Ugh! I really can't believe my luck. I was stuck on a babysitting mission. How is that even a mission? I bet you're wondering. Yeah, well, I wish I had the answer. I didn't get it either. But orders were orders. I had to babysit the Hokage's grandson, Konohamaru. I didn't know a lot about the kid, only that his pops was the leader of our village.
Anyway, this is all irreverent. All that was important was that-hardly two weeks before the Chunin exams, when I should've been training-I was stuck babysitting some old guy's grandson. No disrespect to the old man, of course-he was pretty cool for an old guy.
The kid's house was pretty nice. He answered the door. His house had a red roof-similar to all the other houses in the village. It was three stories and decorated lavishly. Right inside the door-which I could see over the kid's head-old ninja gear hung, painting the story of the family's history. I wondered where the kid's parents were.
The kid was short. But I guess that was understandable. He was young-much younger than me, and I was only twelve. He had spiky hair that defied all gravity and was held up by a pair of blue-green goggles. He had on a blue scarf that hung down his back and a yellow shirt that had the Leaf Village symbol on it. He had on tan shorts that had knee guards on them. He wore the standard ninja sandals.
"Hey kid," I said, putting my hands on my hips and looking down at him. "I guess you're Konohamaru. "
The little punk stuck out his chest. "The one and only."
His voice was high, like it generally would be for a kid his age. High and a bit squeaky.
I smirked down at him. "I think you and I will get on well, kid."
He frowned. "As long as you stop calling me kid, Lady." He had to cock his head way back to look me in the eyes. I admit that I was tall for my age, but really? Maybe he was short for his age.
Whatever. It really didn't matter. But wait-what did he call me? Lady? Nu-uh. He didn't.
"You wanna repeat that?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow.
Konohamaru scowled. "Yeah; stop calling me kid, Lady."
"Kid, I'm not a lady. I'm, like, twelve. So lay off." I puffed out my cheeks.
"As long as you stop calling me kid, Lady."
"Fine; you've got yourself a deal."
The little devil smirked up at me. Oh well; his attitude wasn't that much of a bother. I didn't want to babysit a dull little brat. Naw-the ones with personality were more fun to watch.
"So, Konohamaru, what do you do for fun?" I glanced around the entryway we were standing in. Besides the ninja gear, it was pretty bare. And sort of…empty feeling. A shiver ran up and down my spine.
"Sometimes I'll go visit Naruto if he's not training. Lately he's been on lots of missions, though…" His voice trailed off and he shrugged. The kid must get pretty lonely, I figured. I wondered where his friends were.
"Naruto Uzumaki?" I questioned, cocking an eyebrow. "I know that guy. He's my age-he is on team 7, right? With Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha? Their team leader's that Hatake guy right? Kakashi?" I didn't know why I was asking. I knew all the answers: Yes, yes, yes, and yes.
Konohamaru shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. That pink haired girl he likes and that grumpy black haired one. And his sensei is always late."
I chuckled. That was the one thing I knew about Kakashi. He was always late. Some people said he was always hanging around that one stone that listed all the ninjas who were KIA. He never hung around anybody, either.
"So…," I began, "Do you wanna go look for Naruto?" Naruto and I used to hang out all the time when we were academy students. I hung out with him and the guys-Kiba Inuzuka, Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi, and Shino Aburame. I never quite got along with Sasuke, though. Anyway, visiting Naruto would be nice. And from what I remembered of Sakura, she was nice, too.
The kid's face brightened immediately. "Yeah," was all he said.
We found Naruto at the training grounds. Surprise, surprise-that was where I should've been, too. But I was stuck babysitting the kid. Heh; I could still call him kid when he wasn't around.
Naruto stopped training when he saw us coming. He was hard to miss in his neon orange jumpsuit. His headband was on his forehead, keeping his bangs out of his face. He shoved his kunai back in his weapon pouch.
Sakura and Sasuke paused when and looked over, too. Sakura's long, pink hair fell down her back, going well with her red dress. A white circle stood out along the bottom hem. She wore shorts underneath, visible because of the slits in her dress. Her headband was tied back in her hair. Sasuke's black hair-forever sticking up and making him look like a cockatoo. His bangs were likewise kept out of his face by his headband. He wore a dark blue shirt and white shorts and had medical tape wrapped around his ankles.
He recognized Konohamaru immediately, but he drew a black when it came to me. You could see it all other his face.
"Hey Konohamaru, hey…" His voice trailed off. He rubbed the back of his head nervously and chuckled. Oh yeah, that was totally insulting. There were only fifteen or so kids in our class.
"It's Rin," I offered in a quiet voice, so unlike the one I had taken on when talking to Konohamaru earlier.
Even Kakashi-sensei had put down his Icha Icha Paradise book to come over. His spiky hair stuck up at an odd angle. He had on the annual jonin uniform-a shirt and long pants. The collar of his shirt was pulled up over his lips and nose, and the headband on his forehead was slanted to cover one of his eyes.
"Oh, yeah, hehe. I recognize you now." You could tell Naruto really didn't.
"You baka1," Sakura said, coming over and hitting Naruto on the back of his head. Sasuke just stood back; his arms crossed, and said nothing.
