On a sunny day in the Village Hidden in the leaves, a girl with red hair and sea-green eyes was hanging out clothes to dry. Her hair was always in two braids, an apron around her waist. Her name was Aceso Matsuba and she was training to be a healer in the village. She wanted to be respected for healing skills rather than ninja skills. She may even try to pursue her dreams further and become a travel doctor, but she was only twelve at the moment, and not much could happen. Aceso's parents were a doctor and nurses, her parents died when she was a baby, and the hospital took her in as a permanent resident. That's what she's been told about her parents, nothing more and nothing less. She had passed the exams to be a ninja at the age of six 1/2, but instead of being put into a group of three, she was sent back to the hospital to continue her training along with did basic ninja training once in a while. Eventually became a doctor at 10 and a jonin medical ninja, at 11. At the current moment, she was sitting on a hospital rooftop, reading up on medicines, and practicing making medicine. She has tried to make her own medicine, and invent new ones. She was sitting on the floor, with many vitals in front of her. She was waiting for the clothes to dry.

" Doctor Matsuba!" a voice shouted, she jumped, looked up, and saw Lord Hokage standing at the entrance of the room she was working in.

" Lord Hokage," Aceso bowed, she looked back up to see Kakashi, his students, and a man behind him, plus ninjas that protect Lord Hokage. She recognized them from when they visited the hospital, she was friends with Sasuke before the Uchiha incident and checked up on him after the Uchiha incident. She was good friends with Naruto as well, she brought him medicine when he was younger when no one else in the hospital would. She and Sakura were just acquainted, Aceso did some checkups on Sakura, but when she went boy crazy over Sasuke, a distance had grown between them. The whole village seemed to resent Naruto and she didn't understand why, but she always enjoyed his company, she felt like she was one of the only kids that didn't hate him. As for Kakashi, he was like a father figure to her, he wasn't always around, but when he was home, he was made sure to spend time with her. 

" I thought you would be up here," Kakashi said. " It's time you went on a mission outside the village, all your missions have taken place in the hospital and around the village, it's time you took those skills outside, you want to travel as a medical ninja don't you?"

" I don't think I'm ready Kakashi," Aceso said.

" You have been training in this place since you graduated from the Academy, time to put your skills on the field," Kakashi said.

" And from what the staff told me, medical ninjutsu isn't the only one you know," Lord Hokage acknowledge. " You have been perfecting rope ninjitsu, you will be a fine addition to this mission, I'm sure of it."

" What will I be doing?" Aceso asked.

" Escorting this man back to his village," Sakura answered. " When did you graduate from the Acadamey Aceso?"

" She graduated about five years ago," Kakashi answered.

" That's impossible!" Naruto shouted.

" Naruto, we got ramen the day I graduated, remember?" Aceso brought up. He had a blank face.

"Loser," Sasuke grunted. 

"What exactly is this mission?" Aceso asked. 

" Escorting the client Tazuna, a master bridge builder, home" Lord Hokage answered. " I will not accept a no, this is a C-class mission, nothing too hard."

" Well, okay," Aceso gave in. Minutes later Aceso had started her journey with team seven. Well, she did want to be a travel medical-nin, this would be a good start. She only left the village a few times, only with Gai-sensei, he would take her to a festival a town over when she was younger.  While she wasn't in the hospital or off the job she normally wore had fishnet shirt with a purple shirt sleeve hoodie on top of it, red pants that stopped at her knees and got tight there, wrappings from her knees down to her ankles and her ninja shoes. She had four ropes around her waist.

" Yeah!" Naruto shouted once they left the doors of the village. " All right!"

" What are you getting so excited about, Naruto?" Aceso asked.

" This is the first time I ever left the village," Naruto informed as he looked around the open space. " I'm a traveler now, believe it." He was laughing.

" Hey, am I supposed to trust my life to this runt?" Tazuna asked as he pointed at Naruto. " He's a joke." That got Naruto to stop.

" He's with me, and I'm a Jonin so you don't need to worry," Kakashi informed. " Doctor Matsuba is a jonin medical ninja."

" Hey," Naruto said as he turned around and pointed at Tazuna. " Never insult a ninja. It's a big mistake. And I'm one of the greatest ninja ever! Someday I'm going to be Hokage and you'll look up to me. My name's Naruto Uzumaki. Remember it."

" Has he always been this loud?" Aceso asked as she leaned toward Sakura.

" He's a headache isn't he?" Sakura asked as she shook her head.

" Hokage are powerful and wise," Tazuna said after taking a swig of alcohol. " You are puny and brainless. The day you become Hokage, I'll sprout my wings and fly."

" Aah! Shut up!" Naruto shouted angrily. " I'm willing to do anything to become Hokage, no matter what it takes! And when I do, everyone will have to admit that I'm the top ninja, including you!'

" Ha!" Tazuna grunted. " You can become Hokage 10 times over, and to me, you'll still be nobody, a loser."

