Like he'd promised, a week later Kakashi requested another C Rank Mission for his students "Are you sure about this Kakashi-kun, they've only been genin for a month" Hiruzen frowned deeply, having a bad feeling about this mission all of a sudden.
"They'll do fine I'm sure of it, my genin while not having improved any in the month I've been their sensei, largely hold back on me so I know they can do it" Kakashi admitted, Hiruzen chuckled under his breath, he was sure it was payback on their part.
But when it came down to it, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura would pull through "Very well, C Rank escort mission to the Land of Waves, bring them to meet the mission client tomorrow" the Hokage stamped his approval for the mission and handed over the mission scroll.
Kakashi took it gratefully "I hope this is what they need to straighten up their acts and take their careers seriously" the silver haired Jonin sighed, hating that they didn't trust him in the least, it really bothered him actually and he still didn't know much about his female student either.
"Actually you know what Kakashi-kun, how about this mission instead, I witnessed your defeat after all and I think they'd benefit from it" Hiruzen whipped out another color coded scroll meant for C Rank Missions only and handed it over.
Not liking how he felt about the other C Rank Mission, a little put out that the Hokage was being finicky all of a sudden Kakashi took the new mission scroll and read it over "Have them act in an amateur movie" Kakashi read off in an incredulous tone.
Setting down the other mission scroll "Exactly, they each possess a level of acting, proven on the day you took them on as your official students, I was going to send a few Jonin on that Wave Mission anyway, because I feel as if the client didn't give us the whole truth" the Hokage said.
"Can't deny that, those little brats actually fooled me that day" the Copy Ninja grunted still frustrated over that fact, it was like these kids were born solely to drive him insane, and they still hadn't opened up to him.
It was like trying to pull teeth where those three were concerned "Well do you know which one you'll choose Kakashi-kun" Hiruzen prodded knowing that he couldn't keep the Jonin from choosing either of the missions.
Less than a second later the man had made his decision "I think a few weeks away will give them perspective, however I do have one thing to request, that you send someone else in my place" Kakashi announced returning the other scroll.
Perhaps if it was still available by the time they got back, he'd consider it as another mission for them "Asuma wasn't just joking then, you'll trade teams for the duration of this Escort mission and try to straighten each others teams out" the wizened old man blew out a puff of smoke.
The man across from him nodded "Precisely, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura refuse to open up to me, I'm kinda at my wits end with them" the silver haired ninja sighed, the Hokage couldn't blame him, nor could he blame those kids.
"Very well then, inform your students, I'll tell Asuma about his temporary command over Team Seven and he'll inform his students as well, tomorrow you'll all come here, where you'll meet the client and then those four will set off from the village" Hiruzen relented.
Kakashi nodded and prepared to head off to visit his students in their homes when he suddenly realized "Hokage-sama, seeing as I've never been invited to their homes do you know Sakura-chan's and Naruto-kun's address" Kakashi inquired.
Frustrated yet again while the Hokage chuckled under his breath "Here in the Uchiha Compound, Fugaku and Mikoto have guardianship over those two" the Hokage informed handing over the address of the members of Team Seven to their sensei.
Who took it with a long suffering sigh, as he scribbled a note and sent it off with a Chunin to be delivered to his son to inform Asuma of his temporary reassignment as Team Seven's sensei, during that time frame Kakashi finally headed off.
And in a plume of smoke appeared before a large house, he raised a silver brow at it, wondering why the Uchiha Clan Heads had guardianship over two of his students until it hit him, Naruto was an orphan he knew.
But then he remembered the way Sasuke and Naruto were always redirecting him away from a certain topic about Sakura's parents and he realized the girl was an orphan as well, it was with a heavy heart that he knocked on the door to his students house.
Only waiting for two minutes until Sasuke answered, he simply lifted a brow "What Kakashi, it is our day off remember" Sasuke grunted when the man that was his sensei didn't speak for over a minute simply continued to stare at him.
"Sakura-chan, her parents, their gone aren't they" the silver haired Jonin finally managed to say/ask now that said kunoichi wasn't within earshot, Sasuke inhaled sharply, shot a wary glance over his shoulder then stepped out of the house and shut the door behind him.
