MISSION I - D-RANK

The new Genin teams don't actually receive new missions right away. The first day or two are reserved for team building and exercises, as the Jōnin sensei need to ensure their students are up to par and working well enough together.

For Team 9, however, that wasn't entirely necessary. Naruto spent the better part of a year training them together during their travels and kept doing so while they attended the Academy. Every bit of training they've undergone has been with teamwork in mind, that they'd be on the same team when they become ninja.

Therefore, the day of graduation was spent mostly in celebration and eating at Ramen Ichiraku. At the end, though, they still had a sparring session; their first as an official team.

And today… Today, they take on their first mission!

To prepare for the big moment, Kotori is practicing in front of the fullbody living room mirror. She places one hand on her hip and raises her fist high up. Dissatisfied, she returns to a neutral posture before thinking something over again. She then playfully sticks out her tongue and makes a V sign. No, that's not it, either.

"What're you doing?" Hinata asks as she walks into the room, carrying Hiroto in her arms for his breakfast.

"Hey, mom. I'm practicing my victory pose." Kotori says as she raises both arms high up this time but isn't happy with that one, either.

"Your… victory pose?" Hinata raises a brow.

"Yep!" She twirls around and grins. "The pose I'm gonna make when we finish our first big mission together!"

Carrying two backpacks, Naruto also hops down into the room from the second floor, skipping several steps as he does. "What's this about victory?"

"Dad, you had a victory pose, right?" Kotori asks.

"I… didn't, I don't think." He answers with some hesitation, trying to recall if he ever had one.

He walks over and kisses his wife and son.

"Oh, come on, you totally had one!" She then turns to Hinata. "He totally did, right? Like giving a thumbs up and shouting 'Believe it!' or something like that?"

Hinata shakes her head. "Not really, no."

"And besides, I'd never say something like that…" Naruto complains.

"You know, I'm starting to wonder if you're really my parents." Kotori shakes her head in disappointment.

Naruto laughs and throws one of the backpacks to Kotori who snatches it mid-air. "Come on, we're gonna be late. You can practice your pose on the way."

Kotori runs by Hinata to give her a hug and nibble on Hiroto's nose, the toddler giggling in response. "You behave, lil' guy."

"I could say the same to you." Hinata chuckles.

"Not a chance." Kotori laughs and runs out the door with Naruto.

"See you tonight." Naruto waves.

"If you come back early and I'm not home, send a Clone to the Nara's. We're having a playdate." Hinata warns of her plans.

"Will do!"

With that, Naruto and Kotori rush out the door with the expectation of heading directly for the Hokage Tower, where they're to meet with the rest of Team Nine, but that's slightly halted when they meet Karin and little Chihei right in front of their door.

"Oh hey, Karin, Chihei." Kotori waves to them as she swerves around to not smack right into them.

"Going out already?" She asks the rushing duo.

"Yep! Hey, buddy." Naruto boops Chihei on the nose. "Getting our first mission today."

"So I just missed you, huh. Wanted to talk to you about something before you left."

"Did you forget who you're talking to?" Naruto grins. "I can do both."

[Shadow Clone]

The original Naruto and Kotori continue on their path while the Clone remains with Kairn.

"Yo." The Clone salutes. "Whatcha wanted to talk about?"

Karin blinks for a second before shaking her head. "I don't think I'll ever get used to this. It's about the day-to-day tasks around the clan. Since you're going to be increasingly busy with missions, you won't always be available, and it's unrealistic to rely on Shadow Clones."

"Ah, about that. I trust you completely to deal with things when I'm not around." He says without hesitation.

"I'd still need your confirmation, though, as clan head." Karin tries to explain.

"Well, you have it. If it's something you think is a good idea, you have my confirmation to do it." He says like it's the obvious thing to do. "Think of it as practice, y'know? For when you become clan head."

She rubs her forehead in frustration. "Listen, I'm-" Then she registers his words. "I'm sorry, when I what now? Take over? Were you kicked in the head?"

