Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ From Sunrise to Sunset ❯ Oficial member of the clan ( Chapter 5 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

By: ity

Dictionary:

Amegakure: Village hidden in the rain

Kumogakure: Village hidden in the clouds

Chapter 5

Itachi was staying in his room, headband in hand, staring at it. He was now a shinobi of Konoha.

He could still remember the conversation he had with his father right after the graduation ceremony.

Two hours earlier, just after the graduation ceremony

Fugaku looked at his eldest son with great pride in his eyes. “I am proud of you, my son. You have proved to be a very important member for the clan. Thus, you must keep improving.”

Even though his father looked proud, Itachi could read in his eyes that he was merely happy about the benefits the clan would have on his success.

“Yes, Father.” He gave a deep, respectful bow.

Fugaku's gaze suddenly turned from proud to dead serious. “It came to my attention that Yahizui also graduated. Also, you get along well with her, don't you.”

How can he talk like that? Like he doesn't know that she graduated, and that she worked hard for it. However, Itachi kept his thoughts locked deep inside.

Instead, he answered in a calm voice. “Yes, I do.”

“I see.” He paused for a few moments then continued in the same serious voice. “The clan's council decided that after she does a few missions and gathers enough money, she will move into an apartment.”

Itachi's eyes widened, not believing the words he just heard. He'd gotten used to Yahizui in the past year, and considered that her place was nowhere else but in the same house they stayed. Anger bubbled up just beneath the surface, just waiting to burst open.

Fortunately, before he could speak, his father continued.

“Of course, it will take some time until she will manage to get the money. A year, maybe two.”

Was his father trying to comfort him? He didn't need his reassuring words.

“So, Father.” He tried as hard as he could to keep his temper at bay. It was just unfair to send her away. “You are just going to send her away?”

His father's gaze seemed to darken even more.

“She is just a responsibility, Itachi. One that you put on my head. Do not get attached to a responsibility.”

Thinking about it brought back the angry feeling.

He gripped the headband until his knuckles turned white. He didn't know why, but he was angry with his father for treating her like that. He couldn't do anything about it, and it made him angry. Maybe it was the conception that he should be fair, maybe it was because he saw her work hard, sometimes harder than him, always to improve, always to match himself and Shisui, even if she had the disadvantage of being younger. Or perhaps it was for all those reasons.

He didn't know, but he was angry.

As soon as the blood touched the scroll, a puff of smoke came from it.

When the smoke cleared, Yahizui could see what lay now on her bed and couldn't believe her eyes. There laid all of the ninja gear her aunt promised to give to her when she became a genin.

She took the shirt, reveling in the softness of the material, and quickly turned it to look at the symbol that proudly stood on the back of the shirt.

There was also a short ninja skirt to match the shirt. Even though Yahizui wasn't the skirt-wearing type, this was from her aunt and she wouldn't disappoint her.

The moment she took the skirt from the bed, she saw that there was another scroll underneath. She saw the clan's seal placed on it.

But…who sent them? Is Aunt Harutobi alive? But… Urgh, no more questions, let's see what is in this one.

She broke the seal and opened the scroll.

The scroll was blank except for a few lines neatly written:

Hizui-chan,

I guess that if you read this, it means that I am no longer in the flesh, or else I would have given everything to you personally. I'm very proud of you for becoming a genin. I wonder what age are you now… five, six, maybe even seven?

“I'm five…” she blinked some tears away, trying to focus on the letter.

I hope you had a nice birthday….

`Yeah, Shisui and Itachi took care of this…'

Six months ago

“Hizui-chan!! Wake up sleepy! Hizuui!!!”

She opened her eyes, disturbed by the loud yelling.

With drowsy movements, she got out of the bed and went to open the window. Who could be calling at this time?

As soon as she opened the window, the chilly September morning air hit her face.. “Brrr….”

She looked down and saw an enthusiastic Shisui waving his hand at her. Next to her stood a quiet, unmoving Itachi. Maybe he froze like that.

The thought brought a fit of giggles. The image of Itachi as a snowman was, well, priceless.

After composing herself, she yelled back at them. “I'll be down in a minute!”

She quickly got dressed. Mikoto had bought her the cutest clothes, kind of girly, but cute nonetheless.

Finally, she put on her light scarf and winter bonnet and went out.

The moment she got out, she found herself crushed in Shisui's hug, while Itachi told her a simple happy birthday.

