Bikōchū Search Mission

Seeing how desperate Naruto was to find Sasuke, Team 8 came up with a solution. They requested Tsunade assign them a mission to find the legendary bikōchū beetle that could track any target as long as it had the target's scent. As Kurenai was still hospitalized and there were no other missions available, she approved their request. Naruto was placed on the team as well after being caught spying, and forced to vow not to continue asking for missions to be sent to search for Sasuke, if this one failed. Naruto was annoyed however to be under Shino's command. Upon finally arriving at the nesting grounds of the bikōchū, the team had great difficulty searching for the bikōchū.

Things became even more complicated when it was discovered that the Kamizuru clan of the Iwagakure were also after the beetle in hopes of restoring their clan honour. After Naruto and his team managed to capture the bikōchū and it laid an egg, Hinata was captured by the enemies and used as a hostage to get the bikōchū egg. While Naruto and his team tried to save her, they fell prey to the enemies' trap and were captured as well. Fortunately, Shino had already hid the Bikochu too thoroughly for the enemies to find. After Hinata escapes from her prison only to seemingly fall off a cliff, Naruto begins to draw on his tailed beast chakra in his rage, frightening an enemy who decides to pre-emptively kill him. Fortunately, Hinata appeared and saved her team. Naruto then watched in amazement as Hinata's new, original technique completely overpowered the enemies' bee-oriented techniques. He was even more shocked to hear he was the one who inspired Hinata to attempt making something so complex and powerful.

After Naruto defeated the last enemy, the bikōchū egg finally began to hatch. Naruto unfortunately could not find Sasuke's headband that he brought for Sasuke's scent. In a fit of desperation, Naruto accidentally farted, causing the baby bikōchū to memorize Naruto's scent. This meant the mission was a failure as a bikōchū can only memorize one scent in its lifetime and it will take another several years before another egg is hatched. Upon returning to the village, Naruto was forced to face an livid Sakura, who was angered due to his bumbling the last chance Tsunade had permitted them to attempt to find Sasuke.

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