Leveling a cool glance at his sensei "The investigation is ongoing but the chances of them ever being found is unlikely, Sakura was….devastated at their disappearance" the Uchiha admitted, wincing as he finally opened up a little to the man.
Kakashi stood back taking a moment to digest the information he'd been given "How so Sasuke-kun, she seems so…unattached that it's easy to mistake her for not having feelings" Kakashi finally asked after another minute.
Sasuke cringed at the statement "Not so, she puts up a front to keep from getting hurt even more, you see the day before we met you, another important person to her left, so that's three people who have disappeared on her to probably never be seen again" Sasuke grimaced.
"Did Sakura-chan have an older brother Sasuke-kun" the Copycat Ninja prodded, pleased with the turn of events, though he was still going to have Asuma take temporary command of his students he was glad that at least one of his genin was opening up to him.
The preteen before him shook his head "He was kind of like her older brother, but no, he was our tutor, or rather hers and Naruto's originally throughout all our years at the academy, for seven years he was at her side teaching her, having had faith and now he's gone to" the raven sighed.
"You three had a private jonin tutor while you were academy students" Kakashi asked incredulously, wondering why the Hokage hadn't mentioned this to him at all and very shocked at the news and wondering how that had even come about in the first place.
A quick nod was his answer "Sakura was his original student, he taught her a full year before starting the academy, Naruto started being taught about six months after her if I remember correctly and I didn't start learning under him until after I was eight" Sasuke said.
"Which means all three of you have been largely holding back on me like I thought" the Jonin glared in exasperation at his student, frustrated and ready to tear his hair out but what surprised him the most was when Sasuke looked oddly guilty.
Somewhat apologetic as well "Mostly and we really just want you to take us seriously, now I get that your visit isn't a social one so what did you come here for, if I take much longer their going to get curious" the current heir of the Uchiha Clan questioned.
Raising his brow on his sensei "Right since you proved yourselves, I got you another C Rank Mission, pack for three weeks your going outside the village, meet at the Hokage Tower, this time tomorrow, also I won't be the one going along with you" Kakashi held out a note.
Earning a stare "If not you then who, we're barely beginning to trust you as it is Kakashi, having another Jonin in your place will not end well, Sakura will see it as you giving up on her/us" Sasuke hissed out, already not liking the thought of that very much.
"If you'd let me come in I can explain the details a little better" the silver haired male sighed, groaning inwardly over the fact that yes he did have a fragile-hearted female student, unlike how he'd originally assumed she was like him.
A moment later he was seated on a comfortable couch, his students before him "Today is our day off you know Kakashi-sensei" Naruto repeated Sasuke's earlier words unknowingly in confusion over what had prompted his sensei to visit them for the first time.
Sakura however had a quick mind "We're going on a mission soon aren't we sensei" Sakura questioned seriously, realizing this wasn't a social visit right away and he was grateful that she was so smart as he nodded.
"Precisely, tomorrow to be exact, another C Rank as promised, however I won't be accompanying you, there's another mission that requires my specific skill-set, so Asuma from Team Ten will be going along with you three just for this mission only" Kakashi quickly got out.
When he caught Sakura's expression turning into one of heart-break before it was hidden behind a guarded gaze "Okay, so how long will we be gone and what's the mission" the pinkette inquired, a little relieved that he wasn't simply giving up on them and merely had a different mission.
Grateful for that little insight from Sasuke, Kakashi managed to get through the rest of the explanation without upsetting his female student further "Escort Mission for a bridge builder to Land of Waves and approximately three weeks, depending on how long it takes" the Copy Ninja explained.
"Then that means we'll pack for an extra week just in case, anything else Kakashi-sensei, such as meet up time where do we meet Asuma-sensei and the like" the blonde that was his sensei's son asked straightening up his act a little to his sensei's surprise.
Because here he'd thought the boy was a straight up knuckleheaded goofball and then suddenly there was an analytical gleam in the boys ocean blue irises that shocked the hell out of him "Tomorrow, Hokage Tower, this time" Kakashi set down the missive.
"Right then, are you going to be seeing us off tomorrow or will we have to wait probably a month to see you again" Sakura asked avoiding his gaze when he raised a brow until he realized that she probably needed reassurance that he wasn't going to up and abandon his post as their sensei.