That day they had so much fun. They all left their responsibilities back home, they were no longer three prodigies, they were no longer two Uchihas and a Shourai. They were three friends having fun.

Since Shisui and Itachi had gotten ahold of Mikoto's coupon book, the three visited the dango shop and put the coupons to good use. They ate so many dangos that one thought they'd get sick, then went outside and played catch all dayt. Even Itachi showed signs that he had a good time… that is, as much as he knew how to show. They stopped playing when the had enough of Shisui cheating by using his ninja abilities, so they went back to the dango shop to drink some hot tea and eat more dangos.

When they got home, Mikoto had prepared a birthday cake, but, after all those dango, they all started to feel sick at the mere sight of the cake.

What a day that was. Probably the happiest day ever.

A small smile graced her lips at the memory of that day. The tears leaking from her scarlet eyes quickly washed the smile away, however.

She turned her gaze to the scroll, trying to finish reading it.

See? I kept my promise about the ninja outfit; I only hope it fits you. I'm sorry I left you all alone, Hizui-chan, but I guess I did what had to be done.

“Aunt H-Harutob-bi…” Tears were now running freely on her cheeks and her body quaked from time to time because of the sobs.

Don't cry for me, Hizui-chan. I'll be sad if you cry. I want you to be happy, to have people who love you and who you love, and I want you to take care. The day you become a chuunin, open the rest of the scroll. Promise me you won't open it sooner that that day, OK, Hizui-chan?

Love from your aunt Harutobi

She sniffled a little, wiping the tears from her eyes.

“I-I promise.”

Then she fell asleep, emotionally exhausted.

The clock ruthlessly rang. It was already three in the morning and she felt like she didn't have any sleep.

She opened a sleepy scarlet eye and stretched her small body in the huge bed.

Man, even the sun gets to sleep more than I do.

With sloppy movements, she took a towel and headed to the bathroom to wash her face.

As she exited her room, she heard a door open and saw Itachi exiting his room, towel also in hand. Even though he was also pretty sleepy, he looked much more rested than she did.

“Morning…” a big yawn followed her salute.

“Hn.”

They both entered the bathroom and turned on the cold water on the sink.

After splashing a fair amount of freezing water on her face, an evil thought popped on Yahizui's mind.

“Ita-kun!”

She prepared herself, ready to put her plan in application as soon as he finished drying his face.

“Hn?” He took the towel from his face to look at her. Unfortunately, that was a very bad decision.

The moment the towel was off his face, he was met with a stream of freezing water. The icy source of annoyance soaked the entire upper part of his body, giving him shivers.

She immediately burst into a fit of laughter that could have woken the whole house.

“Now…” she tried to say between laughs. “This is what I call a proper wake-up.”

Seeing his face, with wet ink-colored locks plastered to his face and his eyebrow slightly twitching, made her laugh even harder.

Too bad she didn't stop laughing in order to see the smirk forming on his lips. Nor did she see his hand stretching to grab the shower and pointing it to her.

“No, Hizui-chan… This is a proper wake up.”

The moment she looked up, Itachi turned the shower on, soaking her from head to feet.

Her face was priceless. She was shocked, and slowly, her eyebrows narrowed and anger filled her eyes.

“You should be careful not to soak the carpet, or else mother is going to be upset.”

He gracefully strode past her.

As soon as Yahizui got out of the shock state, anger came full force. She turned to glare at his retreating back, and Kami knows that if looks could kill, Itachi would have been long dead.

“UCHIHA ITACHI, You will pay for this!”

Now, if the laughter didn't wake anybody up, the loud scream that came from her mouth was surely heard by half of Konoha.

It was a good thing she didn't see him smirking. If she had, she would surely scream way louder about how arrogant he could be.

Even if the entire compound heard them, none of them made any move to wake up, so Yahizui stormed out of the bathroom and into her room.

She took her soaked pajamas off, dried herself, and quickly put on her new ninja attire.

When she went out of the house, Shisui and Itachi were outside.

“`Morning, Hizui-chan!”

Shisui waved a hand in her direction, but she stubbornly walked past them, not sparing either one a single glance.

Confused, Shisui turned to the younger Uchiha. “What's with her?”

“Rough wake-up,” responded Itachi, a smirk planted on his lips.

She walked down the streets of Konoha, huffing and puffing about arrogant, vengeful Uchihas.

