Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Fenrir and the Fox ❯ A Real Ninja Mission ( Chapter 8 )

Chapter 8:

A Real Ninja Mission

 

Jinra walked into the his house after a long day of D-ranked missions, the most painful of which involved an old lady who had lost her cat. It took them three hours to find the damn thing and when they did it fought tooth and nail to escape.

 

Jinra slowly made his way to the bathroom to put some iodine on the cat scratches that now covered his arms and neck. He had never really been that fond of cats before, but he definitely hated them now.

 

No sooner had he cleaned the last of the scrapes that he heard the front door open and close, indicating that someone had entered the house. He was about to call out to find out who it was when a small figure jumped on his back from behind and swung its arms around his neck. Jinra was about to instinctively throw his attacker off when he heard a small and familiar chuckle.

 

“Konohamaru?” Jinra said as he turned his head to get a better look at his `attacker.' “What are you doing here?”

 

The small brown haired boy gave Jinra a toothy grin. “What's up bro? It's been ages since I've seen ya last! I heard that you and the boss got back from another mission.”

 

Jinra let out a tired sigh. He knew that when Konohamaru said `the boss' he was referring to Naruto. The Third's grandson practically worshipped the ground Naruto walked on, and Naruto loved the attention. In fact, he loved the attention so much that he became prone to making up stories about his ninja exploits. “What'd he tell you?”

 

“He said something about taming some vicious beast. Is it true?” Konohamaru gave Jinra another grin, showing off the fact that he was still missing a tooth. Jinra could only give a small chuckle.

 

“Well, I'd say it was vicious, but we didn't really tame it, we just gave it back to its owner. And it wasn't much of a beast, just someone's cat.”

 

“Oh…” he paused for a moment. “When do you guys start getting real missions?”

 

Jinra walked over to the couch, Konohamaru still on his back, and plopped him down on it before seating himself. “I really have no idea. It's grandpa who assigns the missions, and he keeps saying that my team needs `more experience.'”

 

“Have you talked to grandpa about it lately?”

 

“Not in a few weeks, but I doubt he'll change his mind in such a short time.”

 

“I might.” Jinra jerked his head to where the old yet familiar voice had come from and saw Sarutobi (a.k.a. the Third Hokage) standing in the doorway.

 

“Hey Gramps. What are you doing back from the office? Are you avoiding your paperwork again?”

 

“Perhaps,” he said with a smile, “but mostly I needed to see you two.”

 

“Both of us?” Konohamaru said with an awed voice. “What about?”

 

“I'm getting old, Konohamaru. I can feel it in every bone of my body. It is because of this that I feel the need to pass on some of my legacy.” Sarutobi then held out his hand and had an old looking scroll suddenly appear in it. “This scroll is called a summoning contract, do you know what that is Jinra?”

 

Jinra looked at Sarutobi in awe. “Of course I do. A summoning contract is a special scroll you can sign to be able to summon a specific clan of creatures, like toads or snakes.”

 

The old man let a smile of pride form on his face. “That's very true Jinra, and the contract that I have here is the summoning contract for the apes. They have helped me tremendously in my life and it is my hope that they will help you in yours.”

 

“What do we have to do?” Konohamaru asked.

 

“All you have to do is sign your name on the contract using your blood. After that we can summon Enma so he can approve you as summoners.”

 

“Who's Enma?” Jinra inquired.

 

“Enma is the lord and father of the apes. If he says that you can summon him, then you will also be able to summon all of his children.”

 

Jinra nodded in understanding and took one of the kunai that he carried with him at all times and cut the tip of his finger with it. He then took the scroll that the elder Hokage was holding, unrolled it, and wrote his name right underneath where Sarutobi had written his so long ago. Konohamaru was slightly hesitant about following Jinra's example at first, but pricked his finger and signed his name right below Jinra's. As soon as the process was done, Sarutobi took the scroll and rolled it back up, causing it to somehow disappear. He then took out a small blade to draw some of his blood, formed a seal, and slammed his hands on to the ground, saying “Kuchiyose no Jutsu!” (Summoning Technique)

 

A cloud of smoke erupted in front of the old man, and when it cleared there stood a large ape that seemed as strong as a gorilla yet as nimble as a baboon. It had on a small amount of body armor and an intelligent look on its face. It took a glance around the room, taking stock of its surroundings, before focusing its eyes on Sarutobi. “Why have you summoned me Saru?”

 

Sarutobi simply smiled and made a gesture towards the two boys in front of them. “I wanted you to meet the two that I have chosen to sign the ape contract, Enma. I hope they meet with your approval.”

