Ace sat in front of the shrine with a sandwich in his hand. It was about lunch time and his team had not been around all day, he knew they were out and about. He knew that Ryota was at the academy working with students, that Tia was at the shrine helping people pray and Kaza was somewhere, where he wasn't sure at that moment. He was either training, helping out Tia or he was exploring the woods trying to clear his mind of a certain blonde kunoichi. All three were very much possible at that moment.

As he looked up from the wooden swing that he was sitting on, he saw his other teammate approaching, Sakura Haruno. "Hey, what is up," Ace called out as he raised his hand looking at the pink haired kunoichi. "How is it going?" he asked as he waited for her to reply as she looked a bit lost in thought herself.

Sakura looked up, surprised to see Ace on the swing. She gave a small wave and walked over, a thoughtful expression on her face. "Hey, Ace," she replied, sitting down on the swing next to him. "I've been thinking about yesterday's fight between Kaza and Ino. It really got me reflecting on a lot of things."

Ace took another bite of his sandwich before he looked up at Sakura, his eyes focused on her own green ones. "Well, it was something else. I mean, Kaza really showed a different side of himself. I think it surprised all of us, especially Ino."

Sakura sighed, her gaze distant. "It was a good reminder that I have a lot of room to grow, I was just like Ino not that long ago, just blindly following in Sasuke's wake wanting to be with him and thinking more about impressing him than preparing to be a ninja."

Ace chewed thoughtfully before responding. "Yeah, that is true, but your own person Sakura, and you aren't just a Sasuke Uchiha fangirl. I think, Ino will figure that out in time too. I have to say to show her that. Well, Kaza really put himself out there yesterday. It was brave."

Sakura smiled slightly. "You're right. I think Ino will figure out what I think I have already, that there are more than boys and winning the heart of them in life. I think Sasuke is still important to me, of course, but I want to be me, and I want to find my own path of being a ninja, not just live in his shadow. I am sure that Ino is the same way, and even Kaza with his own crush on Ino."

Ace nodded, finishing his sandwich. "Thinking about Kaza, I have a question. Have you seen my brother today? I haven't seen him all day."

Sakura shook her head. "No, I haven't seen him either. He's probably off clearing his head. Yesterday must have been a lot for him."

Ace sighed, looking up at the sky. "Yeah, I hope he's okay. I know it wasn't easy for him to face Ino like that, especially with his feelings for her."

Sakura placed a hand on Ace's shoulder. "He'll be okay. He's stronger than he thinks. And he has us. We'll support him no matter what."

Ace smiled, appreciating Sakura's words. "Thanks, Sakura. It is good to have friends, and I know Kaza very much depends on your friendship as much as I do. You are way more impressive than I thought you would be. I mean serious, the growth you have made in the last month is so impressive."

Sakura blushed slightly at Ace's words, a mixture of embarrassment and gratitude in her expression. She glanced down, fiddling with the hem of her shirt as she processed his compliment. "Thanks, Ace. That means a lot, really. I know I was pretty single-minded about Sasuke at first, but I've been trying to change. I want to be strong on my own, not just someone chasing after him."

Ace smiled warmly. "And you are. You've come a long way, Sakura. Your skills and determination have grown so much. Kaza and I both see it. We're lucky to have you on our team."

Sakura looked up, her eyes shining with determination. "Thanks, Ace. And I feel the same way about you and Kaza. We've all grown a lot, and we make each other better. I guess that's what being a team is all about."

Ace nodded, feeling a sense of pride in their progress. "Yeah, we're getting there. And we'll keep getting stronger together."

Sakura took a deep breath, feeling a renewed sense of purpose. "We will. And we'll support Kaza too. I know he's going through a lot right now, but we'll be there for him."

Ace agreed, his thoughts turning to his brother. "Absolutely. He's stronger than he thinks but having us there will make all the difference."

"Well, here you two are," Aoba commented as he walked up noticing the pair of them, "I hope I am not interrupting something," he teased as he smiled, "So, big news the rank D missions, the training is all for this, the first rank C mission, you two need to go find Kaza so I can explain it to all of you. But we are heading out towards Kiri, and we are going to look for some missing merchant."

