Chapter 2- The first mission, ready or not

Mizuko enjoyed living with the Senju for the past two months. But he didn't enjoy seeing Hashirama and Tobirama return after missions always returning with less people they left with. After every mission Tobirama trained him harder and harder. He was becoming very skilled in the art of shinobi combat. His water style abilities are far beyond basic fishing. His rate of growth and skill was raising eyes amongst the Senju.

"Mizuko is progressing nicely." Tobirama tells his with an almost prideful voice. "But we're not making as much money as we need to. Mizuko needs to be given a basic mission to soften the deficit."

"He may be getting strong quickly but is he really ready to face a full fledged shinobi?" Hashirama asks Tobirama with concern.

"He's not technically a Senju, we don't have to send him against well known clans. But we do need him to start getting combat experience."

"So what do you suggest?"

"We can get him a job as a freelancer. They don't get paid very well but they don't have to fight any of the more powerful clans."

Hashirama considered this. Mizuko had no official combat experience, but the clan did need continuous income of mass amounts of money to fund the amount of combat they see. The Senju spared no expense to stay tied with the Uchiha, but neither did there enemy. Mizuko could bring extra income without being tied to the Senju.

"Fine, but I want to spar with him first." Hashirama decides to personally test Mizuko's readiness for combat.

Mizuko is sitting on the back porch sharpening his blade when he hears footsteps approaching. He turns around to see Hashirama with two swords.

"Hashirama! Did you come here to train with me!?" Mizuko asks excitedly.

"I did in fact, I'm here to see if you've gotten as strong as Tobirama says you are." Hashirama gives Mizuko a warm smile as he hands him a katana.

"You better watch your guard, I don't want to hurt you Hashi."

Hashirama laughs but is interrupted by a rushing slash by Mizuko.

"You didn't give me time to draw my blade." Hashirama says in a half scolding tone.

"Waiting for the enemy to draw their blade is a sign of weakness."

"It's also a sign of mutual respect and honor."

"Sometimes there is no room for honor to save the lives of your comrades."

Hashirama knew this was a very sad true statement, but he wished Tobirama left this out of Mizuko's training. But if he didn't, Mizuko would be ill prepared for actual combat. But the child he was sparring against left no room for error, he was staying on an impressive defense, but given the chance he quickly turned the tides. He might not be ready to fight against an Uchiha, but after training under Tobirama he was more than capable of most freelancing shinobi. It was possible he might even be able to take on more than one at a time.

"You learned well Mizuko. I enjoyed sparring with you today."

"You too Hashi." Mizuko asks as Hashirama sheathes his blade. "When's my first mission?"

"Soon, very soon." With that Hashirama took his leave to go find a mission for Mizuko.

Mizuko was excited yet very nervous. He didn't know if he was going to succeed or not. But he was determined to help the family that took him in. He decided to head over to the medical quarters for ointment in case of an injury.

There he saw the Head Medic's daughter, Sahira Senju. She was around the same age as Mizuko and was always nice to him.

"Hey Mizuko, how was training today?"

"Hey Sahira, it was fun. I got to train with Hashirama… My first mission is soon."

"Against Uchiha!?" Sahira exclaimed in a worried tone. She knew as the daughter of the Head Medic what the casualty rates were.

"I don't know yet. But if I do I'm ready to put down my life for Tobirama."

"I'm sorry. I wish I could be with you. But Mother says I need to focus more on how to make ointments and foodpills."

"It's ok, but I want some of the best ointment you have."

"That's expensive, how're you gonna pay for it?"

"I'm sure I can get some money from Tobirama."

"I hope so."

Mizuko walks into the medical quarters. The Head Medic smiles as he approaches her desk.

"Is everything ok Mizuko?" she asks in a caring voice.

"Yeah I just want the very best ointment for my first mission."

"Oh you're starting to go on missions now?

"Yes but I want to be ready."

"Well I'll let you have this first jar free, but in the future you'll have to pay for it."

