Get Lost

Chapter 4

Team 11 stood in the corner of the mission room while Rokuro read over their mission.

"It's outside of the village," he said, then kept skimming. He looked up when he was done, looking distinctly disappointed. "It's just a delivery mission. We deliver a cart of supplies to a farm then come back. That's it."

Sonomi turned on Jurai Sensei. "That's it? How is that C-ranked? After everything we've done, this is the best we get?"

Jurai Sensei glared at her. Sonomi shut her mouth.

"Well, Team 11," Asuma Sensei said as his team walked past them. "We'll see you later."

---

A few hours later, Team 11 stood outside the village gates. 

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh," Sonomi sighed. "Finally. We're out of the village. We're a step closer to being real ninja!"

Kazue smiled at her. Personally, she was feeling nervous. Jurai Sensei had explained that they shouldn't have to fight anyone for a C-level mission, but that did little to calm Kazue's nerves.

"Jurai Sensei," Rokuro said, "where are the supplies?"

"The guards said someone would be bringing them out for us." Jurai Sensei turned toward the gates. "Ah, here they are now."

Kazue turned to see Team 10 walking beside a cattle-pulled cart. It looked very heavy, piled high with boxes and crates full of goods and tools. 

"Hey, Choji!" Sonomi called. "Thanks for pulling that out for us. That wasn't your mission, was it?"

Choji frowned. "What're you talking about? We're taking these supplies to the farms southwest of here."

Rokuro looked to Jurai Sensei. "That's where we're going."

"Maybe there's two carts," Ino suggested. When Kazue was able to look past Ino's snootiness about Sasuke, Ino was sometimes nice. 

"There's just the one schedueled to leave," one of the gate guards said.

Everyone looked at each other. Jurai Sensei was the first one to speak up. "Asume, do you still have your team's mission scroll?"

Asuma Sensei pulled it out and handed it to her. Jurai Sensei pulled out their own. She compared the two. "They're the same. There isn't a difference between them."

"Aw, c'mon," Sonomi complained. "Our first C-ranked mission and they mess it up? What are the odds? We've got to go back and get a new one now."

"No," Jurai Sensei said, pocketing her scroll and handing the other one back to Asume Sensei. "This is the only C-ranked mission you're getting. If you can't prove yourselves on this one, you can go back to D-ranked. We'll just work with Team 10."

Kazue agreed with Sonomi on this one. There was no way she was going to go on a mission with Shikamaru of all people. "C'mon Sensei, we can't." Kazue scrambled to think of an excuse that didn't sound so much like whining. "Spliting pay between four people is already a lot. Eight means we'll each get next to nothing for several days of travel."

"If you don't like this compromise, you're more than welcome to trim hedges."

Sonomi nudged Kazue with her elbow. "Just let it go. We'll get this over with and get better missions if we prove ourselves."

Kazue hesitated. Nothing sounded worse than being stuck on a long mission with a lazy clod, but if she kept arguing, her team wouldn't get any more C-ranked missions, at least not for a while. Which was it, her own pride or the good of her teammates?

Kazue sighed. "Fine. Let's just go."

---

Kazue walked next to Sonomi, on the other side of the cart from Shikamaru. He hadn't said anything, but his mere presence was infuriating. He didn't lift a hand to help or do anything. He just walked along with a bored look on his face and his hands in his pockets. If he just tried sometimes, he wouldn't be so unbearable. He had everything she wanted and he did nothing with it. How could people like that exist? Didn't he even know what he had?