Sakura and Ace quickly stood up as Aoba approached, their curiosity piqued by the mention of a rank C mission. Ace grinned at the news, while Sakura's eyes widened with excitement. This was the opportunity they'd been working so hard for.

"Don't worry, Aoba-sensei, we'll find Kaza," Ace said confidently. "Any idea where he might be?"

Aoba scratched his head thoughtfully. "He was at the shrine earlier. If he's not there, he's probably in the woods training or helping Tia. You two split up and check those places. We need to gather quickly to prepare for the mission."

Sakura nodded. "Got it. I'll check the shrine first."

"And I'll head to the woods," Ace added.

With that, the two teammates dashed off in different directions, their minds already racing with thoughts of their upcoming mission.

Sakura arrived at the shrine, her eyes scanning the area for any sign of Kaza. She spotted Tia near the entrance, busy with some visitors. "Tia-san, have you seen Kaza?" she asked as she approached.

Tia smiled warmly. "Yes, dear. Kaza was here earlier, he was giving his daily prayers and he then cleaned up the area around here for the people who come and pray early in the morning. He I think went off into the woods. He is still clearing his mind from everything from yesterday, I think."

"Thank you!" Sakura said, bowing slightly before hurrying off towards the woods.

Meanwhile, Ace moved swiftly through the familiar forest paths, his eyes sharp for any sign of his brother. He eventually found Kaza practicing his taijutsu moves in a small clearing, focused and determined.

"Kaza!" Ace called out, jogging over. "We have big news. Aoba-sensei just told us we've got our first rank C mission. We're heading to Kiri to look for a missing merchant."

Kaza paused mid-punch, his eyes widening in surprise. "A rank C mission? Really?"

"Yeah! We need to get back and hear the details from Aoba-sensei. Come on," Ace said, urging his brother to follow.

As the two brothers made their way back through the woods, they met up with Sakura near the edge of the forest. The three of them exchanged excited looks before hurrying back to where Aoba was waiting.

Aoba stood with a map spread out in front of him. He looked up as his team arrived, a proud smile on his face. "Good, you're all here. This mission is a big step up from what we've been doing. We'll be traveling to the Land of Water to locate a missing merchant who was last seen near the borders of Kiri. This is not going to be the easiest of missions, and it will require a good bit of traveling too. Any questions?"

Sakura, Ace, and Kaza all shook their heads, their expressions serious and determined.

If there are no questions, then let us get moving, we are taking this path right here, along the old trade path between here and this small farming village here. It was the last place he was seen," Aoba explained as he made sure that they knew where they were headed on the map, before he rolled it up. "Now, this is a big one, let us get this done and have this first C ranked mission under our belt."

Aoba looked at the three before he continued. "Kaza, take point. Sakura, you're in the middle. Ace, third spot. I'll take the rear of the formation. While this is most likely a peaceful mission, it is best we are ready for anything and think of this as training for formation movements over a long distance, you might need this in the future again and you will better understand it because of this."

The group moved quietly as Aoba observed his team. He knew that both Kaza and Ace had been working really hard on their taijutsu. Ace was especially impressive when he combined his blaze release with his taijutsu, adding an intense fire element to his attacks. Kaza was also progressing, getting the hang of his light release and improving his ninjutsu. Lastly, there was Sakura, who was growing quickly in her hand-to-hand combat abilities and, more importantly, her genjutsu skills, which were improving with each passing day.

As he fell behind his team, Aoba thought about how much more he needed to push them to reach their full potential. Their progress was impressive, and the sky was the limit for them. He just hoped to be as helpful as he could be.

As they traveled, they could see the woods and fields of the Land of Fire. As the three of them traveled, they were able to witness the beauty of the land of fire. Its many fields, its woods, the road that they took was an old one that in many places gave them breathtaking views. The four of them made good time traveling, but they were going to have a lot of traveling ahead of them to get to their destination.

After an entire day of constant traveling, they were still a day away from their destination. As dusk approached, Aoba decided to stop at a river and set up camp for the night. He had the team prepare a sleeping area and delegated cooking duties to Kaza, who had a pot simmering over a campfire. Meanwhile, Sakura and Ace finished setting up the camp.