And so just because they were actually listening to him for once he decided to be a good sensei "I'll be seeing you off" the Jonin relented to the hopeful stare, though guarded and at his positive answer a happy sparkle glimmered in jades irises.
"Well that just leaves informing the Head Medic, Ibiki-sensei and Anko-sensei as well of our absences from the village tomorrow on for a few weeks" Naruto groaned realizing that the rest of their day was probably going to be spent preparing now that they'd been told about their mission.
Sakura giggled, it was probably the first time she'd ever done so in the presence of their sensei and Kakashi realized he'd massively misunderstood his students, the three were friends and Sakura trusted them more than anyone else at the moment.
Meanwhile Sasuke just shook his head at his teammates antics, though his gaze though subtle was largely focused on Sakura and Kakashi was reminded of their introductions as he realized who it was Sasuke wanted to revive the Uchiha Clan with.
"On that note you three, I'll be going now and I'll see you tomorrow at the gates when you head out on your mission" Kakashi stood, gave a two fingered salute and was gone in a plume of smoke, leaving the teammates to start preparing for the mission.
Which meant first informing their somewhat guardians "Leave telling my parents to me, I'll meet you down at the market afterwards so that we can get some stuff" Sasuke declared, and Naruto wanted to groan even more.
Until Sakura slanted a look at him "Guess I'll tell Anko-sensei, to the hospital first though cause that order sounds more logical" Naruto sighed, then suggested a proper order of telling their superiors of their absences.
The lone girl on their team nodded "Sounds good enough to me" Sakura smiled lightly, grabbing her wallet, filled with plenty of money, prompting Naruto and even Sasuke to do the same, before they tugged on their sandals and headed in two opposite directions.
Sasuke was the first to reach his destination "What brings you here Sasuke-chan, are Naruto-chan and Sakura-chan with you, I thought it was your day off and you were spending it together to do nothing in Naruto-chan's words" Mikoto was the first one he saw.
As he greeted her with a light smile "Probably would be still sitting around doing nothing if Kakashi hadn't come by to tell us we had a mission tomorrow and you know what Sakura's like, so we're going to be preparing for our mission for the rest of the day most likely" Sasuke grunted.
Not to put out, he knew preparing well would give them an advantage on the mission, not to mention Sasori would hit them over the head if he ever learned they hadn't prepared properly for their first outside the village mission, technically second if he counted last weeks C Rank mission.
Mikoto grimaced "Oh and what's your mission exactly" the Uchiha Matriarch narrowed her eyes on her youngest son and next head of the clan, having raised him to be proper after that incident and she should be thankful he was even coming to tell her about the mission at all.
"To escort a bridge builder and watch over him as he finishes a bridge in the Land of Waves, Kakashi said we'd be gone approximately three weeks or even longer, depending on how long it takes for him to finish, it's C Rank" Sasuke sighed.
Speaking loudly enough when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye indicating Fugaku had appeared to find out what he was doing home on his day off from missions and training "Be sure to pack and prepare appropriately then" Fugaku warned.
"You don't have to worry Father, Sakura will make sure we're over-prepared, I'm certain of it actually" the preteen scoffed, earning a snigger from Shisui and a ghost of a smile from his Father, while Mikoto simply shook her head slightly amused.
Though she thought it was to soon she simply turned "Well then you best be off Sasuke-chan, don't want to keep those two waiting do you" Shisui ushered the preteen off and Sasuke turned on his heel and vanished from the house, speeding through the empty compound.
And all the way to the market, meanwhile Sakura and Naruto had reached their first destination, the hospital "Just wait here Naruto, I'll only be gone for a few minutes" Sakura said when they stepped through the double doors into the hospital lobby.
Naruto nodded "Roger that Sakura-chan" the blonde flashed her a whiskered grin, watching her vanish deeper within the bowels of the hospital and seven minutes later return with an ecstatic smile and a triumphant gleam in her emerald orbs.
He wondered for a moment until she burst out in excitement unable to help herself "I just got permission to start healing outside the hospital setting, my skill in healing is limited sure but I can deal with headaches, light sprains, light bruises and cuts" the pinkette cheered.
