Blood of a Lost Girl (Book 1, Naruto)

Chapter 14

Kakashi-sensei appeared in front of me suddenly, just barely missing the snowball I threw. "Good throw." He commented, but then he turned serious. "Fun time is over. A few of you are going on a mission." Everyone had frozen in place and was now listening intently to him. Kakashi-sensei looked me right in the eyes. "Miyuki, gather Kiba and Tenten and meet Kurenai in the Hokage's office." Aww, man. And I was having so much fun, but it wasn't so bad. I nodded and he disappeared as suddenly as he'd appeared. Tenten, who had heard everything Kakashi-sensei had said, stepped next to me.

"Hey, it's going to be our first mission together!" She exclaimed, happily. I smiled and went to get Kiba. I was excited. I haven't had a mission for a while and I haven't met Kurenai before, but I heard she was really nice. It was a strange group, the lot of us, I mean there was the tracker –Kiba- the fighters –me and Tenten- and then there was the group leader and Genjutsu specialist, Kurenai-sensei. It was a strange combination. I wonder what mission this would be. I hope it wasn't a D-ranked mission. Those really were only chores. I mean, what sort of mission was babysitting? Not a very good one. My eyes sparkled with anticipation and I wore an excited grin. Maybe it was a C-ranked mission, or maybe even a B-ranked one! I was just a Genin, sure, but I believed in gaining experience instead of just training for a fight. When you get out enough, you learn to see how some people think and why some do what they do. It usually helped in other missions.

As Kakashi-sensei had instructed, I gathered everyone and told them to meet me and Kurenai-sensei in the Hokage's office before teleporting myself to the location. I grinned to myself. Teleporting had become so easy, I barely had to try anymore. It was almost like second nature now. I bowed my head to the Hokage and Kurenai, still grinning. "Hello, Kurenai-sensei, I'm Miyuki." I introduced myself. "I hear we're going on a mission," I stated.

She smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Miyuki."

"So what will our mission be?" I asked, addressing the Hokage.

The Hokage chuckled. "Be patient, I will explain once everyone has arrived."

"Will it be a C-rank? Or maybe even a B-ranked mission!?" I asked excitedly.

This time both the Hokage and Jounin chuckled. "Calm down, Miyuki. You will see." I pouted at the Hokage with folded arms, but kept quiet nonetheless and waited for everyone to arrive. While I waited, I roamed around the office, looking at the photos of all the Hokage and reading the random scrolls hanging on the walls. Some were inspiring quotes while others were certificates of whatever, there were even random notes everywhere. I raised an eyebrow as I glanced at the Hokage. He was actually quite a messy guy. I bet if I were to rummage through his drawers there'd be stacks of papers in them in no particular order. I bet if he didn't have to keep up appearances, this office would be so messy. I chuckled. I've found out the Hokage's secret. Though maybe I should've known this too. I had seen his room after all. It hadn't been that messy, but I could see he'd tried to hide some of the stuff lying around. I chuckled again and right then the door opened and Kiba & Tenten came streaming in. Kiba and Tenten, along with another of Tenten's teammates – a boy named Neji Hyuuga. I wondered why he was here too. I turned back to the Hokage as he checked if everyone was here. "Alright then, now that all of you are here, let's begin. I am sending you on a C-ranked mission. Actually, it would be more accurate if I said I'm sending you on two C-ranked missions." I glanced at my team, frowning. They looked just as confused as I was.

Kurenai was the only one who spoke up to ask the questions on everyone's mind. "Two missions? What do you mean, Hokage-sama?"

The third Hokage placed his pipe in his mouth and inhaled deeply, blowing out a puff of smoke soon after. "Hm. It's exactly as I said." He looked at all of our blank expressions, sighing. "It's simple. Your missions are to escort our clients to the safety of our village, but not only that, you also have to eliminate any bandits who threaten them on the way here. These are your two missions." He blew out another puff of smoke. "I should mention that our clients are the survivors of Hisano Village that was destroyed in a raid. They are carrying a treasure on them which many have sought, so beware, this mission can easily escalate and become a B-ranked –or even A-ranked mission. You will find them at a rendezvous point near the Western border of the Land of Fire and the Land of Rivers. Normally I would only send a 4-man cell, but I have decided to add Neji to the team for extra support in case anything happens." He paused, thinking. "You are expected to meet them there in several hours, before the day ends. You are dismissed." With that, we all walked out of the office. I glanced at Neji, impressed. If the Hokage added him as support, he must have a lot of faith in Neji's skills. Once outside Kurenai told us to meet her at the Western gate in 20 minutes, giving us all time to get ready for the journey. As I teleported into my own room, I couldn't help but wonder exactly what the treasure was that these survivors were carrying and just how dangerous this mission would turn out to be. For some reason, I had a really bad feeling about this but I shook it off. There was no use worrying about something that might not even be real. It was probably because the last escorting mission I had, had turned into a B-ranked one. I put all my clothes and essentials in one of my extra scrolls and put it in my weapons pouch. Packing had only taken me 2 minutes and I wasn't just going to wait for my team at the gate for 18 minutes. Instead, I decided to go to Ichiraku's – I was hungry after all. I'd barely sat down before Tseuchi had put a bowl of Pork Ramen in front of me. I thanked him and started eating. Had I really been here that much that he already knew what my favourite was? Was that a bad thing? I glanced to the left to see a boy about 2 years older than me with black hair and yellow eyes looking at me. I fully turned to him, but by then he'd stood up and walked out with his hands in his pockets, a smirk clear on his face. Well, that was weird. What's up with him? I shrugged and continued eating my ramen, slurping up my noodles noisily. You taste the flavour much better that way, not sure why though. I sat back, finally finished. Ichiraku's really had the best Ramen. I took out the money from a little pouch I used as my wallet and paid Tseuchi and Ayame and walked out. I lifted the material hanging down from the roof and exited the little restaurant, almost running straight into a shorter orange blob. I smiled at Naruto and greeted him, before trying to walk past him, but he stopped me. "Miyu-chan! Come with me to the training grounds!" He exclaimed.