Shooting Stars

Star #8: Squeaky Wheels.

“Now then, today’s mission is-”
“I REFUSE!!” Naruto was yelling even before Rin-sensei had finished talking. He had become increasingly irritable as of late, successfully making his entire team more irritated as well.
“You haven’t even heard the mission yet!” Complained Tenten, pulling at his cheek crossly. His constant gripping was starting to grate on her nerves. Even Sasuke glared at him. He was just as frustrated over the sheer stupidity of their missions, but couldn’t the stupid blonde just suffer in silence like the rest of them?!
“But it's stupid! We’re genin, not community service workers!” Tenten yanked on his other cheek and Naruto’s next words became indistinguishable sounds.
“Them do you want to go back to the Academy and have no missions! Something is better than nothing!!”
“Not really, given what the something is,” grumbled Sasuke, louder than he had intended. Tenten’s vein pop was about the size of Argentina.
“Ow!” Tenten yanked on Sasuke’s cheek, wondering if their faces would stretch into smiles if she did this for long enough.
“You shut up.”
“Leggo!” Rin-sensei watched in a mixture of amusement and irritation. Her squad did seem to love bickering, probably more than any other squad she had ever overseen. That was cute. BUT COULD THEY SHUT UP FOR FIVE SECONDS?!
“Now let her finish the assignment at least! Geez!” Tenten released their cheeks, leaving them to rub at the red spots and mutter complaints.
“Tenten, aren’t you tired of these assignments too?” Asked Naruto, curiously. He had no clue if someone actually had that much patience, but Tenten did seem superhuman at times. Tenten folded her arms and looked at him calmly.
“Are you kidding me?” Naruto frowned, thinking Tenten really was superhuman. “IT MAKES ME SO MAD I COULD DESTROY AN ENTIRE NEIGHBORHOOD!!!! TALK ABOUT A DISGRACE TO MY SKILLS!!!!!!!!! WHOEVER SENT THESE MISSIONS IN SHOULD BE ROASTED AND THROWN IN A LAKE OF OIL STILL ON FIRE!!” Tenten’s aura of malice intensified and her words became drowned out in sheer fury.
“I’m scared,” whimpered Naruto, clinging to Sasuke and hiding behind Rin-sensei.
“Way to go, usuratonkachi! You activated Death Tenten!” Growled Sasuke, although his growl sounded more like a whimper of fear.
Rin-sensei smirked to herself. It looked like Tenten was at the limit of her patience as well. It was kind of funny to see Death Tenten activate though.
“Yes, yes, I get it,” she said, patting Tenten’s head like she was a child. Tenten looked at her with an I-will-burn-your-fingernails-off-if-you-don’t-actually-do-something-about-this look.
“Death Tenten deactivated,” sighed Naruto in relief.
“More like it went down a few levels of murderous,” muttered Sasuke, rubbing his hitai-ate. Tenten slowly turned towards the two of them, and they both jolted backwards. Tenten smiled so hard that sparkles surrounded her.
“Did you say something?”
“No!!!” Was Naruto and Sasuke’s unanimous response. Rin-sensei smiled and pulled out her mission detail.
“Today, you’ll have a simple mission. It’s a wild boar hunt. Do you think you guys are up for it?”
“So we’re finding a lost pig?” Translated Sasuke, leaning against a wall tiredly. Pigs were harder to catch than one expected.
“No, this is a legitimate mission. It’s a wild boar hunt. We will be hunting a wild boar, killing a wild boar, and bringing back the head of a wild boar. Not that hard, but not something to sniff at either. How does that sound?” Everyone stared at her, waiting for her to lean backwards, laugh loudly, and say she had got them. She had already done that twice before.
“YES! Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes!! They’ve finally acknowledged how strong a shinobi I am! Yes yes yes! Ahahahahahahaha!” Naruto was jumping around like someone had lit a fire under his sandals, something Sasuke was more than a little tempted to do.
