"I was happy that Kushina and I were put on the same team, together. But what drove me to be more excited was when I learned that the White Fang would be our sensei. I've heard stories about him and I grew to like them."

It was an early morning within Konoha and the three Genin such as Otaku Hyuuga, Kushina Uzumaki and Asami Uchiha were ordered to rendezvous with their new Jounin sensei, Sakumo Hatake at a red red bridge within Konoha. Sakumo Hatake had already made preparations for their first mission.

"Okay! Who's ready to go on our first mission as a team?" Sakumo asked, feeling energetic.

"Me! I can't wait to take down my first bad guy!" Kushina threw a few punches in the air, feeling pumped up and energetic.

"I am, too." Otaku replied.

"Me too." Asami replied with a normal smile on her face.

"Good! Because I picked out a very important mission for us." Sakumo raised an index finger.

"I was happy to go on my first mission as a Genin. It didn't really matter to me what kind of a mission it was. But on the other hand..."

One Hour Later

Team Nine such as Otaku, Kushina and Asami were all picking up lots and lots of trash and removing pollution from a river stream. The three Genin had all carried tongs in their hands and baskets on their shoulders. Sakumo Hatake was sitting under a nearby tree reading a hand-sized novel.

"This is the worst first mission, ever." Kushina mumbled under her breath feeling irritated.

"It's okay, Kushina. Sometimes, people start from the bottom and later work their way up to get to where they are now." Otaku told Kushina, feeling positive while picking up a soda can.

"I know that, but why does Sakumo-sensei get to relax while we do all the hard work?" Kushina pointed at Sakumo who is sitting under a nearby tree and reading a book.

"Hmm," Otaku stopped picking up trash for a moment, then put a hand under his chin and thought. "Good point... maybe he's looking and making sure that we do a good job?"

"It is probably that Sakumo-sensei is on the lookout." Asami said as she stood in front of both Otaku and Kushina. Both Otaku and Kushina flinched a bit to see Asami appearing from nowhere.

"A-Asami! You're fast!" Otaku said, as he didn't sense Asami's presence. "

"Thank you." Asami said to Otaku.

"Wait, what do you mean that Sakumo-sensei is on the lookout?" Kushina asked.

"I heard that Jounin leaders work behind the scenes to make sure that no enemies or intruders come after their Genin team or village.

An imaginary lightbulb appeared over Otaku's head as he thought of what Asami was talking about. "Oh! You mean, like they work from the shadows?"

"That is correct." Asami replied.

"Then, why doesn't Sakumo-sensei look like he's working on it?" Kushina whispered.

Otaku decided to whisper as well. "It's probably that he's trying to convince intruders that he's letting his guard down and-"

"Hey, guys. Not to be rude, but I can still hear you all gossiping over there. Less slacking and more cleaning up the stream." Sakumo said interrupting their conversation as he turned another page.

'Sakumo-sensei has good ears.' Otaku thought as he looked over to him.

Kushina growled toward Sakumo, in an irritated manner. 'I'll show him who's slacking?' Kushina clenched her left fist.

"Let's finish this job as fast as soon as possible, okay?" Otaku told Asami and Kushina as he turned to them.

"Right." Asami replied.

"Kushina?" Otaku called.

"Eh?" Kushina sighed. "Fine. Let's get this over with."

"That day, we as a team had completed our first C-Rank mission, together. And I enjoyed it. I really liked spending time with Team Nine. For the next two weeks, we, Team Nine had done more C-Rank missions around Konoha. But there was one C-Rank Mission that we did which almost costed us our lives.

One day in a large park within Konoha, Team Nine were assigned to watch over dogs. As before, Sakumo Hatake sat on a tree branch and read his hand-sized novel as his Genin team did work by watching over dogs.

"No! Bad dog! Bad dog!" Kushina yelled as a large bulldog Kushina was watching after was pulling her on while it was on a leash. Otaku watched over a small Japanese Poodle and Asami watched over a small Japanese Chin.

Otaku saw Kushina "Please, watch over him." Otaku handed Asami the leash.

"Okay." Asami replied as she watched Otaku run over to Kushina.

"Guys, help me!" Kushina grunted as she could not control the bulldog that she walking. Instead, it was taking her for a walk.

"I'm coming, Kushina!" Otaku then ran next to Kushina and also pulled on her bulldog's leash. They grumbled and tried pulling back with all their might but it wasn't enough. The bulldog decided to pull both of them closer toward a minefield.

Otaku looked and saw the destination that the bulldog was walking and leading them toward a minefield. Otaku saw the sign on the gate that said, Caution! Keep out! Minefield! "No! Wait! That's a minefield!"

"Uh-what?" Kushina gasped as she heard Otaku.

"A minefield! A place where dogs shouldn't be playing in!" Otaku informed while being dragged.

The bulldog continued to drag them to the minefield.

"No, no, no, no!" Both Otaku and Kushina shook their heads no a number of time until they entered the minefield.

Asami Uchiha stood with two dogs she was left to watch over as her two teammates be dragged into the minefield by a big brown bulldog until she heard mines go off and screams come from her teammates. "Oh?"

The two dogs beside her wined a bit.

Sakumo turned a single page in his novel.

By the time it was over, Otaku and Kushina lied on the ground half-conscious and both covered in dust and smoke after surviving a minefield. The bulldog simply acted normal as it sat next to them and lied next to them.

"Thankfully, Kushina and I were lucky enough to survive that minefield. But I felt like that was just beginning of our hardship as Ninjas."