Author's Notes: Hey yall, hope yall enjoyed Chapter 4. I certainly enjoyed writing it, but alas, here comes Chapter 5. Apologies for the late update, my mind was dragged everywhere and back when it came to describing the first mission, and how exactly everything would be following the hectic events of the last chapter. Naw, I really do apologize, I kept writing and rewriting, starting and stopping for every few hundred words, hopefully yall enjoy this chapter, bit…tame compared to the past few, but it starts the genin career of Naruto and co. so hope yall enjoy!
Summary: Team 10 is here and it's here to stay! We'll take some peeks into the lives of the other teams, see how they're adjusting, and start a mission arc that will last at least two chapters!
Genin of Konohagakure!
Training Ground 13 (Two Days Later) [Naruto's Pov]
Naruto barely managed to raise his hand to catch Shikamaru's kunai, wincing at the sharp pain, he had caught the blade instead of the handle. He tried to rush in and disable the Nara heir but was intercepted by Hinata. Dammit. This never ended well, his katana flashed with deadly grace, but Hinata just seemed to dance around his blade, never moving close enough to hit him. Holding his Katana tight he attempted to move closer, she might even retreat this time, but when he attempted to swing, his thumb shifted out of place, leaving him open to a devastating counter. Cursing he leaped back and thanked Inari-sama that Hinata-chan wasn't as bloodthirsty as she could be, that could have ended the fight then and there.
The tendril that Shikamaru had sent out retreated as soon as Shikamaru dispelled his jutsu "Dammit, I don't know what happened there, but I should have got you" Shikamaru groused.
Naruto puffed out his chest and nodded "Yeah I'm the best, and don't yo-…" he stopped, something was wrong.
He felt the wind shift behind him and scarcely saw lilac eyes shine with worry before half a dozen sharp lances of pain and dropped his katana. Looking back at Shikamaru, he saw Hinata bow to him before she disappeared in a puff of smoke. A Bunshin! Cursing, he tried to throw a kick at the real Hinata, but her superior Taijutsu made quick work of him.
"So, what did we learn today?" Asuma asked, walking up to the abashed Hinata and a grumbling Naruto, Shikamaru joined them after a few seconds of his customary 'I'd rather be asleep' speech.
"No one can be trusted," Naruto answered petulantly on the ground, waiting for the feeling in his muscles to return so he could stand.
"Ano, that we should look out for illusions?" Hinata helpfully retorted, petting the traitorous kitsune that had positioned itself next to the Hyūga heiress.
"All good points, if a bit whiny on your part Naruto," Asuma said with a crooked grin before kneeling down next to the blonde "I can help with the paralysis, but you'll feel a little sting, is that fine?" he asked. Bringing his hand to rest on the genin's chest, waited until the blonde nodded with his cocksure attitude and (before the blonde could speak) sent a pulse of chakra through his body.
Naruto sucked in a breath and waited for the feeling to disappear, his body felt like it had just trained for days without end, once the odd feeling left him, he slowly stood up. "Uh…thanks Asuma-sensei, but what was that?" he asked, noting that Hinata, for the first time since he'd met her, looked oddly…focused.
Asuma raised his head to the sky and thought for a few moments before shrugging "A trick, customarily used to dispel Genjutsu in another person, but if you empower it a little, focus just enough, you can open their tenketsu," the grizzled man said with an air of wisdom that looked…off coming from him, shaking his head at the thought he flexed his muscles, stretching them a little to get used to the feeling of having his…ten…tenkatsu? Forcefully opened.
"Since your blood seems riled up enough, how about we go get a mission," the Jonin offered with a smile. A little taken aback, given that he was barely recovering from the fight, Hinata looked a little winded and Shikamaru looked like he was willing to go to sleep (but that could mean anything given his usual lax attitude).
"Are you sure Sensei? Don't you think we'll be too tired to do anything?" the blonde asked, noticing that Hinata had already resigned herself to work and Shikamaru was trying to rest up before the perceived inevitable.
"Oh, I wouldn't worry, I think you'll actually find this easy, if not informative," the Jonin said, snickering slightly.
