Three days. Three days of relative peace. Three days of hot baths, actual beds, and no surprise attacks from masked ice wielders. Team 7 was slowly readjusting to the rhythms of village life, which mostly involved Naruto trying to convince everyone to join him in increasingly ridiculous training exercises and Sakura trying to convince Naruto to just chill.
Then came the mission briefing. A D-rank mission. "Laundry Assistance."
"Laundry assistance?" Sakura echoed, her voice laced with disbelief. "Seriously? This is a mission?"
"Apparently," Kakashi said, his single visible eye crinkling into a smile, "the village laundry service is experiencing… complications. Something about a rogue exploding tag and a very angry launderer."
"And since we're the closest team," Naruto grumbled, "we get the dirty socks."
So, there they were, in the middle of the bustling marketplace, surrounded by overflowing laundry baskets and the amused stares of the vendors. Their mission: to assist with the village's sudden laundry crisis.
"Alright, team," Kakashi announced, his voice laced with mock seriousness. "Remember, this is a mission. We must approach it with the utmost professionalism."
Naruto, of course, took this as a challenge. "Multi-shadow clone laundry assault!" he declared, forming the hand seal with a dramatic flourish.
Dozens of Naruto clones swarmed the laundry baskets, each one tackling a piece of clothing with an alarming level of enthusiasm. The scene quickly devolved into a chaotic ballet of suds, splashes, and misplaced socks, much to the amusement of the surrounding vendors.
Sasuke, carefully folding a relatively clean towel, observed the scene with a detached amusement. "He's… efficient," he commented, his voice dry, "if by efficient you mean creating a suds-filled tactical distraction."
Sakura, meanwhile, was engaged in a fierce battle with a particularly stubborn stain, her face a mask of concentration. "This stain is like a rogue ninja," she muttered, scrubbing furiously. "It refuses to surrender."
One clone was attempting to use a wind jutsu to dry a particularly large blanket, inadvertently creating a mini-tornado that sent suds and clothing flying. Another clone was engaged in a sudsy taijutsu match with a rogue sock, wielding a wooden spoon like a katana.
"This sock is a formidable opponent!" the clone yelled, his voice strained.
"Fear not, brother! I shall assist!" another clone replied, launching a barrage of bubbles that promptly obscured their vision.
The market vendors, initially startled by the commotion, were now thoroughly entertained, offering unsolicited advice and occasional assistance. One elderly woman even offered Naruto a recipe for a particularly potent stain remover, which he promptly attempted to recreate with disastrous results, creating a cloud of multicolored foam.
"Maybe we should just burn them," Sakura suggested, her voice laced with desperation, as a rogue sock landed on her head.
"Nonsense!" Naruto declared, his face covered in suds. "We are shinobi! We conquer all obstacles, even… the laundry!"
By the time the sun began to set, the laundry was mostly clean, albeit slightly more wrinkled and suds-covered than before. Naruto, covered in suds and sporting a triumphant grin, declared victory.
"Mission complete!" he exclaimed, his voice hoarse. "Laundry masters! Now, ramen!"
Sakura, her face still slightly green, sighed. "Please," she begged, her voice laced with exhaustion. "Anything but more suds."
Sasuke, silently agreeing, nodded in agreement. Even he, the stoic Uchiha, was ready for some much-needed ramen, and hopefully, a long, peaceful nap, far away from any more laundry. The Land of Waves was behind them, and now, it was time to embrace the chaotic normalcy of village life, one sudsy D-rank mission at a time.