a village with(out) me ━ naruto fanfic

10.

Chapter Ten: 

It's warm. 

Disgustingly so.

Naruto can feel sweat dripping down his neck and onto his back. He makes a face and turns to look at his… teammates, but they look very much the same like him; flushed from the blistering heat of the weather. 

"Am I really expected to place my life in the hands of these three brats?" Tazuna mutters, side eyeing the only jounin in their group. 

Kakashi manages an eye smile, walking at the rear end of their formation with his hands tucked into the pockets of his pants. "There's no cause for concern," he says, "I'm an elite ninja and my pups have been very well trained." 

Tazuna doesn't look the least bit convinced, but he does finally quiet down his complaining. Naruto is ever so thankful. He'd be even more thankful if the man didn't stink so much like bitter alcohol. 

Ugh. 

Wrinkling his nose, Naruto continues leading the group with Sasuke in tow. They're about three, maybe four hours away from Konoha when Naruto spots a puddle on the edge of the dirt ridden path just up ahead. He sends Sasuke a discreet look and the other boy nods, having spotted it too. 

There's been a heat wave for weeks now. 

Naruto would have definitely remembered scrambling to leave his cramped territory to bask in the cool relief of rain. Simply for annoying him ━ for daring to bring up the notion of rain ━ Naruto leaks a bit of Kurama's fiery orange chakra into the sole of his sandal and steps onto the puddle making it sizzle with heat. 

Naruto curls his mouth into a soft, little smile. The puddle starts to evaporate beneath his foot. Behind him, he can hear the sound of Sasuke engaging in a quick fight, followed by the sound of Sakura pulling out a kunai to protect Tazuna. 

Reaching down, Naruto slips his hand into the puddle and starts pulling out an over-heated, unconscious ninja by the back of his shirt. The strangers hidden mist headband catches a glint of sunshine and Naruto turns to ask Sasuke, "are these seriously supposed to be chuunin?'' 

Sasuke, disgruntled but not surprised by Naruto's skills, answers in his usual monotone voice, "I expected more of a challenge. Just goes to show how much stronger leaf shinobi are." He has the other mist ninja beneath him, unconscious on the ground from having tried attacking Tazuna from the woodlands around them. 

"Or perhaps, you simply have a better teacher," Kakashi quips in, looking absolutely unbothered and calm. "Great teamwork, pups. Sensei is very proud of you all." 

"Doubt it." Naruto snorts. "Here," he passes the unconscious mist ninja to Kakashi, who takes a hold of the man with a bored expression. He holds the mist-nin by the scruff of his neck, like he's simply a misbehaving dog that needs to be punished. 

"You did very well,'' Kakashi praises, eye-smiling down at Naruto. He then lowers his voice considerably, "that wasn't your chakra, was it?'' 

Naruto gives him one of his overly innocent looks. He flutters his blonde eyelashes to sweeten the deal and even fiddles with the hem of his jacket, making sure to look extra shy. "Wouldn't you like to know, sensei?'' 

Kakashi's eyebrow visibly twitches, but he doesn't dig for more information. He grabs the second mist-nin, makes sure he's properly knocked out, and ties the two of them to a nearby tree. 

"What a hassle," Sakura mutters, placing her kunai back into her thigh holster. She gives herself a moment to breathe in deeply and then exhale softly, before she swiftly turns in her spot. Like a snake seizing a chance for an attack, she grabs Tazuna by the front of his shirt and hauls him over her shoulder, slamming him to the dusty ground with a grunt.