"Yeah. About the first thing, I mean. You remember my goal is to become Hokage, right? When that happens, I'll have to step down as clan head and they're gonna need someone reliable to step in. That's you."

"The Uzumaki is a shinobi clan and I'm definitely not a shinobi." She reminds him. "That task should go to Akashi, or Kyodo, or even Michi."

"You don't have to worry about a thing, cousin." Naruto hugs her and gives her a quick peck on the top of the head. "You're a perfect fit." Immediately after, the Shadow Clone dismisses himself.

"Wait! Naruto, get back here!" She shouts into the void, Chihei reaching over to his mom in confusion. Karin holds his small arms in her hand and turns to the door where Hinata is awaiting her guest. "He's infuriating!" She complains.

Hinata giggles and beckons her to enter. "Come on, you can tell me all about it."

-x-

Just at the Hokage Tower, Naruto stops in his tracks and turns around to look at the direction of the Uzumaki district, when the memories from the Clone come back to him.

Kotori, Yokumaru, and Shoto turn to him in anticipation.

"Dad? Something happen?"

Naruto continues to walk with them, with a light chuckle. "Nah, it's nothing. But I'm probably gonna get an earful from Karin when I get back."

"Are you going to be alright, sensei?" Yokumaru worries.

"It's fine, I've survived worse. I think." Naruto dismisses their worries. "Come on, let's get our first mission."

With that set aside, they make their way up to the Mission Assignment Desk, located in a building adjacent to the Hokage Tower and the Academy. It's a small building, serving a singular purpose as the name would suggest. Typically there's several rooms that missions can be assigned from, but for this special occasion, all newly formed teams are prompted to go to the same room.

Within, standing behind the desk surrounded by other shinobi who work here, is the Fifth Hokage, Lady Tsunade Senju who welcomes them all with a smile. "Team Nine. Welcome."

"Ah, Gran- I mean, Lady Hokage!" Kotori waves to her after correcting herself halfway through.

Yokumaru and Shoto bow.

"So you're giving us our missions, huh?" Naruto steps up to the desk.

"It's customary, after all, for the Hokage to give a new team's first mission." She presses a scroll down in front of her for Team Nine to see. "Are you prepared?"

"Yeah!" Kotori jumps from joy. "So what's it gonna be? Beating up bandits? Saving a princess from her evil uncle?"

"Hold your horses, Kotori." Naruto pats his daughter on the head. "Let Granny speak."

Tsunade chuckles at the girl's enthusiasm. "Oh, I believe you'll be quite surprised by what I have for you."

"Oh! Is it gonna be-"

-x-

"Collecting trash..." Kotori falls to her knees at the entrance of the landfill. "Dad, why're we collecting trash?"

"You're not collecting trash." Naruto weaves the mission scroll in front of them. "You're separating trash into recyclables and non recyclables."

"And… this helps us how?" Shoto crosses his arms.

Naruto sighs and stands in front of them in lecture mode. "Listen, as Genin, you'll be assigned D-rank missions which involve tasks like this. If you show you're disciplined enough to do these and you do enough of them well, you'll get assigned better missions. This helps you by showing you're capable members of the community."

"I'm already disciplined!" Shoto protests. "I train dilliently in both my taijutsu and ninjutsu, you know that."

"Yeah, that's right!" Kotori echoes him.

"You're right. And that's only one aspect of life." Naruto points behind him to the landfill. "And this is another one. So get going."

"Missions ranks go from D to S, right?" Yokumaru recalls. "How many D-rank missions do we need to be assigned C-rank ones?"

"Well, it depends. If you do exceptionally well, it could be as little as five or ten. If you do exceptionally bad, you could be doing them for a year."

"I'm not cleaning trash for a year! Guys!" Kotori turns to Yokumaru and Shoto. "We gotta get out of these D-ranks as soon as possible!"

"I concur." Shoto nods.