Did he want to see them fail? Shaking that thought away Naruto puffed up his chest, he was trained in the way of the Samurai, Hinata was one of the best fighters he'd ever met (if not easily startled) and Shikamaru had enough brain power to take on the village! Whatever they had to do, they wouldn't fail.
"We can do it Sensei, just you wait!" the blonde declared with an air of finality, they wouldn't fail their first mission, no way no how.
Konohagakure Residential District (1 Hour Later) [Asuma's Pov]
He knew he shouldn't delight in it, but it was beautiful watching the genin's enthusiasm fade from his eyes, it was a lot of work ensuring that the amped-up blonde wouldn't run inside with him into the tower to 'pick the best mission', but seeing him look so defeated, so confused, it brought a smile to his face.
"Hey…Sensei…we're just stopping by to say bye to your girlfriend or something right?" the blonde asked, he could see it in his eyes, trying to grasp onto anything that would break this nightmare.
Laughing he shook his head and inclined his head at the woman, who bowed at him, ignoring the glare she leveled at the bowing blonde, it was to be expected, but seeing Naruto's lack of any real care, solved the issue for him. If the blonde had a problem, he'd solve it, or come to him, on his own.
"Apologies Ma'am, you know how genin can be, expecting to rescue princesses and save countries from demons," he said with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
Nodding the woman moved to escort them to the back of her yard, where his genin could see a weathered and badly chipped shed. Smiling he moved towards the chair conveniently placed and sat down, if only he could remember their confused little stares for the rest of his life.
"Well, what are you waiting for? The tools are there waiting for you, we got some paint there, brushes here, just be sure to use the primer first, otherwise, we're going to have to come back here for free, and no one, especially Shinobi, enjoys having their time wasted for free," he said with a smile before he flicked out a cigarette, Degarashi Delight and focused a little chakra to the tip of his finger.
Inhaling the familiar taste and smell, he smiled and let out a deep exhale, looking up his smile widened even further. For all of Naruto's bluster, it looked like it would take some time before they managed to finish, given that they were still hunting down which paint was a primer, leaning back into the chair, his mind swiveled to the meeting he had with his father a few weeks ago.
Hokage's Office (Asuma's Pov) [Day of Graduation]
"…will watch over Yamanaka Ino, Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino, finally Jonin Asuma, you will watch over Hyūga Hinata, Nara Shikamaru, and Uzumaki Naruto," his father told the pair, originally three Jonin sensei were meant to be here, but he wouldn't expect Kakashi-san to be on time for his own funeral, let alone a meeting.
Withholding any misgivings, towards peers and anger at the sudden change of plans, until Kurenai-san left. He watched her bow her head subserviently at the decision and the Hokage smiled, ignoring that Asuma had yet to do the same.
"Good, then if that will be all, dismissed." His father said, returning to the work on the table that was important enough to make it to his desk, Asuma stood but waited until Kurenai left, ignoring her questioning looks and walked near his father's desk.
"Why did you change it so dramatically? This change disrupts all the plans I had for the genin, am I still supposed to adhere to your plan of Ino-Shika-Cho?," his father kept writing, ignoring his words "What will their fathers think? What will Kakashi think fo-," a pencil touching the desk ceased his questioning and his father finally looked up.
"Are you a Jonin of Konohagakure?" the Hokage asked rhetorically "These concerns are either above you, and you overreach, or so mitigated, that if they were a true concern for a Jonin then I need wonder if the rest of my Shinobi would so readily falter when a plan had to change because of uncontrollable variables." The Hokage asked, before returning to his work, ignoring all the concerns raised to him.
Asuma shut down his anger before it could tear down whatever relationship his father had left with him before a thought struck him. "And Kakashi-san?" he couldn't help but ask.
"Pawns are moving, the world changing, I will not make exceptions for Shinobi who refuse to move with it," he retorted, not looking up once," Dismissed Jonin."
Asuma stood there for a few moments, before bowing stiffly and leaving the room, this was a stranger meeting than he'd ever had with his father yet.
Present (Asuma's Pov) [Ten Minutes Later]
Shaking his head, he ignored the itching feeling that something was wrong and incinerated the last cigarette before it could finish, sitting and thinking never did any good for him, especially not when he thought about the strange relationship he had with his father.
