A Volcanic Mission

About a week had passed since Shivaroku's first mission with his new team. He didn't have much to do other than train and hang out with his new friends during lunch or dinner. It was already past 10 AM, but he was still laying in his bed. He felt lazy, but he really wanted another mission. He wanted to prove himself to his new team, and he wanted to do things right this time. He disappointed everyone last time, and it almost cost them the mission and the life of a young girl. Asuma's story about Sasuke continued to echo throughout Shivaroku's mind. Suddenly there was a knock on his door. A familiar voice called out to him, "Shivaroku are you in there?"

It was Ino. Shivaroku joyously hopped out of bed and yelled, "Coming!" He frantically put on a shirt and almost tripped on his way to the door. When he opened it he saw the beautiful blonde standing there waiting for him.

"Good Morning, Ino!" said Shivaroku.

"Morning!" replied Ino. She looked up at Shivaroku's hair, seeing that it was a complete mess. "Did you just get out of bed? Usually you'd be training by now!" said Ino with a smile.

Shivaroku looked away sheepishly and said, "Well uh…I kinda felt lazy today I guess."

"Well you better not be lazy right now because we're being summoned for a big mission!"

"How big?"

"Looks like an A-rank. It looks like it's gonna be a multi-squad mission."

"An A-rank mission, huh? Alright gimme like 5 minutes and I'll be ready. Should I meet you there?" asked Shivaroku.

"I can walk there with you if you want," said Ino, innocently.

Shivaroku quickly turned away to hide his blush and then blurted out, "Yeah! That sounds good!" as he accidentally slammed door shut. He then proceeded to yell, "Lemme get ready real quick!"

Within a few minutes, Shivaroku opened the door and saw Ino waiting outside, just as she promised. Ino looked at Shivaroku with a slight surprise and said, "Wow that was fast. You still should've combed your hair, though," as she brushed her hand through Shivaroku's hair.

"Ah well, a mission's a mission, it will get messed up anyway. Besides, I don't wanna keep you or the rest of the team waiting!" With that, Shivaroku and Ino began their run to the Hokage's office.

Shivaroku and Ino walked into the Hokage's office, but it seems that they were the last ones to arrive. Asuma and Choji were already there, so was Guy and his entire team, as well as Kurenai and her team.

"Ah welcome, you two are right on time," said Tsunade, and then she turned to the present Jonin leaders. "Teams 8, 9, and 10. You will be working together on this joint A-ranked mission. Mount Vesu is on the brink of eruption. Although scientists have claimed the volcano should be now dormant, it seems the events of the most recent Chunin Exam have triggered movement in the plates, causing the volcano to become active again. There is a village at the base of Mount Vesu, and they need all the help they can get to get to safety. For all of you, this is your first A-rank mission. This mission requires extreme teamwork and coordination."

Asuma turned to everyone else and said, "You won't need very many belongings this time. Mount Vesu isn't that far, let's all meet up at the gate in 15 minutes."

Everyone bowed to Lady Hokage and left the building so that they could prepare for their mission. All of Kurenai's team seemed to arrive at the gate first, followed by Shivaroku, Ino, and Choji, and finally Guy's team. However, the Jonin leaders themselves weren't there yet, so all the Genin took the time to chat. A genin with shiny, mushroom-style black hair, and bushy eyebrows, someone who looked like the teenage version of Guy, walked up to Shivaroku, and he asked what his favorite combat style was. Shivaroku responded with Taijutsu, saying it was a very easy choice for him. It seemed Shivaroku and the bushy browed Genin formed an instant connection, as they fist bumped each other without any prompting. The Genin then introduced himself as Rock Lee, and then proceeded to introduce his teammates Neji and Tenten. Shivaroku looked at Neji, noticing his plain crystal-like eyes.

"Hey, Neji is it? Do you possess the byakugan?" asked Shivaroku.

Neji, caught a bit off-guard with the seemingly stupid question, said, "Well yes obviously. All Hyuga clan members possess the Byakugan. Hinata over there is also a Hyuga, and she possesses the byakugan."

"That's amazing. So if I learned correctly, you can use it to sense chakra from all angles and at a pretty wide distance, right?"

"Yes, it's quite useful, but unfortunately it has one blind spot," said Neji. He then continued, "You are the new Genin, correct? Where did you come from?"

Ino spoke up, "Sorry, Neji, but Asuma sensei told us that information was classified to everyone below Chunin level. Besides, do you need to know? He's part of the Leaf now and he's really amazing."

