Hello, this is my first fic so I hope all of you would help me with the fic. Especially since English isn't my daily language. I do not own Naruto or anything related to it. I only own my original characters and my story. Thanks.

Therefore I want to thank Kohaku-san, and Magicians of the Yami who kept reviewing. Rythmic who just started reading and like my fic and maxhrk, sorry I don't get it XD but Naruto will surely make appearance though in a special chapter I planned. Let's read!

Ayame

First Mission

It was an ordinary day in Konoha. The sun was shining brightly. The sky was clear. The streets were crowded by people, each with their own business. Meanwhile, three children could be seen in the backyard of a house. They were weeding the grass. They shared their duty equally. One of the children didn't seem to accept the task. The boy had dark green hair with beads hanging from his hair.

"Geez, why are we doing this?" he mumbled.

"It can't be helped, we're merely rookie genins. We can't move to higher class missions yet, Shinji-san," Ayame only smiled to him. Itachi didn't say anything in the other hand, he was weeding diligently without complaining. It only made Shinji more annoyed, he pulled out grass with its roots in annoyance.

"Shinji-san!" it wasn't the grass they should weed.

They haven't changed… Ayame glanced to her teammates. Shinji still held some kind of dislike to Itachi and Itachi was still as quiet as ever. Every time they were training, Shinji would insist Itachi into a spar, or rather more a fight. It seemed the teamwork they had when they were taking the test was gone. Arashi-sensei didn't say anything about their teamwork, to Ayame's wonder. They had done several D-class missions from weeding to finding missing items or people. Ayame didn't really mind, because she understood they couldn't just get high class mission even though they were officially shinobi. Their training sessions were pretty hard and Arashi-sensei was a strict teacher. She focused in training every aspect of their ability. Not only improving their taijutsu, genjutsu, ninjutsu and ningu, but also their stamina, speed and agility. It was hard in the beginning but they had started to get used to it.

Even though so, Ayame wanted to get more difficult mission and she thought not only Shinji wanted it. She glanced to Itachi who nearly finished his part.

-o-O-o-

Sandaime was working in his office as usual. But it seemed he had harder time with the paper works.

It wasn't this hard when Arashi was here, he thought, a bit regretting his decision. Not long afterwards he heard knocking on the door.

"Come in," he welcomed the break. It was Arashi.

"Sandaime-sama," she greeted.

"Arashi, how's your team?"

"We've done our mission," she handed out an accomplishment paper.

"I see. So how is their progress?"

"They are fine," she answered. But being one of the closest people to Arashi, Sandaime noticed there were something more.

"Is there another?" he asked.

"…Why did you put Ayame in this team?" It was a surprising a question indeed, but Sandaime managed not to show it.

"What makes you think that I put Ayame in team 4 purposely?"

"Not only Ayame, but also the other two. You're the one who set everything from the start. You selected these kids and put it under my tutorage on purpose," she stated.

Sandaime gave a small smile, it was hard to hide things from Arashi.

"I suppose so. You don't mind, do you?"

"…I just wondering why do you put the Uchiha and Nakayama together. I suppose you know their relationship isn't that good and…you must've known their ability well, " she eyed him suspiciously.

"Indeed I am, I'm not that ignorant," he said it matter of factly.

"Then you know that those two can be called prodigies…and putting them in the same team… There should be no team with more than one prodigy, in order to balance the team. Most of all, you chose Ayame as their teammate"

"Why? She's brilliant and she's capable enough"

"I must say I'm impressed that she was able to graduate from the Academy just in a year and became a genin in such a young age but more than that, she's not strong enough. Especially when she's between two prodigies, she would only fall behind"

"Is that all what you want to say?" Sandaime asked, his face remained calm.

"Hai," her face serious, demanding for an explanation.

"…I know her better than anyone else, Arashi," he smiled,

"She has a great potential within her small body, a potential that only you would be able to seize it out. Most of all, she's the best choice to be those two teammate. She carries the most important duty in her team. A duty than can only be fulfilled by her."

Arashi knew from his look, that Sandaime was serious. She didn't have a glimpse what he meant, but she knew how to find out,

"…Sandaime-sama, I have a request…"

-o-O-o-

They had finished their mission, even though it couldn't be regarded as a mission. ('Oh, that was a mission?' Scowled Shinji) After the mission, they returned to their usual training spot and not long afterwards, a spar –or a fight- between Shinji and Itachi started, ignoring Ayame's presence completely.

