KONNICHIWA. HEARTCON DESU. GOMENNASAI.

I'M REALLY SORRY FOR BEING SO LATE. PLEASE FORGIVE ME AND MY STUPID BRAIN.

I hope I'm still ranting to someone. Please…I hope you are still there.

Anyway. I. Hope. You. Enjoy. This. Chapter.

Please review, everyone ^W^

Those Damn Missions…

"Good. You're here. I was starting to think you won't show up." Shikamaru yawned, leaning against the door.

Hidekazu grinned. "Why would we be late for our first mission?!" Yumi and Ryo nodded in agreement.

"Tsk. I bet you'll hate it." Shikamaru turned the knob on the door to the Mission Assignment Desk. "Get in." He pushed the door.

The room was a spacious one, with two windows and a ceiling fan whirring above. In the middle of the room was the biggest desk Hidekazu had ever seen. Five people sat at the desk; one of them was the Hokage.

"Oi! Otou-san!" Hidekazu ran over to his father and leaned on the desk.

"Hello, Kazu-kun." Naruto gave his son a smile and nodded towards Shikamaru.

"Naruto. Give them a mission, please."

"You aren't going to join them, dattebayo?"

Shikamaru shook his head. "I know you'll give them a mission that's either too easy or too troublesome."

Grinning, Naruto pulled out a scroll from the bottom of a pile of papers. He gave the scroll to the woman beside him. "Momoko, please read to us."

Momoko nodded and opened the scroll. "Mission. Retrieve Cat. B-Rank. Retrieve Shishi for Madam Takatsuki. Reward is 150 thousand ryo." Momoko then held up a picture of a brown cat, which did not look very happy. It had a pink ribbon on the side, and had an expensive-looking collar that was also pink. No wonder it ran away.

"B-RANK?! FOR A CAT?!" Hidekazu was outrageous, while Yumi was sighing, and Ryo with his mouth open.

Shikamaru smirked. "You should be happy that you got a B-rank mission." He then turned to Naruto. "Why the rank?"

"What? I changed the rank. This is Tora's cat grandkid or whatever, dattebayo. And you remember Tora. TORA, SHIKAMARU!"

Shikamaru scowled. "Every genin in our generation hates him."

Yumi cocked her ear suspiciously at her sensei. "What's so wrong about capturing a cat, and this Tora?"

Shikamaru stared at her with blank eyes. "Tora is a cat used to be owned by the former Fire Daimyo's wife. Tora was a very….troublesome cat. Every genin dreaded to take on the mission of capturing Tora, for she ran away several times."

"Sounds like a challenging mission! Bring it on!" Hidekazu shouted so loudly Ryo winced.

"Honestly, Kazu. You will hate this cat. Apparently, this one I heard is three times worse."

"Yay! Even more of a challenge! Let's go!" The Uzumaki child ran into the hallway.

Naruto and Shikamaru sighed in unison. Yumi and Ryo were already chasing after him.

"Try not to get them killed by the cat."

"I'll do my best."

Naruto groaned.

Team 5 – except their sensei, who was lounging in the dango shop – raced through the city streets and alleys to find Shishi the cat.

Success was not to be found. The team went around Konoha for an hour, to no avail.

"Damn…This cat is so hard to catch…." Hidekazu whined, and nearly collapsed on the ground. Ryo sat down, and Yumi sighed deeply.

"I hate this cat. Your father was right, Hide— " Ryo fell silent when he heard a ruffling sound in the bush nearby.

Yumi was the first one to investigate. Hidekazu followed her silently, carrying the cage, while Ryo caught his breath.

A cat jumped out from the bushes, that had a pink ribbon on its ears. Yumi ran for it and wrestled it to the ground, nearly succeeding.

"OI! YUMI-CHAN! ARE YOU OKAY?" Yumi could not answer, for she was being scratched by the cat. "DAMMIT!" Yumi rolled over, and slammed Shishi to the ground. She reached for the leash wrapped around her waist, but then she started coughing and hacking like crazy. "DAMN ALLERGIES!"

