The S Ranked Mission

Glad to have you here! You've already read the synopsis, so I'm not going to say much other than the fact that this story is AU and therefore it does not follow canon. The ninja world in this story has its own unique history and background. The characters though will retain their personalities for the most part. I hope you'll like this new take to the Naruto and Hinata story :)


Start of Arc: An Old But New Union


Every person in the world has physical energy, which is produced within one's body. They use it to do everyday tasks. Tasks that are vital for life to exist. However there is a subset of people in the world who are naturally born with the ability to generate such large amounts of energy that they can release the energy from their body and wield it in the form of various techniques, or jutsus. These people are called ninja.

Naruto Uzumaki, 19 years of age was one such ninja, hailing from the renowned village of Uzushiogakure. He was no ordinary ninja however. Naruto was the heir to the Uzumaki clan, one of the strongest clans in the entire ninja world, his father being its current leader. Furthermore, his mother was a member of the Namikaze clan, another one of Uzushiogakure's most prominent clans. In other words Naruto's lineage made him nothing short of royalty at the village, and he had the innate ability to back it all up as well.

It was evening right now. The sun had gone down a while ago and darkness was about to fully set in. Naruto just returned back from a mission and entered through the gates of Uzushiogakure. He wasn't gone for long however, only for a day in fact.

"Hey guys, I'm back." He walked over to the two ninja guards stationed at the doors. "Could you write me in?"

"Naruto, you've returned already?" One of the guards asked in surprise. "Sorry to have called you back from your mission so abruptly. I know how much you dislike leaving missions incomplete, but it was your father's order. He said he needed you back urgently for something extremely important."

"Don't worry about it. I got the mission done." Naruto shrugged the query off nonchalantly. "In any case, I should get going. Don't want to keep dad waiting if it's so urgent that he had to call me back to the village in such short notice."

Both guards looked at each other in awe for a few seconds as the blonde ninja jumped away to the rooftops.

"Did he seriously solo an A-ranked mission in just a day? That mission would have taken any other full team a week." One of the guards said to the other.

"It's almost unbelievable to see the little prankster Naruto to have grown so much. Now he is arguably one of the strongest shinobi in the village. Heck he might even be on par with his father." The second guard replied.

"I don't know about that." His partner showed a bit of apprehension. "While there is no doubt Naruto has potential, his father is the legendary "Yellow Flash" of Uzushiogakure, one of the Kages no less."

"Well I'd still put my money on Naruto to eventually edge out his father though. But I suppose we'll have to see how that turns out over time."

As the two guards discussed Naruto's potential future, the blonde ninja jumped from rooftop to rooftop at incredible speed until within a minute he reached his destination. The Uzumaki clan house was massive, necessarily so due to it needing to house the largest clan in the village. It had a traditional architecture with a large courtyard at the front and almost maze-like hallways within the complex, leading to a plethora of rooms for the inhabitants.

Naruto however knew his destination – a room very close to the entrance to the clan house, in other words his father's office. The lights were on indicating that his father was anticipating him. Naruto wasted no time and jumped in through the open window.

The room itself was medium sized with nothing too extravagant. It mostly consisted of shelves stacked with books and scrolls as well as a rather large work table with a comfortable looking chair to go with it. Naruto's father, Minato was currently standing behind the table talking with his wife Kushina until Naruto came in, at which point they both turned their attention towards their son.

"Would it really hurt you to use the door for once?" Minato asked with a sigh. No matter how much he tried, he just couldn't seem to get his son to follow the conventional means of doing even the most menial tasks. "I know I called you back pretty abruptly, but I take it you still finished the mission?"

"Yup! You know me. These A-ranked missions are a piece of cake." Naruto replied with a large grin across his face. "Anyway, what's up with me needing to be here so suddenly? Is something wrong?"

"Yeah…about that. I actually called you back to assign you your very first S-ranked mission. This is absolutely urgent."

"ABOUT FRIKIN' TIME!" Naruto's face lit up in excitement. He had never partaken in an S-ranked mission before. More specifically his father did not let him. These missions were incredibly dangerous, not only to the ninja undertaking them, but also to the villages that assigned them due to the highly sensitive tasks that needed to be carried out, which could easily escalate into an all-out conflict between the various parties involved. As such these missions were only restricted to the most elite of ninja, normally highly skilled Jounin or Kage level shinobi. To be assigned an S-ranked mission meant that Naruto was finally being acknowledged by his father to be one of the very best ninjas under his command, close to himself in skill level.