Ayame let out a long sigh. She wished she could stop her teammates in doing useless fights. Teammates weren't supposed to fight each other. But she knew that her ability was far below them to stop them or even to make them listen to her. After all, she was the youngest in team, and a girl, who would bother to listen to a little girl? She decided to practice her aiming skills and ignore her frustration. Not for long it seemed…

A puff of smoke appeared, and they knew it could only possibly mean that their sensei arrived. Soon after Arashi appeared and the fight ceased.

"Sensei…" Ayame was a bit glad to see their sensei's appearance.

"Team, gather. I have something to tell," she told them calmly. The three approached her, wondering what news she brought. Shinji hoped it would be about mission, and a good one. His eyes gleamed with anticipation. The same thought crossed his teammates, but they didn't show it as clearly as Shinji.

"We have a mission," the children's eyes widened in surprise,

"It's a C-class mission. Our order is to look for someone named Daichi Tetsuo. Tomorrow, we're going to Ekimaru city in southern border where he was last spotted. The details of the mission will be told tomorrow. I expect all of you to bring everything you'll need, we'll probably stay for a long time. We meet in front of the south gate at 8. Be punctual," then without saying another word, she disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Yes! At last a real mission! I'll prove that I'm worthy!" then he left excitedly, leaving the two behind.

"…" Ayame thought it was rather weird. She was happy that at last they were assigned a real mission but…it seemed wrong. Itachi didn't miss it.

"Aren't you happy?"

"Eh?" she looked at Itachi, surprised that he even initiated a talk.

"Well… I am… But…it seemed too soon, somehow…" she answered honestly.

"Indeed," Itachi agreed, making Ayame more surprised.

"But we can't find out yet what Sensei's true purpose. So I suppose we can't do anything about it." Ayame only stared at him.

"Nan desuka?" he asked well-mannered.

"It's the first time I hear Itachi-san speaks more than one sentence," she answered innocently. Itachi nearly fell to the ground when he heard her comment. (A/n: But of course, he was Itachi, he wouldn't do that ;P)

-o-O-o-

The next morning, as usual Ayame arrived earlier at the appointed place. She decided to check her gear. She knew that the weather shouldn't be much of a problem, just in case she brought a raincoat. She also brought survival gear and first aid kit. While she was checking, one of her teammates arrived, Ayame didn't need to guess who it was.

"Ohayo gozaimasu, Itachi-san," she greeted. It was indeed Itachi. He was prepared for the mission, he also wore backpack to carry his gears.

"Ohayo gozaimasu, Ayame," he stood beside her, not saying a word as usual. The silence was never awkward, it was just a way for them to show their approval for each other's presence. Ayame understood Itachi's type pretty well, someone who prefer silence. After she finished checking, she wore the backpack and saw Shinji had arrived.

"Yo!" he greeted Ayame.

"Ohayo, Shinji-san," it was Shinji's usual greetings. He stood beside Ayame, making her stood between the two. Shinji completely ignored Itachi's presence, Ayame noticed.

"What do you know about Ekimaru, Ayame?" suddenly Itachi asked Ayame, his question surprised Ayame and Shinji.

What did he expect by asking me? Ayame wondered.

"I only know from what I read. Ekimaru is a trading city, one of the busiest trading centers in Fire Country, especially it is located near the border. So there are many people from other countries who visit the city. The weather is fine in summer and there isn't much snow in winter," Ayame explained what she knew about Ekimaru. Itachi thought about it.

"Then it would be hard to find this person, especially it's summer. It's the best time for the merchants to come"

Ayame thought Itachi was right. Ekimaru must be crowded with merchants. It wouldn't be easy to find a person.

"True. He uses the opportunity well," Ayame agreed.

"He or they?" Shinji spoke up, making Ayame and Itachi looked at him.

"Wh…" before Ayame could ask Shinji, their sensei appeared.

"It seems the team's ready. Let's go, I'll tell you the details along the journey," Arashi didn't let them ask anything. The children were rather used to with her attitude. She didn't speak much and once she spoke she spoke straightforwardly, no useless words. She was an example a real shinobi, efficient and professional. Ayame had grown a respect for her, so were her teammates. She observed her sensei quietly, they had passed the guards and now they were walking on the path to Ekimaru.

"It'll be a two-days trip, we're going to stop by Kirisaki to rest. Fasten your pace or we won't make it as scheduled." As Arashi told them to, team 4 fastened their pace.

