.
Satsuki and Hinata stared at Naruto in confusion in their eyes. They didn't understand the reason why Naruto didn't carry his supplies even though they were clearly ordered by their sensei.
Naruto just ignores the two girls staring at him but continues to close his eyes while his back lies on the wall and patiently waits for Fugaku's arrival.
The two ninja guards watch the three Genin with slight envy in their eyes and talk about each other, how they wish they were currently on a mission to go outside the village instead of guarding the gate.
Fugaku and Tazuna arrive shortly after, which attracts the Genin's attention.
Fugaku stared at his students, more specifically at Naruto, and noticed the fact that the latter didn't carry a backpack.
"What's the meaning of this, Naruto?" Fugaku asks calmly.
"What do you mean by that?" Naruto asks back.
Fugaku didn't find it surprising that Naruto didn't call him "sensei," since he had nothing to teach him yet and knows that Naruto rarely shows any respect to anyone he interacts with after becoming a ninja.
"Why didn't you carry supplies like I said yesterday?" Fugaku responds, intently staring at his student.
Naruto just raised one of his hands, and a puff of smoke suddenly appeared on his hand. After the smoke disappeared, a scroll appeared in Naruto's hands, and Fugaku immediately had a realization.
Naruto already made his preparation, but unlike everyone who carries it in their backpack, Naruto simply stored his supplies in the scroll.
"I see," Fugaku whispers.
"Alright, let's not waste any time. Let's head out!" Fugaku ordered. Satsuki and Hinata nodded, while Naruto didn't respond and simply stored the scroll once again.
The group walks in relative silence for a few hours. At first both Hinata and Satsuki were secretly excited to finally venture outside the village but were slightly disappointed after seeing their surroundings, which were full of trees.
This made the two girls focus on the mission at hand, but as it was their first C-rank mission as well as a serious mission as a ninja, they unconsciously made a terrible mistake, which Fugaku immediately noticed.
He didn't reprimand the two girls since Fugaku knows that sometimes the mistake can only be corrected through experiences.
The group manages to see the puddle on their way, but they ignore it, and the moment Fugaku steps on the puddle, a chain suddenly springs into action and wraps around Fugaku.
At the two ends of the chain were cloaked figures with claw-like metal gauntlets on their hands who immediately pulled out the chains in opposite directions, ripping Fugaku into pieces.
Everyone's attention immediately locked in on these two cloaked persons, and the voice of one of them can be heard by everyone.
"One down," the cold voice travels through the surroundings, giving chills to Tazuna's spine.
The two figures immediately run towards the group with the intent of eliminating everyone in a short period of time.
Satsuki doesn't let this situation shock her, as she believes with her father's capabilities, the sneak attack that she experiences wouldn't be enough to put him down.
Satsuki immediately dashes towards one of the enemy, intending to defeat one of the cloaked figures.
Hinata was shocked to see her sensei ripped into pieces and was horrified about it. Her sensei was a Jonin-level ninja, and if such a veteran was really taken down by the sneak attack, then what could she possibly do?
Yet Hinata didn't let her fear swallow her; instead, she gathered her courage and protected Tezuna even if it cost her life.
Satsuki, who is dashing straight to one of the cloaked figures, quickly weaves a hand sign and casts genjutsu on her target.
Gozo, the name of one of the cloaked figures, as well as the target of Satsuki, turns his head upwards and sees the giant fireball coming down from the sky.
He quickly breaks out of the genjutsu while scoffing at how weak it is, but trapping him in the genjutsu wasn't Satsuki's goal; it was only to provide her enough time to get closer.
Upon closing the distance between the two of them, Satsuki launches a powerful kick enhanced with her chakra towards Gozo's midsection.
Gozo was already too late to realize the true purpose of the genjutsu and unable to dodge or defend himself from the attack, so he was sent flying by the powerful kick.
Satsuki didn't waste the opportunity and grabbed one of Gozo's legs before slamming the latter on the ground with incredible force.
Satsuki knows this wasn't enough to knock unconscious the enemy, so she immediately brings out a kunai and uses the end of the kunai to slam directly into Gozo's head, knocking him unconscious.