“For real, Rin-sensei?” Asked Tenten, eyes shining.
“No.” Naruto crashed back down on his head and Tenten slumped forwards while a vein pop hid itself on the back of Sasuke’s head and his eyebrow twitched.
“Ha ha ha! It is real, I’m just messing with you!” Laughed Rin-sensei, wondering whether or not her husband had been around to giggle at their expressions or if he was off on a mission with his own squad.
“Rin-sensei!” Complained Tenten, but the slump had gone out of her posture. Nothing like a real mission to make everyone a little happier.
“The person who requested this mission did ask to come along too, and he’s paying extra for it. That does mean you’ll have to protect him, so it has a bit of a bodyguard aspect to it as well, but it’ll be worth it. I’ll call him in a moment.” Rin-sensei grinned and hopped off to grab their client.
“This is so awesome! A wild boar hunt sounds super interesting and fun! I can hardly wait!” Naruto was rocking back on his heels excitedly.
“Still, it’s a little strange that the client would want to come along, isn’t it?” Pointed out Sasuke, looking at Tenten.
“He probably has something he wants to grab off the boar that he doesn't feel comfortable mentioning in the request. It’s almost definitely not something dangerous,” said Tenten easily, leaning against a wall calmly.
“This is awesome! Totally awesome!” Naruto was still bouncing off the walls. Tenten laughed, standing up and stretching.
“Sounds like they’re finally taking us seriously, huh?”
“Dattebayo!” Replied Naruto, pumping his fist in the air. Sasuke sighed and folded his arms.
“You’re so loud. We probably won’t actually do much fighting.”
“What part of ‘boar hunt’ did you miss? We’re fighting a boar!” Laughed Naruto, almost bouncing into Tenten, but she stopped him with a glinting kunai pointed at his nose.
“No shinobi though.”
“Isn’t that a given, Sasuke?” Sasuke glanced over at Tenten who was tossing a catching a kunai to mask the serious eyes she was looking at him with. “We’re still genin. We’re not ready for any combat yet.” Sasuke just closed his eyes and humphed. Naruto had gone back to ricocheting around the room like an idiot. Tenten placed her hands on her hips and sighed.
“Our client is here, you guys.” Everyone jumped a bit at Rin-sensei’s voice. She was poking her head out from behind the door with a slight smirk.
“Right!” Naruto shot to attention, and Sasuke moved over next to Tenten. Rin-sensei nodded, satisfied.
“Come right in, sir.” She opened the door fully and gestured the tall and thickly built man in. He was a contrary looking fellow, arms folded and peering at the genin out from underneath his eyelids.
“What are you kids playing about in here? I’m looking for my shinobi guards, not some pipsqueaks playing ninja. Shoo, shoo.” Naruto’s vein pop showed up prominently against his hair, and even Sasuke looked vexed, although that seemed more at the man’s stupidity and less at the insult.
“What was that?! You blind old man, can’t you see my hitai-ate?! I’m a full-fledged shinobi, dattebayo!” The man looked over at Rin-sensei, ignoring Naruto entirely.
“I paid for a full mission, didn't I?”
“Indeed. You paid for a C-rank, which means genin can take it on. All three of these are graduated shinobi.” Before the man could express more doubt and Naruto could try and punch him, Tenten stepped forwards with a graceful bow.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir. My name is Suzuki Tenten, I am a graduate from Konoha Academy. These are my teammates, Uzumaki Naruto-” she gestured at Naruto, who humphed and turned away grumpily, “-and Uchiha Sasuke.” Sasuke nodded and grunted as a way of greeting and Tenten was tempted, oh so tempted, to strangle both boys and slam their limp heads together, doofuses that they were. “We are all fully fledged shinobi, and will do all within our power to protect me and slay the boar as you requested.”