"Darn it Minato. My son hasn't even returned back home for two minutes and you're already talking about the next assignment." Kushina gave her husband a somewhat annoyed look before turning to Naruto with a happier expression. "Naruto I've prepared something special for you tonight."

"How could I forget about that?" Minato quickly followed in Kushina's footsteps.

The two of them grabbed Naruto's hands from both sides and made him sit in the clan leader's chair. Peculiarly, there was a rather large bowl on the table with a lid on top.

"For all your hard work you deserve a treat." Kushina said to her son while gently stroking his spiky blonde hair. "I made it myself."

"That's right Naruto. Just forget about work and enjoy what is in that bowl for now. Your mother poured her heart into it. Trust me, I was there to watch." Minato reassured while patting his head as well.

As he lifted the lid off the bowl, Naruto literally started drooling from the mouth at the sight and smell of the ramen that was in front of him. His hands moved out of reflex as he picked up the chopsticks next to the bowl to dig in. But right at that moment his ninja senses started tingling. Something was very odd.

Naruto gave both his parents a suspicious look. "Mom, did you say you made this for me?"

"Of course I did." Kushina replied with the biggest smile she could conjure. "I poured my heart into it as well. Consider it a gift from mother to son."

His mother's over-enthusiasm only served to scare Naruto even more as he backed off slightly. There was something very odd going on indeed.

"That's weird because you're always the one telling me how ramen is bad for my health and I should stop eating it so much. How come you decided to make me ramen all of a sudden?"

Naruto's question caused both Minato and Kushina to flinch as if they were caught off guard.

"D-Don't sweat the details and just indulge yourself already." Minato said to him with a look of nervousness clearly visible on his face.

Naruto caught on to this however. "There is seriously something suspicious going on here. From previous experiences, it's never a good sign when the two of you sit me down in the clan leader's chair, let alone serve ramen on top. I feel like I'm being groomed for something."

"JUST EAT YOUR RAMEN ALREADY!" Kushina couldn't take the inquisition any longer and grabbed the chopsticks off of Naruto's hand, shoving some noodles into his mouth.

And it was at this point that Naruto's will was broken. One quick taste of ramen shattered all rhyme and reason as he gobbled up the entire bowl within just a minute. Normally one bowl would not be able to satiate his appetite, however it was a truly rare occasion that his mother made ramen for him, the one dish she actively went out of her way to stop Naruto from over-eating. Therefore he savoured the amazing taste of his mom's homemade ramen.

"Thanks for the food." He showed his gratitude by rubbing his belly. "Nothing like mom's cooking right after a mission."

"I'm glad you liked it Naruto." She replied.

"You guys wanna tell me why you called me here?" Naruto eyed both of his parents with a look of anticipation. "I can tell you've got something on your minds."

In return Minato and Kushina shared a knowing glance followed by a nod.

"Son, have you thought about marriage…"

"Alright I'm off." Before Minato could even finish his sentence Naruto was already on his way out.

"NO WAIT!" Both his parents shouted in unison and grabbed his hands again, dragging him back to the seat against his will. "Listen to what we have to say first."

"I don't want to talk about marriage…PERIOD! I'm only 19 years old. Now's not the time for me to think about that stuff."

Minato sighed, already knowing that this would happen when he brought up the topic. "Look Naruto, I know marriage might not be the first thing in your mind right now, but you really need to understand your position. You are unlike any other average kid in the village. You are the heir to the Uzumaki clan; the strongest and most influential clan in Uzushiogakure. As such it is important we do our best to ensure that there will be future successors to this clan as soon as possible. Not to mention, depending on whom you end up marrying, it could have a great impact on not only our clan but the village itself. Do you see now why we're so adamant about the matter?"

Naruto childishly shrugged off his father's words. He just didn't care.

"Come on Naruto, don't be like that. Pay attention to your father." It was now Kushina's turn to do the persuading. "Forget about the clan for a second. Think about us, your parents. We want to see our grandchildren too. More importantly, it is our dream to see our son finally start his own family. You're already a splendid ninja. All you need now is a suitable wife."