Aoba kept an eye on his team as he watched the setup camp and prepared for the night. He went and got water for the camp, the burning of water to make sure it was drinkable was happening in a second campfire as he let Kaza use the other one for cooking the meal that night. He looked at his team, one day of travel and they were holding up well. The arrangement of the sleeping areas was good too.

"Alight, Kaza keeps cooking, everyone else listens too, we are going to take shifts tonight. I want everyone to have practice in this type of thing, plus being overly cautious won't harm anyone," Aoba explained, pausing as he looked at the three, "We will take three-hour shifts, right after dinner. Sakura you're up first, then you Kaza, then I, and last will be Ace, be ready to wake the others should any real trouble that you can't handle on your own comes up."

"Of course, sensei," Sakura said as she nodded her head as she looked over at Ace who nodded in agreement before Kaza did as well

A short bit later Kaza stirred the pot, the aroma of the yakisoba filling the air. "Dinner's almost ready," he called out to make sure he had everyone's attention. He put the meals into four reasonably sized bowls and handed each out before he put the rest of the yakisoba into a container to save should they need food later on.

Sakura and Ace joined Kaza by the fire once they were done setting up the camp. "Smells great, Kaza," Sakura said, sitting down and stretching her tired limbs. "I'm starving."

Ace nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it smells amazing. Thanks for cooking, Kaza."

The four of them ate near each other around the campfire, it was a warm and nice feeling sharing a meal like this. "Well, it has been a rather nice day," Aoba reasoned, "I am sure tomorrow will be crazier, but the key to life is to make sure to enjoy moments like this as much as possible."

As soon as he said it, the three shinobi near him all nodded in agreement with his view. They all knew that being a ninja was not about camp outs with friends, it was hard stuff and dangerous stuff. Yet having the camp out with friends was something that none of them were going to complain about in the least.

"Kaza, how are you doing? I know yesterday was hard dealing with that fight with Ino, couldn't have been easy," Sakura said as she looked over at him, giving him a bit of a smile. "I think you were pretty cool for what it was worth, and it reminded me again to focus not just on Sasuke, but achieving my own goals and dreams, so thank you for that."

"Yeah I get you, and I have my own dreams and goals to do. I just well never saw myself fighting Ino, I know that things went this way cause of reasons, that I am not Sasuke Uchiha. I will never be that cool or amazing, but I am the best me that I can be," Kaza said in reply as he finished his meal a moment later, "I might not be much, I might not be as talented as you or my brother, but I am me, and I just have to be the best me I can be."

Sakura smiled warmly at him. "Kaza Togusa, you are more than enough. You showed a lot of courage yesterday, and it made me realize that I need to do the same. We can't just rely on others all the time; we need to stand on our own two feet and pursue our own paths."

Ace, listening to the conversation, chimed in. "Yeah, Kaza, you really stepped up. And Sakura's right. We're all learning and growing, and sometimes that means facing things we'd rather avoid. But you did it, and that's what counts."

Kaza nodded, feeling a bit more at ease. "Thanks, both of you. I just hope I can keep proving myself, not just to Ino, but to everyone."

Aoba, who had been quietly observing from a distance, walked over and placed a reassuring hand on Kaza's shoulder. "You're doing great, Kaza. Remember, it's not just about proving yourself to others. It's also about believing in yourself. This mission is another opportunity for all of you to grow and show what you're capable of."

"Yeah, I know sensei, and I plan to be ready for whenever I need to step up, I want to be there for the three of you as much as you three are there for me," Kaza declared as he gave them a smile, "I am glad to have such great teammates."

Ace grinned as he looked at his empty bowl. "Thanks, Kaza. This was amazing. You're cooking always just hits the spot, simple but effective." He raised his bowl in a mock toast.

"Yep, it is really tasty, Kaza you're a really good cook. you're going to have to show me how to cook like this at some point," Sakura added as she finished up her own bowl.

"Alright everyone, I will clean the bowls, Sakura you up first, Kaza, Ace get some rest, we start our nighttime watch now understood? "Aoba said as he took the bowls from his students.

The three of them nodded in agreement as they would head off to start their first night watch, it was going to be a learning experience for each, but it would luckily also be a very quiet and peaceful night.