"Yes ma'am. Thank you very much. Have a good day." Mizuko says as he runs home to get his gear ready for his mission the next day. When he arrives he gets together his combat armor and his tools together. When He finishes he visits Butsuma to receive his mission details.

"You have been hired to protect a small time trader as he heads to a town several hours away. The resistance should be light but be prepared for any situation. You leave in the morning at dawn." Butsuma ends as he waves for Mizuko to leave the room.

As he heads home Mizuko wonders how much money he's going to make. He wishes he wouldn't have to go alone. He wishes Hashirama or Tobirama could come with him. But they were two of the clans strongest. Mizuko vowed to get stronger so he could protect those two for the life they've given him. He decided nearly 100% of his pay would go to the Senju treasury. This was what he decided would be the best way to help his home. He got in bed thinking about going on missions to fight elite clans in the future. He yearned and dreaded the day that would come. He fell asleep thinking about being the most powerful ninja ever.

Mizuko woke up a little early the next morning and decided to head to his client early. The client's house was a house in poor condition in the middle of a town in even worse shape. He seemed to be one of the more wealthy members of this community. It was no wonder he needed protection. He lived in one of the poorest towns in the Land of Fire. He knocked on the door to wake the man up. But the hollow echo in the air sent chills up his spine. He placed his hand on the handle over his shoulder. The door of the merchant's home opened slowly.

"Are you my protection for the day?" asked the merchant.

"Yes." Replies Mizuko.

"You're here."

"I thought it would be easier to leave before sunrise and be back before sunset." Mizuko explains.

"Good thinking kid, just give a few minutes to gather my merchandise."

Mizuko waited while the man did so. Very few people left their houses. The only ones who did were men who looked like they could protect themselves. No women or children came out. Mizuko wondered if they could in a place like this.

"I'm ready." Says the merchant as he begins pulling his barrow.

Mizuko stood behind the man at all times. The man's merchandise didn't look very valuable and he thought the lack of women and children odd.

"Does your town have women and children?" Mizuko asked the merchant.

"Yes but they rarely leave their houses. The rate of crime is very high in my town. Women and children get kidnapped very often. They're never seen again. Only bulky men ever leave their families houses only leaving the oldest son to guard the houses." The man explains.

"That's sad. But why didn't anyone try to abduct me?"

"You're a shinobi clad in weapons with a sword on your back."

"Then why don't they just give all the men armor and weapons."

"Because my village simply can't afford it. I'm the richest man in my village. I barely have enough to feed my wife."

"You have a wife, why not kids?" the merchant was still young and very toned from carrying his cargo from town to town.

"Because I wouldn't be able to feed them and my wife lives in her hometown not too far from here until I can buy us a home not too far from here."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Mizuko felt bad that while a select few elite clans prospered, those who couldn't afford elite ninja suffered in poverty. But there was little he could do about it. He realized something. The woods around him were dreadfully quiet. Could his conversation have took his mind off of listening for enemies? His train of thought was disrupted as there was a rustle and then a man lunged from the trees above. Mizuko jumped forward to block the attacker. As he locked blades with this man, another jumped from the other side of the clearing.

"WATER STYLE: WATER LAZER JUTSU!" Mizuko yelled as a high pressure stream of water rushed from his mouth into the chest of the man he was in a blade lock with. He turned around as the man smashed into a tree as the pressure broke his ribs. The other man was briefly surprised but tried to kill the merchant with ninjutsu.

"FIRE STYLE: BURNING FUNERAL!" The second shinobi yelled releasing a small but intense ball of flames hurling at Mizuko.

