"Unbelievable," Kohaku muttered under her breath.
Today was a mission day, which meant babysitting, gardening and shopping.
"Who the hell needs this much cat litter?" Kohaku complained, two heavy bags of the product in her arms. Asami carried two bags as well. Haruka carried cat food.
"Are you done complaining?" Takeo asked from behind the girls.
"No!" Kohaku glared over her shoulder at her sensei. "This is stupid."
"Welcome to the fabulous life of a genin," Takeo shrugged.
"No," Kohaku insisted. "I want a better mission than this."
"Couldn't we talk to the Hokage about it, Takeo-sensei?" Haruka asked.
Takeo shrugged again. "Maybe."
"Then that's just what we'll do," Kohaku decided, determination now in her gait.
"Alright, I have a C-ranked mission here," the Hokage announced, trifling around his desk in search of the scroll.
Team eleven turned excited looks on each other. Takeo sighed behind them, wondering if he had gotten himself into trouble by entrusting the girls with anything but shopping. After all, that's what woman should be doing anyway: shopping, not playing ninja.
"Here it is," the Hokage announced, grabbing everyone's attention. "The Land of Waves has requested our assistance with a rather trivial matter. Seems a young man, no older than you, has gone missing. He hasn't been seen for two weeks apparently. He told no one he was going anywhere and his house was undisturbed. It's possible he was kidnapped, but he probably just ran away. Either way, his parents are worried about him."
"We'll find him, sir!" Kohaku promised, a grin on her face.
Haruka closed her eyes, feeling a headache coming on. Why was Kohaku always so loud?
Asami's mood was not dampened, however. Though she spoke with a little more calmness. "You can count on us."
The Hokage took a puff from his pipe, blowing out the smoke. It floated to the ceiling where it dissipated into the air. A small smile appeared on his wrinkled face. "I'm sure I can."
Team eleven bowed in respect before taking their leave.
Kohaku, unable to contain her excitement once in the hallway, let out a cheer. "Yeah! We're going to the Land of Waves!"
"You do realize that's a three day's trip one way," Takeo said, ever the pessimist. "I don't know if you girls can handle it."
"Why? Because we're girls?" Kohaku challenged, crossing her arms over her chest.
Takeo shrugged, not wanting to say more.
"We've got to work on this sexist attitude of his," Asami whispered to Haruka as Kohaku only continued to glare at their sensei. Haruka nodded in agreement.
"Did you say something?" Takeo asked, turning to the other two girls.
Asami smiled sweetly. "Us? No."
Takeo shrugged and sighed. These girls wore him out. They talked too much, asked too many questions and Haruka spent way too much time on her appearance. Why wear eyeliner to practice? You'd just sweat it off. Even Kohaku had pointed that out once. But Haruka had shrugged off their comments and tightened her ponytail, which habit bid her to do.
"We leave on the morrow. Meet at the gates by six," Takeo told the girls. "Pack only the essentials; travel light. No need to bring your wardrobe and your teddy bears."
"Just because we're girls you assume we have teddy bears?" Asami asked. She was more curious than offended, really.
"Girls like fluffy things," Takeo said like it was obvious.
"I'd like something fluffy to shove down your throat," Kohaku muttered under her breath.
Takeo didn't hear her. "Dismissed."
Kohaku rolled her eyes before the three girls of team eleven left the rotund building.
"We've really got to do something about Takeo-sensei's ignorant attitude towards women," Asami said again as the three girls walked home.
"Maybe this boy will be in mortal danger, we'll rescue him and then Takeo-sensei will have to respect us," Kohaku said.
"He probably just ran away," Haruka said with a raised eyebrow.
Kohaku turned a sour look on her blonde-haired teammate. "Do you not want Takeo-sensei to respect us?"
"I'm just saying, this probably won't be the mission he changes his attitude," Haruka shrugged. "Anyway, this is my stop. See you guys tomorrow."
Asami and Kohaku waved goodbye.
"I should probably leave you here too," Asami said. "I have to go meet Neji."
"Yeah?" Kohaku smiled slyly.
"Oh shut up," Asami said but couldn't help the smile that slid onto her face. "Why don't you go find Sasuke?"
"He's on a mission," Kohaku said pointedly. "So there."
Asami rolled her eyes. "Poor Kohaku. Anyway, see you later!"
Kohaku waved lazily and watched her friend disappear into the distance. Kohaku headed for home.
Kohaku was eating dinner with her mother at the kitchen table peacefully later that evening when, suddenly, the front door slammed open. Katsu appeared in the doorway, blue eyes alit with excitement. He ran over to Kohaku, ruffling her hair.
"What's this I hear about my baby girl getting a C-ranked mission as a genin?"
"Daaaad," Kohaku complained, trying to duck out of his reach.
Katsu had been Kanna's (Kohaku's mom) teammate back when they were younger. Now Katsu was an ANBU while Kanna ran missions on a jounin level. Although a fierce warrior and master of the silent killing techniques, in his personal life, Katsu was flamboyant. When he wasn't on missions or sparing a rare moment to train his only child, he was chasing every man in town. It was embarrassing.
