Chapter 7: C rank mission

"Sasuke at point B," said Sasuke, Sakura's voice came " Sakura at point C", it was silent for a while before I heard "Naruto here at point A" once again there was silence before Sakura screamed "Hey Hinoka! If you just left in the middle of a mission I'm going to-"

"You're going to do what, Sakura? I only came because Naruto asked me to, but I'm not going to participate in a D rank mission. So do it yourself," I said as I perched on a tree, engrossed in a book.

A few minutes later, Kakashi-sensei said, "Mission capture lost pet cat 'Tora' complete."

Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi-Sensei went to return the cat to the owner as they then said they would make their way to the Hokage's office to submit the mission report and ask for a new mission. A few minutes after, I arrived at the door to the Hokage's office. Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi-Sensei soon followed.

I looked at them with as I said, "Took you guys long enough."

I could see Sakura fuming, but I just shot her a grin and entered the Hokage's office.

The Hokage showed us a bunch of D rank missions when Naruto said "No! No, thank you! As for me, I want to do like a more exciting mission! Give us something else!"

Iruka-sensei looked at Naruto as he said, "You fool! You're still bottom rookie! At the start, everyone moves up the ladder by gaining experience."

Just as Naruto was saying something, Kakashi Sensei hit him on the head. The 3rd Hokage then went on to explain how missions worked but instead of listening to him, we were listening to Naruto as he was talking about food.

As we realized that the 3rd Hokage was looking at us, Naruto said, "Old man you always lecture me! But I'm not that little prankster that you think I am anymore! I want some real mission to do."

Seeing that Naruto wouldn't give up, the 3rd Hokage said, "Okay fine, if you insist… I'll have you do a C rank mission. You'll be bodyguards for someone."

"Really! Who? Who? A feudal lord?! Or a princess?" Naruto excitedly asked.

"Don't be so hasty. I'll introduce you now! Could you please come in."

As we all turned to the door, an old drunk man with white hair wearing spectacles walked in.

As he saw us, he asked, "What's this? Are sure these brats can protect me, Particularly the small one with the idiot face. Are you really a ninja?"

As Naruto laughed, he then asked, "Who's the smallest one with the idiot face he's talking about?" Naruto suddenly realized that he was the shortest one and turned to the old man and said, "I'll kill him!"

"What good will it do to kill the man you're supposed to be guarding, you moron?!" Kakashi sensei exclaimed.

With a playful tone, I said, "Hey, old man, do you really want to provoke the people who are protecting you? That's not really smart. I mean, if I don't feel like protecting you, I wonder what will happen to you. So maybe watch your mouth when you're talking to people I consider close." I said with a smile on my face.

As the old man turned to his right to see me, everyone stood there frozen before Naruto said, "Hey Hinoka when did you get there!"

"Hinoka why don't you just forget this, and we can start brand new. I mean, even though killing him won't prove difficult, it will take too much energy, won't it?" Kakashi sensei said.

I looked at Kakashi sensei before saying sure and walked back to them.

We found out the old man was called Tazuna and was a veteran bridge builder. We had to guard him till he reached his land and completed his bridge.

We came out of the village, and Naruto was excited as it was his first time out of the village.

"Am I really okay with this squirt?!" Tazuna asked.

I shot Tazuna a glare, and he immediately stopped talking.

As we started making our way to Tazuna's home, I sensed someone's chakra, but it suddenly disappeared. I didn't bother telling Kakashi sensei since I knew he already knew.

Sakura looked at Kakashi sensei and asked, "Kakashi-sensei, are there Ninjas in the Land of Waves?"

"No, there aren't Ninjas in the Land of Waves… But in other nations, while cultures and customs are different, hidden villages exist, and there are Ninjas there. The continent is divided into many countries, but there are only five major countries with many ninjas and military strength, and only the heads of these five villages are allowed to have the title of Kage. The five villages are the village hidden in leaves in the land of fire, the village hidden in sand in the land of wind, the village hidden in clouds in the land of lightning, the village hidden in mist in the land of water, and the village hidden in stone in the land of earth." Kakashi sensei explained.

As we continued our way, I sensed the same chakra that I did before with another one when Kakashi-sensei was attacked by two ninjas and now seemed dead, but I knew he wouldn't die that easily. As Sakura and Naruto were scared after seeing what had just happened, the two ninjas were about to attack Naruto when Sasuke intervened and stopped them. As one of them engaged in battle with Sasuke, the other headed towards Tazuna, but Sakura jumped in the way. I swiftly descended from above, delivering a powerful kick to the approaching ninja before using a kunai to incapacitate him. Kakashi-sensei appeared shortly after, swiftly knocking out the ninja Sasuke was confronting.

"You sure took your time," I remarked to Kakashi-sensei with a grin.

"Yeah, well, I knew you had everything under control. But why did you kill him?" Kakashi-sensei asked.

"I thought you would be pleased, since I held back and only killed one, even though both attacked Naruto," I replied with a grin. Then, turning to Tazuna, I added, "You're lucky that guy attacked Naruto, or I might have let him kill you, since I wouldn't have had a grudge against him."

"These are Chunin from the Village Hidden in the Mist, known for continuing to fight no matter the sacrifice," Kakashi-sensei explained.

"Knowing that, why'd you leave it to the kids to fight?" Tazuna asked.

"If I felt like it, I could kill these guys instantly… But… I had to know… who the target of these enemies was…" Kakashi-sensei explained.

"Hm? What do you mean?" Tazuna inquired.

"In other words, I needed to know who was being targeted, you or a fellow shinobi. The request was initially for protection from gangs and thieves, not ninjas. If the enemies were ninjas, it would have been a B rank or higher-ranked mission. We expected to protect you until your bridge was built, but the misinformation is a concern. This goes beyond our mission scope," Kakashi-sensei elaborated.

I looked at Kakashi-sensei and said, "Kakashi-sensei, I'm going to make sure the old man gets home safely because if anyone is going to kill him, it's going to be me or I at least have to be there when he's killed."

Kakashi-sensei then turned his gaze towards me as he scratched his head and said, "Well, I can't let you go alone, so I guess we all have to go."