The world above
Sigh. Why me? Oh, right, my boss is maniacal. Silly me. I love missions, really I do, but this was so….. ridiculous. Glancing at my watch, I shuffled my feet as I traveled down one of Kanoha's busiest streets.
I need ramen.
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It was going to be such a nice day too. You see, I have Sundays off when I'm not on a mission. No paper work, no filing, no training; Just me and my ramen and a nice, brisk stroll around Kanoha. It's the only time when I don't have to worry about being summoned away from my leisure time, of which I have so little. Paying triple the rent of the other tenants (for privacy assurance) in the broken down boarding house where I live is not easy on my wallet; which is a cute little frog, by the way. Then there are the missions themselves. Baa-chan has a terrible habit of sending me out of Konoha at every opportunity. I suppose this gives me plenty of time visit Gaara, if nothing else. Gaara and I are two of the few ninjas remaining after Edo became known as Japan. That was a long time ago, and since then our numbers have dwindled. They don't even have a ninja academy anymore; all ninjas are now self or family taught. Oh, he is doing splendidly by the way, Gaara I mean. Any way where was I? Oh, right, my lack of free time. Any time I don't spend working, or ninjaing…..is that even a word?… Well, it is now, or training, I spend with my friends, however few there are, in an attempt at keeping my almost nonexistent social life in tact. And ramen, of course.
Except on Sunday afternoons, which I keep all to myself. Ah, there goes Kiba again with his dog, as he always does at this time of day. I know this, despite never having a conversation with the boy, because I have seen him, and waved to him. I don't wave anymore, because he never waved back, the prick. His dog is awesome though. He sometimes wanders away from Kiba and comes over to me for a snack, which I now make a habit of having with me for just such an occasion. From what I can tell Kiba is trying to woo a girl he must know. I assume this from the many times I have seen him purchase flowers, or sweets, or asked the old man running the "It's Love" advice booth for his "wise counsel". I don't really get it myself, considering the old man is clearly a pervert, and Kiba doesn't appear to be.
Here comes the dog now. I knelt down and offered him a piece of beef jerky. He doesn't need to sniff me, since we have done this many times before. Such a nice dog. Oh, he's licking my hand. How….nice? Still, I smiled and patted his head. That was when Anko showed up across the street. Have I mentioned how much I hate it when she does? It always ends the same way. Badly. She weasels me out of money, orders me around, asks for favors she never returns, beats me to a pulp, or any combination of these. Worst of all, is that she always carries bad news or missions from Baa-chan. Maybe if I back slowly into the alley way she won't see me. Then it's just a matter of…..oops, too late, better make a break for it.
And then I ran. She chased. I tripped, and she pummeled me into the ground, took my wallet, and told me to "get my butt over to Tsunade-sama's office for a mission briefing". Great, just great. There goes my Sunday. Look at it go, fluttering in the wind, dancing before my eyes, as if to say "come and get me Naruto, don't let me slip away". I sighed and pushed my self off of the ground where I had been lying for a few minutes, looking like an idiot I'm sure.
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Tsunade, my ninja instructor and chief, lives and works in the upper side of Konoha, where all the rich jerks tend to live and play. She's an old hag, though you would never be able to tell with all the jutsus she puts on herself. If there is one thing she hates more then anything else in the world, it's being reminded of her age. Which, might I add, is exactly why I do it as often as I can. For example, right now. I barged into her office, still upset about having my Sunday ripped so maliciously from me. "Baa-chan! We had a deal! No missions on Sunday afternoons! What happened to-", and that's all I got to say of the matter before I was so rudely cut off my Baa-chan's fist greeting my jaw with a warm welcome. I don't remember exactly what happened here. I remember hitting the wall, and Tsunade muttering "Damn kids" and "Never learn", with her fist still held high in the air and an ugly vain throbbing in her forehead, where her jutsu must have slipped. Then, there is a blank spot, during which I must have blacked out. Irregardless, it was worth it.
When I had come to, I found that Tsunade had continued her rant as if I had been listening the whole time. Lucky me, I seem to have missed most of it. "Anyway, you have a new mission." She said, her demeanor slightly less frightening. "You will be infiltrating the Konoha Upper Preparatory School in order to babysit, I mean, bodyguard you target. His name is Uchiha, Sasuke, and he comes from a very rich and influential family, whom, by that way, happen to be paying top dollar for this operation. Any questions?" I paused to think about it and then decided to go with the safest course, "Yeah. What am I posing as? Why does this Uchiha brat need a ninja to protect him instead of a regular body guard? And, what makes you think I'm willing to do this mission, which is beneath my level of training?" She smiled sweetly. This was not a good sign So much for the safest rout.
"I expect you to do this because I order you to do it!" The sound of her voice was like a thousand violins….smashing over some poor soul's head. I suppose that poor soul would be me.
When I said nothing, she calmed down, again, and answered my other questions. "He needs a ninja because he has been receiving death treats laced with a jutsu enhanced poison. You will be posing as a student in all of his classes-"
"What!!!!? You want me to pose as some kid at some stupid rich school!? Do you even know what used to be in that building!? Do you!? It used to be the ninja academy! There is no way I am-"
"Did I mention that your fee will bee increased ten fold, per hour?" She smirked. She knew she had me.
"Fine…." Oh, how I am going to regret this.
I need ramen.