"I don't know, hasn't it been like this for a long time? If this is how the village works…"

"Then we'll start a revolution!" Kotori raises her fist.

"Are you Naruto Uzumaki?" A man approaches from inside. "My name's Tsutomu. We've been expecting you."

"I am, yeah. Thank you for having us." He shakes hands with the man from the site.

The man begins leading them inside. "We should be thanking you, extra pairs of hands are always appreciated. I have a list for you of what items are to be destroyed and which are to be left." The man hands over four clipboards to the Jōnin.

"Thanks." Naruto redistributes the lists to the kids. "Be sure to carefully go through it, guys."

"You guys are in charge of this area here." Tsutomu motions to an admittedly small part of the landfill but still containing a sizable amount of garbage. "My crew and I will be over on the other end if you need anything." He walks away, waving to the group.

"Alright!" Naruto Flickers to the top of one particular pile that has a torn up armchair, and makes himself as comfortable as he can. "You guys better get started."

The kids' jaws drop.

"Wait, you're not helping, shisho?" Shoto asks.

"What's the big deal, dad?!" Kotori stomps her feet.

"I'm just here to supervise you and see how well you do your job." Naruto shrugs. "So you better do well."

"That's not fair!" Kotori argues. "Why do you get to relax?"

"Hey, I have a very important job of watching over my precious kids, alright? It's hard work."

Yokumaru lets out a whine as he looks over what awaits them. "Is this even going to be possible?"

Shoto sighs and rolls up his sleeves. "Best get started then."

Kotori puffs out her cheeks but begins, with Yokumaru following their lead.

It's a very slow process of sifting through the mountains of trash and going over which ones need to be set aside for recycling, and which for destruction. Their process involves creating brand new mountains by chucking the relevant pieces of trash to their relevant new pile. After that… well, they'll figure something out. One step at a time.

Take a piece, throw it to one pile. Take another piece, throw it to the other pile.

Over and over.

Some of them have gathered grim or are covered in something slimy that's either decomposed food, or… Nope, rather not think of the alternatives.

At one point, they almost find themselves buried when they climb onto a more unstable part of the heap. At least that uncovered more trash, making it easier to spot what they have to work with. It's progress, in some ways.

Throughout the entire time, Naruto offers words of encouragement which are met with a lot of grumbling.

They diligently work until noon when it's time for their break. Looking at how much they've separated and how much they still have to separate, it's clear it's going to take a long time to get any significant progress done.

"This is gonna take forever." Kotori lies on her back.

Shoto sighs. "The Hokage did say this mission was expected to take several days. Now we know why."

Yokumaru wipes some dirt off his hoodie. "This would be much simpler if it wasn't just the three of us."

"Yes, be a lot better if we had another team to help us." Shoto rolls his shoulders to loosen them up a bit.

"Or a useful jutsu like sensei's Shadow Clones." Yokumaru looks up to Naruto who waves at them from his 'throne'.

"A useful jutsu…" As Kotori stares at the skies, something clicks in her mind when they mention the possible back-up. She rises from her position and stares at the garbage, a smile creeping onto her face that slowly turns into a grin.

"We don't need Clones when we have a flock." She says as vaguely as possible.

"A flock?" Yokumaru cocks his head.

From her seating position, Kotori goes through her jutsu's hand signs.

[Aviary: Sparrows]

A flock of about a dozen sparrows spring into existence, circling around them. She focuses her chakra into them, her own eyes changing to resemble a sparrow's. The sudden change is kind of creepy.

Naruto grins. "Finally."

[Ninja Art: All-Encompassing Sight]

Kotori uses all of her training for this menial task. She connects her eyesight to all the sparrows under her control and sends them to pick up trash instead of her, flying it over to the relevant pile.

"Is this really wise?" Shoto looks at the small birds springing into action. "Doesn't it strain your mind to have this many at once?"