She reached the designated training ground in a timely manner, but soon found out that she had come too early.

After twenty excruciating minutes of waiting, in which she could swear that she had made a ditch on the ground she was pacing on, the rest of the team started to arrive.

Well, at least they are punctual. Now I can vent off properly. She nodded to her teammates, then, turned to look at the much taller sensei.

“So… what are we doing today?”

Takahame looked at the small kunoichi. “Well, at least someone is eager. Today we're going to do the bell test.”

All three children looked at him in question.

Keisuke decided he should ask first. “What is the bell test?”

The jounin sensei smiled a bit, and then answered in an even voice.

“It's actually simple. I have two bells. And two of you will get them. Or, of course, none of you get them. The one that does not get a bell will be strapped to that log and won't get any food before today's training. Also, this test will give me an opinion of you guys as a team. Did you understand?”

They looked at one another then said in one voice. “Yes!”

“Good. When I count to three, we begin. One…”

They looked once more at one another.

“Two…” Each and every one of them was ready to sprint.

“Three!” They disappeared.

Now let's see how you'll do it.

He lit a cigarette and started smoking.

Well guys, I'll give you time until I finish this. You better come up with a good plan.

They had all concealed themselves well.

“So…” started Keisuke, “How are we going to do this anyway? We can't just charge at him. I'm hungry enough anyway; skipping lunch will be suicidal for me.”

After a collective sigh from Yahizui and Taizen, the former came with a plan.

“Our only chance is to distract him. One of us has to keep him busy, while the other two steal the bells.”

“Okay, let's do it!”

As soon as he spoke, Keisuke found his mouth being covered by two pairs of hands and assaulted by lots of shushing.

“The only downfall is,” continued Taizen in his calm voice, “that the one that distracts him won't get a bell and won't get lunch.”

A dead silence suddenly covered their little meeting spot.

“I'll do it.” It was the first time Yahizui actually spoke, and her voice held deep determination.

“B-But, Yahizui-chan….” Indeed, Keisuke was selfish about his food, but he never wanted them to get to the point where one of them didn't get the bell.

Yahizui gave an impish smile and patted Keisuke on the back. “Don't worry, I had a little pent up frustration I needed to let go anyways, and I'm not that hungry. Remember, we need to work as a team. Plus, I'm the best for the job, right?”

She gave another reassuring smile so the boys would agree.

“It's your choice, Yahizui-chan.” Even if his voice had a little worry in it, Taizen remained calm. “We will stay hidden here until you give us the signal. Then we'll sneak up on him and get the bells.”

She gave a short nod and she was off.

Takahame had just finished his cigarette and was ready to go after the unsuspecting genin, when he saw a small girl with shoulder length red hair standing in front of him.

She stood there, with all the confidence she had, ready to fight him with everything she had.

I wonder, how much does she have?

“Weren't you supposed to hide?”

Her lips curled in a small grin as she gave her answer.

“Actually, Sensei, we did, but I have another strategy.”

She took a shuriken from her pouch, throwing it at him. He calmly grabbed it, but soon found himself obligated to jump away as a barrage of shuriken came flying toward him.

She's fast and good with her weapons. But let's see how she'll do with other things.

He quickly made hand signs and casted an elementary genjutsu on her, one that would only delude her, enough for him to teach her a lesson.

Suddenly Yahizui felt dizzy. It felt like all her senses were dull, she was tired and the most nagging desire was sleep.

It's so strange…like an illusion… Wait a minute! Genjutsu! What…what do I do to escape a genjutsu again? Her mind raced.

As soon as she remembered, she bit her lip until it drew blood. The physical pain removed the illusion, and all her senses returned to their previous sharpness… just in time for her to see her sensei coming toward her at high speed, kunai in hand.

A bit scared, Yahizui jumped back and started to make hand signs.

“KATON: GOUKAKYUU NO JUTSU!”

Streams of fire flowed from her mouth and headed toward the jounin sensei.

Takahame quickly did a simple substitution jutsu, getting away from the flames.

I see, so the Uchiha's have been teaching her some of those fire techniques.

The battle had fairly predictable until now. All things changed, however, when he saw that the fire did not disappear and was now coming for him.

His eyes widened a little, seeing the girl's smirk. This must be the special ability Hokage-sama talked about.