Looking up to see how far along his genin were, and smiled, his genin had found the primer, and were painting it with gusto, and looking closer, he noticed that Shikamaru had already begun painting over the primer with some other paint. Shrugging, he leaned back into the chair and closed his eyes, this was their mission, not his.
Same Location/Time (Shikamaru's Pov)
Truly, this was the highlight of his week, some might say this was too boring and he'd agree, but it was preferable to relying on an illusion to protect him from a blood-crazed blonde, or training to speed up his shadow, and seeing if a Chakra overload could beat it (Naruto hadn't gotten close but he was positive you weren't supposed to be able to twitch a finger). Just swishing, dipping and swishing some more, it was easy, preferable and judging by Naruto's muttering, we wouldn't be doing this for long.
Shrugging that away, he looked up and sighed, he was almost done with this wall, it was a nice blue, almost the same color as the sky, but looking at his teammates, Naruto had almost finished another wall, and Hinata had already started on the last. This would almost come to an end and then Naruto would insist they fight…unless…but could his wallet survive feeding Naruto? Asuma looked prepared to cuff him when their check had come after their first meal as a team. Was peace really worth being broke?
Naruto looked up, as though sensing his fellow genin and smiled before gesturing towards the clearing not too far from him, hand already inching his way towards the cursed weapon. Shaking his head slowly, Shikamaru got back to work. Peace was worth anything.
Same Location (Hinata's Pov) [10 Minutes Later]
Hinata sighed in contentment as she finished the wall, painting was always something she wanted to do, in part to replicate her mother's skill with Nihonga, but her father had denied her every wish. She could almost imagine she was doing that instead of simply painting a wall, but the process was too different, the wood was too grainy and required multiple strokes if she wanted it to be smooth.
Smiling she walked near her sensei, who had somehow fallen asleep and scratched Yuki, the little fox had sought shelter underneath the burly man and yipped with happiness when its bleary eyes opened to find Hinata lathering him in attention.
Kasai Chashitsu₂ (Naruto's Pov) [43 Minutes Later)
He sipped at the tea with a sigh, ignoring Shikamaru's confused face (a raised eyebrow), sure going to a Chashitsu wasn't his style. Mostly because sensei always talked about how a Chashitsu was meant to be a small private building, but the ones in the village were massive.
Taking a sip of his tea once again, Naruto watched Hinata in confusion as the Kunoichi nibbled on her fourth Wagashi, slowly devouring the snacks that Shikamaru had so generously paid for. He looked down when he felt little paws dig into his pants, put the cup carefully down, freeing his hands, took some of the snacks that weren't claimed and handed them down to Yuki who wasted no time in disappearing with his new bounty.
"Naruto-kun, who taught you how to drink tea?" Hinata-san asked, face red, was her mecha tea brewed poorly he couldn't help but wonder. Maybe he should ask the waitress about her tea. It wouldn't be too much trouble, his was amazing, it wasn't right that the person who brought them here suffered.
"Uh…Naruto-kun?" Hinata's voice hesitantly spoke, snapping him out of his thoughts. Shaking his head, he muttered an apology to Hinata, Daiki-sensei had taught him better than that.
"What did you ask Hinata-san? Sorry, I sort of spaced out," he asked sheepishly.
"Ano Naruto-kun, I was wondering where you learned to drink tea," she asked again, and Naruto felt his throat constrict, shaking his head, he lowered his cup to the table and thought back to the days when his master insisted he drinks tea properly.
Temple of Inari (Naruto's Pov) [4 Years Ago]
Naruto slowly brought the teacup to his lips, staring at Daiki-sensei carefully, before taking a sip and putting it down as slowly as he could. "How was that sensei!" he asked cheerfully, he held it with one hand under the cup, and the other wrapped around the cup, just like his sensei said!
The wizened man stared at Naruto for a few moments before nodding, bringing his own cup to his lips, and drinking the tea with a smile on his face. Smiling Naruto picked up the cup and drank it with a smile on his face, until he realized, with a start, that his sensei was staring at him, bringing a hand back to scratch his face, and he tilted his head confused.
