AN: New chapter.
Rin had gathered her three students together early in the morning. "Alright. We're going to meet the client today."
'Which is SO weird.' Rin hadn't put much thought into it when she accepted the mission but now, after their free stay at the resort, she was questioning it. 'If they have enough money to put us up in this resort, why not spend it on a better squad of Chunin, maybe just a Jonin?'
The mission had come in specifying a squad with high teamwork and group cohesion. It was still classed as a C-Rank but it was strange to be so specific for a simple escort job around the Land of Hot Water. Since most Shinobi didn't work in teams for long, it was all but directly listed as 'Genin Only' by the Mission Assignment Desk. Even among the fresh Genin squads, not many could fill the requirement for high teamwork. Most were still working on just 'working together'.
If she hadn't grabbed it for Team 7, there was no telling how long it would've set on the Mission Assignment Deck.
Be cautious. The Three-Tails' warning came to her mind again. As a Jonin she was already wary of most things, trusted nearly nothing at face value that wasn't her sensei, her sensei's wife, or her teammates. She was even more wary on average as a Jinchuriki that wasn't meant to be a Jinchuriki. And her general wariness had roughly quintupled on the first day she had met Naruto and had done a mental rundown of all the threats that existed for the little baby boy in her arms. 'What am I supposed to be cautious about?' All last night she had tried to figure out the beast's warning and couldn't make much of it.
She felt the Tailed Beast was just being intentionally cryptic in all honesty.
Whatever was going to happen, she could handle it.
And if she couldn't, she could just break everything in her way courtesy of her tenant.
'Focus on the now.' Rin smiled at the three Genin who had no idea what she was thinking about. "We've got until noon to pack our bags and get any necessary supplies ready. You three are free to spend your time how you want but I want you to stay together. Even if this is a resort, don't let your guards down. And, if anything happens, come find me."
She received three nods. She could already tell the three were thinking about any last-minute pampering they could squeeze into the next few hours from the resort staff. She wasn't surprised. 'If I was their age, I would be doing the same thing. Especially if it was a break from the war.'
Even if she, like the rest of the Genin, had been restricted to rear support, she would never want to relive that terrible year of her life.
"Alright, if you have nothing for me then consider yourselves dismissed until noon."
None of the three Genin held back their shout of excitement, Naruto already turning to run off.
And he spotted something surprising from the way he nearly tripped over his own feet. He barely managed to catch himself before he promptly threw himself forward in a near mad dash.
'What is going on?' Rin was tempted to draw a weapon, didn't know what had Naruto acting this way. And then she noticed who exactly he was running towards.
"Uncle Yahiko! Aunt Konan!"
Naruto was rushing towards the two Shinobi from the Hidden Rain Village.
Two very surprised Shinobi from the Hidden Rain Village.
"Naruto?" Yahiko was the first to notice the blond topped blur coming towards the two Shinobi, caught him before he could crash into him. A second later, a laughing Naruto was in the air. He wiped any concern, any confusion from his expression and only showed a wide smile to the blonde. "Oh man! I didn't expect to see you here!" He turned that same smile to his two teammates, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno. He was familiar enough with them courtesy of Naruto's birthdays parties. "And you two too? Did you get to take a vacation for graduating or something?"
"No! This is our first C-Rank mission! Isn't it cool that we get such an awesome job? We got to stay at this place for free and it's been so cool-"
At a point, Yahiko and Konan both started tuning the excited Naruto out.
Rin could all but exactly pinpoint the exact point.
The mission was too suspicious for most veteran Shinobi to think about the resort they were staying at, the suite of amenities they were supplied.
They likely thought the same thing she did: That something weird was going on.
Now she definitely knew something weird was going on.
Known for being the foremost vacation spot in the Shinobi World or not, Yahiko and Konan wouldn't both have taken a vacation to a place as far off as the Land of Hot Water without someone else telling them to leave the Hidden Rain Village, that would assure them that everything would be handled in their absence.
Her eyes narrowed as a single name came to mind.
'Nagato.' She didn't care that he and Kushina were from the same Clan, that he was one of Jiraiya's students, or how much Naruto liked him: She didn't like the man. Neither Kakashi or Obito liked him either.
He had issues with Jade, issues that he didn't try to hide.
'Just what are you planning now?' There had to be a bad reason for him to send both of his friends/fellow leaders out of the Hidden Rain Village. The guy was beyond paranoid even if Hanzo hadn't bothered to show his face in over a decade, would never dream of leaving the Hidden Rain "undefended" from whatever threat he saw in the shadows.
Unless he could think of a reason to do exactly that.
By the looks that crossed the faces of the two Hidden Rain Shinobi, they must've reached the same conclusion.
Something was going to happen.
Something involving Nagato and, more than likely, Jade.
AN: This update was almost 4 weeks. Stayed in the 2-3 weeks. Somehow.
Also, the situation may be escalating for Jade courtesy of Nagato.
Review/PM if you want.
Peace.
