Book 2: Chapter 1: A Step Backward, A Step Forward, and A Long Week Part III

Book 2: Land of Sand

Chapter 1: A Step Backward, A Step Forward, and A Long Week Part III

1

After our fight, Big brother Kakashi finally decided to treat us for the night as it would be too late for either Team to receive a mission. So with my scroll on my back sitting next to Tayuya and Naruto, we ate at Ichiraku’s ramen shop. Sasuke didn’t dare sit next to me after that earlier stunt. I rubbed the cut on my cheek that still stung from my little brother’s attack. He really needed to learn how to take a joke. My face couldn’t take so much abuse—

“Wow, this ramen is the best!”

“And there goes my eardrums,” I muttered, as being next to Naruto wasn’t fun. Neither was watching Sui hide her laughter since this was probably payback from when she had to sit next to the guy.

“Settle down Naruto, because I’m not paying for seconds,” Kakashi said as he opened his wallet, only for flies to dart out of it. I had no clue why all the adults were poor, but I was not going to let a free meal go to waste.

“Here’s your order of ramen,” Ayame said with a cheerful smile as she placed a bowl in front of me. I’m not going to lie after being there with Hiruzen-sensei, my newfound appreciation for the shop had become a slight problem.

“Ayame, were you the one who made this because it smells delicious,” I said, rubbing my hands together in anticipation.

“Yup!” Ayame laughed. “Can’t let my number 1 fan down.”

“Number 1 fan???” Everyone at the table asked, giving me a suspicious-looking gaze while Sui looked like she would kill me. I did nothing wrong! Just because I asked her to specifically cook for me sometimes when I ordered was not a bad thing… If anything, I was boosting her confidence. However, knowing no one would buy my explanation, I simply laughed the situation off as my face became flushed.

Ayame leaned on the table, and with rosy cheeks, she stared at Kakashi, who hadn’t ordered a thing. “You see Kakashi, my cooking is pretty good. So you should get something and perhaps show me your face again.”

“Again???” This time everyone at the table stared at Kakashi, and I’ll be honest, not even I had seen his face, so knowing Ayame somehow managed to was concerning. How good-looking is he?

“I think I’m going to pass for tonight,” Kakashi said with a slight chuckle, as no matter how many times he looked at his wallet, money wasn’t going to suddenly appear. How did I know he was thinking like that? Well, let’s just say I have tried to will Ryo into existence ever since I’ve gone broke twice feeding my class. Chōji is ruthless.

Slurping my noodles, I looked over at Tayuya, who had already finished her bowl and was busy having a conversation with Sui which I couldn’t help but overhear a part of it.

“There’s no need to apologize if anything. I’m sorry for insulting someone who's important to you.”

“He’s not important to me.”

“You can hide behind your words, but your body is honest,” Sui said with a light laugh as Tayuya was about as red as her hair.

“He’s like Ryu. Not in the sense that he’s nice or kind…” Tayuya fiddled around with her flute. “I just want to do right by him. Be someone he can be proud of, you know.”

“So you see him as your father even though you’re just a guinea pig to him.”

I stuck a hand into my pocket as I wasn’t sure what Tayuya was going to do, but before she could lash out, Sui chuckled with a gaze that, for once, didn’t look like she saw anything.

“But I’m one to talk. I guess I do the same thing. Even though I know the truth.” Sui raised her glass of water. “Here’s to shitty dads.”

“Uh, what are you doing?” Tayuya asked.

“It’s called a toast,” I said, jumping into the conversation. “Just raise your glass and tap it against hers. Softly. You don’t want to break it.”

Sui gave me a thumbs up. “Thanks for the help, Yuki.”

“No problem.”

“Wait, how much of that did you hear?” Tayuya stared at me as if she was deciding whether she should punch me for eavesdropping or leave me be.

“Well, I’m pretty jealous. I mean, having a Legendary Sannin as a father figure must not have been all bad.”

“It wasn’t.” Tayuya looked around the shop with a weak smile before raising her glass of water. “Very different from this, but I wouldn’t say he’s shitty.”

“Then here’s to being done with D-Rank missions starting tomorrow,” I said, raising my own glass of water.

“Wait! Wait! Let me join in too!” Naruto reached his arm out towards us, and though he was really pissing me off with how close he got to me, smelling like leftover ramen. I somehow came to appreciate Naruto’s excitement as it dragged over the likes of Sakura and Sasuke.

“Uh, I don’t think our cheers are going to work anymore….” I said, staring at Sui for an answer as I was practically getting shoved into Tayuya. Like seriously, I wished Naruto would knock it off!

“Then here’s to Team 9’s and Team 7’s newfound friendship.” Sui offered as both teams stared at each other, thought for a moment, then shrugged shoulders. It was better than nothing and ignoring the fact that Naruto was annoying. I found myself drawn to the naiveness that Team 7 had going for them. They weren’t as strong as us, but that was ok because a team that could make Sasuke eat with them without having him storm off was a team I could admire.

