Naruto hummed as the party traveled along the road, seemingly the most carefree of the group. His relaxed demeanor belied the reality of his mindset, which was awhirl with a number of scenarios and possible solutions.

Sasuke dutifully kept his focus further down the path, watching either side with a discerning eye. His hands were kept busy, checking various supplies and weapons to ensure they were where they were needed and secure. The horseplay to his house and back had him rush through the packing. Without time to go over and doublecheck whilst before the group had set out, he was left a little offbeat, and so he'd have to wait until the group had stopped to really take a proper accounting-for of all that he'd managed to bring with him.

Sakura took the time to review some brief notes on the area surrounding the village, pertaining to wildlife, altitudes, and documented criminal activity in the regions further out. Although this was still well within home territory, there was no telling what would happen. A part of herself entertained the grim possibility of enemy nin, but that would classify a B ranked mission at least! She lifted her gaze from her scroll to eye the client ambling next to her.

The man didn't look like all that much. Kind of a disappointment, really, but this was supposed to be a job suited for rank-and-file rookies, so there wasn't likely to be any cause for alarm. The man wasn't rich, wasn't reputable, and his origins were underwhelming. The only remarkable aspects of the man were his physique at his advanced age (seemingly in his late fifties, yet sporting the musculature of a working man in his mid-thirties), his attachment to bottle, and his surly attitude.

Although Sakura didn't think to see anything in what she noticed, Kakashi, who noticed the same things from the getgo, did. The Jōnin had performed many missions, and had through trials and tribulations learned, as he'd advised his team but a month ago, to look beneath the beneath.

The man, Tazuna, was supposedly a bridgebuilder. He came from the Land of Waves- which was odd, considering that what little info was gathered about the place nodded to a reliance on boats, as its economy relied on fishing and the odd diving expedition for pearls. What use had such a nation for a bridgebuilder?

Add to that his cantankerous, brooding demeanor, which he near immediately let be known once he got an eyeful of the genin waiting for him at the gates. While some clients would raise a small fuss at having kids do whatever work they had for them, the way the man so aggressively expressed his doubtfulness and contempt for "a bunch of super brats" was outside the norm for even most cheapskate clients trying to strike a bargain.

That is, if he was an honest client. If Tazuna had, say, a guilty conscience or was leading them into a trap, and thus was hiring the group under false pretenses, then the behavior made more sense. Given that, his banter and drunk act could be a form of diversion. He looked tough enough to be in a run-of-the-mill bandit. However, he lacked the evidence of self-decoration or rough habit of talking that roving outlaws were wont to show, so that was only a faint possibility.

A more likely hypothesis was that the client was in a fair spot of trouble and thus needed protection from some group in particular. That would explain his drinking.

Then there was the fact he hired out a low C-rank nin team for escort service in such a situation. This would mean one of two things, both stemming from some sort of limitation: either he was a miserly cheapskate, which was irritating, but understandable- or he was too poor to afford anything else.

And as he'd come from what was a minor land with fish, hardly something in limited supply, as their main export, the latter held more substance. Then again, maybe he spent most of his mission money on all that booze he seemed to have stocked his entire pack with. And then yet again, he felt that whatever team he hired wouldn't be enough, and thus felt that the outcome would be generally the same.

That begged the question why he bothered at all, though. Perhaps he was optimistic. He seemed together, more or less, when he met Kakashi in the briefing room. A little surly, but nonetheless together.

When he saw the kids, though…that's when he started to really degrade in terms of agreeability. Either he was pessimistic at the best of times, or he really had little to no hope at all.

But this was Kakashi's first team, so he held out hope. This wasn't war time. These kids weren't needed to become deadly warriors as quickly as possible. The Land of Fire was in peacetime for the first time since the inception of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. His genin shouldn't have to give up their innocence so quickly. Let them enjoy life while they could, untainted by the evils of violence and hatred.

