"This is Sasuke, arrived at point B" I heard him say through the head set I was wearing, we were now currently on a mission, in case you hadn't gathered. It had been nearly a month since we passed Kakashi test, and pretty much every day we performed missions. Well... That's if anyone would ever consider this to actually be one.

"This Sakura, I've arrived at point C."

"Tomoko here, I'm at point D" why there is even a point D in this operation I'll never know. All this fuss over a...

"This Naruto, I've arrived at point A"

"You're slow Naruto" Kakashi scolded, "Okay, 7th unit... The target has moved!"

Immediately everyone followed it, I heard them rustle the bushes as they ran. I felt a wet form on the side of my head, they're taking this mission way too seriously. I jumped behind the next tree where I saw Naruto about a metre away.

"What's the distance of the target?" Kakashi enquired.

"Five meters" Naruto answered "I'm ready to go!"

"I am to" Sasuke cued making Sakura say something similar.

"Tomoko?" Kakashi called.

Honestly this is stupid! I didn't sign up for thism I have more important things to worry about!

"Tomoko!"

"Yes I'm ready! Just go for goodness sake!"

"Okay..." Kakashi began "Go!"

Immediately Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke jumped out behind the target, Naruto was the first to grab it. But the target wasn't amused, because it attacked him as if he was a scratching post.

Yep! I was spending my day, as a Genin ninja, catching a cat. Notice the sarcasm.

"Does it have a ribbon on its right ear? Is it our target Tora?" Kakashi asked. I stepped away from the tree I was behind, to walk over to the rest of them.

"It's the target alright" Sasuke answered.

"Stupid cat! Stop scratching!" Naruto yelled. I calmly walked over and held my hands out to him, "No Tomoko it'll scratch you!" He tried to warn me.

"Oh don't fuss I'm good with animals" I told him taking the cat off him, which still continued to attempt an escape. "Oy!" I snapped making it stop strugglinh and stare at me. "You can either come quietly, or you'll have no tail! What's it gonna be?" The cat stared at me blankly but complied and relaxed, to make it feel more comfortable I began to scratched behind it's ears.

"Operation Capture Tora the lost Pet: Complete!" Kakashi confirmed only to have his, and everyone else's eardrum nearly burst by Naruto's complaining, making the cat go nuts again.

"Ssh..." I cooed stroking it's head, it once again calmed down and began purring.

Sakura walked over and bent down to look at the cat "how did you do that so easily? even the owner says he's hard to handle, yet you control him with such ease?"

"In Yamakure, we're constantly surrounded by nature, so we are blessed with the ability to be somewhat... at one with it. It's hard to explain."

"Oh..." Was all she said. Sakura was being somewhat... civil to me now, or maybe she was trying to get on my good side. I wasn't sure what her motives were and it was annoying.

"Tomoko" Kakashi spoke "You need to involve yourself more, we really need..."

"They all were perfectly capable of doing it without me, it doesn't take four people to catch a cat" I replied.

"That's not the point I'm making..."

I wasn't particularly in the mood for a teamwork lecture, I already had a lot on my mind, so I pulled the ear piece out and dropped it on the ground. In all honestly, I felt a bit like a fifth wheel, you know the four are set to go and the last is in the back, only used in emergencies, especially on this petty mission.

Don't misunderstand me, I was well aware of the low level missions, we have to do because Haruo went through the exact same thing. I remember him coming home frustrated due to the fact it felt like slave labour, now I fully understand what he meant. He did however, reassure me that it does get better, I hope he's right.

As I was caught in my thoughts I could feel a stern gaze on me, so I looked up at him and threw him a glare, "take a picture, it will last longer!"

Sasuke glared at me right back, but began walking back towards to village, the others soon followed behind, leaving me and the cat. I'm not sure how much more I could take, I felt really alone in this team.

"Here you go..." I spoke emotionlessly, passing the cat to it's owner.

"Oh, my cute Tora-Chan!" she cried squeezing the life out of the poor thing, the cat gave me desperate look.