"WATER STYLE: WATER WALL!" yelled Mizuko as he dashed in front of the merchant. However his water wall taught to him by Tobirama was much smaller than his master's. The fireball's remnants managed to burn Mizuko's hands and face although his armor blocked the rest of the attack. Mizuko used the steam to lunge with his sword forward into the man's chest. The man suffered a mortal

injury but managed to slash Mizuko. The armor again blocked the majority of the damage leaving only a minor cut into his chest plate, but his left arm had a cut at least half a centimeter deep. The man dropped dead with a surprised look on his face. But Mizuko had no time to waste, he immediately pulled out his ointment and applied it to his cut and his burned areas. The ointment was made by the best medic in the Senju clan, it stopped bleeding, cooled burns, and even shortened the paralysis of lightning natured injuries. It wasn't going to be cheap to replace, so he used as little as possible. These two men were only minor shinobi looking to make money off of anyone traveling this path. The man stopped to take a loaf of bread out of one of his baskets.

"Here, thanks for saving me. You sure you alright?"

"Yes, I was trained for this, don't worry about me. Thanks for the bread." Mizuko ate it very quickly. Using his two strongest ninjutsu wore him out and left him snackish. He didn't have enough experience yet to actually fight for extended periods of time. If there were more bandits, he wouldn't be able to react as fast. He kept all five of his senses open for several hours. Eventually a gate with two watchtowers stood in the distance bearing a clan symbol on the gate.

"This is the place I'll be staying in for while."

"Those are shinobi by those watchtowers."

"They are, their of the Shimura clan. My wife lives here, I'm going to give my services to the men of this fine clan in return of a place to live. Here I can have a family."

"So that's why we haven't encountered any enemies for several hours."

"Yes, there are Shimura all around us. Bandits don't come within miles of here."

"What about your hometown?"

"I gave my house to the man I told to lead the town. He is going to organize a security group, I left him all of my money."

"Then whose paying me?"

As Mizuko said this a man with armor and a tanto across his back handed him a very heavy coin purse.

"My sister thanks you for escorting her husband to us."

"It's no problem. But why couldn't you guys do it?"

"Most of our best fighters are off on missions to fill our treasury, although the Senju stole some of our clients recently. Anyway thanks again for my brother-in-law." The man said as him and the merchant went into the gates that closed behind him.

He began to head home immediately, but he took a route which was dotted with middle class towns to avoid trouble. He got home an hour after nightfall. He went straight to Butsuma. Butsuma waved him in and began counting the money in the purse.

"You were paid 2,000 ryo. You can keep up to 90%. But you'll need about 100 to repair your armor."

Mizuko took 200 ryo out the purse and gave the rest to Butsuma.

"There are others who have armor more broken than mine. I want the rest of this to go to the treasury."

"Very noble of you." Butsuma was proud of the boy for his decision. "How many enemies did you face today."

"Only two."

"Where are they now, after you forced them to flee?"

"They didn't flee, I killed them."

"I see. But who paid you all this money?"

"A shinobi of the Shimura clan."

"The Shimura eh. It's a good thing you don't bear an emblem. We recently took a few of their clients. They might've killed you. In any case you should head home. You need your rest, I'll let you choose your own missions from now on."

Mizuko head home quickly to tell Tobirama the results of his mission. However Tobirama wasn't home. He went straight to Hashirama's house to see if Tobirama was there. Mizuko knocked loudly on the door. Hashirama opened it soon after. Tobirama was standing in the room a few feet behind him.

"So how did the mission go, I see you have a few light injuries?" Hashirama asked warmly.

"It went fine, I made the clan almost 2,000 ryo and managed to make kill two enemy who attacked the man I was protecting." Mizuko explains.

"You suffered several injuries, if it weren't for your ointment you might've died of blood loss." Tobirama said with a strict tone. "Did they attack separately or as a team?"

"They went one at a time." Mizuko said lowly.

"I see. Your first mission was a success, but I will need to put more time into your training. This training will be to better your swordsmanship and your endurance with ninjutsu." Tobirama told the young shinobi.

That night Mizuko went to bed earlier than normal, he was fatigued from his first mission. He was going to get stronger, so he never had to see Tobirama disappointed in him again, and to protect him and Hashirama.