The previous day, in the Hokage's office

“Takahame, I must tell you a few things about your new student, Shourai Yahizui.”

“Yes Hokage-sama. I know who she is and of what clan she belongs to.”

“I see. Well there is more…Shourai Yahizui is able to control fire.”

“C-Control…fire?”

Indeed an interesting ability you have… He stood there as the fire formed a circle around him getting closer and closer.

He sighed. At this rate, he'd be fried.

Well, time to get serious.

She wielded the fire to make a tall circular wall around him, and then gave a sign to the boys to come out. She gave each a kunai tied with ninja wire and told them to encircle the wall of fire.

When they were done, they gave her the kunai back and hid themselves, waiting for the perfect moment to get the bells.

Suddenly, a wave of water extinguished the fire and soaked all three of them.

Yahizui tried to keep her composure, and, as if remembering why she had those kunai in hand, she quickly threw one to her furthest left and one to the right.

Unfortunately, Takahame saw through her little scheme and jumped just in time before the wires encircled his legs.

He landed a few feet away, and at the same moment, a Kage Bushin appeared behind Yahizui, keeping her in place.

Yahizui looked at her sensei with a twitching eyebrow, but soon her anger subsided, being replaced by a grin.

“Takahame-sensei, you forget that we are a team.”

Just then, Keisuke and Taizen launched out of their hiding spots to get the bells.

“And you guys forget that I am the jounin here.”

He swiftly turned around, grabbing in turn each boy's hand, throwing him in opposite directions. Both boys fell in two different traps and found themselves dangling upside down.

Then, with a small smile, Takahame took the bells and held them in front of her eyes.

“You guys didn't get the bells.”

He paused for a moment, and then his smile grew bigger. “But that doesn't mean you lost. You made a plan, deciding that one of you would distract me and the other two will get the bells. Even though one of you had to sacrifice himself, you did it for the good of the mission. You worked as a team and I'm proud of you guys.”

Then, with two well-aimed kunai, he released both boys from the trap.

The Kage Bushin disappeared in a puff of smoke.

“Now, let's eat.”

They had a quick lunch, and continued with training.

First they did a bit of taijutsu, so that Takahame could analyze their close combat abilities.

As suspected, Yahizui was well trained at close range combat; after all, she trained every day with two Uchiha prodigies. Keisuke was also pretty good in taijutsu and weaponry, though just short of the same level. Of course, there was a major difference of style between the two. While Yahizui had smooth, fluid moves, Keisuke was rough with short, unpolished moves. She moved with feline grace, he moved with canine wildness. They were opposites, but together, they could do great in a real fight.

Taizen, on the other hand, was clearly a long-range type. He had talent in ninjutsu, but it seemed he was fascinated by the art of genjutsu. Actually, it didn't matter, as he would get the hang of both of them eventually. Also, with his long-range attacks, he would be the perfect back up for Yahizui and Keisuke.

After they were through with taijutsu, they started practicing some ninjutsu. Both boys were impressed, but at the same time a bit humiliated, by the very young kunoichi of the team and her, by their standards, vast knowledge in jutsus.

All three of them, however, seemed to have the same overall skill level.

After hours and hours of practice, the sun started to set, so Takahame decided to call it a day.

“OK guys, you did a good job today. Tomorrow we work at chakra control, so get some rest. Bye!” With that, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

As soon as the jounin was gone, Keisuke turned to his teammates.

“So what are you guys doing?”

“Well…” Yahizui scratched her crimson locks of hair. “I have to go home and help Mikoto-sama with dinner.”

Keisuke's eyes quickly turned to Taizen.

“Don't look at me, Keisuke, I also need to get home, or my mom will go berserk.”

Hearing that, Keisuke's shoulders slumped a bit, but he quickly got over it, and smirked at the two of them.

“Okay, see ya tomorrow then.”

Soon she reached the compound, entered, and went straight to the kitchen, where she knew she would find Mikoto.

Indeed, Mikoto was in there, with a half-made dinner in front of her and a crying little Sasuke in her arms.

“Hello, Mikoto-sama. Need any help?”

Mikoto smiled at the sight of the little redhead. “Actually, I wouldn't mind if you watched over Sasuke-chan until I finish supper.”

She put the two-year-old boy on the floor, and immediately Yahizui took his hand and led him out of the kitchen.

As soon as Sasuke saw the girl, his crying ceased.

