For those of you who've already read Chapter 5, I've edited out the part with Kimiko having water skins as she actually doesn't have Water Style.
Kimiko's P. O. V:
"Sasuke. I'm at Point B," The Uchiha states, the morning sun shining brightly overhead.
"... Sakura. I'm at Point C," Says Sakura.
"....... Naruto! I'm at Point A, believe it!" The knucklehead says enthusiastically.
Kakashi tells him with a sigh, "Too slow, Naruto." There's a long moment of silence as my teammates and Sensei wait for me to state my own position. When I don't respond right away, Kakashi prompts, "Kimiko, state your position."
"....... Oh. Kimiko, and I'm at Point D," I say in response, my tone bored, after a long pause.
"You were too slow, too, Kimiko. Move out!" Kakashi orders Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke.
A few seconds later, and Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke leap from their positions in my direction, and I can't help but feel exasperated by it, since this is just a D rank mission. I, however, just walk calmly out behind them.
A few days have passed and we've been doing nothing but D rank missions, which are like this one: missions with the least danger in them. Our mission was to capture the runaway brown cat, Tora, owned by the Feudal Lord of the Land of Fire's large wife. I don't think this is the first time he's runaway, either.
I've also bought a new outfit, much to my teammate's surprise. It consists of a black crop tank top with a white sleeveless halter neck crop top over it, a single sleeve brown vest with my Hidden Leaf Village headband tied around it and a pair of mini black shorts with a blue skirt wrapping around my right hip.
On my right hand is a black full fingered glove that goes up to my shoulder, and a forearm length full fingered glove is on my left hand. Both of them have metal plates on the backs. I have matching black pads on my right upper thigh and left shin with knee high black socks and silvery white open toed sandals with no heel.
I have my shuriken holster strapped to my left upper arm, kunai holster to my right leg, fans to my waist and my twin katanas to my back.
My teammates run after the cat but I continue to walk after them. I reach them as I hear snarling from an alley way.
Kakashi says into Sasuke's earpiece, "Can you verify ribbon on right ear?"
"Affirmative, we've got a positive ID," Sasuke says into his earpiece, gazing at Naruto who is struggling to keep ahold of Tora, the cat clawing his face off.
"Right. Lost pet, Tora, captured," Says Kskashi in a tone of astonishment. "Mission accomplished."
I wrinkle my nose as Tora continues to scratch Naruto's face off. "This is why I don't like cats," I mutter. They're fickle and tend to run away. Wolves are much more compliant and reliable.
Naruto then feels the need to yell, blasting through our eardrums and making our eyes jerk wide, "CAN'T WE GET A BETTER MISSION THAN THIS?!! I HATE CATS!!"
Sakura shouts back, unaware that the earpieces were still on, "STOP SCREAMING, NARUTO! OR YOU'LL MAKE US GO DEAF!"
"Sorry, Sakura-chan," Naruto apologises.
"Sakura," I say in a flat tone, causing the pinkette to go rigid for a second before she turns her head to my annoyed glare, "You're doing the exact same thing Naruto is. Shut. Up."
She sweat drops and apologises while rubbing the back of her head, looking at me nervously.
I then turn on my heel, ignoring my teammates and Naruto who is still complaining about the cat as it continues to scratch his face off, as I head back to the mission report room in the Ninja Academy.
My teammates soon catch up to me.
🗡🗡🗡
Back at the mission report room, I stand next to Naruto with my hand on my hip as I lean some weight to my left leg, watching Tora be smothered by his owner, a large lady with brown hair in an up do, anime tears pouring down the feline's face.
I was just grateful I never had to see the furball again.
I do sorta maybe feel bad for the kitty as the lady coos, "Ooohhh! My poor little Tora! Mummy was so worried about her naughty little fuzzy kitty. Yes!"
Naruto laughs, rubbing the back of his head, "Stupid cat! That kitty deserves to be squashed!"
Sakura murmurs sympathetically, "No wonder he ran away."
Yeah! No kidding!
Hituzen, the Hokage, sits at the table with Iruka and a few other Chunin, a piece of paper in hand, a pipe in his mouth. He says, "Now, then, for Squad Seven's next mission, we have several available tasks. Huh? Among them, Babysitting the Chief Counsellor's three year old. Helping His Wife To Do The Shopping, Taking Up Potatoes In The—"
"Nooo!" Naruto interrupts, making Hiruzen look up as Naruto crosses his arms in an X. "I wanna go on a real mission. Something challenging and exciting, not this little kid stuff. Come on, old man!"
"I have to agree with the idiot, for once," I think with a sigh.
Slamming his hands on the desk, Iruka snaps harshly, "How dare you! You're just a brand new Genin with no experience! Like everyone else, you start with simple missions to develop your skills and prove yourself!"
Naruto shouts back indignantly, "Are you serious?! Babysitting is not a mission, it's just a stupid... AHHH!!" He's cut off by Kakashi shoving him to the floor, face first.
"Will you put a lid on it?" Kakashi asks in an irritated tone.