"Did I do something wrong sensei?" he asked, slightly frightened, he didn't know how much longer he could practice Kanji before fighting Sasuke-teme, that no good cheating duck-haired cheater, would look like fun (and he was a cheater!).
Laughing his sensei shook his head before standing up "No no, you did good Naruto-kun, come, I've no doubt you've learned something, let's see if that lesson translates to the blade," his sensei said with an air of wisdom.
Naruto followed him, face scrunched up in confusion before his seven-year-old brain could wait no longer "How does learning how to hold a teacup teach me to be a better fighter?" he asked his mentor who only smiled and uttered "you'll see" before they continued onwards.
Looking back, his sensei thought a lot higher of him than he should have, because he still couldn't see why.
Kasai Chashitsu (Naruto's Pov) [Two Minutes Pass]
"Ano…Naruto-kun, are you okay?" he heard Hinata's voice ask, confused he looked at her and nodded. His chest felt heavy, and his throat barely let him speak, but he could nod.
"Hey Naruto, do you want to spar?" Shikamaru asked, staring at him with a strange look in his eyes. Normally the blonde would have leaped at the chance to, but now? He shook his head, he felt tired, his vision was blurry, hand shaking he brought a hand to his eyes and felt tea clinging to it, laughing he stood up and walked out of the chashitsu, his teammate's concerned voices fading to the background as he just walked. All that time learning how to drink tea and he spilled some on his eyes of all places!
That must be why Hinata was asking, he clearly didn't learn as well as Daiki-sensei thought he did. He walked up the stairs with heavy feet, passed by Yuri-san with nary a greeting and deeper into the temple, he walked into the room where Daiki-sensei used to teach him, and collapsed into the futon. He didn't know why, but he felt so tired.
Training Ground 13 (Hinata's Pov) [Three Weeks Later]
Hinata narrowly dodged Naruto-kun's katana, he was getting better at anticipating her, and even if all she needed was one hit, Naruto seemed like he was used to fighting against faster opponents. She, more often than not, had to resort to tricking him to be able to land a single blow, and after that, it was almost a joke fighting the blonde, try though as he might to make it not be so.
Veins pulsing, she dodged the shadow that had almost captured her, the chakra flowing through it painfully obvious, catching her breath, she found herself thankful that the blonde didn't care to push the opening Shikamaru-kun's attacks always left. It was strange she thought to herself, hands shifting through the signs for Kawarimi, how honorable Naruto-kun seemed to be. Smiling when she felt her chakra latch onto a nearby log, she vanished and sent out three clones to distract Naruto-kun. Turning her gaze outwards, she quickly found the fleeing Shikamaru and set out with all the speed she could muster.
With a grace that only a Hyūga could possess, she narrowly dodged the katana that had speared the tree with frightening ease, pushing some Chakra into her legs, and threw herself at the blonde. She could tell he didn't expect her to arrive so fast, for he had yet to pull out his weapon. All the better for her.
Naruto-kun tried to meet her in Taijutsu, but even for an heiress as meek as Hinata, a Hyūga nary had an equal in Taijutsu. To his credit, he tried taking a blow to land a hit against her, but just a glancing blow was all she needed to ensure he couldn't fight her at his full potential, his punch hurt but that was all. Sparing a smile for the blonde she leaped back into the trees and hunted the Nara heir. Having fought alongside, and against, Shikamaru-kun, he would be harder to take down than Naruto-kun if he didn't engage her directly. Sadly, after Asuma-sensei made him fight Naruto-kun for giving up so easily, she doubted he'd throw a fight as readily as he used too…
Training Ground 13 (Asuma's Pov) [Five Minutes Later]
He whistled a tuneless jaunt, as he hefted the blonde onto his shoulder, leaving the katana so Naruto could reclaim it as his leisure and walked back to the clearing where they had started the fight. He smiled as his mind took him to his genin. They weren't the best he had ever seen, that honor would go to Gai's brats, little hellions that they were. However, he was slowly making them used to the real world, breaking Hinata's hesitance to fight her teammates had taken some time, but it helped that Naruto and Shikamaru didn't hold back most of the time.