"NO! I SAID DON'T WANT TO THINK ABOUT THAT STUFF!" Naruto shut both of his ears off with his hands like a kid, pretending he couldn't hear anything.

Both of his parents sighed again. This wasn't going anywhere. They knew how stubborn their son could be when he set his mind to something.

Thus Minato decided to change the topic. "Alright then, let me ask you a different question. What do you think about the Hyuga?"

The name stirred a deep emotion within Naruto and he looked up at his father with disdain, his expression becoming deadly serious. There was of course a reason for this.

The Hyuga were a ninja clan from the village of Kirigakure. Similar to how the Uzumaki were the most powerful clan in Uzushiogakure, the Hyuga held an analogous position in their home village. Furthermore, just as Minato, the head of the Uzumaki clan was the leader of Uzushiogakure, the head of the Hyuga clan held the position of Mizukage in Kirigakure. Thus the two clans were identical in many ways in the positions they held at their respective villages.

More importantly, the Uzumaki and Hyuga clans harboured intense hatred towards each other since olden times. The two clans fought countless battles and given their influential positions, they dragged the rest of their respective villages into the conflict. The rivalry has been running for so many generations that neither clan could exactly pinpoint anymore what started it all, even though there were many speculations. At this point the conflict was simply a cycle of revenge, as the losses they suffered at each other's hands drove them to keep on fighting.

However, they were now at an impasse. Many generations of fighting had finally taken the toll on both clans and their villages, resulting in the greatest loss either party had suffered in their shared history. This led both sides to come to the stark realisation that something drastic needed to be done to put an end to this struggle. Something definitely needed to change.

Minato was determined to make this change happen and he understood that his son was the key in bringing about such a revolution. Thus he asked of Naruto's viewpoint on the Hyuga.

"I HATE the Hyuga!" That was Naruto's simple reply. "They are a clan who seek to destroy us. They have taken so much away from us. And now I'm finally prepared to stand up to them…to make them pay. Just give me the chance and I will definitely change our clan's future for the better."

Hearing his son's words Minato had a serious look of contemplation on his face. "Change our clan's future for the better…I also think you can do that Naruto. In fact you may be the only person capable of doing so."

Naruto was utterly surprised by what his father was saying. He expected to hear his usual response telling him how he was not ready yet or he needed to work on becoming a better leader first. Therefore, Minato's sudden change in tone came as a complete shock to Naruto.

"Does that mean I get to finally face the Hyuga?" Naruto asked, knowing that the heirs to the Uzumaki clan that came before him have led the charge against the Hyuga clan. It was finally time for him to stand face to face against whoever the future of the Hyuga clan rested with. Naruto was ready to prove himself as a worthy successor to his father.

"Indeed, I do think it is about time you took the helm to end this conflict once and for all. If anyone can, it is you son." Minato replied, assuming a stoic expression.

"Oh wow, this is it. When do I get to fight? What's the plan? Do we even have a plan yet? Tell me already. I bet this is the S-class mission you were going to assign me." Naruto was giddy with excitement. He could only imagine the possibilities.

"We do have a plan Naruto to end our rivalry with the Hyuga, but I don't think it is what you are expecting it to be." Kushina decided to chime in.

Her response only left Naruto confused. "What do you mean? Do I not face them in battle like our ancestors have done for generations?"

Both Minato and Kushina looked at each other, taking in a deep breath.

"We wish to end the conflict between our clans by having you, the son of the Uzumaki clan leader, marry Hinata Hyuga, the daughter of the Hyuga clan header." Kushina told Naruto in the calmest possible tone, even though the message she relayed was ground breaking to say the least.

"The marriage meeting is going to take place tonight in just a few hours and I'm classifying this as your very first S-class mission. Your attendance is compulsory. Non-attendance will be considered an act of high treason." Minato added, this time taking on the demeanour of a battle-hardened Kage.

Hearing his parents' words Naruto's jaws dropped. The only thought in his mind was: "EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!?"

Thus the consortium of clans was about to begin.


I hope the first chapter was promising. As you can see I've changed quite a few things around, from what makes a person a ninja to certain clan affiliations. My hope is that all of these will make the story fresh and interesting.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this first chapter. It is always exciting as a writer to find out the readers' reaction to a new story.

I hope you'll join me next time as well :)