"Naruto," Says Hiruzen, and the blonde cries out as he gets into a sitting position with his legs crossed and rubbing at his sore head. "It seems you do not understand the tasks you have been given. Listen, many different kinds of requests come into our village everyday, from babysitting to assassination."
I perk up at this, now kind of missing those missions since these D rank ones were actually lame. I haven't been on an assassination mission in awhile... I know Naruto and Sakura wouldn't be able to handle it, though Sasuke might be able to. I wonder if I could...
The Hokage as he continues his explanation.
"These requests are carefully recorded, analysed, then ranked A, B, C, or D, depending on their difficulty," Hiruzen explains. "We ninja are also ranked by abilities: Hokage at the top, then Jounin, Chunin, and Genin at the bottom. At the highest level, we select the missions and assignments to ninja who have the appropriate skill and experience. And, if the mission is successful, we receive a fee that supports our village and our work." The Feudal Lord's wide hands over a check to a Chunin. "Since you are untried Genin just starting down the Shinobi path, you are given D level assignments, of course. Hm?"
Holding open a scroll with D rank missions scrawled on it, Hiruzen cuts himself off when he notices that none of us were listening, but rather were more interested in Naruto's conversation about ramen.
"So, I had this Tonkatsu Ramen yesterday, and I'm thinking Miso Ramen today..." Naruto trails off when Hiruzen interrupts him.
"Silence!"
"Oh. Sorry," Kakashi apologises, rubbing the back of his head as we all turn to him.
Naruto exclaims indignantly as he whirls towards the old man, still with his legs crossed, as Kakashi drops his arm, "Ah! You always lecture me like you're my grandfather, or something!! But I'm not the little brat who used to pull pranks all the time! I'm a ninja now, and I wanna ninja mission! Hmph!" Naruto pouts as he turns his back to the Hokage and crosses his arms over his chest.
Kakashi rubs his head sheepishly as Iruka smiles and Hiruzen chuckles, putting his pipe back in his mouth. Kakashi mutters, "I'm going to hear about this later..."
"Naruto wants us to know that he's not a brat, he's a former brat, and he wants a mission. So be it," Hiruzen says, surprising us. "Since you are so determined, I'm going to give you a C ranked mission. You'll be bodyguards on a journey."
"Really?" Naruto asks, whirling back to the old man, a huge grin on his face, legs and arms now uncrossed. "Who?! Who?! Are we guarding a Princess, or some big way counsellor?!"
Hiruzen says calmly, "Don't be so impatient. I will bring him in now. Send in our visitor!"
We turn to the door and it opens to reveal an old man with an alcohol bottle in hand, wearing a sleeveless dark shirt and pants, a backpack on his back. He also has oval shaped glasses on his nose, a piece of rope around his forehead.
"What the?! A bunch of snot nosed little kids?" The old man exclaims. He takes a huge swig from his bottle as Naruto stands up. With a flushed face, the old man leans against the doorframe, addressing Naruto. "And you, the little one with the idiotic look on your face! Do you really expect me to believe you're a ninja?!"
Naruto laughs, the back of his hands on his hips, "Who's the little one with the idiotic look on his—?!"
Naruto stops short when Sasuke, Sakura and I line up on either side of him. First was Sasuke, the tallest, then me, just a couple of inches shorter than Sakura but still taller than Naruto, and lastly, Sakura, about a head shorter than Sasuke.
His eyes morphing into angry animated white circles, Naruto screams as he goes to charge at the old man, "GRRR!! I'LL DEMOLISH YOU!!"
However, he'd barely taken any steps before Kakashi's hand latches around the back of his collar, and Kakashi hoists him up.
Naruto continues to flail around as Kakashi tells him, "You can't demolish the client, Naruto. It doesn't work that way."
"He's mine! Come here!!" Naruto continues to yell, causing me to snap.
Kakashi carefully releases Naruto.
Taking another swig, our client introduces to us, "I am Tazuna, a master bridge builder, and I must return to my country. I'm building a bridge there that will change our world, and I expect you to get me there safely, even if it means giving up your life!"
I narrow my violet eyes at him, not liking his attitude.
I walk out of the Ninja Academy and head home to prepare for the mission.
I finish packing my clothes and other necessary things in my blue backpack that has a strap across my chest, and lock up my house before I leave and head for the main gates.
🗡🗡🗡
We meet up at the gate with the others and start heading outside the village.
We pause when Naruto stops and turns to us, cheering, "Alright!!"
Sakura questions, "What are you getting so excited about, Naruto?"
Gazing about, he says, "This is the first time I've ever left the village! I'm a traveller now, believe it!" He laughs.
Tazuna grumbles as he points to Naruto and looks back at the rest of us, "Hey! Am I supposed to trust my life to this runt? He's a joke!"
Naruto scowls as Kakashi says, chuckling, and I glance at Tazuna, "He's with me, and I'm a Jounin. So, you don't need to worry."
Naruto pouts, crossing his arms, before whirling onto Tazuna, pointing at him accusingly. "Hey! Never insult a ninja! It's a big mistake! And I'm one of the greatest ninja ever!! Someday, I'm gonna be the Hokage and you'll look up to me. My name's Naruto Uzumaki; remember it!"