 

Enma looked back towards where the two boys were standing. His eyes first settled on Konohamaru and a soft smile formed on his face. “You must be Konohamaru. Sarutobi has told me much about you. When you are old enough to learn how to summon, I will be glad to test you.” Konohamaru could only nod mutely at the being before him. Enma then turned his gaze of Jinra, who had his eyes downcast and hadn't moved a muscle since the ape had been summoned. Enma frowned slightly when he saw that the boy was avoiding his eyes.

 

`Strange,' the ape thought, `I can tell that this boy is strong and has great potential, but he seems timid.'

 

“I must ask that you look at me child, otherwise there is little chance I will allow you to summon me or my kind,” he said in a gentle tone.

 

Jinra raised his head and looked Enma straight in his eyes, only to watch them widen in realization. All of the sudden Jinra found the ape lord kneeling before him. “Fenrir-sama, my apologies!”

 

“Fenrir-sama?” the Third asked in confusion. “Enma, what are you talking about? The boy's name is Jinra.”

 

The ape lord looked back at Sarutobi with an expression that seemed to question the old man's sanity before turning back to a very confused Jinra. “Jinra-sama, do you know anything about your heritage?”

 

Jinra had no idea what this had to do with anything but shook his head. “No. Why?”

 

A stern look came to Enma's face as he heard this new information. “That is most unfortunate, but not completely unexpected. It is not my place to tell you about your heritage, but when you do find out who you are you will understand why. Until then, you have my permission to summon me and my children whenever you wish. Until next we meet Jinra-sama.” The great ape lord then gave a small bow and disappeared into a cloud of smoke, leaving behind three very confused individuals.

 

The three remaining figures stood in silence for a long time. Sarutobi found Enma's reaction quite unsettling. He thought about it for a moment before coming to a decision about what to do with the boy. He cleared his throat slightly before breaking the silence. “Jinra, I'm going to find you a private instructor to teach you how to summon. I would teach you myself except my job as Hokage gives me very little spare time.

 

I have someone in mind but it will take a few weeks to find him and a few more to bring him back to the village, so until then I am going to send you and your team on a C-rank mission to Wave Country.”

 

Jinra looked at the old man is shock. “Really? Are you sure about that Grandpa?”

 

“Yes. Naruto has been barging into my office and demanding one for the past few weeks, and this mission is fairly low risk.”

 

At this news Jinra practically leaped into the air with joy. “A real ninja mission! I can't wait to tell the others.” Jinra then ran past the Hokage and out the door, leaving Konohamaru and Sarutobi in his wake.

 

As soon as Jinra was gone, Konohamaru looked at his grandfather in confusion. “Grandpa, why did Enma call Jinra `Fenrir-sama'?”

 

“Don't worry about it Konohamaru. Like Enma said, everything will reveal itself in time.” The Third was smiling on the outside, but on the inside he was deeply concerned. The tone with which he had seen Enma address the boy was one he had never heard from him before. It seemed to be a mixture of fear and respect. He had never heard of any being named Fenrir before, but he would look into it himself as soon as possible. He had grown to love the boy like his own grandson, but he had to know if within that boy there was a threat that could endanger the village.

 

Break

 

The next day saw the entirety of Team Ten in high spirits. Even the ever stoic or scowling Sasuke was trying to suppress a smirk. Jinra had rushed to each and every one of their homes the previous day to tell them about the upcoming mission to wave country, and they were all itching to prove their worth.

 

They had already visited the Hokage's office early that morning and were now standing by the gates, awaiting the man they were supposed to protect on the way to wave. Sasuke had perched himself on a tree, Sakura was sitting closely to Naruto and engaging him in conversation, Jinra was pacing back and forth, anxious for the mission to start, and Kakashi was reading his dirty book. When you put all of those activities together it made for less than professional appearance, particularly when viewed through the eyes of the slightly drunk and elderly man named Tazuna who had hired this group of ninjas in the first place. “And these are the ninjas that are supposed to protect me?” he mumbled as he approached them. “Why do I get the feeling that I might as well put a big, fat target on my back?”

 

As the man approached the four genin and their instructor, they all heard him and stopped what they were doing to face their client. As the highest-ranking ninja in the group, Kakashi strode over to Tazuna and gave him a small bow. “It is good to see you again, Tazuna-san. I trust that you are ready to leave?”

 

“Are you sure these brats can protect me?” Tazuna said skeptically

 

Naruto fumed at this comment. “Hey! We're more than capable of protecting you ungrateful ass!”

 

“Great, a weak brat with a loud mouth. I feel safe now,” he muttered sarcastically.

 

Naruto was about to break into some of the more colorful words in his vocabulary when Kakashi took a hand and clamped it firmly over the genin's mouth.

 

“Rest assured Tazuna-san that these genins are quite capable, and even if you have little faith in them, I am a jounin, and I will protect you with my life.”

 

Tazuna gave Kakashi a speculative look before shrugging and saying “Fine. Let's go.” With that he turned towards the gate an exited the village with Team Ten following close behind.