"Woohoo! We're going on a mission! Yeah!" Naruto screams, uncaring of the attention his exuberance draws upon us as we walk down the street.

"Stop screaming," Sakura snaps, swatting the boy upside the head.

Obviously expecting it, Naruto ducks, his elation not dimming a single bit.

Sakura scowls like Naruto's simple act of self-preservation has personally upset her, and she eyes the blonde, looking like she would very much like to try again.

I barely hold back a sigh. 'Is this going to be my life for the entirety of this mission?' I wonder.

If it is then I just might go rogue. Better to be a missing-nin than to have to put up with Naruto and Sakura's antics uninterrupted for the next several days.

"Good to see you guys are full of energy today," Kakashi says, his usually cheery demeanor in full force. "But don't get too excited, Naruto. We have lots of travelling ahead of us."

"Yeah, two and a half days worth," Sakura says, "and I'm not spending it with you screaming in my ear."

"But Sakura," Naruto says, "we're finally going on a mission. A real mission."

Sakura rolls her eyes. "This is hardly a "real" mission, Naruto," she says, referring to the fact that this mission is likely just us travelling halfway across The Land of Fire to go be attractions at a birthday party.

And not even the birthday party of anyone important.

"Well maybe, but I thought we already agreed that we were going to take it seriously because something important will likely happen?" Naruto asks.

" No," Sakura disagrees, drawing out the word, "we're taking it seriously because that's proper procedure and because something might happen. Where are you getting likely from?

"The most likely danger we're likely to face in this mission is likely your dumbness," Sakura adds.

"Pish," Naruto huffs, waving away Sakura's words and concerns with a dismissive swat of his hand. "Sasuke agrees with me," he says.

"No, he doesn't."

"Yes, he does," Naruto says. "He's making that face like he just stepped in poop; that's the face he makes when he agrees with me."

"That's the face he always makes," Sakura says.

Too late she realizes what she just said as Naruto's expression morphs into one of impish glee.

"Why you?" Sakura snarls and lunges at Naruto.

Laughing, the blonde takes off down the street and Sakura shoots off after him, shouting threats all the while.

Kakashi sighs wistfully. "Ah, young love," he says.

… No, seriously, if the rest of the mission is like this, I'm definitely going rogue.

——

While my world may not have technology anywhere near the level that Caleb's does, it does have some, and one of those are trains.

Nothing even remotely close to the cutting edge maglev bullet trains from Caleb's world, of course, but trains nevertheless; loud, sooty steam trains.

They're a somewhat recent invention, barely fifty years old in fact, but wildly popular, and while The Leaf itself doesn't have a train station, the town close by, Watanabe Hill, does.

That's where we head as soon as we leave the village.

Of course, we could run all the way to Springtree. Goodness knows if we put our backs into it we'll beat the noisy, graceless locomotive there. But we aren't going to do that, because we don't have to.

I've heard some ninja, older ninja, speak of technology with fear and distaste, some even going so far as to suggest that ninja might need to or even should sabotage technological advancements.

They say that it's a danger to our way of life, because, one day, the civilian machines will surpass even the most powerful ninja, and then we would all become irrelevant.

Before I'd gotten Caleb's memories, I'd being dubious of those claims, but now, I know they're right; machines will, one day, surpass even the most powerful ninja, but they will not make us irrelevant.

Caleb's world has city destroying bombs. It has flying machines that travel faster than sound and can be piloted from a continent away. It has mechanical eyes in space that, in many ways, see better than I can with my sharingan. It has tanks, it has bombs, and it has collosal ships with equally collosal guns, and yet, somehow, its nations still invest immense wealth into enlisting and training soldiers.

Any of the new genin from my year, if given the appropriate information, is, I firmly believe, more than a match for any team of elite operators from Caleb's world.

The things that we can do, but more importantly, the ways in which we can do them; no machine can replicate that.

And if there ever comes a time that there is? I think civilian's no longer needing ninja will be the least of anyone's worries.

The ironic thing is that ninja technically have far better 'technology' than civilians in the form of fuinjutsu.

Unfortunately, fuinjutsu will never become mainstream. Ever. I should know, I tried my hand at it back at The Academy.

Fuinjutsu is like if advanced mathematics was blended with philosophy, and also came with the caveat that one had to first have undergone years of chakra training from a young age; which itself comes with the caveat that one is part of the 0.1% of the population with the natural ability to even use chakra.

There is a reason that The Hidden Whirlpool was revered across The Continent for their fuinjutsu work.

It was also the reason our enemies did everything in their power to wipe them out as soon as the opportunity presented itself.

At Watanabe Hill, we take the train, presenting ourselves as civilians as is procedure for when we do not need to reveal our status as ninja.

As Sakura had said, the trip does take two and a half days, and by the time we disembark at the train station closest to Springtree, I've contemplated murdering my teammates and going rogue an unhealthy number of times.

To no one's surprise, Naruto did not handle being cooped up in a train carriage for days well, and the boy complained so many times for something exciting to happen, that I found myself almost wishing the train would be attacked by robbers or something.

Also to no one's surprise, Naruto's complaining irritated Sakura, and an irritated Sakura does not function well in the vicinity of Naruto.

Suffice to say, I'm glad the trip is almost over and we can begin the process of putting this mission behind us.

Of course, there's still the journey back to consider, but I'll murder that bridge when I get to it.