"Our mission is to find Daichi Tetsuo. He is a successful businessman, he is pretty well-known in the business world for his cunning ability in sensing business opportunity. A month ago he disappeared without a trace. His business that he has started since 4 years ago was in the middle of success. So you can conclude that his leave is not reasonable."

The children nodded slightly in agreement.

"Our client is his wife, Daichi Kaoru. She reported that her husband was last seen in the morning few weeks ago when he left their house to work. He didn't return home, he had promised he would return home early. She was worried and called his colleagues and they told her they didn't see him at work"

"Why weren't they worried?" Ayame asked.

"They thought he went to watch the market, it's a habit of him"

"Probably he was kidnapped on his way to work or at the market," Shinji concluded.

"Then it must be someone who is close enough to know his habit," Itachi spoke.

"Right," Arashi approved. Shinji showed his annoyance clearly.

"There's a report that Daichi was seen in Ekimaru, but there's no more information to confirm that. However, it's enough for a start," Arashi ended her explanation. Ayame noticed that it wasn't really the end of the explanation. There was information regarding the mission, and it couldn't be told while they were running. She decided to keep silent about it.

After 4 hours of constant running, they stopped to take a rest near a river bank. Ayame filled her with water from the river. Itachi leaned to a tree with his eyes closed and his arms crossed. (A/n: It seems all the Uchihas seem cool with this pose, don't you think? winkwink) Shinji was wrapping his hands with bandages out of habit. Meanwhile, Arashi was checking their direction using a map and a compass, in the same time she was watching the children. She noticed they didn't seem to tire out much after constant running, included Ayame. She was able to keep up with them.

They surely have good stamina and can be serious in mission.

She thought the children would be rather annoying in their first real mission, for being too enthusiastic. She could sense they had been waiting for it, but the children were calmer and more composed than most of the genin on their first real mission. She had overheard their conversation when they were waiting for her. Ayame was sure the smartest when it comes to theory and information. Itachi had good analytical skills. Shinji surprisingly –or not- had sharp instinct. They took the mission seriously, like a shinobi would be.

I'm looking forward to the mission…

"Let's continue," she signaled the children.

-o-O-o-

They reached Kirisaki before the night had fallen. They rested for one night at the nearest inn. Arashi paid for one room to minimize their expenses. (A/n: it's more effective anyway, as if anything will happen rolls her eyes)

Their room was pretty wide. The walls were made of wood, thick enough to make them feel comfortable. There were two beds, a coffee table –or something looked like it-, and a cupboard.

"Ayame and I will take the beds while both of you will sleep on the floor. I suppose it's not a problem for you?" she wasn't really asking though, they knew it was an order. Itachi spread his sleeping bag obediently on the floor. Shinji grunted but followed suit, he spread his sleeping bag as far as he could than Itachi's. Ayame only stared at his action as she put her things on the bed.

"I'm going out for a while. Lock the doors and don't go outside," she left her students.

"Sheesh, is that a proper teacher's attitude? She only paid for one room" Shinji protested, obviously annoyed.

"Shinji-san!" Ayame objected.

"Probably she isn't too nice, but she is obviously considering our condition. We could've spent the night at the forest, Ekimaru isn't too far from Konoha"

"Huff, so we should thank her then. Whatever, I'm taking a bath, there's a public bath downstairs," with that he slammed the door shut.

Ayame let out a long sigh.

When would he learn to appreciate others?

"If you want to take a bath, go ahead. I'll stay," Itachi spoke, without looking at Ayame. Ayame understood he was avoiding conflict with Shinji. She chose to give up and took a change of clothes from her bag and left Itachi alone. When she left, Itachi only stared at the door and let out a sigh.

-o-O-o-

Meanwhile, somewhere else…

Arashi walked into a shabu-shabu booth near the river bank. (A/n: a walking booth, usually pulled and fit max. 3 people and you all know what kind of food it is, don't you?). She ordered for some oden and shrimp.

"You don't order a bottle of sake?" a voice spoke from her right.

"A bottle of sake please," Arashi ordered without looking at the newcomer.

"And some oden, shrimp and cuttlefish," the person sat beside her and took the bottle of sake Arashi ordered. He –it appeared he was a man- was a man in his thirties, in a glance he seemed just an ordinary merchant, a tired and ragged man. But his eyes told the opposite, his eyes were sharp and wary, as if nothing missing from his keen observation.

"So… what do you have in store?" Arashi asked.