She learned quickly to fight to the best of her ability or anger Naruto, who was confusingly perceptive when it came to combat. Sadly, he needed to pick up the slack when it came to Shikamaru who was only happy that his teammate didn't seem so keen on beating the tar out of him, a few rounds with Naruto knocked some of the laziness out of him.
At the very least he went out of his way trying so he wouldn't need to do anything. Truth be told it was Naruto where his trouble lies, the blonde refused to use Kunai, could hardly use the bow that his fox (yushi?) guarded during these exercises and was only just now beginning to spot the weakness of certain jutsu. It was well and good that he could fight, but for all the greatness of his mind, he wouldn't use it to think like a Shinobi. He had met plenty of Samurai in his time at the capital, but it was strange to think an academy student had found one here of all places and even managed to convince him to train him!
Sighing as he sat down, content to wait out the effects of the Hyūga's techniques, even if Naruto wasn't, he thought on to what they should do next. They worked well together if using Naruto as a distraction counted as working together, but there was something missing.
Puffing out a ring of smoke, he ignored the out-of-breath Shikamaru as he ran past him and disappeared into the forest. A lilac blur followed soon after.
He wondered how the others were doing…maybe he should teach Naruto how to counter…
Training Ground 15 (Kurenai's Pov) [Same Time]
Kurenai refused to understand how Inuzuka Kiba passed the academy and what's worse is he passed her genin exam! Why, why did she let him pass her genin exam? He was a strong enough student but if she had known that her plans for a tracking and scouting team were dead in the water without Hinata, she might have chosen to wait another year.
To be fair to Kiba, it wasn't his fault, who could have known that the genin that would replace Hinata would be so…controlling? That wasn't to hark on the Yamanaka heir but the two genin often clashed and Shino, currently her favorite genin, refused to be brought into their arguments. Good thinking on his part but after two weeks of this she was prepared to throw them into an arena and let them hash their arguments out like civilized people!
Stifling a giggle at the thought, she shook her head and stepped into the fray, Kami grant her strength because this will be a battle she won't return unscathed from.
"…mmit Dog-breath, it's so simple," A yellow harpy screamed out as a disgruntled Jonin sensei walked closer, while the fourth member of the team merely observed a strange strain of ants he'd never seen before…wait, eight legs, an arachnid of a kind…interesting.
Konohagakure (General Team 7 Pov) [Same Time]
The raven-haired teen narrowly dodged the claws aiming for his face, his hand missed the tail that would have ended this farce in an instant and his teammates…the less said the better.
Enraged he set off again, he couldn't understand how a simple house cat was his greatest enemy, but he swore he wouldn't stop now! Setting off with speed his teammates couldn't hope to match, he hunted the feline down with a fervor that only an Uchiha could.
Sakura set off behind the Uchiha as fast as she could, sure she wasn't as fast as Sasuke-kun, but maybe if they worked together they could catch Tora! It might even be a new record! Wouldn't that be perfect…her helping Sasuke-kun get a record, oh he'd definitely go on a date with her then! Then Ino-buta (pig) would eat it!
A silver-haired Jonin smirked beneath his mask as he read a work of art, idly turning the page as he got to the best part, Jiraiya-dono truly was a master author, and if he didn't exist in the age of shinobi, he doubted any sane woman's legs could bend like that! Giggling to himself, he lost himself to the curves of Tsuni-chan, what a naughty girl!
The Akimichi heir huffed as he gave up, it wasn't right to abandon Sasuke-san and Sakura-chan to the hunt…but a quick snack never hurt anyone, besides! If the last time they hunted Tora meant anything, a small break would just help when Sasuke inevitably led the, obviously chakra enhanced, cat back this way.
Hokage's Tower (Shikamaru's Pov) [Three Weeks Later]
He knew something was wrong with today, they didn't train, glad as he was for it, instead they ate a hearty meal, and his sensei had that strange glint in his eye…shaking his head he followed behind him anyway, this past month and change had proved that nothing he did would stop Asuma-sensei from torturing him, may as well get it over with. If luck were on his side, it would just be another long-term training exercise.
He watched his sensei walk toward the mission desk and forced himself to pay attention when the Jonin ignored the D-rank Chūnin and spoke to another man, one that he'd never spoken to before. He could feel the bruises clearly now, the callouses slowly forming on his feet as he got used to running, and tried to ignore the unsettling feeling settling on his neck.