"It does. But! My birds are able to act on their own, as long as I give them vague enough instruction. If I can get them to learn the process, they should be able to follow it all on their own with little input from me."

"Wow." Yokumaru admires the uniqueness of her jutsu. "I had no idea it worked like that."

"I've been practicing a lot, you know. It's taken me a while but I've finally figured out how to actually use my jutsu. There's a lot of parts to it that don't exist in other jutsu but I think I got to a good level."

"Eyes are a bit creepy, though." Shoto notes.

"Well excuse me!" Kotori yells. "It's not like I have any control over this. But I think it's working."

"Using out jutsu, huh?" Shoto strokes his chin. "Let's try it."

Shoto walks over to the pile that's meant for recycling. She picks out a good spot for what he plans to do.

[Earth Style: Moving Earth Core]

A small square of just about a square metre descends into the ground, taking some of the garbage with it. At Shoto's command, the earth to the side jutsu out to fill the hole before he sends it crashing down into the garbage and then return back into the side.

Peeking down, Shoto smirks at the result of his all natural compressing machine. He walks around and pushes even more trash down the hole, doing the same as before- moving a piece of earth to slam down and squash everything to take up much less space.

"Way to go, Shoto!" Kotori cheers.

"We have to be careful with our chakra levels. If we're going to do it like this."

"I know that."

Inspired by their creative thinking, Yokumaru decides to act, as well. With Kotori and her sparrows in charge of separation, and Shoto in charge of making the recyclable pile more manageable, that leaves only one part of the task. The ones that're meant to be destroyed. They were never told just how they're going to be disposed of, but he might have his own way of doing it.

An application of his jutsu that he'd been trying to find ways not to have to resort to, but it seems like his very first missions will force him to do it, anyway.

Yokumaru walks over to the pile that they'd already manually gathered, and that the sparrows are in the process of adding, and holds out his hands.

[Crystal Style: Crystal Prison]

The whole area in front of him befores encased in pink crystals, trapping the trash within it. Pressing his hand against the surface, the crystals shatter into tiny flakes, completely destroying the crystallized garbage.

Now, they've found their groove.

With their jutsu, their workload is diminished and they're able to work at a much better pace than they were before.

As the afternoon progresses, their work becomes more ironed out as they get used to each other's timing, even further optimizing their progress.

Even Tsutomu is impressed when he drops by at the end of the workday to look at what they've done.

"Gotta say, you kids work fast." Tsutomu whistles with admiration. "Might have to start hiring shinobi more regularly."

Naruto Flickers down and pats the closest, Yokumaru, on the head. "They're plenty strong and capable. Creative, too. You can count them to work even better tomorrow."

The man looks over the compressed stacks that Shoto left to the side. "Already crushed, huh? It's definitely easier for transport but I'm not sure how well they can recycle them like this."

"Um, sorry." Shoto winces. "I got a little carried away."

"Eh, it's fine." Tsutomu waves off the boy's concern. "I'm sure they can figure something out. Looking forward to working with you tomorrow. Have a good one."

"You, too!" Naruto waves to the man as he leaves and turns to the kids. "So, how was it? A fine first day of honest work."

"I'm tired." Yokumaru leans on his sensei, already closing his eyes.

Naruto chuckles and pats him on the head. "You did good."

"Why is this more exhausting than training…" Shoto groans in pain, his muscles already growing stiff.

"Is this what we're going to deal with all the time? Kotori rubs her legs. "I'm already sick of it."

Naruto sighs. "You know, I had to do these kinda missions when I first started out, too. And I didn't complain about 'em 'cause I know how vital they are for the villages."

All three of them stare at him blankly.

"We know that's not true, dad." Kotori says.

"I find it hard to believe, too." Yokumaru looks up at him.

"There's no way you had the patience for any of this." Shoto hammers in the final nail.

Naruto curls up on the ground and cries. "You guys…"

Kotori kneels down and pats him on the head. "There, there."

"Come on, let's get you guys home…" Dejected, Naruto stands up and dusts himself off.

