Original subtitles

NARUTO: Yup.

Looks like Ichiraku hasn't changed

a bit since I've been away.

Mm.

That's the smell I love.

I'm getting hungry.

Here goes.

Hey.

How's it going?

-Hello there.

-Old man, come on.

Don't you remember me?

-Naruto?

As I live and breathe!

How could I ever forget that face?

-Long time no see.

-Naruto!

Look how much you've grown.

-It's sure good to see you guys again.

-Well, what'll you have?

Still got your appetite?

-You bet.

I'm starving!

-OK!

Then today your food's on the house.

Order anything you want.

-No way.

-IRUKA: Hold it.

Let me get this one.

I had a bunch you might be here, Naruto.

-Iruka-sensei!

-Hey.

Where's Sakura.

I thought she'd be with you.

-Well, if I'd known the check was going to be taken care of,

I definitely would've brought Sakura along.

-I don't know.

Maybe I should have let him treat me

to half a bowl of ramen or something.

Another order of anmitsu dessert, please!

[chuckling]

-What is that?

Is that Lord Kazekage's sand?

-Amazing.

Look at the size of the shield he created.

-I expect nothing less from the Kazekage.

-Gaara did it.

-Now you're within range.

Haa!

-Gaara!

[theme music]

-Now you're within range.

Haa!

-Gaara!

-He did it.

Our leader is astonishing.

-Gaara's Ultimate Defense can withstand much more

than that detonation.

-Lord Baki, our attack preparations are now complete.

-Very well.

You will launch the assault on my signal!

-I expected as much.

That special sand of his makes quite a tight defense.

However--

DEIDARA (VOICEOVER): That's exactly what I was counting on.

-Hah.

My left hand might have been crushed--

-Sand Coffin.

-But I used the opportunity to eat your sand,

and I mixed some of it with my detonating clay.

You doomed yourself the moment you used that sand

to try and form a defense.

And the best part is, I planned it that way all along.

True art is--

-No!

-An explosion!

-One extra large serving of the House Special Ramen.

-Whoa.

Oh, man.

The real Ichiraku Ramen.

For all of these years, during my entire training,

I dreamt about eating this ramen.

-Oh yeah?

Well, you better hurry.

It's getting cold.

-Oh.

Right.

Time to chow down.

[slurping]

-I kind of want to ask a little favor, sensei.

-You want another bowl?

-Uh-uh.

I wanna try on your headband.

Come on.

Please?

-Oh this?

No way.

You can only wear the Leaf headband

when you finally graduate from the Academy and become a ninja.

You've gotta pass the test tomorrow.

NARUTO: That is so uncool!

-Naruto.

NARUTO: Hm?

-You've sure come a long way since the time

you were just a kid trying to earn one of these.

-I'll say.

I'm glad you noticed.

Admit it.

Aren't you glad you gave me this headband?

It looks pretty darn good on me, don't you think?

[chuckle]

-I wouldn't be so cocky.

You've still got a long way to go.

Be careful that you don't get a swelled head.

IRUKA (VOICEOVER): He's grown so much since then.

-Wow.

It's just like I remember.

Ichiraku's the best in the world.

-I'm glad to hear you say that again.

-Except-- there is one thing I'm not too happy about.

-Huh?

Naruto, you come into my shop after all this time

and the first thing you do is tell me

what's wrong with my cooking?

Huh?

-No.

It's not like that.

There's nothing wrong with the ramen.

It's perfect as always.

-Then what is it?

-It's just-- I was hoping the next time Iruka-sensei treated

me to ramen would be on the day when I finally became a chunin.

-Oh, Naruto.

-Every single one of my classmates

has made the leap up to chunin.

The only one who's still a genin is me.

[sigh]

IRUKA: It doesn't matter whether technically you're

a genin or a chunin.

You've been trained privately by Master Jiraiya himself.

NARUTO: I know, I know.

But even that hasn't been a walk in the park.

That Pervy Sage is out of control.

His training's so intense it messed up

the headband you gave me.

And all my clothes got totally ruined too.

That's why I had to go get this new outfit made for me

and a replacement cloth for my headband.

-I'm sure the training was very intense at times,

but it made you strong, didn't it?

You should be proud of yourself.

-Yeah.

I've definitely got another step closer to becoming Hokage.

IRUKA: Well, somebody sounds confident these days.

NARUTO: Sure.

And speaking of which, I heard Gaara already

became Kazekage of the Sand Village.

IRUKA: Oh.

Well, Gaara's sort of a special case.

-You say he's special, but that's not it.

-Huh?

-Just because you're special doesn't make you Kazekage.

I know what I'm talking about here.

That guy, I bet you he worked incredibly hard.

All that time pushing himself, proving himself to everyone

until he was Kazekage.

