The Shopkeeper of Konoha

Naruto conjured a shield in one hand and threw a kunai at the oncoming ninja. Sasuke went to meet the other ninja who was now going after Tazuna. Meanwhile, Sakura had already prepared herself to fight and launch a surprise attack from the side.

All she needed was an opening. "Naruto, Sasuke, be on your guard," Sakura whispered, her voice barely audible over the rustling of leaves.

"Stay behind us, Tazuna," Sasuke ordered, his tone firm. The three were a bit shaken by the death of their sensei, but they weren't completely disheartened.

Tazuna nodded, trembling slightly as he complied. The mist ninjas exchanged a knowing glance before launching their assault.

Naruto summoned his magic, conjuring tendrils of yellow energy that crackled around his fingertips. With a flick of his wrist, he sent bolts of energy hurtling toward their enemies. However, his aim was still shaky, and the attacks veered off course, missing their mark. Just like the previous kunai attack, it didn't meet its mark, but one of the tendrils was able to touch the right abdomen of one of the ninja, inflicting a small injury.

Sasuke dashed forward and unleashed a barrage of kunai, each one aimed with deadly accuracy. The mist ninjas dodged and weaved through the onslaught, their agility unmatched. Sakura leaped into action, her fists ablaze with chakra. She darted between her teammates, delivering swift strikes to the mist ninjas.

Suiton: Suigadan (Water Release: Water Fang Bullet)

The mist ninjas retaliated with their own techniques, tied up with perfect synchronization. And the attacks were aimed right at Tazuna. Naruto and the others were a bit taken aback by the perfect teamwork and momentarily felt ashamed. But at that moment, they needed to save their client.

Naruto put everything on the line and proceeded to conjure a circular shield to stop the attack. The bullets hit the shield with immense force, and Naruto was almost thrown back, but Sasuke held him up.

They knew that if Naruto's shield broke, they would be done for. At the last fang bullet, the shield finally broke down, but Naruto was able to stop the attack. Naruto wanted a breather, but Sasuke wasn't someone to let go of this opening. He threw multiple kunais at them, and the mist ninjas' long chain-like accessories were jammed by Sasuke's kunai attack.

This came as a surprise to the ninjas as they didn't expect a small genin to have that much accuracy.

"You little piece of..." One of the mist ninjas wanted to curse more, but before they could do so, Kakashi appeared and with two attacks on the vital parts of the two mist ninjas, they were dead. Everything came to a standstill when Kakashi appeared.

"Kakashi-sensei... You're not... dead?" Sakura, who was on the verge of tears, said.

"Of course not. Do you think these two chunins would be able to kill me?" Kakashi said.

"But then?" Naruto said, as he was sure he saw tons of blood when the two ninjas attacked Kakashi. But now when he looked there, all he saw were small wooden blocks. Naruto and the others felt ashamed that they thought their new teacher was dead.

"I didn't show up because I wanted to see what these ninjas were after. They were after Tazuna, so now I know their purpose, and this might not be the only incident," Kakashi said as he looked at Tazuna, who had turned his head away, almost as if he was guilty of something.

Kakashi wanted to ask more, but he refrained for the moment. His three students had proven to be excellent, much more so than he had thought.

"Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura, I also conducted a test to see if you three can coordinate, and I am happy to say that you three have surprised me. Naruto and Sasuke, you did well with your own techniques, though I believe Naruto needs to hone his techniques. Your yellow tendril attack should have been lethal to the chunin. Sasuke, you performed almost perfectly, but I urge you to be more ruthless in the future. As for Sakura, you didn't do anything wrong in this case, as it was not your place to shine, and I am confident that in the future, you will have the perfect opportunity to act."

Kakashi provided a thorough evaluation, and though he tried not to show it, he was proud of his new students.

The three genin were also pleased to receive praise.

"Meow."

"Ah, Yoriichi-san, are you hurt anywhere?" Naruto suddenly remembered they had their black cat with them and rushed to her.

"Meow."

"I'm glad you're fine," Naruto sighed and took her in his arms. Seeing this, the group resumed their journey. Sasuke and Naruto were a bit withdrawn into their own thoughts. Sasuke felt a twinge of jealousy when he saw Naruto's techniques.

According to the teacher, Naruto's technique was almost lethal to the ninjas, and he even saved their lives using that shield of his. While Sasuke pondered this, Naruto was angry with himself for not being able to use magic in these troubled times. Normally, his magic would work fine; he had even dueled against Hinata.

But here, when lives were at stake, he felt like a failure. He felt defeated and was sure if he told his brother about this, he would be scolded.

"No, this can't go on. I can't be scared in situations like this. I will do better," Naruto thought. Meanwhile, Sakura also felt a bit ashamed. Naruto was someone she had always looked down upon a bit, thanks to the environment around her and because he was very bad at ninjutsu.

But now she had seen a side of Naruto that she had never known, and she was embarrassed to admit that Naruto was much better than her. She needed to learn some actual ninjutsu instead of the ones she only learnt in school if she wanted to stand up. And in order to get hands on some she either needed a teacher or pay for ninja scrolls.