-x-

The very moment Kotori enters home, she switches off any part of her brain that thinks and moves to the living room on pure instinct alone.

Hinata greets them with a smile as they enter. "Welcome back, you two."

Kotori only groans in response and lies on the couch where Hiroto is playing. She curls up and pulls Hiroto to her chest, snuggling up with her baby brother who immediately begins tugging on her hair and ear and just about anything he can get ahold of.

"Love you, too, Hiro." Kotori mutters half-asleep.

Naruto laughs and walks up to Hinata to wrap his arms around her. "We're back."

"I'd ask how it went but I think Kotori's reaction says it all." She looks up to him and laughs.

"Yeah. They cleaned up a landfill. Took them about 4 hours to think of using their jutsu to help get it done faster."

"That's good. They learn quickly." She leans into her husband's embrace and looks up. "Did you help them?"

"I… motivated them from the sidelines?"

"Naruto…" She playfully taps him on the chest. "Don't overwork them."

"I won't. Now that they figured out what their jutsu can be used for, I'll help 'em out tomorrow. We should finish our mission then." He kisses her on the temple. "How was your day?"

"Fine. The kids really tuckered themselves out." He looks to the couch where Kotori and Hiroto are already fast asleep. "Speaking of, I'm probably going to leave before you two. I have an early meeting and will drop Hiroto off with Jugo and Karin. Karin who, may I remind you, has words to exchange with you." He laughs, recalling how furious the woman was at Naruto's self-made decision.

"I'm sure she does." Naruto chuckles. "But she's still the perfect fit for the role when it even comes to it. She has a few years to get used to it."

"A few years, huh? Not in a rush to become Hokage any time soon?"

"Nah." Naruto walks over to the couch and gently picks up the sleeping Kotori. "I got something more important to do right now." He says quietly as he now holds his daughter in his arms, to take her up to her room.

"Put her in her bed, I'll take her gear off." Hinata says as she in turn picks up the sleeping Hiroto.

-x-

The next day, Team Nine continues their first mission of clearing the landfill, this time working at a much more impressive rate. Since they've learned how to actually use their jutsu in different ways, Naruto helps them a bit more to get everything cleaned out by the end of the day.

There's even another team from their class that comes to start working on a different part of the landfill. They initially struggle with the task just as Team Nine did but on seeing the use of jutsu to speed up the process, they begin making use of their own skills to aid in the mission.

At the end of the day, they all stand in front of the clear section that they spent two whole days clearing out. They're sweaty and tired but also a bit proud of their work.

"So, figure out a victory pose?" Naruto pats Kotori on the head.

"Doesn't feel like much of a victory… Maybe some other time."

Shoto shakes his head. "Of course you'd have a 'victory pose'."

"When will our next mission be, sensei?" Yokumaru asks.

"Not tomorrow, I can tell you that much." Naruto laughs. "Rest up, you'll probably be a bit sore. This kinda manual labour is different from any physical training you've done so far."

"Hey," Yokumaru turns to his teammates, "Want to celebrate tomorrow?"

"Definitely." Kotori grins.

"You can treat yourself using your very first paycheck!" Naruto ushers them to head out and head home. "It feels really good."

"Our first mission, complete, huh?" Shoto looks back to see just how wide of an area they've cleared. "Not what I expected, but… This kind of training isn't so bad, either."

"Well, I'm glad you liked it 'cause there's a lot more where that came from." Naruto laughs.

"... Is it too late to change my mind?"

"Yep."

Over the next few, Team Nine take on several more D-rank missions, of varying levels of complexity.

One involved the ever present "Missing Cat" mission, where Kotori's sparrows saved the day. The initial plan was to use the sparrows to look over a wide area but the low-flying birds attracted the cat's attention and it started to chase the small birds. In the end, Kotori lured the cat right to them, resulting in an unexpected use of her jutsu. The kitty's hunter instincts betrayed it this time.