Ino's compliments triggered a smile and a slight blush from Shivaroku, but Neji didn't seem too impressed. "He supposedly only studied for a month and aced the graduation exam, but he doesn't seem like all that to me," said Neji. This didn't really phase Shivaroku as much, since he knew Neji would eat those words later.

"Hey Neji be nice! Besides he's pretty cute!" said the brown-haired female Genin with two buns on her head. Shivaroku was caught a bit off-guard by the sudden compliment, as nobody really ever said such things about his look before. The brown-haired Genin then walked up to Shivaroku, getting pretty close to his face, and introduced herself as Tenten. Shivaroku was getting a bit uncomfortable with how close Tenten got, but he tried to be as respectful as possible. Ino, on the other hand, seemed quite irate, as she walked up to Tenten and pushed her away.

"Hey, don't get all up in his business, Tenten! You're making him uncomfortable!" yelled Tenten.

"I was doing no such thing! Were you uncomfortable Shivaroku?" asked Tenten as she looked towards Shivaroku, who tried to stay as silent as possible to spare the embarrassment.

Ino and Tenten then started bickering slightly until the Genin with a small white dog on his head said, "Man it must be great having two girls fight over you, HAHAHA!" This instantly made Ino and Tenten start blushing as they stepped away from each other and stopped their argument.

Neji sighed, Lee laughed along with Kiba, and Hinata smiled. Choji, as usual, continued to be all annoyed with the fact that Shivaroku was on the team, and the other Genin with black spiky hair and goggles over made no expression, but then he spoke up.

"Hey. Is it true that you aced most of the graduation exam after only preparing for a month?" asked the Genin with goggles.

Shivaroku looked towards him and said, "Well…yes and no."

"Well which is it? I find it hard to believe someone could be that gifted and so skilled that they only needed one month to do what it took to become a Genin. All of us here were in the academy together for three years," said the Genin.

"I'd like to know too," said Neji.

"Yeah, Shino's right, how the heck did you do that? You better not be thinking you're better than all of us just because of it," said the Genin with the dog on his head.

Lee, as well, turned to Shivaroku with a serious face. Ino looked a bit worried as she felt that they were ganging up on Shivaroku, but before she could say anything, Shivaroku stopped her.

"Truth is, I have been training my entire life to be a Shinobi…ever since I was born. I had great teachers along the way. Among taijutsu and some ninjutsu, they taught me many things. I can't go into the details, because I was told to keep my history a secret to all non-chunin and up personnel. Believe me, I don't really understand why it has to be kept a secret, but Lady Hokage ordered it. Before my graduation, I took a month to learn things that I haven't learned yet but were required for Genin to know. It was difficult, but I got help," said Shivaroku.

"Even then, for someone to ace the graduation exam on their first try, and set records…it's unbelievable," said Kiba, slightly jealous of Shivaroku.

"Believe what you want. My teacher told me that there will always be someone stronger, and I want to be the best there ever was. Many times those who are stronger will be evil and try to hurt the ones I love, but I will never let that happen. That's why I will keep training and punch through any obstacle, so that I can protect this village and maybe the world one day." Shivaroku stood proudly and looked at everyone with a smile.

These words from Shivaroku reminded everyone of that special boy with orange clothes. Everyone smiled except Shino, who gave a nod of approval.

"Are you guys all ready?" asked a voice behind the group. It was Asuma, walking alongside Kurenai and Guy.

"Where were you guys? I thought we had to meet at the gate in 15 minutes!" said Ino, a bit annoyed.

"We had to make some last-minute preparations, mostly having to do with where the Mount Vesu villagers will be staying after we help them escape," replied Kurenai.

"YYYESS! This will be a great mission! Sad that Kakashi isn't here to help," said Guy.

"Actually where is Kakashi sensei and team 7?" asked Neji.

"Kakashi had a mission. Naruto went off with Lord Jiraiya for training, and Sakura is continuing her medical ninjutsu training with Lady Hokage," said Asuma. Lee and Hinata were a bit disappointed that Naruto wasn't coming, but other than that they all understood. All three teams headed out towards Mount Vesu.

Within a few hours, they finally reached the volcano. It seemed that smoke and ash already started rising out of it. The villagers were in a panic, as they were trying to grab all they could find and put it on their carts. Fortunately, the Leaf Shinobi arrived and began to help with the evacuations.