" Aah!" Naruto shouted as he started to move, but Kakashi held him back by his backpack. " I'm going to make you pay for that right now!"

" I told you, you're supposed to protect the client, not attack him," Kakashi reminded the young Genin.

" Give me one shot at him!" Naruto demanded. " Let me go! I'll show you!" Something rustled in the leaves, and Aceso glanced up and look in a certain direction. " That's right, I'm talking to you!"

" Come on Aceso," Kakashi said, she looked back to everyone who had continued walking.

" Sorry," Aceso apologized before quickly catching up to the others. She ended up walking with Naruto in the front, she was going to have a major headache for the rest of this trip, yet she liked to get the chance to bond with everyone. Naruto chatted to her about ramen most of the time, she told him about a few things she's been up to since the last time she's gotten to talk to him. 

" Say, Mr. Tazuna?" Sakura asked.

" What is it?" Tazuna asked.

" Your country is the Land of waves, right?" Sakura asked.

" Yeah. What of it?" Tazuna asked.

" Kakashi sensei, there are ninja in that country too, aren't there?" Sakura asked.

" No, there is no ninja in the Land of Waves," Kakashi answered.

" None?" Aceso asked as she glanced back.

" But in other countries, there are hidden villages, each with their own different customs and cultures, where ninja reside," Kakashi explained. " To the people of this continent, the existence of the Shinobi villages means strength, military strength. In other words, that's how they protect themselves and maintain the balance of powers with neighboring countries. The ninja villages are not controlled by any government. They're independent and have equal status. Now, a small island like the Land of Waves has natural protection from the sea, so there's no need for a ninja village. The five ancient lands that possess Shinobi villages are Fire, Water, Lightning, Wind, and Earth. They each occupy vast territories. Together they are known as the five great Shinobi nations. The land of Fire has the Village Hidden in the Leaves; the Land of Water, the Village Hidden in the Mist; the Land of Lightning, the Village Hidden in the Clouds; the Land of Wind, the Village Hidden in the Sand, and the Land of Earth, the Village Hidden in the Stones. Only the leaders of these hidden villages are permitted the name Kage, which means 'shadow.' Hokage, Mizukage, Raikage, Kazekage, Tsuchikage --These are the leaders, the five shadows that reign over thousands of ninja." Sakura let out a happy gasp.

" Then Lord Hokage's really important!" Sakura squealed.

' Lord Hokage really didn't give me a choice for this mission,' Aceso recalled.

" Hey!" Kakashi shouted. " You all just doubted Lord Hokage, didn't you? That's what you were thinking."

" No, sensei," Aceso answered as Sakura and Naruto shook their heads. Kakashi put a hand on Sakura's head.

" Well, anyway, there are no ninja battles in a C-ranked mission, so you can relax," Kakashi assured.

" And we're not going to run into any foreign enemy ninja or anything like that," Aceso added, she was hoping it was the truth, and Kakashi laughed.

" Not likely," Kakashi laughed again as he patted her on the head before they continued walking. Soon they crossed a bridge and came across a puddle. It was strange to see, Aceso glanced back at it as they passed.

" Hn. It's just a puddle Aceso," Sasuke grunted.

" If you say so," Aceso sighed as she looked back forward.

" What?" Kakashi asked not even a second later, they looked back to see two men coming towards them, weapons flying at them. Metal rope wrapped around Kakashi's body.

" Huh?" Sakura asked.

" What?" Naruto demanded.

" Do it!" one of them grunted as they pulled on the chain. There was smoke and then Kakashi was no longer there, drops fell onto the ground. Sakura let out a screech.

" Da-" Aceso began.

" Kakashi sensei!" Naruto shouted in a frantic. The two ninjas suddenly appeared behind him and started laughing.

" Now it's your turn," one of them stated.

" Aah!" Naruto sounded as Sasuke jumped into the air and took out throwing stars. He threw so fast and accurate that they chained the chains to the tree.

" Huh?" the two asked as they got stuck.

" I can't get loose," a guy grunted as Sasuke landed on top of the two. Soon the ninjas got loose and started running toward Tazuna.

" I've got to stop them, I've got to stop them!" Sakura stated as she got in front of him. " Stay behind me." Suddenly Sasuke appeared in front of them, the two were getting real close, just as an attack was about to land, Kakashi appeared out of nowhere, putting the two of them in a headlock.

" Hi," He greeted nonchalantly.

" Kakashi!" Aceso gasped.

" Huh? But he was-- What?" Naruto stammered as he looked to see a bunch of logs that were to be the 'dead' Kakashi. " Kakashi sensei used the replacement Jutsu.

" Naruto, sorry I didn't help you right away," Kakashi apologized. " I didn't mean for you to get hurt. I just didn't think you'd freeze up like that." He then walked over to the others. " Good job, Sasuke. Very smooth. You too, Sakura."

" Hey," Sasuke said, Naruto looked at him. "You're not hurt are you? Scaredy cat." He had a smirk.