"Not much, I haven't found the stuff you want. I only know there are merchants in Ekimaru who had the stuff"

"How good are they to have something you don't?"

"They moved a lot I see and they have someone backing them up"

"A daimyo?"

"Kind of, it seems they work for him," he paused,

"They know each other pretty well. Well, probably you can try them, they're pretty easy to find, especially with their good reputation. I doubt you never hear of them"

Arashi paid for her and his orders.

"Thanks, sorry for the trouble. I hope I can still count on you," she said flatly.

"No prob. You can count on me," he waved his hands carelessly as the other hand was holding a stick of boiled shrimp.

Arashi only nodded as she stood and left the booth. After she was pretty far from the booth, she digested all the information she got from the informant. He could hardly find what she wanted meant that they were pretty tight, remembering who ordered them. Someone who knew their client well enough and worked in Ekimaru… someone who had good reputation… Arashi had good guess who the person may be.

-o-O-o-

The next day, they continued their mission. During their 'small trip', they didn't exchange a word, it wasn't unusually quiet, though. In less than 4 hours they had reached Ekimaru, after a brief security check –thanks to their status as Konoha shinobi- they entered the trade center.

Ayame had prepared herself for whatever may come in the mission, but she was still surprised when she saw Ekimaru. It was the first time she visited another city, and she saw how different Ekimaru was with her village. The city was vast, she could barely see where the city borders. Most of all, the city was crowded with people, everywhere she could see some of them walking down the streets, some was trading things with each other. She was amazed with the vicinity around her, so was Shinji and Itachi. It seemed it was their first time too.

"Let's find a place to stay first," Arashi told them, they followed obediently. They picked an inn that wasn't far from the city centre but also wasn't too near with the crowds. They paid for one room and their room was much better than before since the inn was Japanese-styled with the sliding paper doors, tatami and futon. After they put their things, Arashi signaled them to come closer, she was about to tell the rest of the information they needed to know regarding the mission.

"We're going to start our mission. First, there is some information that you need to know, we're not facing a single person"

Her words took their attention, but it wasn't fully unexpected.

"Have you heard of Kaneshiro Naoki?"

"Well... he's a successful businessman in Ekimaru and if I'm not mistaken he is running for governor election that will take place next month. Many think he is the strongest candidate with his wide influence after the current governor," Ayame explained what she knew. Shinji and Itachi looked at her, wondering if there was anything she didn't know.

"Is he the one who behind our husband's client's disappearance?" Ayame saw a slight relationship between Kaneshiro and Daichi, both were businessman and there could be an unhealthy competition.

"He's just a suspect, but it is a good start where to look. As we know, Kaneshiro has strong influence and probably he has hired some people to kidnap Daichi," Arashi added.

"We're going to gather as much as information about Kaneshiro and any other possibility how we could find Daichi. You must blend with the crowds, in order to do that you mustn't show your identity as a shinobi. I suppose you won't need my help. Return before night fell," she ended her instructions and looked at her students carefully to see they understood.

"Good, we'll go separately. There are some advantages being children, don't be too careless." Soon they were separated, each of the children went on different directions. They dressed up normally, no one would suspect they were shinobi in mission.

Ayame was rather nervous, she didn't really like the crowds even though she hated to be lonely especially she was on her own. Shinji had offered to accompany her, knowing it was dangerous for a 4-year-old girl walking on her own. Foolishly, she refused the offer and told him it would be better if they separated so there would be more information gained. She regretted her decision. She shook her doubts away, she was a shinobi and she mustn't be afraid easily especially now she was in a mission.

Now… where should I start?

She examined her surroundings, looking for the right person. Men wouldn't talk too much… Children wouldn't know much… So the best choice was women, women liked to talk about anything and knew nearly everything. She walked slowly and carefully, choosing the right person to gain information from. Then, she found a kind-looking lady, she was probably in her fifties, a little fat, she had her short brown hair tied in a big ribbon and she wore a lovely apron. She seemed to be a waiter in a small coffee shop. She decided to approach her.

Here it goes…

"Excuse me…" Ayame addressed her politely.

"Hai?" the woman was surprised to find a lovely girl without her parents.

"Do you see my parents?" she asked innocently.

"Iie, I'm sorry I don't, where are they?"

"They say, they'll be around. I got separated, so I lost"

"Oh, really? I've never seen you around. Are you visitors?"

Ayame nodded her head.

"My, my, it would be hard to look for your parents in busy hours. Police station is pretty far from here and I can't leave the shop. Why don't you stay in the coffee shop?"

