"Wow! Our first C-rank!" Naruto screeched excitedly, bouncing about with the mission brief Anko had just handed him.
I, however, was somewhat worried. It was no secret that dirst-time C-ranks had a reputation of going bad. But I supposed there was nothing I could do about it; we were going to have to go through it at some point.
"What does it say?" Sakura snatched the sheet from him.
"We're going to the Hot Water village. I'll tell you about it later. Pack up your things and meet me at the gates in half an hour."
Then she disappeared. The three of us headed home to do just that.
I spent a while dicouraging Naruto from bringing a massive bag that was so heavy it weighed him down - instead I reminded him that he knew how to use seals.
"Oh yea!" he yelled, and then he sealed everything into a scroll and tucked it into a pocket.
We arrived back at the gates just in time, Sakura already there and lugging a small bag. She raised her brows when she saw us.
"No bag?"
Naruto grinned and whipped out his scroll, as I did with the one I had borrowed from him.
Then she let out a little 'oh!'.
Anko arrived a moment later.
"Ok brats, let's get this thing over with. I'll brief you on the way."
We took off to the trees.
"So, basically we're going to be delivery guys. I have an item, just a gem, that the guy we're delivering to requested. He's a regular customer that often buys things of worth from our village and has them transported to him."
"Why doesn't he just come to the village himself?" Sakura asked.
"The Hokage says he just isn't willing to travel that far every time he buys something, so he just gets it brought to him. It is often the case with rich merchants."
"And what could be so special about a stupid gem anyway?" Naruto muttered.
Anko shrugged.
"Gems aren't my thing, but this one is some solid stuff. Maybe he has a wife or something he wants to give it to."
"Uhuh," I nodded along. "But back to the mission itself; how should we react if we get attacked by a missing nin? Just, for example, like one of the Seven Swordsmen?"
Anko burst out laughing and slowed down so she could pat me on the head.
"I don't think you're strong enough for that kiddo. This mission has a minimal danger risk."
"But what if it did happen?" I demanded.
Anko shrugged. "Run as fast as you fucking can."
It would take us five days to get to the Hot Water village. It wasn't an unpleasant journey, but it wasn't exactly full of exciting things. In fact the most interesting thing was probably when Sakura woke up to find a spider had crawled onto her face in the night. She screamed like hell, of course, and the rest of us got a kick out of it.
On our final day of travel, as we were approaching, Anko decided to tell us a bit more about the village.
"The Hot Water village is a trading hub, many people from all nations come here to show their goods. Only the best are given permits to set up stalls here though, since it's so competitive. Also you should know that it's a neutral village that is most civilian."
"What does neutral village mean?" Naruto asked, scratching his head.
"It means that they have no alliances or enemies, but have no laws against letting anyone enter; be it criminals, missing-nin etc," Sakura replied. "I never thought I'd see one of these villages exist. I thought they were myths."
"Nope," Anko said, popping the 'p'.
"But what happens if they're attacked from the inside by a criminal?"
"Well, the criminal will be driven out or eliminated. It's the same with missing-nin. Though th village is mostly civilian, the visitors are not and many missing-nin have taken up residence there. Whenever their peace is disturbed, they tend to eliminate it without the government having to do a thing."
"Wow," Naruto breathed. "What if we see a missing-nin from Konoha?"
"Do nothing. Just smile and keep going like nothing is wrong and you should be pretty safe."
Oh my GOD. What if Orochimaru is there? Or one of the Akatsuki?
I swallowed. No. No that was unlikely. And even if for some strange reason I did see one, they wouldn't be able to do anythhing unless they wanted to be expatriated.
But then we were at the gates, and Anko signed us in with a friendly smile at the guard. Then we wandered in.
The village was a sight to see. There was colour everywhere. Even many of the houses were built as certain colours. Children ran about blowing massive bubbles and waving various trinkets, showing them off. Even the people here were dressed with heavy jewellery and clothes bursting with colour.
"Wow! This place should be called the Rainbow Country!" Naruto cried, dancing about and taking everything in as we wandered the streets for a bit.
It wasn't trade season yet, but that didn't stop the amassment of stalls selling food and occasionally trinkets.
I tugged on my beanie self-consciously. I looked so out of place with my black long-sleeved shirt and beanie and white ninja pants.
Naruto and Sakura seemed to fit in perfectly, with their ridiculous red clothes. The fashion sense here seemed to be shot, if it existed at all. It seemed that the more colour you wore, the better, even if the garments of clothing were not so flash.
"Let's get going; we're meant to be meeting this guy at a restaurant called Mitsuo's Magic. I've got directions here."
It didn't take long to get there; though it didn't seem like the place you would meet a rich merchant. The entrance was down a back alley in a nondescript location. It seemed shady as hell. Though when we entered, a bell tinkering, it was actually a very nice looking place. The place was lit with candles and the faint smell of incense wafted throughout the restaurant. It didn't so much have tables as booths and colourful lounges surrounding low tables where you could relax while having a meal.
All in all, it looked rather nice.
"Ah, it smells so good!" Sakura gushed, breathing in deeply.
"Welcome! I'm glad you like it, I got it a few days ago from a trader from Kiri. It's a smell that can only be found in certain flowers that grow in Kiri's environment," a voice said from behind us. The three of us jumped while Anko just turned, her plastic smile twitching with annoyance.