Obviously happy at her progress "Whoa that's awesome Sakura-chan you know" Naruto clapped, excited for his friend as well as they made their way to their second destination Torture and Interrogation Headquarters.
Ibiki was less than pleased to learn about their mission outside the village for possibly a month "Fine but when you get back Haruno expect to do triple what you usually do to make up for it" the Anbu Commander growled.
The little genin brat not at all affected by his harsh tone not even the blonde brat looked bothered and Ibiki raised a brow at that, realizing there was more to the boy than even he'd thought since both the Uchiha and Uzumaki constantly complained and flapped their jaws to one another.
"Got it Ibiki-sensei, we'll see you in a month probably" the pinkette said not wanting to cast any illusions in case the mission took longer, watching in slight amusement as Naruto closed his eyes with a quiet groan and wandered over to where Anko was.
Even though she was right there and had heard just fine it appeared Naruto didn't want to leave without directly addressing his sensei at T&I "Me and Sasuke and Sakura-chan got a mission Anko-sensei and I swear we'll work triple no, quadruple the usual when we get back" the blonde declared.
Sakura fought down maniacal laughter that bubbled in her throat at the statement, "Better keep that promise Uzumaki or I'll have you and Uchiha cleaning out the T&I men's room for a month with toothbrushes" Anko hissed.
Laughing like a maniac herself while Naruto shuddered and nodded his head before the two of them left and finally met up with Sasuke in the market "First things first, we gotta make sure we have plenty of food supplies for the mission, cause I'm not going without ramen" Naruto said.
Both his teammates rolled their eyes at his ramen obsession but didn't argue "Very well but your not eating ramen the entire time we're gone understand, oh we should probably get a map and some books that detail the lay of the land" Sakura piped in.
Causing Sasuke to pull out a little notebook and start scribbling down their list of things to get "That way we aren't going in unprepared, maybe I can even send one of my summons to scout ahead" Sasuke offered.
Pleased that he even had a summons, poor Naruto was still without, even though Sasori had repeatedly assured the blonde that it would be after he became a genin that he would finally sign a creature summons contract.
"We'll probably have to sleep outside, so we'll need sleeping bags and things to keep us clean like moist towelettes or something to that effect and good idea, even Sakura could do that later tonight with Aimai-chan" the blonde suggested.
Blue eyes narrowed in thought as he tried to come up with other things to add or contribute to the conversation "Hmm, definitely a thought Naruto, Sasuke, now for what else, maybe new whetstones to sharpen our weapons on" the rosette added.
And the item was promptly added to the ever growing list "Let's not forget regular day to day supplies such as clean clothes enough to last us a month, we can stop by our usual shop" the raven on the team contributed himself even.
Scribbling that on the list as well as they headed for a food store and grabbed a cart, ramen was first on the agenda it seemed as Naruto grabbed at least four packs of packaged ramen of varying kinds of ramen, each with at least eight individual cups in each package enough to last him.
Imagine his surprise when Sasuke and Sakura snagged their own packages of ramen, just one, chicken flavor for Sakura and pork for Sasuke, he grinned but didn't say anything "Next is real food, vegetables and fruits, maybe even food pills" Sakura informed sternly.
Neither boy dared argue with her when she took that kind of tone with them "Should we stock up on nonperishable items and water as well Sakura" Sasuke asked, looking over the tomatoes, they were his favorite after all.
While Naruto stared at some peaches, probably debating on whether or not he wanted to get them "Yeah absolutely Sasuke" though at his question Naruto nodded his head at the same time Sakura did, in sync without even trying.
As they each knew the others thought processes very well due to how long they'd actually been together, so after getting the fruits and vegetables, they stocked up on plenty of water, nonperishable food items and even got some food pills.
To which they headed for the checkout and split the pay as evenly as possible between them since it was going to be for all of them anyway, their temporary sensei and client whoever he/she might be since they weren't going to meet the person until tomorrow.
Up next was a general supplies store "Nothing scented" the rosette warned as she grabbed scentless waterless two in one shampoo & conditioner, scentless moist towelettes, a package of extra toothbrushes, mint flavored toothpaste and an extra hairbrush for her mane of hair.
