The forest surrounding Konoha proved to be a peaceful place on most hot spring days, as cool breezes that flew through the boughs of the canopy would give a refreshing breath of life while the branches themselves provided shade and a good array of shadow. This array usually proves useful to the forest shinobi that live nearby, as was being proven by the currently working Team Seven.

"All right kids, are you ready for this?" Kakashi had hidden himself in the overhang of a large oak, pressing himself against the rough bark as he spoke into a small mike headset hooked to his ear. Once again his face, although hidden in the shadows and covered by his formfitting mask, was one of complete seriousness. He never took a mission lightly.

"Ready," replied Sasuke, glancing around the tree that hid him. "Target in sight…"

"Ready!" replied Sakura strongly, as she peeked out of the bush that concealed her. "There's no way the Target will get past me!"

Kakashi paused for a moment. "…Naruto, are you in position?"

"…got it." The blond replied in obvious boredom.

Kakashi's eye gleamed. "Good! Sasuke, MOVE!"

"No," Naruto hastily tried to interrupt, "I mean-"

Sasuke moved quickly, ignoring the blonde's hesitation. He leapt out from behind the tree and dove for the last place the Target had been seen resting. He needed the element of surprise. "Lets just get this over with, idiot!"

"No, Sasuke!" Sakura cried, diving away from her post, "He means he-"

WHAM!

The dark haired gennin ran into a hidden low hanging branch as he attempted to see what had caused Sakura to leave her position. Clothes-lined across the neck by a tree, Sasuke fell to the forest floor, attempting to at least catch himself gracefully.

He landed on his ass.

The boy cursed as Sakura rushed to his side, completely forgetting the parameters of the mission. "SASUKE-KUN!" Sakura's emerald eyes watered in feeling of the pain Sasuke had just experienced.

Sasuke coughed as he massaged his bruised throat. He then turned to glare at his third teammate. "What the hell was that for, idiot!"

Naruto stared blankly at the injured shinobi before replying quietly, "Sorry, I meant I have the cat already…" He then lifted his arm to show a gently purring orange tabby, its eyes closed serenely in contentment.

Sasuke felt his anger rising, but found himself unable to voice it. His throat was still sore…

"Why didn't you stick to the plan, Naruto?" Kakashi had dropped from the canopy to see Sakura kneeling beside a fallen Sasuke, who seemed to be nursing a tender throat, and an impassive Naruto with the Target, the orange cat.

"I'm good with animals," the blond replied. "Thought I could coax it without scaring the shit out of it…"

"Why didn't you tell us that before?"

"…" Naruto shrugged lightly. The silver haired jounin sighed, but could feel the corner of his mouth upturning. The boy may be annoying sometimes, but…

…it sure brought back memories of himself.

Kakashi rolled his eyes to the sky once more before ultimately returning them to his team and grinning at them, although they couldn't see his expression.

"Ne, I would say this mission is completed. Lets report in."

"Mission complete, Hokage-sama."

"Ah, very well Kakashi. I assume you would like another assignment…" The silver haired jounin tipped his head slightly in acknowledgement. The Hokage then brought his pipe to his mouth and inhaled deeply, allowing the smoke to swell around him. "Hn…Kakashi, is your team progressing well?"

Kakashi nodded again, before replying, "Yes sir, they have preformed well together, although there is definite need for improvement…" His uncovered eye swept slowly across each of the faces of his students.

"Hn…" breathed the Hokage, releasing yet another swirl of silvery smoke. "As for your mission, I do have another D class you could take care of…"

Naruto shuddered, taking a tentative step forwards, audibly clearing his throat. "Hokage-sama," he started, feeling the weight of his teams incredulous stares, "I believe our team is ready for so much more. Please allow us a chance to prove it," he pleaded, bowing his head. "Perhaps a C class mission…"

"A C class mission, those may not be hard to come by, but that is a quite a step for a gennin team so early in its stages…"

"Please."

"Hmm…" mumbled the Hokage. The team has been doing well, and if Kakashi says their ready… Turning to the other two children, the Hokage asked them, "Mm, do you two feel the same way?"

If Naruto proposed it, he must really want to do this, thought Sakura. He never proposes anything…It couldn't hurt to try one. Besides, we have Kakashi-sensei to help us… Glancing in Kakashi's direction, she felt her confidence in him plummet. He was still reading his porn, even while the vital discussion took place. I wonder, she thought, if he is really even that good of a ninja.

Sakura tentatively rose her hand up. After all, she still had Sasuke to protect her if anything went wrong. "I think we can…handle it…"

Come on, Sakura, thought Kakashi from behind his book, at least sound a little confident.

"Hmph, I think we're ready too," Sasuke nodded respectfully.

The Hokage grinned for a moment before once again becoming totally serious. "Well, okay, I believe we may have something for you." Shuffling through the mission scrolls, he pulled out one with a 'C' label. "A simple escort mission to Wave Country."

"Hokage-sama," Kakashi interrupted smoothly, "I request more time to train my students before they will be ready for any C class mission."

"Whaat!" the gennins all thought as one, "more time?"

"Hn, how much time?"

"Maybe an hour, maybe a day…"

The Hokage paused to think it over. Closing his eyes he inhaled deeply then exhaled a cloud of smoke. "Granted, Kakashi, that when you finish this session of training, there remains a C class mission for your team to take," the Hokage smiled warmly at the gennin team, "you will be allowed one to test your progress as you wish."

