Ice Art: Yuno Clan

four

"This is so lame, all we've been doing is chores around the village," Asabu complained as he swept the garbage and litter of the outskirts of the town. Ever since the three had become genin a few weeks back, all they'd been doing is regular housework.

"Be grateful, Asabu, at least we are genin now. Not many from the academy can say that" Hayate said.

"I'd hate to say it, but I kind of agree with Asabu, this is boring. We should be going on a real mission, like defending a princess or spying on another village!" Kyoko enthused.

"This is what life of a genin is like. You can only perform B-ranked missions once you become chunin or higher," Hiyori-Sensei explained.

Kyoko sighed while Hayate nodded knowingly and continued cleaning around the village. After cleaning in silence, Asabu thought it was time to once again speak up.

"Can't we at least try a B-ranked mission? If all goes well, then we know we have the skill," Asabu persuaded.

"And if all goes wrong?" Hiyori-Sensei rebutted.

"I didn't really think that far into it," Asabu scratched the back of his head.

Hiyori-Sensei seemed to think for a moment before finally speaking up, "Tell you what. I'll try to get the Hokage to assign us a B-ranked mission, but don't come crying to me if one of you gets badly injured or worse, dies."

"Deal!" Kyoko says instantly, "it's better than doing this all day."

"You can count me in too," Hayate agreed.

❅

After some convincing from Hiyori-Sensei, she managed to land them a job to get some specific herbal medicine from the next town over. This was one of the easier missions because of the fact that they most likely wouldn't be fighting or getting attacked by other ninja. The town was about forty kilometres away, which was about a six-hour walk so group eleven had to pack for the trip.

"And that was the time we dunk a bucket of water on Iruka-Sensei's head," Asabu had finished telling them a story of the time he, Naruto, and Kiba pranked Iruka-Sensei.

Kyoko and Hayate laughed at this while Hiyori-Sensei walked a little bit ahead of them. "You hear that sensei? You better watch out for Asabu. He likes to pull pranks on people, especially when he's paired up with Naruto," Kyoko joked.

"He would never be able to pull a prank on a shinobi like me," Hiyori-Sensei laughed.

"Oh yeah, it's on!" Asabu challenged and stretched his hand out for a handshake to sensei, but she kept walking instead.

"I know you're building up chakra to shock me, Asabu, you'll have to try harder than that."

"Don't worry, you'll get her next time," Hayate praised.

After some time, the three made it to their destination as the sun was about to set. They were pretty tired from walking without resting for a long time. The sensei got them reservations to a hotel for the night before heading back to Konoha.

Since Kyoko and Hiyori-Sensei were the girls of the group, she and the sensei both shared their room while Hayate and Asabu had to share. Kyoko jokingly stuck her tongue out at them while Asabu glared in jealousy. "I mean, can't I at least share a room with Kyoko," Asabu protested.

"No can do, I move a lot in my sleep so unless you wanna wake up with a black eye," Kyoko said and Hayate laughed, "don't worry, Asabu, I'll respect your space as long as you respect mine," Hayate said.

"Get a good sleep tonight. After we get back to our village, we have to start training again for your chunin exam," Hiyori-Sensei said.

"So soon!" Kyoko exclaimed.

"Is there a problem with that?"

"Not at all! I'm more than happy right now!"

"Well then, get some rest."

❅

The next morning, Kyoko woke up bright and early as always. She was excited to start training and especially excited to do the chunin exams. That just means being one step closer to being the greatest of all time. She knocked on the door next to her room and Hayate opened the door while Asabu peeked out from behind him. "Oh, Kyoko, why so early?" Hayate asked.

"Because the sooner we get back, the sooner we can start training, then we can become stronger!" Kyoko jumped.

"I hate morning people," Asabu walked back to the cot.

"It's already seven in the morning though. What are you doing?" Kyoko asked.

"Going back to sleep."

"No, you're not," Hiyori-Sensei appeared behind Kyoko, causing her to jump in shock. "Kyoko's right. The early bird gets the worm. The sooner we leave the sooner we'll get back to Konoha. Get dressed and meet outside so we can head back."

Kyoko followed Hiyori-Sensei and they waited outside of the hotel. "I always thought Yuno sounded familiar," she said.

"What?" Kyoko cocked her head to look at her sensei.

"You're the daughter of Fubuki Yuno."

"You knew my father?" Kyoko's eyes widened. No one's mentioned her father to her in a long time and for Hiyori-Sensei to bring him up so nonchalantly surprised her.

"We crossed paths once a while back-" Hiyori-Sensei was about to continue when Asabu and Hayate came outside. Hiyori-Sensei knew this was a delicate conversation for Kyoko so he paused for now. "Are you ready to go?"

"Hold on," Hayate ruffled in his backpack, "Yep, all set."

The three took off and headed down the same route since it was the quickest way back. Kyoko thought back to when Hiyori-Sensei had mentioned her father and how she said they crossed paths once. What else could she know about her father? She would just have to keep that thought on hold until they got back to their village.

Just then, Hiyori-Sensei stopped walking abruptly in her tracks. It took a moment for the other to notice since she was behind them all. "What is it, Yori-Sensei?" Hayate asked.

"Nothing, just keep walking and don't let your guard down," she answered quietly.

The three looked at each other but proceeded just as they were told. Kyoko shrugged it off but kept her eyes and ears peeled for anything. Pretty soon, there was no noise other than the group's footsteps which creeped Kyoko out a little, even in the broad daylight. Nothing seemed to be happening so subconsciously, Kyoko calmed down a little and zoned out.

"Kyoko, watch out!"