Sasuke and Naruto copied her as they then found sleeping bags, they got a couple extra just in case, two maps, a compass just to be extra thorough and some books detailing the lay of the land that was going to be their mission destination.
Before all that was bought similar to how they'd bought their food supplies, third on the list had them heading for weapons supply store to get a couple of whetstones each and lastly they stocked up on their usual style of clothing, a whole months worth of yukata and mesh.
Finally going home once they were finished with their shopping "Make sure to bring your fuinjutsu books Naruto, and Sakura bring your kit for concocting poisons and antidotes as an extra precaution" the raven of Team Seven announced.
The moment they stepped foot in their house and grabbed their empty mission packs "Understood Sasuke" the blonde saluted, dashing up the stairs with Sakura following him at a more sedate pace, leaving Sasuke alone in the living room until they returned.
Sakura was carrying extra things though such as a plethora of blank scrolls, her medical pouch filled to the brim with her medical tools, a scroll full of both poisonous and medicinal herbs within and her own fuinjutsu books.
Prompting them all to sit down on the floor surrounded by bags filled with their recent shopping venture "Pack the sleeping bags first, the extra's will go in a scroll that I'll carry in a side pocket on my pack" Sakura stated simply doing that and expecting her teammates to do the same.
In which they did, followed by Naruto drawing several storage seals on the blank scrolls Sakura had brought down "Next our food and water supplies, distribute what we got individually amongst ourselves and the rest will go in Sakura's pack" Sasuke declared next.
And the food and water was evenly split between them, the four packs of ramen in varying flavors, along with a bag of peaches going to Naruto, the pork ramen and tomatoes to Sasuke and the chicken ramen with a bag of apples to Sakura.
Each of them got three jugs of water and made sure to fill their canteens in preparation for tomorrow as well while the rest was sealed away in a fourth separate scroll to be used if needed, it was added to Sakura's pack along with the extra sleeping bag scroll.
The scrolls labeled with names or what was sealed inside so they didn't accidentally grab the wrong scroll "Good grief apparently what Sasuke said to Fugaku-sama about not worrying that you'd make them over-prepare was the truth Sakura-chan" Shisui chose that moment to appear.
Shaking his head at the amount of bags scattered around on the floor in the middle of the chaos were the genin "Stuff it Shisui-san, Sakura-chan didn't make us, we did this together of our own volition" Naruto scoffed with a roll of his blue eyes.
While simultaneously sealing away his supply of clean clothing, yukata, undergarments, an extra pair of sandals, mesh under clothes as well in his usual preferred style that Sasori had gotten them use to at the very beginning of their training under him.
Labeling the scroll as he did so before doing the same with his grooming supplies to keep himself refreshed in case they had to sleep outside, his fuinjutsu books filled the empty pockets and he added the new whetstone to his weapons pouch.
Shisui watching on curiously as the others did the same thing, leaving out very few things "A map, are you seriously going to study a map" the older Uchiha gaped, feeling exhausted over the genin's antics, perhaps Sasuke had understated things.
They were going overboard with their over-preparing and Sakura wasn't the only one in on it, both boys seemed to be as well "Of course we are Shisui-san, besides last week, we've never left the village for longer than a few hours" the fuscia haired preteen snorted.
Unimpressed with his own antics "Plus Sasori-sensei would skin us alive if we didn't…." the blonde huffed only realizing his mistake to late as Sakura's expression turned at the taboo name that hadn't been uttered once by any one in over a month.
In the next moment her eyes and face went eerily blank as Sakura continued to silently pack "Dobe" the younger Uchiha in the room scowled lightly, knowing that it wasn't anyone's fault really especially not Naruto's that Sakura couldn't stand to hear that name.
"Now, now Sakura-chan, you know you can't go the rest of your life avoiding hearing Akasuna's name don't you" Shisui grimaced trying to help a little in hopes that it would lighten the very tense atmosphere after the utterance of Sasori's name.
The girl heaved a sigh, shoulders slumping "I know Shisui-san but it hurts, I thought he'd be here to help me continue to get stronger, he promised that I'd be so strong, stronger than anybody could ever imagine" Sakura cried.
Raising her head a little to show off the tears in her jade irises, proving that Sasori's abandonment had deeply scarred the girl's heart further just as they'd all thought "Then we'll just have to find him someday and kick his ass together right Sakura" Sasuke chimed in with a smirk.
