"Kakashi-sensei, I didn't expect your team to be back so soon. You were assigned that mission no more than two hours ago," the Hokage greeted.
"Oh please that mission was a piece of cake," Naruto answered for the jounin, "If you give us a harder mission we'll be away longer," he tempted with a sly grin.
"As wonderful as that sounds Naruto I know what you're trying to get at. That mission to the Land of Waves was a slip-up. You're not getting another one like it," Iruka refused the young shinobi.
"Oh come on!" Naruto pouted, "It doesn't even have to be an A-rank mission like that, just something exciting."
The Hokage laughed at the young shinobi, "Naruto wants a harder mission? Then I'll give him one."
"R-really?" Naruto stuttered, "Awesome! What is it? Are we delivering ultra-secret documentation?"
"No nothing exciting like that. It's a C-rank mission, a chance to get out of the village. You'll be guarding a young lady on her trip. She has a job to do in a nearby village."
"Uh come on I thought you said it was a harder mission. That's practically a babysitting job," the blonde complained.
"Listen you little brat be grateful that you're getting this! Not many new teams get an A-rank and a C-rank mission in their first weeks of becoming genin," Iruka reprimanded.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Naruto replied with an eye roll.
"Now wait, this isn't going to end up like the last guarding job we had to do right? I don't think I can take another one of those," Sakura said slightly apprehensive of the thought of facing off against another Zabuza or Haku.
"No there's nothing to worry about with this assignment. The missions have a more thorough screening process now anyway," the Hokage eased the girl's worries.
"Yeah Sakura, she's just a photographer whose been hired to do some family portraits in another village," Iruka finished explaining.
"She is a photographer?" Kakashi asked as he looked up from his book.
"Yeah, her name is Myugako Ayuki. She's new to the village, but already has made quite a little reputation as a good photographer," Iruka beamed.
"You seem to be pretty fond of her," Kakashi suggested with just the slightest tone of bitterness.
"I... S-she's just nice is all," Iruka blushed not picking up on the undertone of Kakashi's words.
"Ah-ha! Iruka-sensei has a crush on the new girl," Naruto laughed obnoxiously.
"Shut up Naruto!" Iruka yelled as his blush deepened.
"Now, now don't get your old sensei so riled up," the Hokage laughed.
"Yeah Naruto don't," Kakashi agreed, "Iruka could do with a woman in his life. Could take some of the pressure off his hands."
"Innuendo much?" one of the other chunin asked while trying, and failing, to cover up their laughter.
"I'm surprised that quick tongue of yours hasn't gotten you into more trouble," the Hokage commented with a slight smile.
"My apologies. I didn't mean for that to come across inappropriately," Kakashi lied sarcastically.
"Huh? I don't get it," Naruto pouted.
"Don't worry about it Naruto," Kakashi said, "Any other details we should know about this mission?"
"Yes you won't be meeting Ayuki-san now, she's busy elsewhere, but she will be waiting for you at the northern gate in two hours. It'll be an overnight stay, maybe even two," the Hokage answered.
Kakashi nodded once as he turned to leave, "Well I guess we'll be on our way then. Oh and good luck with Ayuki-san, Iruka-sensei," he wished the blushing chunin.
.:* * *:.
"Alright! Another day, another mission!" Naruto exclaimed happily.
"Naruto do you know the definition of the word 'quiet'?" Sakura asked through clenched teeth.
"Well yeah of course Sakura. Why do you ask?" Naruto replied.
"Oh I was just wondering because you never are!" Sakura screamed at the blonde.
"Oh, uh, I can be quiet for you Sakura-chan. Yeah no problem," the blonde tried to calm his teammate.
Kakashi rolled his eyes tiredly. It wasn't even 10AM and his team was already fighting. It was amazing really. You put them in a life or death situation and they work together great. Put them in any other situation and they're ready to go at each others' throats.
"Anxious much?"