Hinata and Naruto may not care, or notice, but he knew that everything was changing now, the chores they had done around the village, the training, the insistence on working together, it was all leading up to this, but what was it?
He snapped out of his thoughts when he saw his sensei come back, a grin on his face "Well I didn't want to excite any of you, but as of today, we're on a long-term mission, I trust each of you to pack anything you need for yourselves, for a mission upward of two weeks, anything else, provision wise, I can supply, wouldn't be right to throw you into the deep end yet," he said with a chuckle, staring down at all of you, taking in the excitement on Naruto's face, the apprehension on Hinata's and the lazy slackwit face that Shikamaru had mastered.
Shikamaru internally cursed, he had known something was off today, it was looking to be a nice day and ever since he was paired with Naruto, nice days were the dreams of yesterday.
Daiki's Shrine (Naruto's Pov) [Thirty Minutes Later)
The blonde clapped his hands together, and sent a brief prayer up to his late sensei, not so that he could watch him, he wouldn't waste his time for that, but so he would know why he would gone for so long. Wearing a frown he went about setting up the apartment for Yuki's stay alone, he knew the little kitsune would likely tear his home apart but missions in the village were one thing, but weeks on the road, where they could fight bandits, enemy shinobi, or more? The little fox would have to stay.
Biting back his frown and replacing it with a smile as the anticipation set in. He picked up his katana and looked the bow over once, before putting it down with a frown, it wouldn't do to take a weapon to the field when he wasn't all too skilled as it was. He hefted up Yuki (who felt like he was getting bigger) in one arm and moved to open the door, before the kitsune could understand what was happening, he (as gently as possible) threw the fox in the apartment and shut the door.
He heard the scratches and frowned openly, walking to the gate, he shook away his hesitation, once Yuki calmed down, he'd notice that the window was open, the fire escape was there, food was aplenty, and if he wanted to be free, then he could run to his heart's content.
Frowning ever fierce, he decided to change his course, his team could stand to wait a few minutes, couldn't they?
Temple of Inari [Ten Minutes Later]
He walked up the steps with a smile on his face, he made sure to visit the temple every other day, and just like the days before, he immediately hunted down Yuri-san. The Miko was eating breakfast, which made sense considering the time, but immediately stood up to greet him.
"Yuri-san," Naruto said with a stiff bow before he looked up with a grin and stopped himself from hugging the Miko, choosing instead to smile at her, formalities were so…annoying! He should be able to hug Yuri-chan whenever he wanted! Being a samurai was rough work, he brooded internally at the thought.
"What a surprise Naruto-kun, but I was under the impression that you would be busy today with your team," she said with a smile.
"Ah…well…," he started, embarrassed now that he had finally arrived before he decided to ask already "I'mgoingtobegoingonatripcanyoumakesureyukiisfine?", he asked, not stopping to breathe or even space the words out.
"…could you repeat that Naruto-kun, slower perhaps," the Miko priest said, raising her hand to hide a chuckle.
The sheepish blonde nodded, a dot of red on his cheeks "Sorry Yuri-san, I'm going to be going on a mission and I was hoping you could check up on Yuki for me while I was gone," he said, scratching the back of his head as he struggled to hide his embarrassment.
"Of course, I can Naruto-kun," she said with a small smile before she walked away, while the confused blonde looked around and wondered if that was the end of the conversation, she searched through the offerings before she finally pulled out an Onigiri and handed it to the blonde, "for luck, stay safe Naruto-kun," she said before pulling him into a hug.
When the blonde pulled away he insisted he wasn't blushing "I…I better get going ya know, they're probably waiting for me, bye Yuri-san," he muttered and awkwardly bowed before beating a hasty retreat. Yuri-chan broke the formalities! The world was going to end! That's why his face was red!
North Gate of Konohagakure (Asuma's Pov) [Fifteen Minutes Later]
His wayward genin were slowly arriving, Hinata had arrived first naturally, followed by Shikamaru, and Naruto was surprisingly the last. Granted Shikamaru looked like he was dragging his feet, and Naruto was bouncing at the thought of a mission. There was a story there, but it wasn't the time to find out why, hmmmmmmm, looking closer, Naruto's little hang-on wasn't there either, mysteries mysteries, whatever miracle strike next?
