Humanity's Butterfly

Chapter 10

"Alright is everyone here?" A man asked, looking at the two kids before him. He has brown hair and dark eyes. He wore Konoha's standard infantry clothing that was consisted of a flak jacket, dark blue pants, and a long-sleeve shirt.

Sunako sighed, exasperated. Her frown, evident on her face as she taps her foot. Her teammate beside her, Himari, spoke up. "Um... Kashida-Sensei, Kawahiko-Kun isn't here yet."

Her featureless white eyes glancing at the irritated Uchiha, putting her hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down. She has short dark hair with her bangs parted in half. She wore a white kimono-style blouse that was held close with a black obi, black shorts, and blue shinobi sandals. Like Sunako, she wore her forehead protector on her forehead which hides her cursed seal.

As for her featureless white eyes, she is one of the branch family of the Hyuga clan. One of the four noble clans in Konohagakure and one of the most powerful clan right next to the Uchiha Clan. The clan is separated into two parts: the main house and branch house where Himari is part of, it was a system that protects the secrets of their dojutsu from outsiders. From what Himari told Sunako, the main house runs the family while the branch house protects it. Thus, members of the branch house are branded with a cursed seal upon the third birthday of the heir to the main house, to which Himari was no exception.

Despite their clan rivalry, both Himari and Sunako got along just fine for being in different clans.

"Oi! Sorry for making you wait!" They heard, turning towards the owner of the voice to see a boy with auburn hair and dark eyes running towards them. He wore a short-sleeved green jacket and a black shirt underneath, dark pants, and blue shinobi sandals. His forehead protector was also worn on his forehead.

"Don't tell me you overslept again, Kawahiko." Sunako said, her voice indicating how irritated she was of his tardiness.

"I did say I was sorry, geez. Just because you're the only one who became Chuunin doesn't mean you have to be so uptight." Kawahiko said. "But yeah, I may have overslept again." He admitted, scratching at the back of his head. Before Sunako could even scold him, Kashida then cut in.

"Now, now, no need to fight. You arrived just in time, Kawahiko. I was about to brief on our next mission." Kashida said. While Himari tries to ease Sunako from scolding their teammate. "Sunako-Chan, please calm down. You can scold him right after the briefing." She said.

Sunako took a deep breath and sighed as she nodded Himari as thanks before listening to their sensei. "So what's the mission about?" Kawahiko eagerly asked. He was hoping that they would not get another D-ranked mission or what they like to call them, chores. Especially when it involves a certain demon cat named Tora. He lost count of the number of times he got scratch because of that cat who always goes missing.

"We are to escort a member of one of the noble families in the land of fire back to her homeland safely. This is classified as a C-ranked mission, so we won't be facing any shinobi during the job. For the rest, you all know what to do." Kashida briefed. The three of them nodded. In contrast to D-ranked missions, which pose no risk to a Shinobi's life. C-ranked missions pose little to no combat against other Shinobi, such as keeping an eye out for bandits or highwaymen, capturing or suppressing wild animals, and background investigations. But it's nothing they can't deal with. After all, they did a couple of C-ranked missions.

"When are we leaving?" Sunako asked.

"Tomorrow. We'll be leaving at dawn. And Kawahiko, don't be late." Kashida said. Kawahiko sweated a bit as Sunako looked at him pointedly. He felt attacked by his sensei. "Hai, sensei."