Naruto started sniggering "That cat is getting what it deserves!"

"No wonder he ran away..." Sakura whispered.

"Now then" the Hokage spoke "Kakashi's 7th unit's next mission is..." he then read the paper he was holding which was a list of the once again... D-rank missions.

"NO!" The Hokage stopped reading after Naruto's outburst. "No thanks to all of those! I want to do more exciting missions!" he continued with his arms showing a cross. I could tell even Sakura and Sasuke were feeling the same, whereas Kakashi just looked like he was getting a head ache.

Iruka stood up "Idiot! You're still a novice ninja!" he yelled "Everyone needs to start with the easy missions to gain experience!"

"But..." Naruto yelled "But we've only been doing is dumb missions lately!" but he never finished his sentence due to Kakashi punching him.

"Cut it out" Kakashi told him.

"Naruto!" The Hokage called "It looks like I need to explain to you what missions are." He then cleared his throat "Listen, a lot of clients come to this village every day. They request things from babysitting to assassinations..."

He then proceed to explain on how the requests are organised into ranks according to difficulty. D-ranks were performed by Genin only, C-ranks are usually aimed for more experienced Genin and early starting Chunin, Chunin were also able to perform B-rank missions. The highest level was an A-rank mission, which was given only to a Jounin level ninja. If a mission is completed, a fee gets collected and helps the financial support of the village.

"You have only just become Genin" The Hokage stated "so D-rank mission are what's best for you."

But Naruto wasn't listening to one word, "I had tonkotsu ramen yesterday, so I'm going to eat a miso ramen today..."

"LISTEN!"

Kakashi scratched his head "I am sorry..."

'Yeah like you were listening anyway' I thought.

Naruto pulled a face "you always lecture me like that pops" Naruto stated. "But I'm not the kid who used to pull pranks anymore!" and with that he turned his back on the Hokage in a huff, making Kakashi rub his head in annoyance.

The Hokage then proceeded to laugh, which confused the hell out of me, "Okay, I understand" he said. "If you insist, I will allow you to take on a C-rank mission. It's to escort a certain person..."

"Really?" Naruto cried "who? Who? The feudal lord? Or a princess?"

"Don't get hasty" The Hokage told him "I'll introduce him now." He then called the person in. The door slowly opened to reveal a very old and very drunk man.

"What? They're just kids!" he slurred and took a swig from his bottle "Hey, is the smallest one there with the idiotic face really a ninja?"

Naruto laughed "who's the smallest one with the idiotic face?" as he said this he could see all four of us standing in a line, Sasuke being on the end on the left was the tallest out of the group, I was on Naruto's right and my head reached to Sasuke's forehead making me second tallest, Sakura was only a inch shorter than me and Naruto reached my nose... making him the smallest.

"I'm going to kill you!" he raged as he figured it out. Luckily Kakashi grabbed a hold of the back of his jacket, scolding him not to kill the client.

The man took another swig of his drink, "I am the bridge building expert Tazuna" he introduced. "Once I have returned to my country, I will have all of you protect my life with yours as I complete the bridge".

"Wait..." I cut in turning back to the Hokage "we have to leave the village?" The Hokage nodded which made my heart feel heavy "Hokage... I... I can't just leave..."

"WHAT?" Naruto yelled in my face "What do you mean you can't go!"

I didn't answer.

"You're not scared are you?" Sasuke asked which made me mad!

"Of course I'm not!"

"Tomoko..." I fell silent when The Hokage spoke my name, "I understand you and Haruo are going through a hard time right now, which is why I made sure your brother has no missions until you return. Kinosuke will be in good hands."

"Kinosuke?" Naruto repeated.

I felt a little more reassured, but the fear I had was not being around when it happened.

"You all have three hours to get ready" the Hokage told us then excused us, when we finally got outside I wasn't surprised when I got questioned about what I was talking about.

"Who's Kinosuke?" Sakura asked.

I looked at her and gave her a sad smile "he's... he's my oldest friend, and he's not very well".