Kakashi looked over at smirking raven, "What are you talking about?"
"Your eyes have been glued to that path this whole time. You're holding that damn book for show," he answered.
Kakashi didn't reply.
"This Ayuki girl. Is she the one from yesterday?"
Again, Kakashi didn't reply.
Sasuke smirked at the jounin, "Hn. That's all the answer I need."
"Hey Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto called.
"What Naruto?" Kakashi replied with barely contained aggravation.
"Where is this girl?"
"Yeah she was supposed to meet us here twenty minutes ago," Sakura agreed.
"She's probably lost," Sasuke commented before Kakashi could.
"And what makes you so sure of that?" Naruto asked growing annoyed at Sasuke's know-it-all attitude.
"Well, dobe, if she's new to the village then she probably doesn't know her way around."
"You're so smart Sasuke. I didn't even think of that."
"Oh give me a break," Naruto mumbled under his breath.
"What was that Naruto?!"
"Oh wha—Nothing, nothing it's just... Oh come on all she has to do is walk to the gate. How hard can that be?"
"Well you do have more than one gate."
The three genin turned around towards the new voice.
"Ayuki-san. Nice of you to join us," Kakashi greeted the smiling brunette coolly.
"And what are the chances that your team would be assigned the mission of escorting me?" she smiled as she went to stand by the silver-haired shinobi.
"Perfectly good chances to me," he commented causing Ayuki to blush slightly.
She turned away from him and smoothly changed subjects, "So this is your team. I guess introductions are in order huh? I'm Mygako Ayuki. What are your names?"
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto!"
"Haruno Sakura."
"Uchiha Sasuke."
Ayuki smiled sweetly at the team, "You have the cutest genin ever Kakashi-san."
"You might want to hold onto that thought," Kakashi replied, "Anyway we better get going. We've lost almost half an hour of travel time already," he said as he started down the path.
"Yeah sorry about that," Ayuki apologized shyly, "I couldn't really tell the difference between which gate was which. I was half way to the west gate before I realized I was lost."
"Don't you remember? I told you could've asked me to be a guide."
She smirked at the jounin, "If I could've found you I wouldn't have needed your help."
The three genin watched on in curiosity as they followed.
"Hey Sensei?" Sakura began, "How do you two know each other?" Naruto nodded at Sakura's question curious about the same thing.
"Oh we met yesterday. I helped Ayuki-san with some papers she dropped."
"Is that why you were late?" Sakura asked.
"It takes 4 hours to help pick up some paper?" Naruto commented offhandedly, "You know I wish for once you'd be on time."
"Is your Sensei always late?" Ayuki smiled at the blonde.
"Everday. No matter the occasion," Naruto answered.
"Oh really?" Ayuki asked as she looked back at the jounin.
"Yup, and he's always making up weird excuses like 'I got lost on the path of life'."
Ayuki laughed at this, "Anything else I should know about him?"
"No nothing else," Kakashi chimed in.
"Oh yeah there's a ton more," Naruto said as he sped up to walk alongside Ayuki simultaneously pushing Kakashi aside, "He's always reading these perverted books to."
"Naruto!" Kakashi glared at the boy.
"What? She asked?" the genin said defensively.
Kakashi sighed mentally, feeling a headache coming on. He was not liking this trip already. He was supposed to get closer to Ayuki, not Naruto.
"Hey Ayuki-san?"
"Yes Naruto-kun?"
"What's this job you have in the other village?"
"Oh well I'll be photographing a family. They need some family portraits done and whatnot," she explained as she tapped her hand against her camera bag.
"Oh yeah Iruka-sensei did mention you were a photographer."
"Umino Iruka? How do you know him?"
"Oh he used to be our teacher at the Academy."
"Well lucky you because Iruka seems like a great teacher," Ayuki complimented.
"He isn't all that great," Kakashi commented under his breath.
"Hn. So you and Iruka are friends huh?" Sasuke asked as he looked in Kakashi's direction.