"Good, now that we're all here, Naruto who will take point?" he asked the blonde, time to see what he can do beyond dueling his teammates.
To the blonde's credit, he only took a few moments to consider his words "What are we setting out to do?" he asked "are we going to protect someone, attack, expecting to attack?" he clarified, a strangely focused look on his face, it didn't fit what he expected from the blonde. Good.
"We'll just be traveling, for now, long distance, should take us a little over a week to get there," he told the blonde, it was a far mission, truth be told and he almost chose another, closer option, but better they see the monotonous of C-rank, true they may fight, but traveling to their destination was more often than not the reason C-rank paid more.
"I'll lead…in case of an ambush or direct attack, I can handle anything they throw at us," he said with a grin before he wiped it off his face when he noticed the Jonin didn't follow suit "followed by Shikamaru-san, so he can support me or Hinata-chan, and she'll be at the back, making sure she can catch anyone trying to pull…" he stopped then, blushing a little before he continued "…well, pull a Shinobi," he said with an awkward laugh before he looked at me, trying to gauge how his sensei felt about the plan.
"All right if you think that'll work, get to it!", Asuma said without pausing to consider the pseudo samurai's words, it was a good setup, he'd follow just behind Hinata and eventually, give Hinata a map to guide them on their journey and see if Shikamaru can manage a camp. Truth be told he still had no idea why any of the others complained about managing their kids, just give them something to do, guide them along if they mess up, and watch as they do all the work for you! Oh yeah, he had all this figured out.
Hokage's Office (Team 7 Pov) [Same Time]
A piece of him felt like this may be a bad idea, but a little dose of reality was just what some people needed to realize that the Shinobi lifestyle wasn't like the fairytales. For one only three clients had ever offered him sexual reparation, and all of them were spies for other villages! Granted there were plenty of fairytales...
Sasuke did his best to ignore Kakashi as he giggled again, it was about time they did something other than catching cats and walking dogs, an escort mission should be easy enough.
Author's Notes: Wow this took some time huh? Apologies, I took my sweet time trying to come up with what would happen, whether it would be exciting, force some downtime, how Naruto would be, etc. Hope yall enjoyed how I had him end up in the end, I thought about having him break down, or something similar, but decided that a subtle realization, weeks after the fact, would work, clearly, that's not that, but its the beginning to Naruto's acceptance that his sensei is truly gone. Honestly, a piece of me feels like if I didn't just send it to my beta reader out of the blue, I never would have reached my goal of 10k words, and I apologize for that. Due to that, I'll be taking a 3k-5k limit on each chapter, I've had most of this chapter written up for months now, but once I hit 4k I was slogging. Thinking of what to type, what I should add, honestly I feel bad, so hopefully with that decision the next chapter will come sooner!
Nihonga – Traditional Japanese painting, which is done without a brush (from the few videos I watched to ensure I wasn't jumping the gun). I figured Hinata's mother would have a pastime (and since she was a Hyūga it wouldn't be something like reading hentai, playing Shogi, or breaking through your limits).
Chashitsu – Traditional huts that were used to drink tea, usually with a ceremony. Like the temple of Inari (which was meant to be in the middle of nowhere or near as) the Chashitsu in Konohagakure were meant to be private buildings for rich families, but when a city sprung up around them they were no longer private so they monopolized.
Mecha – A kind of tea, that if brewed improperly, can end up really bitter, though some people may prefer that, there are teas that can come out bitter but complement the bitter flavor. Mecha does not.
Onigiri – A Rice ball that is said to bring luck, some people say because it was shaped like a mountain and the top was where the kami resided (so they ate them to be closer to the divine), hopefully that ain't too far off from the truth. By the way if yall are wondering why there was food in the offering its because a shrine was usually run by goodwill (hence why the Daimyo sent someone to protect them as opposed to the shrine having its own guardians) Miko Priest actually make sure the shrine is run with the supplies given and the food is offered to either the Miko Priest, people who need it, or the Kami itself.