"Oh no..." Sakura sighed "what's wrong with him?"

I glanced down "he's old Sakura... believe it or not he's much older than the Hokage!"

"WHAT!" her and Naruto cried.

"How is that possible?"

I laughed "lets just say he's very strong willed."

I had no idea why I came here, I haven't been to this place since I was a child. But I guess it was some kind of closure, because what Tomoko forgot to mention, was that in a way I grew up with Kinosuke to.

"May I help you young man?" An elder woman stood in front of me.

"Er... yes, I'm here to see Kinosuke?"

She gave me a stern look "you mean the Mori's horse?"

"Yeah" I answered "Tomoko asked me to check on him, I'm one of her teammates."

"Oh I see..." The woman chirped "he's in the stable on the end, oh try not to disturb him too much, I'm afraid he's not been feeling a hundred percent".

"I know..." I mumbled and slowly walked to the stable, looking over at the gate. I couldn't help but feel a slight pang at my heart when I saw Kinosuke lying on his side, looking so weak. From what I could remember of him, Kinosuke was a very proud creature and never showed his weakness.

"Tomoko..." he breathed "why do you smell different?"

I stared at him for a long time "I'm not Tomoko".

Kinosuke lifted his head slowly to look at me "who are you boy?"

I wasn't surprised that he didn't recognise me, slowly Kinosuke stood on his feet and stood closer to me, so close I could feel his breath on my hands (which were leaning on the stable door).

"You smell familiar..." he told me "but I can't place you."

"The last time you saw me I was only a child" I answered casually.

Kinosuke stared at me long and hard "Uchiha?" he gasped in realization "Uchiha Sasuke?"

I didn't say anything, it was obvious that he now remembered me.

"I would have considered you a ghost if you didn't smell so strongly..." he admitted.

I furrowed my eyebrows "what?"

The Horse snorted "Well I was under the impression you were dead, Tomoko even said so herself..."

"Tomoko... told you I was dead?" I cut in.

"Yes... does she know you're alive?"

I couldn't help but grit my teeth slightly "we're on the same team..."

Kinosuke's eyes widened "Oh my... well... this is certainly awkward."

I couldn't believe Tomoko told him I was dead! Out of all the terrible things a person could say... I never expect her to say that!

"I have to express" Kinosuke spoke "you're much different to what I remember."

"A lot has changed since I was a kid" I replied.

"Oh I'm aware of that" he shot back "Tomoko has changed a lot since she was a child"

Now this got my attention "how so?"

"Well..." He began "she was greatly saddened by her mother's death, but she slowly got better, then, she got depressed again."

"Why?"

"I assumed it was because you pass away, but I guess I was wrong."

I was stunned, she got depressed again? Was it after we stopped being friends? "I have to go" I suddenly said realising I stayed here longer than intended.

"Oh..." Kinosuke breathed sounding a little sad "it sure was nice to see and an old familiar face, I don't suppose you'll come back to visit this old horse."

"We're going on a C-rank mission" I told him.

Kinosuke shook his mane "ah... Tomoko's first C-rank mission. I never thought I'd live to see that day..."

"Don't talk like that!" I scolded "Tomoko is scared she won't see you again! You have to stay strong for her sake!"

Woah... Where the hell did that come from?

Kinosuke was quiet for a second "I suppose you're right, do me one favour boy and look after her, she's all I have left".

I wanted to say no and that it wasn't my problem. But in his eyes was something I never thought I'd see, desperation and weakness... even I wasn't that cruel.

"I'll do my best..."

"Hey Sasuke! What took you so long?!"

"None of your business dope..." was all he replied making Naruto steam at the ears, something was off with him this afternoon. He was quiet, more quiet than usual.

"Well then? now that everyone is here we should head to the village gate" Kakashi stated and started walking. All four of us followed closely behind him, to which I noticed Sasuke giving me a wide birth, well... wider than he normally did.

"Sasuke-kun? Is something wrong?" Sakura asked with a concerned gaze, but all he did was reply with his typical "hm'' and walked ahead.