" Sasuke!" Naruto shouted as he started to move.

" Naruto!" Kakashi shouted, and he stopped. "Stand still. These ninja have poison in their claws. We need to take it out of you quickly. "

" I can help with that," Aceso offered as she began to walk over to him, she took off her backpack and looked for the supplies she needed. " I'll have to open the wound to remove it." He was bleeding from his hand badly and started to whimper. " It's in your blood so don't move around. That spreads the poison."

" By the way, Mr. Tazuna..." Kakashi began.

" Yeah, what?" Tazuna asked in a startle.

" We need to talk," Kakashi requested. He quickly got the two ninja tied up. " They're Chunin from the Village Hidden in the Mist. Their specialty is relentless attack. They keep fighting no matter what the sacrifice."

" How did you know about our ambush?" one of them asked.

" A puddle on a clear day, when it hasn't rained in weeks?" Kakashi recalled, that Sasuke made a sound and glanced at Aceso. " Aceso was right to be concerned about it."

" In that case, why'd you leave it for the Genin and Doctor to do the fighting?" Tazuna asked.

" I could have taken them out quickly. But then I'd have learned nothing," Kakashi answered. " I had to know who their target was...and what they were after." He looked back at the client.

" What are you getting at?" Tazuna demanded.

" This," Kakashi answered as he turned his body fully to Tazuna. " I wanted to know if they were after us, ninja attacking ninja, or if they were after you, the master bridge builder. When you put in your request, you asked for standard protection from robbers and highwaymen. You didn't say there were ninja looking for you, hunting you down. If we knew this, it would be a B-rank mission or higher. Our task was simply to get you to your destination and protect you while you finished your bridge." The man looked down at the ground with guilt. " If we knew we'd be fielding attacks from enemy ninja, we would have staffed differently, Aceso definitely would have not been brought along. Along with charged for the cost of a B mission. Apparently, you have your reasons, but lying to us is not acceptable. We are now beyond the scope of this mission."

" We are Genin and a Doctor," Sakura informed. " This is too advanced for our level of training. We should go back."

" I really need to treat Naurto's wound and get the poison out as soon as possible," Aceso added.

" Hmm," Kakashi sounded as he looked at the blonde spikey kid. Aceso had taken out a kunai knife and grabbed Naruto's injured hand.

" Aah--Huh?" Naruto gasped as he looked at the others.

" Your hand could become a problem," Aceso informed. " I can take out the poison, but after that, we should go back to the village." He growled and panted and then snatched the knife out of Aceso's hand and dug it into his wound. Everyone gasped as blood flew. 

He turned his back towards the others as Aceso wiped the blood off her face. " Why am I so different? Why am I always--"

" Naruto, stop that!" Sakura demanded as she stepped forward. " What are you doing?"

" I worked so hard to get here, pushing myself until it hurt, training alone for hours anything to get stronger, to reach my dream. I will never back down again and let someone else rescue me." Blood dripped onto the ground. " I will never run away and I will not 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. " He then turned back around, shaking, a wicked smile. " Don't worry, I'll be fine."

" Naruto, uh, that was really cool how you took the poison out and all. But if you lose any more blood, you're going to die," Kakashi informed. Bird's whistled, and Naruto began to whimper more.

" Good idea to stop the bleeding now, seriously," Aceso advised as she took out bandages.

" No, no, no!" Naruto shouted. He began dancing around. " No, no, no! I'm too young for it to all end like this. No, no, no!"

" Show me your hand," Aceso requested as she held out her hand, Kakashi walked over and Sakura stepped forward.

" No, no, help, no!" Naruto shouted more. " No, no!" He gave her his hand.

" Naruto, you've got a self-abusive personality," Sakura scolded. " It's called masochism." He stopped moving and Aceso got a better look, she saw that wound was already starting to heal by itself, closing the cut.

' That's odd,' Aceso thought to herself.

" Um, um--" Naruto began. " Uh?"

" Hmm?" Aceso asked as she looked up, Naruto was shaking.

" Aceso...You have a really serious look on your face," Naruto noticed. " You're scaring me. Am I okay?"

" Uh, yeah, you should be fine," Aceso answered as she wrapped the bandage around his hand. After she fixed his hand, they continued their journey.

" Dad?" Aceso whispered softly.

" Hmm?" Kakashi asked as he looked down at her, everyone else was walking in front of them.

" Naruto's hand, it started to heal on its own," Aceso informed.

" I noticed that too," Kakashi nodded. " What about it?"

" How? How was it able to heal all on its own like that" Aceso responded with another question.

" That's a story for another time," Kakashi answered. " But I'm sure you've heard of the Nine-Tailed Fox. You recall the beast from the storybook when you were little, don't you?" Aceso gasped and looked at Naruto. " The Nine-tailed fox can heal itself and the person they are trapped in."

" Impressive," Aceso commented quickly understanding what Kakashi was saying. 'Legend has it that the nine-tail fox is sealed inside someone, and this someone must be Naruto.'