“My name is Hazuma Kyōsetsu. Can you kill that boar?” He was addressing Rin-sensei, having ignored Tenten completely. Rin-sensei smiled as the two ‘doofuses’ tried to keep Death Tenten from reemerging with only enough success that Kyōsetsu didn’t notice. Sasuke doubted he would have noticed at all unless Tenten had shoved a kunai into his brain though.
“Yes, but I won’t be. My squad will take that task on. I am only here in the event that they run into some sort of problem. They are more than capable enough to handle this mission though, that is why they have been selected. Any more disrespectful behavior would express doubt in Hokage-sama’s judgement.” Rin-sensei’s words were calm and polite, but an undercurrent of warning ran beneath the words like a rushing river underground. Kyōsetsu sighed and nodded, turning to the squad.
Death Tenten had subsided to a twitching eyebrow and a vein pop, although that was hidden by her buns. Naruto seemed much calmer now that Tenten had entered killer mode, and Sasuke just looked bored. Kyōsetsu just sighed again and exited the room.
“Just don’t get me killed, baby face.” Naruto looked triumphant until Tenten poked his cheek and a vein pop emerged on his forehead.
“Oy!! Get back here, teme! I’ll kill you!”
“That would make us fail right off the bat, usuratonkachi,” commented Sasuke.
“You shut up!” Tenten sighed from where she held Naruto by his arms, following Kyōsetsu out of the room with Sasuke trailing after her.
“Oy, let me down! Let me down, Tenten, dattebayo!”
“You say oy a lot, Naruto.”
“Shut up, dattebayo!” Rin-sensei sighed cheerfully and followed them out of the room. They would ace this mission easily.

“Sasuke! Fireball that bush! Naruto! Shadow clone jutsu now! Make a ring around it!”
“Got it!” Shouted Naruto as clones materialized around him and quickly encircled the boar that raced away from Sasuke’s fire with an indignant squeal.
“Jump him!” Naruto’s clones launched themselves at the animal, but it just ripped through them with it’s tusks. Distracted as it was, it didn’t notice the crawling clone wrapping a chain around one of it’s legs until it was too late. There was a POP as it was skewered, and Tenten yanked on her chain. Nothing happened. The boar looked at her like she was a bit of an idiot. Right, boars, heavy.
It charged at her with an earsplitting shriek and she hurled the other end of the chain at it. Unfazed, it’s tusks ripped through Tenten, sending her crashing into a tree with a familiar POP and a cloud of smoke. Sasuke landed a few feet away, the real Tenten in his arms and a confident smirk on his lips. Tenten dropped to her feet and Sasuke wove signs quickly while Tenten charged the animal to keep it’s attention away from Naruto, who was running around like an idiot.
“Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!” Sasuke sent a globe of fire at the animal, just barely missing an indignant Tenten.
“Naruto! Sasuke! Shurikan Combo!” Both boys understood instantly and while the boar was distracted by the fire, Naruto created about twenty-seven shadow clones while Sasuke drew several shurikan and Tenten leapt into the air, her scrolls dancing around her.
Instantly, a rain of shurikan fell on the creature, Tenten’s ricocheting around it, Naruto’s shadow clones surrounding it, and Sasuke’s shadow shurikan attacking it. Rin-sensei nodded, satisfied and prepared to applaud. No one forgot what happened next.
The boar leapt into the air in an arc, dodging several shurikan and it’s bristles deflected the rest as if they were made of steel. Sasuke gasped, and Naruto was so shocked three of his clones vanished without realizing it. Tenten’s eyes became twin moons as she kicked off a branch, but it was too late. The boar’s tusk tore into one end of her scrolls and ripped her off balance, sending her toppling towards the savage beast.
“Tenten!” Yelled Naruto, running forwards and using a shadow clone to catapult towards him.
“Naruto! Look out!” Screamed Sasuke as the boar somehow changed direction in midair, aiming at the blonde shinobi. It’s tusk loomed centimeters from Naruto’s retina-
“Naruto!” Tenten’s kunai flashed, burying itself in the creature’s eye. It writhed in pain and Tenten caught Naruto’s ankle, pulling him to the ground with her in a crash landing.