"Oh yeah I suppose you could say that," Ayuki smiled at the raven, "He was the first to really try to get to know me when I moved here."
"Yeah that's Iruka-sensei for you. Always making people feel welcome," Naruto smiled.
"I can tell. He's such a sweetheart. Always helping me out when I need it."
"You seem to be pretty fond of him," Sasuke commented.
Ayuki blushed slightly at his rather forward comment, "He's just nice is all."
"Wow deja vu. Iruka said the same thing about you, and he was blushing to," Naruto laughed.
"Naruto! Stop tormenting Ayuki-san" Kakashi commented aggravatedly.
"What? I'm not doing anything!"
The jounin's eyes narrowed at the boy.
"Alright, alright. Just stop with the glaring."
To Ayuki, and Kakashi's, relief, Naruto changed subjects.
"Hn."
"And what could you possibly have to add to this?" Kakashi turned to the Uchiha.
"Oh nothing. Just that your chances of being with Ayuki seem to be slipping away," Sasuke smirked at the jounin.
"Look dammit. I'm getting completely fed up with you," Kakashi hissed at the boy.
"Oh really? Are you sure you're not just redirecting your anger with Iruka towards me?"
"...God I want to fucking murder you," (1) Kakashi said more to himself than anything.
"You know Ayuki-san I've never seen you working at the Academy before," Sakura joined the conversation.
"Well I just got the job. You see I moved to Konoha a little while ago. It was perfect timing to because last month the Academy's photographer quit. He almost had a disastrous run in with a poorly aimed kunai from one of the academy students. Apparently that occurred one too many times for him," she laughed.
"Oh that reminds me of the time that Naruto almost hit Iruka-sensei during target practice," Sakura laughed.
"N-no I didn't," Naruto tried to amend nervously.
Ayuki just laughed at the display.
"Hey Ayuki-san if you don't mind me asking. How do you already have clients in other villages if you just moved here?" Sakura inquired.
"Well the head of the family was visiting Konoha last week when he saw me taking some photos of the students. One thing led to another and I got hired."
"If you're not from Konoha then where are you originally from Ayuki-san?" Naruto asked.
"The Land of Lightening."
"Oh wow you moved here from all the way over there?" Sakura asked.
"What? Is that far?" Naruto asked confused.
"Baka of course it's far!" Sakura yelled.
"Eh it's alright. Not everyone is good at geography. There are just so many lands and villages, who has the time to learn them all," she winked at the blonde.
"I know right! It's just too much," Naruto agreed wholeheartedly.
"Maybe for some people," Sasuke added
"What'd you say teme?"
"You heard me dobe."
"You know what?" Naruto began to lounge for the cocky Uchiha but Ayuki quickly stopped him.
"Your team seems rather hostile," Ayuki laughed nervously at the jounin.
"Told you they weren't all that cute."
.:* * *:.
The group had made it to their destination in relatively good time, even with leaving late. Ayuki had managed to hold a conversation among, and keep relative peace with, the genin. A feat Kakashi didn't know was possible.
"So you guys want to settle down at an inn or walk around for a little more?" Ayuki asked. They were currently just roaming the streets of the village, enjoying each other's company.
"Can we walk around for a little more? This place has some cool shops," Naruto answered happily.
"No way I just want to relax," Sakura refused.
"Aw come on Sakura," Naruto pouted, "What do you think Kakashi-sensei?"
"I don't mind walking for a little more," Kakashi answered. In actuality he wouldn't mind relaxing himself, but Ayuki had spent the last twenty minutes walking arm and arm with him and he for damn sure didn't want it to end yet. She jokingly latched herself onto him after Sasuke made a snide comment about how they would make a cute couple. He almost launched for the child's throat but let it slide when he saw Ayuki didn't have any real intention of letting go.
Sakura sighed tiredly, "You've got to be kidding me. How can you not be even a little bit tired?"