-That blast, what happened inside the sphere?

-Is-- is he?

-Mm.

[chuckling]

-Gaara!

SHIZUNE: Lady Tsunade, tell me.

Have you decided on a first mission for Team Kakashi.

-Naruto and Sakura did nothing but train

for the last two and a half years.

So, if you ask me, they're gonna need

to make up for all that lost time.

Ooh.

How about this one here?

A Land of Rice Paddies escort run.

A nice tricky B-rank mission.

-But, milady, Naruto hasn't been on a real mission

in a pretty long time.

Don't you think we ought to start him off

with something easier?

Here.

Like this one.

-A dog walking job?

That's only a D-rank.

Sakura's a chunin now, And?

I'm sure Naruto's stronger.

I can't send them to walk someone's mutt.

-It's just-- don't forget about the Nine-Tailed fox.

If we send them out of the village too soon, couldn't it--

-Yes.

But that's why I teamed them up with Kakashi.

-I know, but I just worry that--

-Fine.

Give 'em this one then.

That's my final offer.

-Escorting a gold convoy.

A C-rank mission?

-If I know Naruto, he won't like that one at all.

He'll say it's way too easy.

-Huh?

Sorry about that, old man.

-Don't worry.

It's nothing.

-Oh, man.

What a total waste.

-Lord Kazekage!

-No.

It can't be.

He broke Gaara's Ultimate Defense?

-How on Earth did he do that?

DEIDARA (VOICEOVER): I had to detonate at point blank range,

so I needed to get you to defend yourself using the same Sand

Armor that crushed my hand.

Except, I only had one attack left.

So I thought, how can I manipulate him to make sure

my explosion will be at a close enough range.

That's when I got the idea to drop my specialty

right on top of your village.

-Time to get the prize.

Hmph.

Ah.

Yes.

Of course.

-What now?

-He's using every last bit of power

to transport the sand safely outside the village.

He's trying to save his people.

-Such a noble Kazekage.

Fighting when it would be so much

easier to drop it on their heads.

-Gaara.

-What did you men think you're doing?

We must rescue our Kazekage!

Commence the attack!

-Yes, sir!

-Fire!

-Why do you even bother?

-Again!

-Don't you get it?

Your arrows won't work.

They're getting a bit more creative, aren't they?

I guess I'd better wrap this up.

Sasori might get ticked off, if I'm not there soon.

-How long are you gonna keep me waiting?

[heavy breathing]

[heavy breathing]

-Lord Kazekage, you can do it!

[cheering]

-Gaara!

Come on.

Don't give up yet.

He did it!

IRUKA: You know, Naruto.

Now it's your turn to go after your dream.

-He's already the Kazekage, and I'm still

just some insignificant genin.

IRUKA: But all that training with Master

Jiraiya wasn't for nothing, right?

Rumor has it you and Sakura managed

to snatch Kakashi's bells.

And that's something to be proud of.

-Yeah.

Doing that was more of a cinch than I thought.

Who knows?

I might even be stronger than you now, Iruka-sensei.

-What?

Not so fast.

You've got a long way to go before you can beat me.

-Guess we won't know that for sure unless we go to head.

[chuckling]

-Yeah right.

Well anyway, tomorrow morning you'll be back

is a member of Team Kakashi.

I wish you luck.

-Mark my words.

I will become the Hokage.

There's no way I'm gonna let Gaara outdo me.

-Gaara!

-Hurry.

Save the Kazekage!

-Taking him down without killing him

was much harder than I thought.

-No!

-Well, my mission is clear.

Hmph.

-Gaara!

[theme music]

WEATHERMAN (VOICEOVER): And now we

turn to the latest weather forecast.

It should be mostly clear and sunny today in the Sand

Village, but you can expect a 40% chance

of oddly colored sand raining down from the sky.

Like last night, this system may develop

into a storm of detonating clay as well.

So keep that in mind as you plan your day.

You might want to store your favorite puppets

inside scrolls, and don't forget your umbrella.

Well, that's it for today's Sand Village Accuweather Report.

NARUTO (VOICEOVER): Next time-- Run, Kankuro!

-Today we're going to be taking a look

at the very important jobs for ninja known as missions.

The village receives mission requests on a daily basis.

Anything from finding lost pets to escorting big-shot VIPS.

Missions are broken into five ranks

according to the level of difficulty,

and are assigned to each shinobi based on their ability.

If the shinobi succeeds and completes the mission,

the village will earn a reward.

For the most part, missions are carried out

in three man squads, units of three ninja whose leader is

of chunin rank or higher.

This is the ideal number of team members

to carry out a mission covertly and swiftly.

Hey.

Wait that's way too many people.

This mission isn't gonna-- What?

Whoa!