"Mother says not to believe in strangers," Ayame acted like a normal child. It was true indeed, her mother used to say those words.

"Well, well, I won't do anything to you. It's much more dangerous if you stay in the crowd, you can sit near the road so you can find your parents. Don't worry," she smiled assuringly, a sincere smile and offered her hand to Ayame. Ayame thought she had picked the right person, she accepted her hand hesitantly and followed her to the small shop. The shop was small but comfortable, she sat Ayame on a seat near the cashier facing the road.

"There, you can find your parents this way," she smiled to Ayame, in which Ayame returned.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Hikari Ayame," there was no harm to say her full name.

"That's a nice name. I'm Tadashi Megumi, you can call me Megumi. Now stay here, don't go anywhere until you find your parents," she told Ayame who only nodded, Megumi moved to sit at the cashier and worked on it. Ayame examined the shop, searching for a way to start for a conversation and she found it.

"Megumi-san who is that?" she pointed at a picture of a man on a pamphlet.

"Oh, that's Kaneshiro Naoki, he is one of the candidates for Ekimaru governor"

"Governor? Is he a good man then? My father once said that the governor was a good man "

"Well," she chuckled to hear Ayame's comment,

"He's a successful businessman, he owned a lot of company"

"What kind of company?"

"Well, something related to imported products."

It was the same kind of company with Daichi, Ayame thought.

"But a good man? I don't know" her words surprised Ayame.

"Eto?"

"There are many rumors about how he used dirty ways to make his business successful, how he sold things illegally, and how he has so many underlings that works as his hit men"

Ayame titled her head.

"Oh, I supposed it confuses you," she forgot to whom she was talking to,

"It seemed he isn't. There are some merchants that didn't like his business and they ended bankrupt, either their store was burnt down, stolen or disappeared"

"Disappeared?"

"Some of them suspected his dirty work and openly confronted him and afterwards they just disappeared, suddenly and without a trace. Nobody found them. Since then, nobody dares to deal with Kaneshiro and because of it, many think he would easily win the election," she said sadly.

"Really? Then he is a bad governor. Where does he stay?" Megumi smiled to hear her innocent comments.

"Not far from here, you walk along the road and turn left until you reach the city border, you'll find the biggest house around, it was a traditional house and surrounded by bamboo forest," she regarded Ayame as an ordinary child who had a lot of curiosity. Ayame understood the advantages her sensei meant before, she smiled slightly. She had enough information already.

"Ah! I see my parents!" Ayame acted as if she had seen them,

"Arigatou, Megumi-san! I'll tell my parents about you"

"Ah, kiyoskete ne, Ayame-chan," she smiled, in a short time she had grown fond to the little girl.

"Hai," Ayame waved to her and disappeared between the crowds.

-o-O-o-

After a good distance away from the coffee shop, Ayame disappeared into an alleyway and jumped on the rooftop. She jumped from one rooftop to another to the direction Megumi told her, keeping her body low so nobody would notice her. She found the house she wanted to see, Megumi's description matched the house. It was the biggest house around and it was a traditional Japanese house surrounded by bamboo forest and high walls. She could hardly look inside and she noticed guards patrolling. They seemed to be ordinary guards, not really to be worried about but it was Kaneshiro's influence that needed to be aware of.

A governor candidate, huh? There would be some problems later.

Ayame thought she had enough as the sun was about to set. It was time for her to return to the inn. After reporting her small discovery, her sensei must have known what to do.

Author's Note: At last! I continue this chapter! Geez, I'm truly stuck! I'm not that creative in making missions, I hope it's not boring… Sorry if it is…:P Ayame is truly good in looking for information ne? She could be a good actress. Well… I'm probably mistaken too if I met her, who would think a cute 4-year-old is a shinobi? Well, here's another omake!

Character Profile

.:Nakayama Shinji:.

Birth: 22 July

Age: 6

Blood type: O

Family:

Nakayama Hiroaki (father)

Nakayama Reiko (mother, deceased)

Nakayama Shuichiro (brother)

Nakayama Aki (sister)

Physical appearance

Hair color: Dark Green

Eye color: Golden

Height: 137 cm

Ability

Ninjutsu: good

Genjutsu: average

Taijutsu: excellent

Ningu: good

Chi (Bloodline limit): excellent

Knowledge: good

Team

Team 4

Jounin instructor: Kishuu Arashi

Teammates:

Uchiha Itachi

Hikari Ayame