"Sakura if you're so tired why don't you and Sasuke go find an inn to stay at and we'll meet you guys there later," Kakashi suggested.
Sakura immediately perked up at that, "That's a great idea. What do you say Sasuke-kun? We could maybe even get something to eat after we rest a bit?"
"I rather keep on walking," Sasuke replied without even looking at his teammate.
Sakura hung her head in defeat, "Guess I'm coming along on the trip then."
"You know Sakura-chan if you're really that tired I'll go with you to the inn," Naruto suggested hopefully.
"I rather walk till I pass out Naruto," Sakura shot down the blonde.
Ayuki laughed at the three, "Your team has quite the love triangle going on."
"For it to be a triangle Sasuke would have to love, or even tolerate, one of them back."
Ayuki laughed a little more, "You know this day has been the most fun I've had in a while."
Kakashi looked over at her happily noting her peaceful expression, "I'm glad you're enjoying yourself."
She sighed contentedly as she leaned her head on his shoulder, "Maybe Sakura had the right idea. It's still so early in the day but just laying down for a bit doesn't seem so bad."
"We can head to an inn if you want."
"Eh Naruto wants to sight-see a little so I'll stick it out," she smiled at the blonde who seemed amazed by everything, "Where does he get all this energy?"
"Only God knows," Kakashi replied exhausted from just thinking of Naruto's energy, "Look we can stop someplace and he can run around by himself. How's that sound?"
"Sounds lovely," she giggled, "Is there any place here that has a hot spring though?"
"Hot spring?" Kakashi seemed to lose all form of speech as the image of Ayuki naked and wet passed through his mind.
"Kakashi?"
"Hm? Oh sorry I was just trying to remember if they was a hotel here with a hot spring," never in his life has he been more appreciative of his ease with lying, "And there's actually one close to us."
"You really are quite the guide," she complimented as she leaned back on his shoulder, "Hey Kakashi? Would you like to accompany me to this family I have to shoot tomorrow?"
"Of course. It is our job to protect you after all. What time should we be up?"
"No not 'we', just you," she smiled.
He couldn't help the slight quirk of his eyebrow, "You just want me to come along?"
"Mhm. There's no point in dragging the kids along to something that'll probably bore them. Even so, as much as I love those genin of yours it takes too much energy to keep up with them all," she laughed.
"I find it best not to waste any energy at all," he commented, "But that's a whole other subject. I'd love to accompany you."
"Wonderful," she beamed, "I like spending time with you anyway. Something fun is bound to happen."
"I'm glad I could be of entertainment," Kakashi smiled himself.
Apologies are in order. I said that I'd post Chapter 2 next week which means that this would've been up since Monday... It's Thursday (at least it is in America). So let me explain to you what happened...
Monday comes and I remember that I needed to finish up Chapter 2 and post it, so I put it on my list of things to do. It's the last thing for me to do because everything else is school related. I had to finish a photography project that I was behind on, and when I say behind on it was due in January... It's March. Anyway, thankfully, I finished it but when I was done it was already 11PM. Tuesday comes and I tell myself that I will definitely update today. Problem is I had an essay due the next day and since I procrastinate too much I hadn't started it till that day. Finished the essay at 11PM. Wednesday comes and I had nothing to do so I should've posted then right? Wrong. Last Sunday I came down with a cold. On Wednesday I was in Stage Two of sickness - aka Stage Sneeze-Every-God-Damn-Minute. Between the sniffling and the sneezing I just wanted to lay there. So now it's Thursday, I'm still behind on other photo projects but I'll do them later, I have no homework, and I'm not sneezing as much. So here is Chapter 2. And, again, I apologize.
I hope you enjoy the update. I should have Chapter 3 up next week... Let's see how that plays out.
Well bye for now and remember to comment please :)
(1) - Can anyone guess which web series this line comes from? ;) I always crack up at it.