Causing her emerald orbs to widen "Just to prove how strong you/we got in his absence, that sounds better than moping right Sakura-chan" Naruto blurted, feeling giddy at the idea of a shared goal that all of them could get behind.
Her eyes shimmered with tears but after a moment Sakura nodded her head "Right together" the pinkette breathed, squaring her shoulders at the new goal that had been decided upon, while Shisui cringed knowing that, that particular goal wouldn't end well.
Especially when Sakura figured out who exactly her sensei of the last seven years really was, a rogue, a criminal one of the worst, even though he'd come to them and offered information, he'd still gone back to Akatsuki to continue his roll as double agent.
It would be a huge betrayal in Sakura's eyes who valued the people that were important to her and she probably wouldn't understand when or if she ever met Sasori again why he was acting that way after giving her affection in his own creepy way.
But could he tell her all that, no because it was forbidden so instead he cleared his throat "Well then I guess I'll let you kids get back to doing whatever" the older Uchiha saluted and was gone as nothing more than a sigh of the wind in the next moment.
Leaving the genin alone to finish making preparations for their mission and as suggested earlier one of Sasuke's hawk summons was sent ahead to scout "You can send Aimai later so the information gets back to us earlier" the ebony haired preteen commented.
As they sat seiza on the floor and studied one of the maps they'd bought, the spare in Sakura's pack just in case "So looks like we're looking at a good couple of days of travel, depending on how fast our client walks, we may have to slow way down" the blonde of the team said.
While simultaneously reading from one of the books that had been bought that detailed what they should expect when they arrived at their destination "If we're going by that, then possible three days of travel" Sakura added.
"Guess that sounds about right, though we have to take into consideration that our client might be use to physical exercise considering their building a bridge" Sasuke reminded, taking the book Naruto had only just sat down seeing as he was finished reading it for now.
The blonde nodded "That's right, could go either way really" Naruto shrugged, there was no point in arguing about how long it would take them after all, it was just supposed to be an easy C Rank mission where nothing should happen on it.
An hour later after exhausting themselves of everything they could think of to prepare themselves for their first outside the village mission, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura sat around doing nothing as previously planned before Kakashi had showed up to deliver his news of a new mission.
Being lazy as possible really and after dinner Sakura summoned Aimai "Do a little reckon with Umo, you should remember him Aimai-chan, find out what he's learned and deliver the information to me tomorrow night understood" the rosette instructed.
Pleased when the little bat nodded her head eagerly at the command "Aimai will do her best Sakura-sama, you'll see" the bat chirped, taking off into the night to meet up with Sasuke's hawk partway to their destination.
Which left them to head back into the house and lock up for the night "Night Sakura-chan, Sasuke" the Uzumaki yawned, plum exhausted from the day's events, who knew preparing things could be so tiring after all surely not him anyway.
"Make sure you set your alarm and goodnight to you both as well Sakura, Naruto" the Uchiha on the team grunted, feeling tired himself, but making sure to warn the knucklehead to set his alarm that way they could wake up and eat breakfast without having to rush.
Sakura giggled at their antics and disappeared down the hall that led to her separate room after bidding the boys goodnight of course, dressed for bed, set her alarm clock for five in the morning, slipped under the covers and went straight to sleep.
Only to wake hours later by her alarm blaring annoyingly in her ears, with a sigh she tapped the button to such the noisemaker off and after grabbing a clean yukata, headed into her private bathroom for a quick shower.
Then once she was dressed padded silently down the stairs to get started on breakfast, on her heels was Sasuke "He's showering" Sasuke explained Naruto's absence, having been awake a little earlier than planned so he'd already showered.
Eleven minutes later just as she was pulling some sausage from the oven Naruto skidded into the kitchen and sat at the table with Sasuke "What do you suppose our mission clients gonna be like" Naruto asked, curious but he knew neither of his teammates would be able to answer.
Case and point when Sasuke rolled his eyes and Sakura snorted "No idea Naruto, we'll just have to wait and see what their like when we meet them" Sakura said, making up the plates and twenty minutes later breakfast had been devoured.
