The Son of Two Heroes

Chapter 4

When Naruto had heard the term "bandit camp" he had not envisioned what he was seeing currently. The team was perched on a rocky outcrop looking over the forest below them. In it was a large clearing filled to the brim with tents and carts. When he had heard bandit problem he had thought of maybe a group of ten to twenty. Not the view that greeted him of somewhere between one to two hundred bandits strolling about. All sorts of weapons floated around between them, from swords to scythes and even axes, if you could think of it, someone down there probably had one.

"Uhh... Kakashi-sensei, how exactly do you plan for us to deal with all of this?" Naruto quietly broke the silence with his question. "I'm sure we could take these guys but there's a lot of 'em."

"I'm ashamed to admit it but, the idiots right. there really is a lot." Sasuke stared down scouting and trying to see a plan. "Gotta be something between a hundred and fifty to two hundred guys down there."

"Let's back off for now kiddies." Kakashi said and began making his way away from the edge. The three genin quickly moved to follow them.

Later that day about an hour before dusk Kakashi gathered his team around him. "Alright, listen up." Making sure he had the attention of all three, he then continued. "There's a ravine at the end of the clearing they are camped in. I'm going to use a water style jutsu, followed by an earth style jutsu to force them from camp and into the ravine." Kakashi sighed, "my jutsu will most likely neutralize a large amount of them, however it won't get everyone. That is why you three will be using the ravine as a killbox."

"Wait a killbox?" Sakura asked. "But these are people we can't just slaughter them like animals."

Kakashi sighed once again and crouched level with the pinkette. "I know that it doesn't seem right, but as shinobi, this is what we do Sakura. On top of it those men are scum, who have chosen a path of torture, and rape. Along with killing and kidnaping people for their own greed. They sell people into slavery. As such we put them down like rabid dogs."

Sakura's eyes widened unbelieving at his words. "Is this...really what it means to be a shinobi?"

The masked jounin looked at her as if trying to find the right words. "Sakura look at your teammates, they have already steeled their resolve and are ready to do this. They understand what they signed up for. I know it feels wrong, but one day all of you will find a way to cope with such acts. This is the life of a shinobi, and if you can't handle it I won't force you down this path any farther."

Sure enough when Sakura turned around to her teammates she could see that they had steeled themselves and understood exactly what it meant to be a shinobi.

"A-Alright sensei. I'll do it, I picked this path and I'm not just going to abandon my dreams!" The sole female shinobi said, with a air of confidence.

He ruffled her hair. "That's the spirit!" Turning to the boys he asked, "are you guys ready?"

The two boys shared a glance at one another, and turned their attention back to their sensei. "Let's get this done." They replied in unison.

"Be ready when you see my jutsu go off." Kakashi said. The team began to set up along the ravine, Sakura at the end where the ravine started to turn into open ground once again. Naruto and Sasuke positioned along opposite sides of the pass, spaced to cover more distance. Sakura planted sets of paper bombs all along the ravine so she could set them off as bandits passed, to neutralize them as well as force them to keep going forward.

When all was done, Kakashi moved away to the rock outcropping they had used to overwatch the camp just hours before. Carefully making his way down to where he was only above the clearing by about forty feet, he began to flash through hand seals, "Water Style: Exploding Water Shock Wave!" A massive wave of water swept through the camp smashing men into everything around them. When the water began to settle some men had drowned but most were injured or heading for the ravine. The jounin sped through another set of hand seals, "Earth style: Mud River!" A raging avalanche of mud and earth slid down the slope effectively washing away the camp and destroying everything in its path, as well as swallowing up any stragglers who hadn't made it to the ravine.