She looked at him with curious eyes. “Ne, Sasuke-kun, why were you crying? You're already two, you're a big boy now, you shouldn't cry anymore.”

She looked down at his dark, chicken-butt-shaped hair, then into his big, coal black eyes. He looked like he was trying to find an answer, making his little mind work to remember the reason of his sadness.

Suddenly, Sasuke's eyes sparkled with realization, but they immediately got drowned in sadness. He looked back at Yahizui, the only person besides his mother that spent a considerable amount of time with him.

Finally, Sasuke decided to give voice to his sadness.

“Nii-san. He doesn't pway with me.”

Hearing his innocent words made Yahizui laugh. Even though she still had that childish innocence in her, and wanted to never lose it, Yahizui was aware that a ninja is a tool of war. A ninja mustn't play or do any other trivial things. But then again, Sasuke was no ninja; he was just a child that wanted his big brother's attention.

“Actually, Sasuke-kun, I bet he would love to just stay and play with you. But he's a ninja, and this doesn't only mean that you become cool and learn how to do cool stuff.”

Sasuke scowled, as though he wanted to tell her `I know at least that.'

She watched him with a small smile. “Being a ninja comes with responsibilities. And Itachi has lots of them. Your father, and the whole clan too, have great expectations from him, and he tries to meet all of them.”

After ending her explication, Sasuke seemed more understanding.

Just then, Yahizui saw a familiar ink-black head come inside. Well, speak of the devil.

“Sasuke-kun, what do you say we play a game? We go to the kitchen and drag outside whoever is in there beside your mom to spend the evening with us. Huh? What do you say?”

Sasuke nodded enthusiastically and they headed to the kitchen.

Itachi entered the kitchen. It was a tiring day, even for him.

“Hello, mother.”

“Oh, hi dear. You'll have to wait; supper is not ready. By the way, have you seen Hizui-chan and Sasuke-chan? I—”

She didn't manage to finish her sentence, since the two that were spoken of chose that moment to come hurrying through the door.

“Nii-san!” Sasuke's eyes suddenly lit up. “Hizui-chan say dat whoever in here `sides mommy hafta come outside and pway with us!”

Itachi raised an eyebrow and questionably look at Yahizui. In exchange, Yahizui was making desperate signs behind Sasuke, trying to communicate to Itachi how much this evening would mean to Sasuke and how much he wanted to spend time with his big brother.

That was a bit too many words to be explained through signs, but Itachi seemed to understandn because he responded in his usual, monotone voice.

“Just this once.”

All there is to say about that night is that it might have been the happiest in Sasuke's life. He had his big brother all to himself, and even if he didn't speak much, Yahizui was there to fulfill that task.

Unfortunately, morning came too soon and his brother had to go on a mission with his genin team.

Yahizui ruffled his hair as a goodbye and left to train.

Yahizui soon reached the meeting point, saluted everybody, and patiently waited for Takahame to arrive.

Unlike Yahizui, Keisuke was not the patient type, so he immediately started to rant and wine about the situation. “Man, this guy is incredible! He is the sensei, he should be here first!”

Taizen gave him the raised eyebrow look. “You're not the one to talk, Keisuke. I've know you for a long time, and you were never punctual.”

“Well… I… ”

“Hey guys.” Keisuke's ranting was cut short by Takahame's apparition. “Did you wait for long?”

“No,” cut in Yahizui. “Actually, we just got here.”

She smiled, turning to look at her companions. “Right guys?”

Keisuke grumbled under his breath. Taizen smirked.

“Good. Now, listen up. Today we have our first mission.”

No sooner had they heard the word “mission” then they were all eyes and ears.

Yahizui was the first to speak. “Is it a hard one?”

“Is it terribly important for the well being of the country?” said Keisuke in an enthusiastic tone.

“Will it challenge us to the limit?” completed Taizen in an equally enthusiastic voice.

Takahame watched his students with a skeptical look. What do these kids think they're going to do as a ninja? Save the world while they are genin?

“Actually, it is a retrieval mission. The daimyo's wife asked the village of Konoha to help her find her cat. Aren't you excited?”

Their sunny disposition suddenly became pretty gloomy, as storm clouds of disappointment were gathering above their heads.

“Not really,” they all said.

After that first boring mission, a whole year of those D-rank missions followed: a year packed with missions and training; a whole year in which Yahizui barely saw Itachi during supper, and, even more rarely, got to talk to him late at night, before going to sleep and starting all over again.