"YUMI-CHAN!" Hidekazu dropped the cage and dove for the leash around Yumi's waist. Managing to get it free, he kicked Yumi aside, who was still coughing and wrestled the cat. Hidekazu shouted in triumph. "YES!" He spoke too soon. The cat was writhing his way through the leash, almost free now. Ryo, who was standing and watching, decided it was a good time to help them. He dove for the cat, squashing Hidekazu in the process.

"OI! GET OFF ME!" Now Hidekazu was the one writhing and growling.

Ryo held the cat down, and reached for the cage nearby. "HIDEKAZU! GIMME THE CAGE!" Hidekazu grabbed it and opened it. Ryo threw the cat inside, and closed the latch. To be honest, Ryo was not sure it was still alive. Thankfully, it threw itself against the iron bars of the cage.

The entire team ended up on the ground. Yumi was still coughing, but at a more controlled rate. Hidekazu and Ryo were panting, while the cat was pacing in its cage, growling.

"Yumi-chan..Are you alright? Why…what happened, dattebayo?"

"Allergies." A voice yelled from above. Shikamaru jumped down right next to Hidekazu. "Not bad for your first try. Well, it was actually pretty bad. But to Tora and her line there are no such thing as a peaceful way of capturing them. Either way, good job. Hopefully the cat is still alive." The jonin walked over and picked up the cage. Shishi thrashed wildly.

"Thank Kami-sama. The monster's alive." Shikamaru turned to the sprawled kids. "Get up. We have to return this demon to Madam Takatsuki outside the village, then report to the desk."

Ryo stood weakly, and helped Yumi to her feet. Hidekazu still lay, face flat on the ground.

"Get your lazy ass up." Shikamaru demanded.

Groaning, Hidekazu stood lazily and made a kicking motion at the cat. He then turned to Ryo. "I don't know whether to kick you or to hug you, dattebayo."

"How about both?" Hidekazu hugged the brown-haired boy, and then kicked him. Rolling his eyes. Shikamaru broke up the two. "Now. The whole troublesome lot of you, get your lazy asses to Madam Takatsuki."

Team 5, this time with their sensei, traveled through the woods and to a castle that was 30 kilometers north of Konoha.

The castle, from the outside, had a huge garden surrounding it, with sakura trees in full bloom. Gardeners were tending to the plants, and one was cleaning a small pond. A path led from the main gate to the castle.

After returning the cat, Team 5 immediately left. They did not want to get assigned to cat hunting duty. Again.

For several weeks the genin team did E-rank and D-rank missions with their very annoyed sensei, who was rather late each meeting.

One fine day, Hidekazu, Yumi and Ryo were training Noticing Ryo was not doing anything but gather chakra and throw a few kunais and shurikens, he stopped.

"Hey Ryo-kun. Why aren't you training, dattebayo? You're like Natsu-chan, ne." Scowling, Yumi glared at Hidekazu in a 'why did you ask that question' sort of way.

Ryo gulped. "It's okay. I...I'm really weak. I can't be a real ninja."

Yumi raised an eyebrow. She patted Ryo gently on the shoulder and smiled. "You can be. If you believe in yourself." Hidekazu nodded in agreement.

"Thanks. You guys are the best. But-" Ryo was interupted by a sudden swooshing noise.

Where there was empty space, Shikamaru was there now. "Great. You're all here. Saves me from the troublesome task of gathering you in one place." Shikamaru paused. "Now. I have an annoucement. Tomorrow-"

"DAMN MISSIONS. WHAT CRAZY THING ARE WE GONNA DO?"

The lazy jonin put a hand in his pocket, and scowled. "I was about to say it until you interrupted me. Anyway, you are given a C-rank mission by the coucil. Deliver some sort of message to Amegakure. Meet me tomorrow at 7 o'clock sharp at the Mission Assignment Desk for further information. Bring clothes, and necessary things. We're going on a trip."

^W^ So how was it? Was it terrible? WAS IT FANTASTICALLY FUCKING AWESOME? No? Okay. Tell what you think via review.

Thanks for reading, and please wait patiently for the next chapter which REQUIRES SOME FIGHTING SCENES WHICH I AM TERRIBLY BAD AT WRITING. *sigh*. Anyway, thanks again :)