Another request came from the Post Office, with packages that needed to be delivered to a few nearby towns and villages. It took them a whole day to run around to make the full round of delivery and they returned well past sundown.

Another mission that was a bit more manual labour was assisting with construction work. Yokumaru and Shoto used their Crystal and Earth Styles to create elevated ground that helped with carrying supplies up to higher floors that are being built. That, combined with their ability to cling to vertical surfaces to better place beams made them good assistants.

Currently, Team Nine is at a farming village, about half a day's away from the Hidden Leaf. Actually, Team Five are here, too, just at a different farm down the road. As the six of them have been busy with their new jobs, they haven't had much time to meet up, so they agreed to hang out after they're done here.

Team Nine's mission is to tend to crops.

With the season here, the strawberries are bearing fruit, and other produce needs to be planted, like tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers.

Naruto sits on the house veranda with the elderly woman.

"Thank you so much, dear." She sips him a cup of tea. "I haven't been as able these past few years. Young ninja have been great helpers."

"I hope my kids live up to your standards." Naruto bows his head lightly as he takes the cup.

"I'm sure they will." She smiles. "Are they going to be alright on their own, though?"

"Don't worry, they got it handled." Naruto looks over to the fields.

Geared with the needed equipment, hoes, rakes, planters, baskets, and sacks of seed, the kids look over the fairly large farming grounds they need to tend to.

"So, how do we split this?" Yokumaru asks.

"I think my role's obvious." Shoto pops his knuckles. "I'll get the soil ready for planting. You guys do the planting?"

"Sounds good to me!" Kotori agrees.

"Actually," Yokumaru offers his two cents, "I could use my medical ninjutsu to make sure the strawberries are growing healthy. Heal the ones that aren't doing well."

Shoto furrows his brow. "You can do that?"

Yokumaru nods. "Yeah. Part of our training at the Academy was to restore wilted leaves and such so I should be able to do something while I pick them."

"Woah, that's pretty awesome." Kotori pats him hard on the back. "So it can be used to heal plants, too, not just people?"

"Yeah." Yokumaru smiles, happy that he's able to do this much to help.

"Alright, then I'll put my sparrows to work on both fronts. Let's go!" Kotori sounds the battle cry.

As agreed, they each get to their assigned workplaces. Shoto smooths over and softens the soil so it can be used to plant fresh produce, while Yokumaru gathers fruit and restores the ones not doing too well. Kotori has her sparrows helping on both fronts- pick strawberries and place them in the basket, and dig holes in the turned soil and plant seeds and saplings. When Shoto finishes taking care of the soil, he begins planting, as well.

It's hard work and it takes them the better part of the day but they work hard and they work well. In the afternoon, Naruto does join in and helps them, using only a few [Shadow Clones] to speed up the process.

-x-

At the neighbouring farm, Team Five's mission is to take care of the farm animals.

Kashiwama is stationed at the pig pen. His task? Clean the pigs. He'd practiced for these past couple years to use the Medical Water Style in a wider range and not just on a single target; driven by his desire to become a great medic like his great-grandfather.

[Medical Water Style: Forest]

Currently, that jutsu is being used to cover a portion of the pig pen and create softer mud for the pigs to roll in. Medical jutsu can not only be used to heal wounds but also ease aches. He's essentially giving them all a spa day.

Kashiwama sits on the top of the fence as he holds the jutsu, barely even paying attention to it.

He sighs deeply. "Did the First or Second ever have to do this?"

In his musings he doesn't notice one of the pigs walk over to him and bite down on his pants. As Kashiwama wasn't bracing himself, it doesn't take much of a tug to send him flying into the mud face first.

The pigs gather around him as if mocking.

Kashiwama slowly fits his mud-caked face and washes it away. "I hate this…" He whines.

Over on the other side of the farm, Genzai and Jiriki are having a cleaner time, if not more entertaining. Some of the horses managed to break the fence and run out, and it's their job to chase them back.