And so the Jōnin ignored the very possible grim truths staring him in the face. However, the familiar mélange of dread and paranoia kept the man on his toes, no matter how reluctant he was to allow it inside him. He hoped the biggest problem on this mission would be the threat of an anxiety attack…

"Man, I paid for this escort? Seems like a waste…"

Tazuna hiccoughed, taking another liberal swig of his latest bottle of liquor. Finally, the man got a response from Naruto, who had up to that point ignored the alky cyinic.

"Old man," the blond said, turning to face Tazuna as they walked, "you're not doing much to inspire us to protect you."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you shhhhay…bwrat…"

Naruto opened his mouth to respond, but paused as if there was something he'd sighted somewhere behind the group, his nose twitching for some reason. The pause didn't last long, though, as the boy quickly grinned, flashing his double-pointed teeth.

"-Not that the look of yo- no, the smell of you wasn't counter to my team's inspiration already."

Tazuna burped, waving Naruto off.

"Pnssh…nngh piss off, kid."

The boy just kept on grinning turning around, a jerky spring in his step. Although he didn't seem all that put off by Naruto's insults, Tazuna lowered his voice, now just muttering to himself.

"Friggin'…freakh kid...fuckin' goggles…an' stupid-lookin' face…"

~xxx

A little later, further down the road, Sakura decided to attempt some conversation, having long since put away her notes.

"Um…Tazuna-san?"

The bridgebuilder blinked, unused to hearing polite words from the genin for once.

"Eh? What?"

"You're from Wave country, right?"

"What about it?"

Sakura looked to her sensei, something clearly on her mind.

"Um…Kakashi-sensei? Do they have ninja in that country, too?"

"No, not in the Land of Waves," Kakashi said, quickly adding "But in most other regions, although the cultures and customs vary, you'll find hidden villages- and as a result, ninja."

Sakura hummed, fiddling with the armstraps of her pack. Noticing that his genin wasn't too satisfied with the answer, and seeing as there wasn't much in the way of conversation to keep his mind from wandering on this mission, the Jōnin decided it was time to give a valuable lecture.

"For many of the Lands on this continent, possessing a hidden village indicates a certain level of power and affluence. Ninja villages don't preside over the countries, but they stand on essentially equal footing with the lands' governments and the governments' more public militaries.

"There are a fair number of hidden villages, and five of those stand equally as the five largest and most powerful: Leaf, Mist, Cloud, Sand, and Stone. These five are known as the Great Five Shinobi Villages, and are also the only hidden villages to have the right to dub their leader a 'Kage'. The 'Shadow Five'- Hokage, Mizukage, Raikage, Kazekage, and Tsuchikage- they reign over the thousands of ninja that originate from the Great Five Villages.

"Relating back to your initial question, a small country- such as Wave, which doesn't interfere with (and as a result doesn't get interfered with) its larger neighbors- has no real need for its own shinobi village."

Sakura blinked, being unused to Kakashi being so formal or verbal- or even so helpful (not since the "Final Test" from back a month ago, at least).

"Wow…Hokage-sama is the greatest!"

The girl looked like she only half-believed what she was saying. The other genin, who had been visibly listening in to the conversation, didn't look too convinced, either.

"…You guys just doubted our most honorable Hokage, didn't you?"

The three didn't show their guilt, but Kakashi knew it was there. Oh yes he did.

"But don't concern yourselves with thoughts like that right now," Kakashi said, patting Sakura on the shoulder, "there's not likely to be any ninja combatants on a simple C-rank mission."

"Then…" Sakura slowly began, some of the unease coming out of her voice, "we won't come in contact with foreign ninjas?"

Kakashi chuckled.

"Of course not!"

Sasuke, chancing another glance toward the client, immediately noted the visible look of concern on the man's face. Kakashi, in the same moment, immediately noted the visible look of a puddle on the side of the path.

And in the next moment, the strained peace and willful ignorance of the party was shattered as they were set upon by "unlikely" enemy ninja.

~~xxx

A cliffhanger?

Please. I'll be updating this fic within the next 24 hours. Keep your panties unbunched, gawd.