Quiet Summer

Journey to the Land of Waves

~I do not own this fan art so credits to the respective artist who does!~

     "Yes!" Naruto exclaimed throwing his hands up in the air as we exited Konoha. The smile on his face brought a rosy tint to his cheeks.

     'It's such a shame that the shinobi world we live in is so corrupt... I hope nobody falls into the wrong path.'

     "What are you all excited about Naruto?" Sakura sternly asked tilting her head to the side.

     "This is my first time ever leaving the village," Naruto replied excitedly as he looked around at his surroundings. "I'm a traveler now! Dattebayo!"

"Am I really suppose to trust my life in the hands of him?" Tazuna questioned quite offensively. "He's a joke!"

Noticing Naruto's attitude had been brought down I approached him placing my hand on top of his head.

"Hey don't worry," I tried comforting him with a small smile. After Naruto gave me a small smile in return I sternly looked back at Tazuna. "Kakashi and I are here as well."

"We'll make sure you make it safely to your village and have the opportunity to finish the bridge," Kakashi added on quite calmly himself.

Naruto who was still very upset with the offensive comment accusingly pointed towards Tazuna claiming that he had just mocked the future Hokage of Konoha.

"The day you become Hokage," Tazuna began bringing up the bottle of beer up to his lips, "is the day I sprout wings and fly."

     Sasuke remained quiet during this whole outburst but the look on his face told me that he wasn't very happy that Tazuna only felt safe with Kakashi and me around. After all, Sasuke is trying to prove his strength like Naruto as well.

      This being a C rank mission the only trouble we should run into is if Naruto decides to show Tazuna a piece of his mind.

     "Hey Kakashi sensei, Shizuka sensei there is ninja in the Lands of Wave too right?" Sakura asked curious to know why Tazuna had to ask Konoha shinobi to watch him during his trip back home.

     "No there is no ninja in the Land of Waves," Kakashi began, "but in other countries, there are hidden villages each with their own customs and cultures where ninja reside."

     "You see Sakura to many nations in this continent the existence of shinobi villages is the measure of the nation's military strength," I continued off.

     "In other words," Kakashi started off, "that is how these nations maintain their relationships with neighboring nations. Even so, the villages are not under the control of those nations. They are equal in rank."

     "On a small island like the Land of Waves," I interrupted earning a 'glare' from Kakashi, "where it is difficult to be influenced by other nations, there is no need for a shinobi village."

     Kakashi then went off explaining how the five great nations all have a hidden village and the leaders of these villages are the only ones allowed to have the title of 'Kage'.

     "No kidding!" Sakura exclaimed, "Lord Hokage is that incredible!"

     "You guys just doubted the Lord Hokage now, didn't you..." Kakashi interrupted the silence that followed Sakura's 'praise'.

     Looking at the faces of the three genins and while Sasuke seemed unfazed by this knowledge I saw the look of doubt and disbelief on Sakura's and Naruto's faces who did not believe that the Hokage has so much power. Quickly the two doubtful genins shook their heads furiously not trying to seem disrespectful towards the Hokage in front of two jounin who work under him.