Genzai, being the speedier of the group, is out there to get in their way and prevent them from getting any farther away.

"This running around isn't getting me far." Genzai muses.

In a desperate act, he bites down on his thumb and smears blood across his palm.

[Ninja Art: Summoning]

Two small monkeys pop into the field from a puff of smoke.

"Enki, Enka, help me get these guys back."

"Horses?" Enki laughs. "Why're you playing with horses when you have us, silly? You're silly."

"Can we ride them?" Enka hops in place. "I'm gonna ride them!" She immediately darts over to try and climb one.

"As long as you help me get them back, I don't really care." Genzai says in a tired voice.

Staying back by the fence gate, Jiriki is armed with his bow and Byakugan, firing arrows to spook the horses back if they try to spread out too much.

"This is what I'm using my bow on..." Jiriki sighs. "So undignified."

Jiriki notices one of Genzai's monkeys, he's not sure which he never bothered to tell them apart, grab his arrows and charge at the horses like a spearman.

"If they break my arrows, you're paying for them." Jiriki says to no one in particular.

Eventually, they manage to round them all up. Enki and Enka roll in on horseback, laughing their hearts out.

A farmhand comes in just as they finish. "Jiriki!" He calls out to the young Hyuga. "We need your help. One of our cows is going through a rough birth."

Jiriki stares at him in confusion. "Why am I needed for that…"

Shino-sensei, meanwhile, has several kikaichū roaming the area, to rid the farm of harmful parasites and to clean the animals on a scale not even humans can. The much larger dog-sized kidaichū also roam the area, helping carry heavy loads.

It took the farm hands some time to get used to the terrifying sight and while they're still creeped out by it, they're not as grossed out by them.

-x-

At the end of the day, as agreed, Team Nine and Team Five meet up after a hard day's work. Exhausted, tired, and out of energy, they gather by the side of the road; Genzai lying down, while the rest sit around. Jiriki is being oddly distant, sitting atop a wooden fence with his back to the group and staring into the horizon.

Genzai groans as he turns over to his side. "This is the worst."

"You guys not having fun either, huh?" Kotori chuckles. "Come on, let out your complaints. We can suffer together."

Kashiwama's whole body trembles. "Why would I complain?" His eye twitches. "These missions are important for the economy." His foot vibrates. "They're an important part of our careers."

"You know you can just say it, we're all on the same boat." Kotori prods him.

"Of course I hate them!" Kashiwama falls to his knees and slams the ground as hard as he can. "I wanted to punch bandits, not use my Earth Style to give pigs soothing mud baths!"

"I had to use mine to till the soil." Shoto sympathizes.

"At least your job was cleaner than mine." Kashiwama whines.

Shoto takes a whiff of the air around his friend, reeling back from the stench. "Yeah, looks like it."

"I actually kind of enjoyed it." Yokumaru meekly adds. "It's nice to know our jutsu can be used to help everyone like this." He looks down to his palms with a smile.

"Aaaand he ruined it." Kotori sighs.

"Why do you have to be so… kind and understanding, Yokumaru?" Kashiwama wonders.

"Um... sorry?" He shrinks back in his seat.

Shoto notices that Jiriki has been oddly quiet the entire time. The young Hyuuga has barely moved in his spot of staring into the horizon with a blank stare, eyes devoid of any spark. His usual snarky and arrogant comments are nowhere to be heard.

Shoto leans to Kashiwama and Genzai and whispers. "What's up with him?"

"He had to assist with some cow births." Genzai whispers back. "I think he... saw things."

"The Byakugan is a curse." Jiriki mutters to himself, a single tear rolling down his cheek.

"Alright, then…" The rest shuffle to the side to give Jiriki some apparently needed space.

-x-

The teams' sensei both stand some ways away from them but still close enough to keep an eye on them. Shino stands by a fence while Naruto is sitting down and leaning against it.