So they cleaned up, headed out back for a bit to stretch and prepare themselves with light exercise and at the stated time, went back in, made sure all the traps were set to protect their house, grabbed their packs and headed down the streets of the compound to the rest of the village.
All the way to the Hokage Tower where their temporary sensei was waiting "How about that, this sensei's actually on time" the pinkette commented, pleased with the change of pace so far, not to say she didn't kind of miss Kakashi, she was glad that at least their temporary sensei was on time.
Hiruzen chuckled at the mumbled statement while Asuma merely looked somewhat amused "I take it you three already knew as my temporary assignment as your sensei for this mission" Asuma questioned, prompting the genin to straighten.
"Yeah Kakashi-sensei came and told us yesterday so we spent half the day preparing for this mission, hey where's the mission client, I thought they were supposed to be meeting us here like you were Asuma-sensei" the knuckleheaded blonde nodded only to realize one person was missing.
Asuma sighed "Not here yet we have to wait" the raven haired Jonin blew out a puff of smoke after taking a drag from his cigarette, he was curious though about Kakashi's genin as they stood ramrod straight to wait for their client to arrive.
Not a word of complain slipping from their mouths when their client made them wait an entire hour before showing up "Surely you could find someone better than these brats to escort me right Hokage, they all look useless to me, specially the short one with the stupid grin on his face" completely drunk might they add.
Sakura crinkled her nose at the disgusting smell of booze but kept her mouth shut while elbowing Naruto who immediately took offense to the insult at his shortness, though anything he might have said in response was promptly cut off at the pain in his side.
The Jonin temporarily in charge of them raised a brow in response "Ah Tazuna-san, I assure you despite their appearances these genin are among some of the best to graduate from the academy and have a high efficiency rate on missions" Hiruzen greeted.
Praising the genin of Team Seven while placating the mission client at the same time that despite what he thought, the genin were some of the best and probably the only ones that could handle whatever came their way on this mission that he still didn't feel right about.
Obviously Tazuna didn't want to be placated or hear their praises sung "In any case I'd like to get back to my family and village in one piece so I'm counting on you" the bridge builder grumbled to Asuma while taking another swig of the bottle in his hand.
With that statement Asuma turned on his heel "See you in a month or so Hokage-sama" Asuma declared opening the door and allowing the others to file out first before taking the lead again a moment later as they headed for the gates.
Where as he'd promised, Kakashi was waiting to see them off "You really came" Sasuke blinked in surprise because he'd though the Jonin was going to blow them off and be late, thus upsetting Sakura, though he was glad that wasn't the case this time for once.
Kakashi rolled his eyes at the shock in Sasuke's voice "I did promise to see you three off and despite what you think I do know how to be on time sometimes, anyway good luck on your mission Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, I expect to hear good things when you get back" Kakashi chuckled.
Ruffling each of his students hair as they all signed out, his gaze met Asuma's and they both nodded to one another before he and the genin of Team Seven along with their mission client were gone down the path leading away from the village.
~A few hours later~
Asuma was a little surprised at how little the kids had spoken since they'd left the village, keeping on the alert as they gazed around, watching out for anything suspicious "You do know that this is a C Rank Mission right, nothings going to happen" the Jonin pointed out.
Prompting them to focus their attention on him "Something always happens, one can never be to certain after all, there are to many variables" the lone girl on the mission informed, green eyes scanning ahead of them as she spoke before glancing off to the side again.
"Sakura-chan's right, anything that can happen will happen, no one can predict the future" the blonde nodded in agreement with his teammate as he kept his gaze firmly fixed to the right not allowing for anything to escape his intense watch over their surroundings.
Meanwhile Sasuke was lookout for anything coming up behind them "Exactly" the Uchiha grunted, Asuma blinked and finally understood how Kakashi felt, these kids weren't of the norm, they didn't act like fresh out of the academy genin usually did.
They were to analytical if he had to call them something "Nonsensical little brats aren't you, take a load off why don't ya and relax, anyway my feet hurt so I think I'm ready for a break what do you say Asuma-san" Tazuna grimaced.
Feeling dread pool in the pit of his stomach while trying to act as nonchalant as possible "Okay then guess it's time for a break you three start prep…" Asuma sighed having hoped to get a little more distance in before they took a break.