"Thank you," Anko told the strange man politely. He was dressed like a jester, with yellow and black tights, a black trench coat over a purple shirt and yellow tie. His jester hat was yellow and purple, his hair a sandy blond and eyes a startling grey.
He was smiling at her in a way I didn't like at all. His smile was too... mischievous for my liking.
"My name is Mitsuo, proud owner of Mitsuo's Magic. Please! Let me show you to a seat. Four?"
"Actually, we're waiting for someone. His name is Takumi."
"Oh! Takumi, huh? Interesting. He happens to be a friend of mine," Mitsuo said proudly, leading us to a private booth. "I can tell you secrets about him. Secrets that might interest you very much."
"Ooh! What secrets?" Naruto asked, grinning excitedly.
"Well, they wouldn't be secrets if they weren't worth something," he drawled, flashing Naruto a playful grin, but his attention quickly diverted back to Anko.
Naruto just looked confused.
"Sorry, I'm not paying for the words of a con," Anko responded, grinning at him darkly and letting her eyes rove his outfit pointedly.
He shrugged, but the smile remained on his face. The four of us slid into the booth.
"Suit yourself," he shrugged. "I'll bring you all some tea!" And then he pranced off, presumably to the kitchens.
"What a weirdo," I said, making a face.
"Anko-sensei likes him," Naruto said with a poker face though I knew he was inwardly grinning.
"Shove off, brat. I do not like him. Kunoichi like me do not like people. That's for baby genin and academy students," she said dismissively.
Sakura went red and ducked her head, causing Anko to cackle and give her a nookie, causing her to screech.
"If you don't like people, then what?" I asked, genuinely curious.
The smirk on her face was positively gleeful.
"You'll understand one day, kiddos."
My face scrunched up with displeasure.
"Well, Sakura likes Akio-sensei," Naruto felt the need to point out, even though it was rather irrelevant.
"I DO NOT LIKE HIM!" Sakura screeched, and just at the moment Mitsuo appeared with the tea. He placed the tea down, giggling.
"Who do you not like?" he slid into the booth next to Anko, pressing most obviously into her personal space though his attention remained on Sakura.
"No- no one!" she spluttered.
"She likes our friend's sensei!" I grinned triumphantly, watching her squirm.
"Why that is adorable! Is he hot?"
"Yes- I mean, what, I don't like him!" she yelled. But before any fun could be made of her, a man walked up to our booth.
He appeared to be in his late thirties with dark brown hair in a ponytail that was clipped to the top of his head and a red headband tied around his forehead, bangs framing his face. He had wide innocent slate-purple eyes, and delicate features. A pretty man, if you will.
He definitely didn't look like a typical rich merchant.
"Mitsuo-san! And you must be the team from Leaf!" he smiled enthusiastically and slid into the last available seat, next to Naruto. However, just for the tiniest second, I though I saw him glance at Naruto oddly.
Perhaps it was my imagination.
"Takumi! It has been a while. I suppose I should leave you to your business," Mitsuo said with a dramatic sigh. "Call me if you need anything!" then he disappeared.
However, my eyes were on Anko, not missing the piece of paper she slipped discreetly into her pocket with a smug smile.
Then she unravelled a scroll and unsealed the contents, a gem of solid blue appearing on the table.
"Here is your order," she said briskly.
Takumi nodded excitedly, and he reached into a satchel he had.
"This is what the Hokage has requested as payment. Please keep it safe!"
It was a scroll.
Anko nodded, the scroll disappearing into her pocket in a flash.
"Thank you! It was nice doing business with you." she slid a few coins onto the table, probably to pay for the tea, and then stood up.
"We will be going now. We hope you will continue to use Konoha's services!" she said with a bright smile, and the three of us exchaged confused glances as we followed. That was quick.
On the way out of the restaurant, I noticed three people walk in.
They appeared about our ages, maybe a bit older. In fact, two of them looked quite a lot like Mitsuo. Just for a moment, my eyes met with the grey-eyed boy, his hair cut so that one of his eyes was obscured. Under his one visible eye was a red teardrop.
And we walked past each other, our shoulders almost brushing as we passed each other, and then I looked away. But not before a smirk curled his lips.
Eerily reminiscent of Mitsuo.
But then, we passed each other and the moment ended.
We ended up staying a night at an inn, despite the fact we could have headed off.
I felt I knew why, as did Naruto. We stayed up just so we could grin at Anko as she left once Sakura had fallen asleep. We were in the same room, you see. It was a safety measure most genin teams follow.
She had waited for us to fall asleep, pretending to be asleep herself, but when she finally realised we weren't going to she'd just gone ahead and gotten up anyway. She did, however, create a shadow clone.
Naruto and I sported identical cheshire grins as she walked passed us.
"We know where you're going~" I sang. "You're going to see Mitsuo. Because you like him."
"Shut up brat," she flushed, and walked past us brusquely. "I do not like him. This is adult stuff."
"Have fun with your date!" Naruto called as she left.
"Hey, we should go exploring!" I piped up as she walked out.
"No way," the clone Anko snapped. "Absolutely not. Go to bed. You won't be able to keep up tomorrow if you're half asleep."
We grudgingly relented, sliding back into our respective beds.
We did whisper for a while, until Anko got so annoyed she threw a pillow at each of us and told us to shut up. Finally we did, and eventually fell asleep.
Strangely, nothing terrible did happen on that mission. Well, nothing that I had knowledge of. In the future I would look back and wonder;
If only we had known just who Mitsuo was, what would we have done differently?