“To friendship!” We said, laughing as none of us were in sync. Me and Naruto being the loudest while Sasuke and Tayuya muttered their cheers, leaving Sui and Sakura to facepalm as both teams couldn’t do a simple thing right. It was a nice way to end the night.

2

The next day Team 9 was called bright and early to meet with Hiruzen-sensei. He had already learned of the results of the Team 7 vs. Team 9 fight—more like Yuki vs. the world—from Kakashi, who was at the Hokage’s Office with the rest of Team 7. It made sense why Kakashi was called, but did he need his whole Team?

“Yuki, what did you think of Team 7?” Hiruzen-sensei asked, putting down his paperwork. “Do you think they could handle a C-rank mission?”

“Wait! Why are you asking him! Of course, we can handle something tougher—Ow!” Naruto’s tantrum was promptly shut up by a fist from Big brother Kakashi who simply nodded towards me.

“A C-Rank mission at the most has the risk of dealing with Bandits, right?”

Hiruzen-sensei nodded.

“Well, if it’s a simple escort mission or something not stealth related, I think they would do fine in a C-Rank mission. Though anything higher and—” I stared at Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke activating my Sharingan. “—they’d probably die.” I turned back to the Third Hokage with my eyes relaxed and laughed. “Then again, with Big brother Kakashi with them, they should be fine if they were to encounter any ninja.”

Hiruzen-sensei nodded before turning to Sui. “And what do you think? As an observer of their fight.”

“I agree with Yuki’s assessment. While they’re not bad combat-wise, I believe in an actual fight, the only useful one would be Sasuke.”

“Hey!” Naruto and Sakura said in protest, only to be ignored as Sui continued.

“The fact that they don’t know how to climb trees or walk on water does make stealth operations unavailable to them. Not to mention Naruto’s big mouth would alert the enemy anyway.”

“Hey! I do not have a big mouth—Ow! Stop hitting me!”

“Stop interrupting them,” Kakashi said, using Naruto’s head like a countertop as he rested his elbows on them. “They haven’t said a single thing I’d disagree with yet, so you should pay attention.”

“But whose fault is it we don’t know what tree climbing is, Kakashi-sensei!”

“Uh….” Kakashi pulled out his Icha Icha novel, promptly ignoring the question. Thank god I didn’t have him as a sensei; Kakashi is one lazy bastard.

“And Tayuya, your thoughts?” Hiruzen-sensei continued.

Tayuya, who wasn’t even paying attention, only looked up from her flute when her name was called. “If it was up to me, I’d demote that garbage back to the academy. The only one worth a damn is that Uchiha trash, and he wouldn’t last a second against me.”

“Hey—” Naruto dropped to the floor face first unconscious as Tayuya removed her lips from her flute. There she received a brief applause from everyone in the room.

“Ok Team 7 that is my Team’s assessment of you. And taking that into consideration, I have a mission which should be appropriate for your skill level.” Hiruzen-sensei clapped his hands, and soon enough, an old man—not as old as Hiruzen—came into the room with a straw hat on his head with a large bag on his back.

“Come and meet the Team that will be escorting you through the Land of Waves, Tazuna.”

“But they’re just children?” Tazuna said, looking appalled as he pointed at Naruto slumped on the ground. “And one of them is sleeping?”

“Your contact is a C-rank mission. It only pays for a Genin squad. But I can assure you that Team 7 will ensure your safety.”

Tazuna grumbled, then looked at Kakashi. “Fine. I’ll be in your care.”

And like that, I gave Sasuke one last look before he and Sakura dragged Naruto with them as they followed Kakashi and Tazuna for their first real mission. Knowing them, they’ll be ok. I just hated how Sui bit her thumb at the mention of their mission. Something was off, but I didn’t have time to think about that as Tayuya slammed her hand on the Hokage’s desk.

“Hey Geezer! Yuki won. So where’s our mission?”

“Ahahaha. Do not worry. I have a mission well suited for you three.” Hiruzen-sensei went shuffling under his desk until he pulled out a large bag of Ryo. “Here, buy supplies for a week-long trip. As it will take us 3 days to reach the Hidden Sand Village. 1 day for the meeting I have with the Fourth Kazekage and 3 days to return. Any questions?”

Me, Sui, and Tayuya each looked at one another since if he was saying what I thought he was saying. We’re essentially escorting the Third Hokage to the Sand Village, a job usually left to the ANBU. However, I guess with Team Rou still recovering, he didn’t have the time to wait. Are we really qualified to go on such a mission? I shook my head as Sui grabbed the bag without hesitation.

“Just one,” I said with a smile. “When are we leaving?”

“Friday before the brink of dawn, meet me at the front gate. This will be classified as an A-Rank mission which is possibly outside of your level. However, as the three I see as the next Legendary Sannin, I believe you can handle it. So take the time to rest and prepare. Your lessons are canceled until the trip, ok.”

