I'm Not Alone {--Kakashi Hatake--}

{Chapter 2}

We took our positions, awaiting Kakashi’s signal. "Go!" He exclaimed after we had given him feedback.

We all rushed at the target, which was…a cat.

Naruto quickly grabbed the cat, "Gotcha!!!" He yelled, sounding proud of himself.

The cat didn’t waste any time starting to claw Naruto’s face.

‘Seriously?’ I thought,and sweat-dropped. This was a really stupid mission.

We went to return the cat to its owner. Once we got there, I stood next to Kakashi, the Genin in front of us. The owner was a pudgy, stout woman. I winced slightly in sympathetic pain as she hugged the poor cat to death. "Poor Tiger…good little kitty-kitty…I was so worried about you, I could have died!"

‘Yeah, I really can’t blame the cat for running away…and I don’t think the cat would mind if you died…’

The Hokage read off of a sheet of paper, "Now, the assignment for Kakashi’s Team Seven will be…hmm…to baby-sit for the Council of Elders…to run errands to the neighboring village…to help dig sweet potatoes…”

Naruto shouted, crossing his arms in front of him, "No way!! No thank you~!! Give us something different to do. Something important! Something amazing!!!"

I sighed heavily, shaking my head, and crossing my arms in front of my chest. ‘Why can’t you just do what the old man tells you to do?! ‘I resisted the strong urge to smack Naruto upside the head.

Iruka immediately jumped out of his seat, and leaned over the table, "Don’t be a fool~!! You’re only a beginner! Everyone starts out doing grunt work. It’s where you get experience so you can work your way up to the bigger things."

Naruto retorted, "We’ve done tons of small stuff. Can’t we get some action?!!"

"Naruto, that’s enough. Knock it off!" Kakashi quickly interrupted him, smacking him upside the head.

The Hokage spoke, "Apparently Naruto needs an explanation of just what these duties are…"

I sighed, ‘Nice job, Naruto.’ I thought, glaring at the annoying, obnoxious midget.

"You see, every day, our village receives many requests…for everything from babysitters to assassination. We take that tremendous variety…and sort them into categories from A to D, based on the degree of skill they require. We have also divided the shinobi into classes…based on the level of their skills. After we of the upper echelon have sorted all the requests…we distribute them to those ninja with the appropriate skill level. And…if the ninja in question completes those duties successfully…then the grateful person he has helped pays him a fee…thus far, the four of you have only just attained the lowest rank…Level D tasks are the best you could aspire to."

I looked down at Naruto on the floor. He wasn’t paying attention to what the Hokage had just explained.

"Are you listening?" The Hokage asked him in a loud, stern voice.

"I…I’m sorry." Kakashi apologized for Naruto, scratching the back of his head nervously.

Naruto turned around, facing the Hokage, and shouted, "I don’t want to hear it! All the old fart ever does is apologize and then give me a lecture. But it’s not fair. There’s more to me than the trouble-making screw-up…the old man thinks I am!"

I glanced at Kakashi, and smiled softly, knowing he was going to get in trouble for this later.

The Hokage thought for a second and stated, "Very well…since you put it that way…"