Changing Sands (Naruto Fanfic)

Changing Sands

"I am so sorry!"

Rasa watched the tears run down the face of the young kunoichi while his dark eyes drifted down to the paper in front of him regarding the D-rank mission assigned to the three Genin in front of him. His mouth twisted upon reading the details, but the sound of another a second of the kunoichi starting to cry made him look up while the Jonin assigned to their team looked completely drained from the experience.

"I'm so sorry, Lord Kazekage!"

The girl bowed along with her two teammates while the Jonin gave him a rather apologetic look. "Stop apologizing."

"But..."

"But what?"

"She said..." the young kunoichi stuttered out—the 'she' happened to be the noblewoman who put forth the D-rank mission for completion.

Rasa let out a groan and rubbed the bridge of his forehead which in turn made the young kunoichi freeze, hiccupping as she did so. "Let me guess? She said something along the lines of making sure you weren't allowed to work as shinobi anymore?"

The sobs which briefly quieted from the one girl increased while the other continued while their male companion glanced around. A thought crossed the back of Rasa's mind that the three would be of Gaara's graduating year if he'd attended the academy, which made Rasa's hands clench around the paper in frustration.

"If it's not one thing it is another." Rasa's fingers tapped the top of his desk, wondering what he should say to calm the three Genin.

"I'm sorry!"

"I told you to..."

"Stop. If you keep it up, the Lord Kazekage will definitely send us back to the academy, or even ban us from ever being shinobi again."

Rasa's eyes twitched. "Hold on. Am I really that scary that you would think I would actually do that?" The Jonin of the three blinked their eyes and then covered their mouth to hide a laugh. His eyes narrowed. "This really isn't a laughing matter, you know."

"I'm sorry. But you know that Genin don't usually get summoned to your office after a failed mission, and you are indeed an intimidating figure. I mean, given—"

The Jonin didn't need to finish the sentence for Rasa to know that they meant he was an intimidating figure because he was not just the Lord Kazekage, but the only one capable of dealing with Gaara. "I see." He let out a sigh before closing his eyes and leaning back in his chair. "Contrary to what she says, not fulfilling the mission to her exacting standards does not get you sent back to the academy, nor are you in trouble, but you're not the first group of Genin I've had to tell this to after dealing with that particular client."

The three looked at each other, completely confused. "But..."

"That's why you've been summoned here." Rasa watched them look at each other. "What?"

"But what about the mission payment?"

"Let me worry about that." Rasa let the corner of his mouth twist into a smile. "I am the Lord Kazekage, so do you think she frightens me?" This of course calmed the three down. "Now, if you would let me speak to your Jonin please."

The three bowed, thanking their Lord Kazekage before hurrying out of the room. The Jonin frowned. "I do apologize for that."

"You're not the one who should be apologizing."

"You've already got a lot of work dealing with the mess that imposter left behind."

"And that would be my fault," Rasa thought to himself. "I'm more concerned about who'll be willing to take on her missions, particularly since the village needs the money."