"Kids doing good?" Naruto asks.

"They are." Shino nods. "They've done remarkably well so far. Growing impatient with D-rank missions, though."

Naruto laughs in sympathy. "I know that. I don't think they'll be happy with just doing chores for much longer. You think Team Five is ready for C-ranks?"

"In truth, they always were. I don't doubt that they would've completed a C-rank mission flawlessly. However, what they lacked was patience and discipline," Shino looks down at Naruto with an unreadable expression hidden behind his glasses, "But most importantly, they lacked creative thinking which Team Nine helped with."

"We did?" Naruto raises a brow.

"Yes. That's because… Team Nine's use of jutsu for their first mission was heard of by all other teams. They started looking at their abilities in a new light and started thinking in new ways."

Naruto just shrugs. "Don't feel like it was anything all that. Feels like the obvious solution, doesn't it? If you're struggling with something, you use anything you got to fix it. Just happens to be jutsu in this case. I knew the kids would figure out it'd be faster that way, they just needed to realize it, too."

Shino mutters under his breath. "And that's why you're perfect for this job."

"Hm?" Naruto cocks his head. "What was that?"

"Nothing." Shino straightens himself. "To answer your previous question- Yes, I believe Team Five is more than ready to do C-rank missions. They've the proper mindset for it now. I assume the same goes for Team Nine."

"Pretty much. I think they've already proven what they had to prove, so I'll ask Granny if she's got something for us."

"I plan to do the same." Shino says. "Team Five has been very motivated as of late. They won't lose out to Team Nine." He begins walking back to the farm.

"Same." Naruto stands up and grins. "So, should we go tell them they'll be rid of D-rank missions soon?"

"I believe some motivation would be good for them, yes." Shino agrees.

Naruto pats Shino on the back. "Give my best to Shiho and Shichi, yeah?"

"And to Hinata and Hiroto, as well."

The two Flicker over to their students' sides in an instant, startling them with the sudden appearance.

"You guys ready to head back?" Naruto asks with more enthusiasm than the six of them combined.

"Yeah." Kotori says as she stands up.

"Before they remember some other chore we need to do." Shoto adds with a grim chuckle.

"You bite your tongue." Kashiwama says.

"Well, don't worry, you might not be doing this for long." Naruto reassures them.

It takes a moment for the kids' tired brains to register his words.

"You mean…" Kotori's lips slowly grow into a wide grin.

"That's right." Shino interjects. "We're going to recommend both teams for C-rank missions."

"YES!" They all exclaim, save for Jiriki who's still spacing out.

Kotori and Kashiwama high five each other hard enough to redden their hands. "Finally!"

"Now we can show what we're made of." Shoto clenches his fist.

"I hope we're ready for it…" Yokumaru nervously tugs on his leather harness.

"Don't worry." Genzai pats him on the back. "We got this."

They all chatter away at their excitement of going up in the ranks and guessing what big missions they'll take part in.

"Just know," Shino tries to ground them, "There's no guarantee that- They're not listening."

Naruto laughs and pats him on the shoulder. "Let 'em have their moment. We can give them the lecture some other time."

-x-

Omake

Kashiwama pokes Jiriki on the back. No response. "Man, he's really out of it."

"Just what happened in the cow pen…" Genzai walks around and places a hand on Jiriki's arm. "You okay, buddy?"

Jiriki slowly turns his head to stare at Genzai with empty eyes. "No."

"Come on, let's get you home." Kashiwama helps him get down from the fence.

"We can get you some natto on the way home." Genzai offers.

"That'd be nice." Jiriki nods.

Name Meanings

Tsutomu (ツトム, Tsutomu) - 'worker'

Author's Note

People often complain when fanfiction gives Tsunade the clan name Senju because canonically she's never called that. I heavily dislike that complaint. She's not some random street urchin; we know she's from by far the most prestigious bloodline there is so she'd obviously have a family name of some kind. There's literally no reason for that name to not be Senju.