Kohaku had asked her mother once how her and her father had ever gotten together. Apparently it was a one-time thing that involved sake suckers. Kohaku had heard enough at that point and never brought the subject up again.
"You know," Katsu started, taking a seat, uninvited, at the table. "The only reason you were able to get a C-ranked mission is because squad seven demanded one before you."
"That's Sasuke's squad," Kohaku realized. "What's their mission?"
Katsu shrugged. "I don't know, protecting some bridge builder or something. The Land of Waves is trying to build a bridge to connect it to the main land."
"Wait, are you saying Sasuke's in the Land of Waves?" Kohaku asked.
"Yes. So don't you get distracted from your mission by trying to sneak away for a little grope fest," Katsu wagged a finger.
Kohaku hid her red face. "Dad."
"Katsu, really," Kanna tutted.
Still, Kohaku couldn't believe it. Sasuke would be in the same country as her. But her father was right, best not let it distract her. Still, she could not help the smile that slipped onto her face.
"It appears you all packed light," Takeo said, examining his team in the morning light. "Very good. Let's set out."
And so they did, on foot. The days were grueling, nothing but walking with a slim chance of a break. Takeo maybe gave them one a day and wouldn't let them set up camp until it was well past dark. By the time they crossed the sea into the Land of Waves, the girls were exhausted. They were sprawled on the small boat, thankful for the chance to sit down.
It was foggy all around them, with the fog so dense you could barely see five feet in front of you. Still, a shadow broke through the fog, looming over them.
"That must be the bridge," Kohaku mused.
"The what?" Asami asked.
Kohaku quickly relayed the information her father had told her last night.
Inwardly, Takeo groaned to himself. Just by the way Kohaku said this boy 'Sasuke's' name, he could tell she was infatuated. He hoped they would not cross paths. He could not afford to have Kohaku distracted.
Team eleven trained extensively and their battle strategy was built on the individual skills of the girls. Kohaku was always in front, always ready for battle and ready to blast the first enemy she saw with a jutsu. Haruka was her partner who stayed close to Kohaku in case an enemy would try a frontal attack. She would be ready with her taijutsu. Asami was back up and often hid until needed, ready to spring a genjutsu trap if needed. She was also the planner of the team, calculating the next moves they needed to take; if Kohaku didn't rush ahead that is.
Slowly, the fog lifted and suddenly, team eleven was looking at a beautiful country. There were trees everywhere that towards over the quaint cottages that were built on stilts over the blue waters that surrounded their country.
"How pretty," Haruka commented.
The man rowing the boat let team eleven off. Takeo thanked the man before he disappeared into the fog once more.
"First, we should check out Hachiro's house. His parents should be home and should be able to give us a report. While we're there, use your eyes. Search for clues by really seeing," Takeo said.
"Yes, Sensei," the girls chanted.
Team eleven made their way to their designated house. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary and looked much like the other cottages that were built nearby.
The two people who let them into their house, the parents, weren't exceptional either. They were probably in their late thirties. The mother plump with a caring face and the father was tall with beady eyes who seemed more nervous than stern.
"When did your son go missing?" Takeo asked the pair.
"Two weeks ago," the father replied. "He went to the market one day and never came home."
While the father spoke, the mother wandered over to a shelf and grabbed a picture frame. She handed it to Haruka and the other two girls crowded around her to get a good look. They assumed the boy in the picture was Hachiro. He was cute and reminded Kohaku of Sasuke with shaggy black hair and his eyes were the darkest shade of blue she'd ever seen.
"If he ran away, do you have any idea where he would have gone?" Takeo asked.
The mother shook her head, trying to conceal tears. "He wouldn't have run away."
"But if he did," Takeo continued, sounding impatient.
The father shook his head. "We checked with all his friends. We've checked the whole village."
"Then he must be outside of the village," Asami piped up.
"But why?" the mother asked tearfully.
"That's what we're here to find out," Takeo said.
"Do you have a map of the village and its surrounding areas?" Kohaku asked.
"Oh I'm sure we do lying around somewhere," the woman took a glance at her husband.
The woman found the map and handed over. Team eleven retired to the kitchen table with a red pen.
"Here's the main village," Takeo circled the village. "To the north is all marshland. The south is all industrial, owned by Gatoh. The east and west is all water."
"Should we split up?" Haruka asked. "Two of us go to the marshlands and two of us go south?"
Takeo contemplated this. On one hand, this would be faster and if the boy had just run away, there was really no danger. But if he hadn't run away, whoever he wasn't with could be in trouble. Finally, he decided.
"Kohaku and Asami, you check the marshlands. Haruka and I will go south. If you don't find anything by day's end, report back here. If you do find Hachiro, bring him back here and wait for us."
"Hai."
"Get some rest; you're going to need it."
A/N: Remember, check out "The Choices we Make" a NejiXOC. For some reason whenever I write the author's name, it doesn't show up so just type the story title into the search bar and read. Like I said, you may find repeated material since this is kind of a collaboration project.
Thanks for reading!