“Ouch! Tenten!” Naruto rubbed his head and sat up, glowering at the boar. Tenten winced and sat up too, one hand grasping the opposite arm.
“Naruto! Tenten! Stay back!” Yelled Sasuke, moving in front of them with a kunai drawn.
“Oh shut up! I’m the kunai user here!” Tenten released her arm, her hand coming away red, and drew a handful of kunai.
“Me too! Me too!” Naruto stood up, pulling out twin kunai.
“Tenten, what is up with this beast?”
“I have no clue. But it’s safe to say this is no normal boar.”
“No duh!”
“Shut up, Naruto!” The boar howled and pawed the ground, preparing to charge. “Naruto! Right! Sasuke! Left! Me! Up!” Yelled Tenten, figuring it was good to give them her position too. Her teammates did not question a thing she said, leaping to the sides as the animal charged while she catapulted herself into the the air, the tusks missing her by a margin of a millimeter. A second later, an explosion rocked the woods and the boar squealed in outrage. The shock wave sent Tenten slamming into Naruto, but both were too absorbed in the result to quibble.
The dust cleared quickly, and they saw to their relief that the animal was lying bleeding on the ground. It looked like it hadn’t seen the paper bomb Tenten had dropped before leaping off.
“Nice one, Tenten!” Tenten grinned, gripping her arm again.
“Thanks!” The three genin moved to come back down when a sudden movement stopped them. Sasuke saw it first, and Tenten gasped in horror as the beast stood up, shaking itself off. Blood dripped from one side of it and it bellowed in outrage, charging at the client as if recognizing a target.
“Look out!” Naruto was the fastest to react, springing from the branch and slamming into the man, knocking him behind a tree as the animal tore by.
“Sasuke! Hit the bleeding side with your Fireball!”
“It’ll have to stand still for me to do that!”
“I already thought of that!” Tenten dropped from her branch, and Sasuke started weaving signs. “Naruto, get Kyōsetsu-san up into a tree! Now!” Naruto managed to hear her over the animal’s scream and pulled the complaining man up with him into the tree.
Tenten yanked out a kunai and hurled it at the boar, purposely allowing it to reflect off the tusks and imbed itself in a tree. The animal turned to her in barely contained fury and Tenten backed up, the fear rolling off of her. The boar let out a scream of triumph and raced at her. Tenten turned and ran in a perfectly straight line, crashing headfirst into a tree. Turning, the boar catapulted itself straight out her.
The next second, it’s tusks were imbedded firmly in the wood and Tenten was safely in the branches with Naruto’s shadow clone.
“Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!” The fire slammed into the boar’s injured side and it screamed in pain, writhing so hard it actually yanked the tree out before falling onto one side, whimpering. Tenten sighed in relief, it was finally over. The squad shared a smile, leaping down to finish their job.
None of them could later say what it was that made them turn to look at Rin-sensei. ,any be they wanted to see her giving them a thumbs-up, maybe they wanted to see her grinning, maybe they were expecting her usual applause. Maybe they could sense the evil approaching. Turning, they saw two shadows behind Rin-sensei as she raised her hands to clap. Before any of them could give a warning cry, a blade flashed and Rin-sensei’s shocked gasp was the last thing they heard before she fell off the branch into the bush below with a sickening crash.
“RIN-SENSEI!!” Screamed Naruto, leaping forwards.
“Naruto, be careful!” Tenten leapt after him while Sasuke charged at Kyōsetsu, just in case the shadow that had disappeared went after him.
“Second target.” Naruto turned slowly as one of the shadows appeared behind him, blade raised high. Sasuke had just managed to block Kyōsetsu when the other figure lunged. Sasuke started weaving seals, but even he knew he wouldn't make it in time. Ditching that, he grabbed a kunai and raised it. The figure held his sword up and slashed downwards.