During the year, Shisui trained like crazy, aiming to become a chuunin. His sensei had once promised to teach him the body flicker jutsu as soon as he became a chuunin. Since Shisui was a very impatient person, he wanted to make chuunin as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, the village's politics didn't stand foot either. New enemies were made as Amegakure started to show hostility toward Konoha.

All these things considered, the importance of Yahizui's next mission would be crucial.

A six-year-old girl with crimson hair that went past her shoulders ran toward the training ground. In a matter of seconds she reached the clearing and stopped in front of her sensei.

“Ohayo, Takahame-sensei! I apologize if I'm late.”

The aforementioned jounin responded to her salute with a nod and ruffled her hair, receiving an ugly scowl from the girl.

“Doesn't matter. I called you here to inform you that today we have a special mission. You are to gather all necessary things and be at the gate in one hour. The mission is said to last a week.”

Yahizui nodded in understanding.

At the sound of her sensei's next words, however, her scarlet eyes grew three times due to shock.

“A special team will be gathered for the mission. The team consists in me as a leader, you, Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi.”

Takahame paused for a moment to give her time to digest the information. “I believe we will work well since you have been training with them for some time.”

After slowly letting the words sink in, Yahizui came back to earth.

“Yes sir, I understand. I'll be on my way now.” And she sprinted off.

A mission with the two of them… Wow, only now I realized that it's been a long time since the three of us spent any time together. Who would have thought this would ever happen?

In no time, she found herself back at the compound and in her room.

For the past year, Yahizui had been trying to raise some money and put it aside in order to move to an apartment as soon as possible. Unfortunately, she found out the hard way that money doesn't come quick, but takes time, and should be used wisely. It was especially hard to raise money because of her age.

If this mission is important, then we should get a larger amount of money over it. Then maybe…

Her train of thought was interrupted when she started to do her backpack. After she quickly gathered all the necessary things, she stormed out of the room, mentally checking them one more time. Food rations…

She descended the steps in a hurry. Kunai, shuriken…

Like a storm she zoomed through the hallway, opened the door and…

”Oof!” She hit the floor in a not-very-ladylike way. “What the?...”

Her eyes drifted upward, only to meet obsidian orbs and ink-colored hair.

“You should watch your step.” He stretched a hand to help her get up.

“Oh…” Yahizui took his hand and quickly picked herself up off the floor. “Sorry, Itachi. I wasn't thinking were I was going.”

“Hn.” That was his only response before he walked past her and into the house.

Before she managed to finish processing the previous events and Itachi's response, or rather lack of it, Yahizui heard her name being shouted.

She turned to look in the direction of the voice and saw Shisui with his own backpack, sitting not far away from her location.

“So, we're doing this mission together, squirt, ne?”

He came closer to her, close enough to see her eyebrow furiously twitching. “I'm glad it still ticks you off.”

The grin on his face was big and wide, as Shisui always enjoyed annoying other people. “Well, Itachi should be back in a few minutes and then we'll go to the gate.”

The moment he finished the sentence, Itachi exited the house, backpack strapped on his shoulder.

“Speak of the devil! Let's get going!”

“Sure.”

“Hn.”

After a few minutes, the three of them arrived at the gate, where Takahame greeted them.

“I am Wataru Takahame, the leader of this mission and Yahizui's sensei. I know who you are, so there's no need for introductions.”

“Now, let's explain the mission. Since Amegakure started to attack Konoha, implying that Ame's allies are also Konoha's enemies, we are forced to sign a peace treaty with Kumogakure. As you know, Konoha and Kumo are old enemies, but since we can't fight with so many of them at once, we have to make a temporary peace. In this mission, we will deliver a scroll from the Hokage to the Raikage, so that they will sign the peace treaty.”

“Sounds like a pretty important mission,” came Yahizui's comment. “Why do they send us genins when there are others more capable for this job?”

Takahame calmly regarded his student before answering.

“Actually, you three are the best genin in Konoha. But that's not the point…”

“Konoha is short on ninja since they have to protect the borders. That's why they send us on these missions.”

Everybody turned to stare at Itachi.

Before anyone could comment, Takahame continued.

“Exactly. Now, if we're done explaining, we should get on our way. Kumo is pretty far away.”

They all nodded and exited the village, not knowing what might appear on the way.