We spent the next two weeks do D-rank missions and training until the sun sets.
Today, we were catching that demon cat Tora, again.
"Hinata, see if Tora will come to you. She seems to like you a bit better than the rest of us." Kakashi suggested after we managed to corner the thing.
With a nod, she slowly started walking towards the cat. "Come here sweety. Let's get you home. We'll make sure your mommy doesn't hurt you."
We watched in amazement as the cat curled around Hinta's leg and purred. After returning Tora back to Madam Shimiji, otou-san asked us to stay for a minute after dismissing everyone else.
"I'm giving you guys a C-ranked mission. You are to escort Tazuna back to the Land of Waves and guard him until he finishes his bridge. Now, I must warn you, there is a chance that the rank of this mission will become a B-ranked, so be alert at all times. Meet him tomorrow at the South gate at 7 A.M." Tou-san gave Kakashi a scroll and dismissed us.
After being dismissed, we went our seperate ways.
THE NEXT DAY
After packing a change of clothes, a tent, rations, ninja wire, explosive tags, kunai, shuriken, and a first aid kit I was ready to go. After activating the security seal took off towards the gate.
We walked silently for another few hours after I almost threw some kunai at both my teacher and our client, when I happened to notice an oddity in the road.
"I wonder if they'll notice it too." I thought, keeping my eye on the lonely puddle of water on the ground.
"K-Kakashi-sensei." Hinata whispered.
The genin all exchanged meaningful looks and gazed at him questioningly. "It hasn't r-rained in d-days."
Satisfied with our perception abilities, the jounin gave us all an eye-smile. "I know. Just walk past it and pretend you haven't noticed anything. We may not be their actual targets."
However, this theory was proven wrong. From the corner of my eye, the saw two cloaked figures with Mist headbands rising from the puddle but didn't react.
Kakashi kept seemingly unsuspecting even when one of them took a long spiked chain from under his clothes and launched the other one towards him. He feigned surprise as he was trapped by it and let out a loud scream as they squeezed the log he had replaced himself with, causing it to be ripped into shreds.
"One down." One of the men said. We, however, saw through sensei's trick and managed to see him safely hidden in some bushes behind the enemy shinobi, ready to jump in if needed.
"Alright!" I thought, getting my hands into the familiar ram sign as my two opponents suddenly appeared behind me. "This is my chance to prove to that old geezer that I'm the greatest ninja around!" "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" I produced five clones behind me to block the incoming attack.
However, they were unnecessary as Shino took out a shuriken and used it to skillfully hit the chain linking the unknown ninjas' metal arms, throwing it against a tree and following with a nicely launched kunai right in the hole in the middle of the ninja star, pinning it onto the trunk and keeping them from moving. However, they weren't defeated yet.
Both used their claws to break the chain and attempted to get past the group of blondes to attack Tazuna.
"Wind Style: Tornado Blades!" The clones yelled. The sharp blades of wind chakra hit one of the enemies right in the stomach, effectively stopping his attack.
However, the second one managed to avoid the jutsu and continue towards the bridge builder, certain that the two boys could no longer interfere. He got in front of his target, raised his arm and... Was stopped by a palm to the stomach coming from the one person he hadn't even bothered to consider.
"Great job, Hinata-chan, you totally kicked his ass!" I shouted, making her giggle and blush as I pumped a fist into the air.
The last thing the Mist ninja felt before blacking out was the taste of blood in his mouth.
"Phew, we're saved." Tazuna said with relief, as Kakashi joined the group and tied the two Mist ninja to a tree.
"I've got to hand it to you kids; you're not half bad..."
"Just as I thought." Kakashi put the bingo book back into his pocket. "I know these shinobi." He stated, turning all attention to him. "They're the Demon Brothers, chunin from the Hidden Mist. These ninjas are known to continue fighting no matter what. And Tazuna-san they were after you."
A drop of sweat ran down the old man's forehead. "We haven't heard that there were shinobi after you. Our mission was simply to protect you from thieves and gangs. This has now become at least a B-rank mission. This was supposed to be simple protection until you completed the bridge."
Tazuna hung his head in shame, but Kakashi hadn't finished his assessment of the situation yet. "If it was known that there were ninja after you, this mission would be set as the more expensive B-rank. I'm sure you had a reason, but it causes problems when you lie about the mission. We are now operating outside of our duties. And it might just be too much for us to handle."
We stayed uncharacteristically silent as our sensei pondered.
"Alright sensei," Tazuna said. "I'll explain everything."
