𝑾𝑰𝑻𝑯 𝒀𝑶𝑼 | 𝑲.𝑰𝑵𝒁𝑼𝑲𝑨

|I{•------» [10] «------•}I|

The assailants appeared behind Naruto, freezing him in his place. Ruka looked at Sasuke and gave him a nod. The boy jumped and threw a shuriken, immobilizing one of the attackers.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Ruka jumped onto their arms and kicked them, breaking their chains. They fell backward, but one of them managed to run towards Tazuna while the other prepared to attack Naruto.

"Stay behind me," Sakura instructed Tazuna, standing in front of him with a kunai in her shaky hands.

Sasuke rushed in front of both of them, trying to intercept the approaching assailant. Ruka's eyes widened, and she stepped forward to help her teammates, but someone beat her to it.

Kakashi appeared before the assailant could touch them and caught both attackers by their necks. "Hi," he greeted casually, as if nothing had happened, causing Ruka to roll her eyes.

Kakashi walked, carrying the two ninjas, but he stopped for a moment and turned to Naruto, who was still in shock. "Sorry for not helping you right away," he told the boy, causing Ruka to raise an eyebrow. "I didn't mean for you to get hurt. I just didn't think you'd freeze up like that."

Kakashi then turned to Ruka, who was standing beside him. "Good job, Ruka and Sasuke. Very smooth. You too, Sakura."

Ruka shook her head before her eyes landed on the blonde. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, are you alright, scaredy-cat?" Sasuke smirked, causing Naruto's pale features to flush with anger. He parted his lips to snap back with a snarky reply when Ruka suddenly stepped between them.

"Naruto, those claws at the tip of their chains were soaked in poison. We need to remove it from your wound as fast as possible."

The blond male glanced down to see a large and deep gash across the back of his hand. He hadn't been aware of it, but now that he saw it, his body became more aware of the sudden rush of pain flooding through his veins.

After Kakashi tied up the enemies to a tree, they all stood before him. "They are Chunin from the Village Hidden in the Mist. Their specialty is relentless attacks. They keep fighting no matter what the sacrifice," Kakashi explained.

"How did you know about our ambush?" one of the Hidden Mist ninjas asked.

"The puddle," Ruka replied, rolling her eyes in annoyance. "Why would there be a puddle on a clear day when it hasn't rained in weeks? Is this your first time venturing out into the world?"

The Hidden Mist ninja snarled in reply, his lips curling in disgust as he snapped his jaws toward Ruka, who smiled mockingly at him.

Tazuna turned to Kakashi. "In that case, why did you leave it for the Genin to do the fighting?"

"I could've taken them out quickly, but then I would've learned nothing," Kakashi explained. He glanced at Ruka, who looked at him with furrowed eyebrows. "What?"

"I needed to see who they were going to attack. This isn't the first time ninja have attacked us while Ruka is with us, and I needed to see if they were here for her or Tazuna. For once, it seems Ruka wasn't the target."

Ruka's steely gaze zeroed in on the bridge builder, who visibly shrunk back, almost colliding with Naruto. "This is now a B-rank mission. My grandfather assigned us to protect you from gangs and thieves. This is

obviously not meant for Genin."

The usually rowdy drunkard lowered his gaze to the dusty road, sheepishly shifting from foot to foot. It was the first time Ruka had seen him rendered speechless, and she wasn't entirely sure if she liked it as much as she had initially thought.

Sakura stepped forward, agreeing with the tall girl. "I agree. This is too advanced for our training. We should go back, and we really need to treat Naruto's wound as soon as possible."

Kakashi and Ruka turned to Naruto, whose look had become even paler. "Naruto's hand could become a problem. I guess we should go back to the village."

The look on Naruto's face indicated that he was up to something. It proved right when he took out a kunai and stabbed his own wounded hand. "Why am I so different? Why am I always ughaaa!" he yelled in frustration as blood dripped from his hand onto the ground.

"I worked so hard to get here, pushing myself until it hurts, training alone for hours, anything to get stronger, to reach my dream," Naruto said in a sad voice, causing Ruka's eyes to soften. "I'll never back down again and let someone else rescue me. I'll never run away. I won't lose to Sasuke. Upon this wound, I make this pledge, believe it! Bridge builder, I'll complete this mission and protect you with this kunai knife. Don't worry, I'll be fine!"

Ruka pursed her lips as she crossed her arms. "That's cool, but, uh... you do realize that if you lose any more blood, you're going to die."

"What?!"