Naruto bowed once again before the Hokage. "Thank you, Hokage-sama." He then turned and took his place between his teammates again. The Hokage continued to smile as he waved them out of his office.

The team filed out the door, followed lastly by Kakashi, who turned and gave a wide smile from under his mask in the Hokage's direction.

"I believe they are ready," he said quietly before disappearing behind the closed door.

Don't worry Kakashi, the Hokage thought, there will be a C class mission waiting for your team when they return… Sighing, he then turned to the silent chunnin that had been standing in the corner, ready to carry out his orders.

"Bring in another team," the Hokage ordered, "this Wave country mission seems easy enough. We don't want to keep the bridge builder waiting too long…"

Kakashi could feel the tension in the air as he led his team back to their training area in his usual lazy pace. He could understand their impatience, their urge to shoulder a little more responsibility. He had felt the same way when he was a gennin, after his first experiences with the humble D rank missions.

Honestly, he was all for the team learning from its own mistakes, just like he had. If they were able to weasel a C rank mission from the Hokage, then they deserved it. He had seen their performances during the routine practices and the kind of skills they exhibited during their missions.

What they lacked wasn't skill or potential. They lacked experience.

Experience was an important tool in shinobi work, providing answers to dilemmas of all kinds, helping to read the enemy. And frankly, this was the best time for them to get that experience, when he was there to see that they didn't die doing so.

Throw a child into a pond, thought Kakashi, and if its sink or swim, if he can swim, he will. If he doesn't…

The silver haired jounin turned to gaze at his young charges. Each had an expression of distaste on their faces. They were just itching to get this session over with.

Throw a child into a pond, and if he doesn't swim…

He probably wasn't worth the effort of teaching.

Kakashi stopped in the middle of the training fields, facing away from his team as he kept form turning. The gennin stopped as well, remaining at a distance as they felt the wind blow through the trees.

"All right team…" Kakashi called out behind him, "this will be your last exercise before the mission-"

"Come on, Sensei!" Sakura interrupted, her face read confusion. Kakashi was rarely this serious. "We can take anything with Sasuke on our team! And Naruto isn't a pushover either…" she added silently.

"LET ME FINISH!" thundered Kakashi, without turning, his posture beginning to slack. "This will be your most essential exercise to date…As of now we have a total of four comrades, including myself." Kakashi straightened his posture slowly, his resolve at something strengthening. "We need to lose a teammate."

"What!" they all cried at once, "one of us needs to quit!"

"No," Kakashi answered quietly, "you all have too much knowledge of each other and our team to just quit…

One of you needs to die."

Kakashi waited, taking their stunned silence as understanding. "You all have until tomorrow to think about it. Regulations state, by tomorrow at noon, one of you needs to be dead. How and who you choose is up to you."

The gennin just stared at their instructors back, trying to process the information. The man just couldn't be serious…

Finally Kakashi turned, his single eye glistening with unshed tears.

"I'm sorry," and then he left them, alone in the woods to plot one of their teammate's, one of their friend's, demise.

"Was he…crying?"

"I think he was serious."

The Hokage sat in audience, listening closely to the man standing in front of him. The man was small, with round head and a crooked nose. His hair was combed neatly to the side, and his clothes, simple robes, were neatly pressed. Not at all handsome, but a presentable man.

His eyes though, were narrowed, though the pupils were large. He stared at the Hokage, pleading his problem.

"You want us to do an extermination?" the Hokage asked incredulously.

"Yes," the man replied. "Of a most dangerous vampire, one whom has been terrorizing our merchants and our children. We wish him gone and are willing to pay."

The Hokage sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "What village did you say you were from?"

"I come to you as a representative of the whole of Weed Country. We beg for your assistance." The man threw himself to the floor, bowing low before the Hokage.

"I wish we could help, but we do not usually take missions that have to do with exorcisms-"

"Hokage-sama!"

The Hokage looked up to see an approaching guard with a sealed scroll, a message. Taking it, the Sandaime quickly looked through its contents. He smiled at whatever was written before returning his attention to the representative before him.

"Like I said, we do not usually take on missions like this, but there has been an exception this time. Tomorrow at noon, you will have your answer. If you are indeed in need of assistance…pray for your future team." The Hokage turned, gesturing that the man could leave before muttering to himself, "they're going to need it…"

The gennin of Team 7 sat apart from each other, each with their own thoughts. None of them rushed to any conclusions, after all, this decision could affect their whole future…

And besides, they had all night to think about it.

From the Desk of Tyr'll

Well, that went differently then planned…

Strange how things like that happen, and I'm sure you're all looking forward to the Weed Country mission, right? I personally really want to write about it, but this stuff has to be done first. I don't want to write a 'quick fic'. I'm trying to move at a slower pace, depicting the characters and letting you draw your own conclusions about them.

And no, this will not be one of those wimpy 'bitten by a vampire, wats he gonna do?' fics. The plot of the mission has been planned out, and I guess it is kinda like a spin off of Bird Country, to an extent.

I got ideas, but more are always welcome…although I am running out of room for future OCs. I never tire of thinking those up.

Review me with any questions, 'kay? Look forward to the next chapter, which will be coming out…whenever I write it.