“Yes Hiruzen-sensei.” We all said, raring to go, yet when I glanced at Tayuya, I noticed her wince ever so slightly.

3

It was Friday morning and still dark out when we left the Hokage residence. No one roamed the village except for the hidden ninja placed to guard the village at night. I only spotted a couple of them, and they seemed to be focused on us three, but their presence vanished once we made it to the front gates.

I couldn’t hold a bag on my back thanks to the scroll, but Tayuya made up for it by carrying two. I had asked her if we should be worried about anything on the trip during our prep time. Where she simply said that if I was weak, then yes, I should be worried. Sui even agreed with her, saying that we were escorting the Hokage so of course, if we weren’t strong enough, we should be worried. Yet none of us declined the mission, so that must mean we were confident in our strength.

“How is it that we all live in the same building, and he’s the one late! Stupid Trash Hokage.” Tayuya said, kicking at the rocks on the ground.

“Just be patient Hiruzen-sensei will be here,” Sui said, sitting down all relaxed while I walked over to pat Tayuya on the head.

“Yeah, I doubt he ghosted us.”

“Ghosted?” Tayuya stared at me with question marks floating over her head. “What the hell does that mean?”

“It means Yuki’s been stood up on a bunch of dates.”

“Need I remind you that you’re the one who ghosted me,” I said, glaring at Sui with my Sharingan. I totally wasn’t salty from waiting in front of the Dango shop on Wednesday for 3 hours!

“Sorry, I was busy preparing for the trip. But don’t worry. We can share a tent.” Sui said with a playful smile that made me blush.

“Hell no! You guys are not sharing a tent!”

“Why not? She’s my girlfriend—”

My kunai clashed with another’s. In front of me was a young Anbu with a Fox mask. Kasai! A smile formed on my face as I pulled my other hand back, revealing the wires hidden in the ground. With a click of his tongue, Kasai evaded the wire trap in a flash as he appeared in front of Tayuya, who was ready.

“Wind Style: Great Breakthrough Jutsu!”

Out of her mouth blew out a blast of wind that left a crater in the ground with no sign of Kasai. Tayuya let out a laugh. “How about that! Another earth-shattering performance!”

“Yeah… You might have gone overboard, big sis.” I said, knowing that there was no way that landed as Kasai came out of the tree line clapping.

“Earth-shattering indeed. Too bad your wind-up’s too slow.”

“Says the ANBU getting put on the back foot by two genin.”

“Yeah, backfoot.” Kasai shrugged his shoulders as he slipped his hands into his pockets. “If that’s what you call holding back against my underclassmen. Then I’ll accept it—”

“Just tell me why you’re here suddenly attacking me, and maybe I’ll let you live,” I said as Kasai was caught between another set of wired kunai hidden under the ground. Except with my lightning grasp Jutsu I’d blow him sky-high. Probably also wake up the whole village, but I’d just have to live with that. I’m sure I’d sleep like a baby.

“What? I just wanted to make sure my travel companions were up to par. Not to mention hearing you talk about sharing a tent with my sister—” Kasai slashed away the hidden wires around him with his hand coated in lightning. “—Pissed me off, Chidori!”

Both me and Tayuya stared at Kasai as he blitzed us with our jaws to the ground. And honestly, if it wasn’t for Kurai, who appeared in a trail of red, slamming Kasai’s hand into the ground, we probably would’ve been skewered.

“Ouch, who put you in a bad mood,” Kasai said as he sat on the ground, dusting himself off.

“Kai told me to stop you, and I did just that.” Kurai pulled a red lollipop out of his mouth. “We knew you were going to do something stupid the moment you left ahead of us. What a drag.”

“Do you just never wear your mask or something?” Kasai asked.

“It’s because the Third Hokage specifically requested we look like regular genin for this mission,” Kai said with a bark of approval from Kabura.

“That is right. I’d rather you 6 look less like my bodyguards and more like children going on a field trip,” Hiruzen-sensei said as he walked beside Kai with a cheerful smile. That bastard could have told us this was a joint mission!

“Ahahaha. I don’t know why you’re so surprised Yuki. Did you think I’d entrust my life to only you three?”

Tayuya and I still had our mouths wide open, and it wasn’t because of the joint operation with Team K. No, it was because—

“He’s your brother!”

We both stared at Sui for answers, who walked up and snatched Kasai’s mask as she revealed both of her eyes. There, side by side, we saw the similarities between them, with both having black hair, but more importantly, her blue streak was the opposite to the red streak in Kasai’s hair. Then their eyes matched with one black and the other white.

“Yeah, he’s my older brother. I hope that doesn’t dissuade you from being my boyfriend, Yuki.” Sui’s smile was wide, and I knew she had been waiting to screw me over with this information for a long time. This is going to be a long week.