"Naruto!" Konohamaru whined. "You said you'd come play ninja with me!"
"A ninja playing ninja," Sakura said, sticking her nose in the air. "How pathetic!"
"Ah! Sakura-chan!" Naruto whined.
I pursed my lips to keep from laughing-not at Naruto's expense, of course, but at the situation in general.
"So why are you here?" Sasuke asked me, breaking the silence. Sakura and Naruto both turned to look at me.
"Eh? Me?" I blinked, and then rubbed the back of my head nervously. "Well, I, uh, was supposed to watch Konohamaru and he wanted to come see Naruto." I shrugged.
"Why aren't you training?" Sakura asked. "Aren't you entering the chunin exams?"
"Yeah, but I was put on this 'mission' instead. Ichigo-sensei though I 'needed a break', whatever that means." I shrugged again.
"Oh, that's right," Sakura blurted. "You're on Team 14 with Koji Yuhi and Hiro Hyuga, aren't you?" I saw the connections in her head: the tomboy from the academy, Kurenai-sensei's cousin, and a lower branch Hyuga. And that odd, quiet sensei.
I nodded. "That's me."
"Sensei," Naruto began, turning to look at Kakashi. "We're done training today, right?"
Kakashi hesitated before nodding.
"Believe it!" Naruto exclaimed, shoving a fist in the air. "Now for some ramen!"
"Psh. Loser." Sasuke re-crossed his arms.
I rolled my eyes. That stuck up little…
"Eh, Rin-chan, you and Konohamaru should come, too." Naruto turned his goofy grin on me.
"What do you think?" I looked at the kid.
"As long as one of you guys pay!" His grin was smug. Naruto's left eye twitched, and I saw a vein throb in his forehead.
"I'll pay for yours," I promised.
"Well what are we waiting for?" Naruto demanded. "I'll race you!"
"Wait-Naruto!" But my cry fell on deaf ears. Naruto and Konohamaru were already sprinting, Naruto obviously in the lead. "Never mind, then…"
"Well, that's Naruto for you," Sakura said, a haughty tone in her voice. I wondered if she really hated Naruto or if she just pretended to because Sasuke did. I was always curious about that when I saw how she treated him.
"I don't mind," I told her honestly. "I just need to follow Konohamaru. I guess I should probably follow them…" I let my voice trail off.
And then I was gone. Well, not literately. I didn't just up and disappear. But I ran. And-not trying to brag or anything, but I was pretty fast. So to anyone passing by or looking over, it could've been like I disappeared.
I caught up with Naruto and Konohamaru easily; they were a few blocks away from Ichiraku's Ramen. I really kicked it into high gear then. I passed them in a flash. When I got to the shop, I casually leaned against the counter. I'd gotten my breath back by the time the guys showed up, panting and wheezing.
"Slowpokes," I said, grinning slyly over at them. I dropped into an unoccupied seat, not bothering to look around me. Naruto sat to my right, Konohamaru next to him.
"Yo! Rin-chan!"
The voice caught me completely off guard. "Eh?" I exclaimed, snapping my head to my left. My long, blonde hair fanned out behind me and I flicked my long bangs out of my face.
Koji Yuhi sat one seat over, next to his cousin, Kurenai-sensei. The both had black hair, but while Kurenai's was long and wavy, Koji's was short and spiky. Two pairs of crimson eyes stared back at me.
Kurenai had on her usual red wrap dress and sandals. Koji had on his normal white tank and black shorts. Bandage-medical tape wound its way around his arms and legs-it was very similar to Kurenai's.
"Eh? Koji-kun, Kurenai-sensei, I didn't even see you two come in!" I blinked.
Kurenai laughed. "We were here first. I see you're as observant as ever, Rin-chan." Koji nodded.
I rubbed the back of my head. "Yeah, I guess I need to work on that…" I just smiled bigger.
The waitress came then, asking for our orders. Naruto, Konohamaru, and I all got beef ramen. I didn't listen to what Koji and Kurenai ordered.
"What've you been doing all day, Rin?" Koji asked, leaning towards me.
"I was watching Konohamaru," I explained, "as my 'mission'. Ichigo-sensei's orders."
"Really?" Koji asked. "She gave Hiro and me the day off. But he's training at the Hyuga estate, anyway." He rolled his eyes. "The little punk would, wouldn't he? He always has to out-shine the rest of us mortals."
Did I forget to mention that Koji and Hiro fight as bad as Naruto and Sasuke? Really? My bad.
I sweat dropped. "That's not right." I was referring to how Koji talked about Hiro and how they got the day off.
"Eh? Who's that?" Naruto stuck his nose right up in Koji's face.
"Naruto-kun, this is Koji-kun. He's on my team and is Kurenai-sensei's cousin. He was in our class at the academy, too…"
I was sure Naruto didn't recognize Koji, either, but I didn't say anything. I think Koji knew it, too-and that was the sad part.
We all talked while we ate; well, everyone but Kurenai. She was very quiet. Time went by a lot faster this way, compared to eating by yourself and talking to no one. This way was always preferable.
1 Idiot, Japanese