Reborn as a Nara

eight

C H A P T E R      8
— The Departure for Nami no Kuni

His eyes were filled with guilt, the alcohol in his hand was cheap and easily acquired, the way he dressed was sloppy, and everything else about his body language indicates that he lied about the mission. This was an escort mission to the Nami no Kuni, was it not? Shirayuki remembered that they were in a financial crisis. There was a very high chance that this was supposed to be a higher-ranked mission than what their client could possibly afford.

If she went with fiction logic, this mission would be a disaster.

But she was living in this world, was she not? So, she should go with it. Give it a try, she had no right to choose what not to do. She simply had to accept, she could voice it out but right now. It was not her place to question it. She'll tell Kakashi later, Shirayuki decided, she'll share her observation. However, as a Ninja who was assigned to a mission, she had absolutely no right in questioning it.

Thus, she stayed silent and continued observing their client.

"I paid for Ninja to protect me, not a bunch of wet behind their ears brats," Tazuna complained. His eyes shifted, he felt guilty about something. Probably about condemning children, he probably was close to someone near their age, Shirayuki guessed. "Especially that short runt right there."

He was looking at Naruto, so it's a kid. Grandson, probably, similar age or height. The shortest one here was Naruto.

"Hahaha! Who's the runt?" Naruto laughed mockingly, clutching his stomach. Shirayuki gave him a disbelieving look before stepping up beside him, almost at the same time Sasuke did. As both of them stood beside him, Shirayuki watched as her blond teammate finally understood who the 'runt' was.

He flew into a rage, as expected, "WHO ARE YOU CALLING A RUNT, OLD MAN?"

"Naruto, stop," Kakashi ordered. Naruto shut up but was furious and glared at Tazuna. Tazuna shifted, he looked at Sasuke and then at her, still guilty. He lingered on her face a bit, she probably looked similar to someone he knew, then. Daughter? Granddaughter? He probably had two people to provide for at home, no son or son-in-law. Otherwise, he wouldn't be here but his son would instead.

"Nice to meet you, Tazuna-san," Kakashi greeted. "When would be your preferred time to leave?"

Tazuna looked a little put out before he floundered around for an answer, "Tomorrow morning?"

"That's perfectly fine. Any specific time?" Kakashi asked. Shirayuki was almost disturbed by how different he was, then again, she supposed this was what they called hospitality. But from the looks of it, both her teammates were equally disturbed by Kakashi.

"Eight in the morning would be good," Tazuna told him. Kakashi nodded, and then he turned to the Hokage. They conversed something really quickly under their breath as another Ninja came to escort Tazuna to an inn.

Naruto shuffled his feet before getting close to Shirayuki, "Hey, don't you think Kakashi-sensei was a bit weird just now, dattebayo?"

"It's hospitality. Tazuna-san is Hokage's client, we're supposed to respect them. Add on to the fact that Tazuna-san is a civilian, Kakashi needs to ensure the client has trust in him first. Plus, a good impression on clients would mean they would come back to us for more missions." Shirayuki explained.

Sasuke sneered, "Usuratonkachi, we learn these things in the academy."

"Shut up, teme."

This was going to get old, Shirayuki decided. She didn't think she could put up with them arguing until one of them keels over and dies. The client was escorted and they were dismissed. Kakashi decided to treat everyone to ramen, for some reason, but it worked in Naruto's delight. Plus, Shirayuki didn't complain too much about food.