destiny calls | *. naruto fanfic

5.

I raced through the forest, eyes locked on our target. It was right in front of me. If I could just grab it, then I could go home. I could hear the others far behind me, apparently they weren’t very fast. I’ll have to tone it down a little on longer missions I guess.

    The cat I was chasing suddenly swerved, heading back the way we came. Digging my feet into the ground, I swerved in the opposite direction to avoid hitting a tree. Groaning, I turned on my heel and raced after it once again. It had gained some distance thanks to my disastrous turn, so hopefully one of the others would see it.

    Surprisingly, Naruto was the one noticed first and pounced on it, holding it up in a victory stance. Skating my head, I let the cat give him a few good scratches before taking the poor thing from him. Scratching it’s ear, I let Sasuke inform Kakashi of the capture. We had been chasing the thing for quite a while. Mostly because Naruto had ruined my plan of calmly approaching it.

    I cradled the content cat in my arms as we made our way back to the village. The thing was surprisingly relaxed after all the fuss it had made and I couldn’t help but sigh. Shouldn't the owner just come chase down their cat? And then we could do something actually worthwhile. Like take a nap. 

    Trailing behind the group, I sighed softly. The prediction I had made when I became a ninja was turning out to be true. I had barely spent any time at the house, or with Eriko and Machi. The only time I went home was for bed and occasionally food. And even if we weren’t on a mission, my free time was filled with training.
”Akari, time to let the cat go.” I blinked, staring at Kakashi. Oh. We were here. The cat was clinging to me, as if it didn’t want to go back to their owner. Reluctantly, I handed over the cat, cringing at the owner’s very... affectionate... behavior.

”If I had an owner like that I would run away to.” I heard Naruto mutter, and for once I actually agreed with him. Poor cat.

”Now then... for your next mission..” I groaned, earning a glare from Kakashi. Can’t I just go home? Either way, I knew I couldn’t so I tried to pay attention as the Hokage continued. He listed off some more D Rank missions and I sighed. It was pretty obvious, none of us wanted another D Rank mission. Everyone else wanted at least a C Rank, whereas I just wanted to go home.

”I don’t want another boring task!” Naruto exclaimed. “I want to go on a real mission!” I could see by their reactions that both Sakura and Sasuke agreed.

”Naruto! You will accept whatever mission is given to us.” I glanced at Kakashi, he sounded annoyed.
”I’m not a little kid anymore! Give us a chance to prove ourselves!” Naruto turned away from the Hokage and sat on the ground, most likely pouting. Acting exactly like the little kid he said he wasn’t.

    I could hear the Third sigh as I turned away from Naruto. And to my surprise, he actually agreed. Well today certainly got more interesting. He looked down the list of C Ranks, passing over quite a few missions.
”This should satisfy you.” He murmured. “Your mission is to be bodyguards for a bridge builder from the Land of Waves.” Bodyguards? Man, can we go back to D Rank? Guarding some bridge builder is gonna be a pain. Naruto however, seemed quite happy as he jumped up from his spot on the ground. Why, Naruto? Why? A few minutes later, our client came in. He was an older man, and frankly, he didn’t look like a builder of anything.

    I watched as he looked us over, narrowing my eyes slightly as I sensed disappointment. “You sure these guys are skilled enough?” He asked. “I’m not sure I’d feel safe, especially with those squirts.” I crossed my arms, scowling. Sure I was the shortest here, but I was probably the most skilled besides Kakashi. I glanced at Naruto to see how he would react and realized he hadn’t figured it out yet. Wow, he was really slow. When he finally did I had to hold him by his shirt just so he wouldn’t attack the ignorant guy.

”Save your energy for the road.” I muttered, already done with this stupid mission. We were told to meet at the entrance after packing the necessities, so I hurried home to say goodbye to Eriko and Machi before having to leave.

    As soon as I stepped inside Machi launched herself at me, clinging to my leg. Smiling, I picked her up and headed to the family room. I hated having to leave so soon, but it wasn’t like I had a choice in the matter. Eriko smiled as I entered, but frowned when she saw my expression.

”Another mission?” I nodded, sighing. Setting Machi down, I went to gather the rest of my Ninja tools as well as my bag.

”To the Land of Waves.” I explained with no enthusiasm whatsoever. I told her what we would be doing and when we would be back. Once I was done, I slung my old leather bag over my shoulder. Some of it was caked in mud, so Eriko didn’t really like when I got it out.

”Don’t go! I’ll miss you!” Machi grabbed my arm, on the verge of tears. I was afraid this would happen. No matter how smart she was, Machi was still young, and her acting like this was just another reminder.

”I have to go.” I explained. “Trust me, if I could stay I would.” Gently, I moved Machi’s hands off my arm and stepped out the door before she could grab me again.

    A few minutes later I was at the front gate, impatiently waiting for everyone to get their stuff in order. “Let’s just get on with it so I can get home sooner.” I muttered, more to myself.

    We soon left, and only a few minutes down the road Naruto started yelling at our client, whom I now knew was named Tazuna. Nearby, I heard a slight rustle of leaves. Curious, I glanced in that direction, but whatever might of been there was gone now. Eh, probably just a squirrel or something.

    We continued down the path, everyone talking amongst each other. I stayed towards the back, not even bothering to look like I was actually interested or excited. Blinking in surprise, I realized my shoe was wet somehow. Looking down I saw that I had stepped in a puddle. Shaking my foot off, I didn’t think much of it and continued on.

    As soon as my foot left the puddle I felt a presence behind me. I thought maybe one of the others had gotten behind me but this was quickly proved false as I looked up. I turned around, having a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. A ninja loomed over me and I yelped in surprise and slight panic. I watched in horror as they wrapped their chains around Kakashi, squashing him like some kind of bug.

    Starting to get a little nervous and panicked, I looked around, hoping with all my heart Kakashi had used a substitution or a clone. The ninjas raced over to Naruto, obviously intending to kill. I wanted to go help but Sasuke was to quick, throwing a shuriken and then a kunai to keep the chain in place against a tree. Smart. Landing on their arms, Sasuke banged them together, ultimately freeing them. Not smart.

    One charger at Naruto while the other at Sakura and Tazuna. I sighed as Sasuke went to protect the two, guess I would have to save Naruto’s butt. I stepped towards him but stopped when I spotted Kakashi through the trees. Heh. Guess I shouldn’t of underestimated him. Just as the ninjas were about to strike he stepped in, apprehending both at once. Show off.

    Sasuke started taunting Naruto and I sighed, about to reach out to strop Naruto from charging at his teammate. However Kakashi beat me to it.

”Naruto. Stand still. These ninja have poison in their claws.” He suddenly looked really nervous and held up his hand. Oh, I didn’t realize he had gotten scratched. Well, sucks to be him.

    Kakashi started egging Tazuna about his request, and every point he made was valid. Most Genin weren’t ready for a mission where they have to fight other ninjas. When Kakashi said we should turn back Naruto became very angry, making some stupid speech before plunging a knife into his hand to get the poison out. Good job, now you’ll bleed out you idiot.

    After that little fiasco we continued on our way, what a shame. We were so close to going back early.

    Eventually, we arrived at the waterfront and we all loaded into a wooden boat. It took a little while, but through the fog I began to make out the shape of an unfinished bridge. Well this was going be fun. Not.