Taking a swig from his alcohol, Tazuna simply states, "Hokage are powerful and wise. You are puny and brainless. The day you become Hokage, I'll sprout wings and fly."
Naruto scowls in frustration as an anime vein appears on the right side of his head. "Aaahhh! Shut up! I'm willing to do anything to become Hokage, no matter what it takes! And, when I do, everyone will have to admit that I'm the top ninja, including you!"
Tazuna scoffs, "Hmph! You can be one Hokage ten times over, and to me you'll still be nobody. A loser."
I watch, highly amused, as the Sensei immediately snatches Naruto's backpack in his gloved hand before he could attack the client again, yelling, "I'm gonna make you pay for that right now!"
Kakashi reminds the flailing blonde dully, "I told you: you're supposed to protect the client, not attack him."
I'm not a fan of the old geezer, either, but I'm not attacking him right now.
Naruto yells as he continues to struggle against Kakashi, and Tazuna begins walking off, "Hey! Let go! Come back here! I just need one shot at him! Let me go! I'll show you! That's right; I'm talking to you!"
I heave out a sigh before following after Tazuna. Eventually, Kakashi releases Naruto after he was certain he won't attack the old man again.
My teammates and I walk in relatively peaceful silence for about an hour or two.
I walk in between Kakashi and Sasuke, Sakura on his other side, Tazuna on Kakashi's right, and Naruto ahead of us as the pinkette speaks up, "Say, Tazuna-san?"
"What is it?" He drawls back.
"Your country is the Land of Waves, right?"
"Yeah. What of it?" Tazuna questions.
Sakura addresses me as Kakashi, "Kakashi Sensei, there are ninja in that country, too, aren't there?"
The Hatake begins, "No. There are no ninja in the Land of Waves, but in other countries, there are hidden villages, each with their own different customs and cultures, where ninja reside. To the people of this continent, the existence of shinobi villages means strength—military strength. In other words, that's how they protect themselves, and maintain the balance of power within the neighbouring country. The ninja villages are not controlled by any government. They're independent and have equal status.
"Now, a small island like the Land of Waves has natural protection from the sea. So, there's no need for a ninja village. The five ancient lands that posses shinobi villages are the Lands of Fire, Water, Lightning, Wind, and Earth. They each occupy vast territories. Together, they're known as the Five Great Shinobi Nations.
"The Land of Fire has the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The Land of Water, the Village Hidden in the Mist. The Land of Lightning, the Village Hidden in the Cloud. The Land of Wind, The Village Hidden in the Sand. And the Land of Earth, the Village Hidden in the Stones. Only the leaders of these hidden villages are permitted the name "Kage," which means "shadow." Hokage, Mizukage, Raikage, Kazekage, Tsuchikage. These are the leaders—the five shadows that reign over thousands of ninja."
Sakura gasps, and gushes, "Then Hokage-sama is really important!" I stare at her and Naruto as they both suddenly fall silent, lost in their thoughts.
"Hey!!" Kakashi snaps, startling Naruto and Sakura, as we'd paused. "You all just doubted Hokage-sama, didn't you?! That's what you were thinking?" The two vigorously shake their heads nervously. Kakashi adds as he takes a step forwards and places his hand atop Sakura's head, tone reassuring, "Well, anyway, there are no ninja battles in a C ranked mission. So, you can relax."
Sakura says in immense relief, putting her hands behind her back, "And we're not going to run into any foreign enemy ninja or anything like that!"
Kakashi chuckles sheepishly as he says, pulling his hand away, "Not likely."
After that super long explanation, my group and I resume walking for several hours, the sun shining brightly down on us.
We step over a small wooden bridge over a narrow river running calmly below it.
Once past the bridge, we walk by a lone puddle on the ground.
Huh? A puddle?
I gaze down at the puddle as I walk past it, wondering why on Earth there would be a puddle on such a nice, warm day like today, especially since it never even rained yesterday...
I glance at Kakashi to see if he'd noticed, and the knowing glint in his visible eye tells me he did.
I gaze back at the puddle with a pondering look. With a flat expression, and a shrug, I decide to just casually walk through it.
Kakashi looks exasperated as I saunter to catch up with him, smirking inwardly.
We walk a few more paces ahead until something comes whizzing through he air straight for us, aimed for Kakashi.
"What?!" He gasps, whipping his head around as his eye widens.
Large spiked chains head for Kakashi and what around him before the Jounin could have any time to react. Two brown haired ninja with headbands that have four small squiggly lines on it stand behind Kakashi.
Mist ninja!
"Huh?!" Sakura cries.
"What?!" Naruto exclaims in shock.
The one on the left says, "Do it!"
Kakashi grunts in pain as they pull the chains tightly around him, until they slice clean through his flesh and bones. The sliced flesh splatters on the ground before us and I feel a little sick, though I can usually handle the sight of blood.
Sakura cries out as her and Naruto's faces pale. The Uzumaki shouts as my face darkens, "K... Kakashi Sensei.....!"
He freezes as the Mist ninja appear behind him, chuckling menacingly.