Though when he turned to command the genin to start setting up a temporary camp they were already doing so without prompt, again there was that feeling they weren't normal fresh out of the academy genin as they simply pulled out a scroll and speared a variety of vegetables on sticks.
After unsealing it of course while doling out water at the same time "Don't look so surprised Asuma, we told you we prepared half the day yesterday for this mission" Sasuke reminded, sorely tempted to roll his eyes at the Jonin's shock at their stock of food supplies.
"Probably went a little overboard though but this is our first extended mission outside the village to an entirely different village, we wanted to be ready for anything believe it" Naruto chimed in as he scanned their surroundings for the millionth time.
Until Sakura called their early lunch done "Grab a stick guys, Asuma-sensei and Tazuna-san first" Sakura warned when the boys on either side of her made a mad grab for several sticks, impatient even though Sasuke would never admit that he would get impatient like their knuckleheaded teammate.
Once both Asuma and Tazuna had three sticks to themselves, Sakura hastily grabbed two of her own leaving the last of their meal to the boys, they quickly ate and fifteen minutes later camp was broken down and the five of them were on their way to the Land of Waves again.
~Much later on, that night to be precise~
Having made good distance Asuma called for a final break not even needing to say anything "Once you eat, we'll decide on who takes what shift of watch, each of us will take turns understand" the brown eyed Jonin said in a tone that told them there would be no complaining.
Not that he had to really worry any, the kids hadn't made a peep of complaint since setting out "Can it be in pairs instead of individual shifts" the blonde knucklehead asked, not wanting to be up for a few hours during the night all on his lonesome without anyone to talk to.
Fortunately that's what Asuma already planned on doing, unfortunately though he got stuck with first shift and his partner was Sasuke "Great pair me with the chatterbox why don't ya" the ebony haired preteen groaned while biting in to a roasted carrot.
Sakura rolled her eyes at their antics, throwing Asuma off a bit at their normal interactions, they'd gone all day hardly speaking and now suddenly they were acting like regular genin should it was simply put disconcerting if he was being honest.
"Can you three be any less normal" the bridge builder grumbled, irritated that he kept getting confused no doubt over the genin that were helping to escort him home, with that he finished off dinner, unrolled his bedroll and laid down to get some sleep.
Missing the annoyed glare shot his way "We are normal whose to say everyone else isn't" the fuscia haired girl scoffed, polishing off her own stick of deer meat, they'd had it on sale down in the market so had bought the package of stripped venison to have along on the mission.
It was after that, that she unrolled her own sleeping bag and crawled into it to get some shut eye at least until it was her turn to keep watch anyway and when it was, with it brought the news of something very troubling.
As Aimai returned "There be a very bad man lying in wait for you arrival Sakura-sama" the little bat informed seriously to Asuma's surprise because he didn't even know the girl had a summons, and he didn't think Kakashi knew his female student had a summons either.
"What do you mean a very bad man" Asuma questioned, startling the little female bat who hadn't thought anyone else would be awake except her summoner probably, and seeing as how the bat had only been focused on Sakura hadn't even noticed he was sitting up awake either.
Though the bat did turn in his direction after getting a nod from Sakura "By the name of Zabuza Momochi, two of his subordinates lie in wait for you ahead, they plan to attack tomorrow from a puddle" Aimai explained.
Asuma choked on his cigarette smoke at that "Zabuza Momochi what in bloody blazes is he waiting for us for….unless Tazuna-san was lying about the mission rank Asuma-sensei" Sakura cursed, only to realize in the next moment.
That the only reason the bridge would request a shinobi escort was if he knew more than bandits were going to be after him "You might be right Sakura, the only thing we can do for now though is keep an eye out and find out if their really after him" the Jonin sighed.
Sakura nodded reluctantly, gave her bat summons a reward for bringing back vital information then kept watch with Asuma for another hour before laying back down to get a little more shut eye at the Jonin's insistence.
When they woke Naruto, Sasuke and Tazuna were none the wiser of the confrontation heading their way as they finished up breakfast and started off down the path in hopes of getting to Tazuna's home village but Sakura knew and Asuma knew somehow that he could count on her to keep anyone from getting truly hurt.
