Chunin Missions

When Masayo woke early in the morning, he instinctively turned off the alarm. Just as he was about to sleep a little longer, he suddenly sat up.

"How could I forget? I'm already a Chunin! Kakashi-sensei isn't my Supervising Jonin anymore."

Masayo got up and began washing up and eating breakfast. Over the past year, it had seemingly become a habit, and he had nearly forgotten.

After putting on his ninja flak jacket and arranging his weapons and storage scrolls, he locked the front door and headed for the Konoha Gathering Hall to begin his first day of missions as a Chunin.

"I know the stars at midnight can sing, on nights when I miss home..."

As he passed Naruto's house, Masayo heard Naruto singing. The Ninja Academy was on summer break as well, but Naruto was badly off-key and sounded terrible. He had probably learned it from hearing Masayo hum it before.

Masayo smirked mischievously, then shouted the next line after Naruto, "The stars in the sky revolve around the Big Dipper! Hehehe..."

Masayo covered his mouth and snickered, then used Wind Body Flicker to leap away and vanish from the street, leaving Naruto Uzumaki in his room, completely led astray.

"Wait, what were the lyrics again?!"

Naruto Uzumaki clutched his head, looking utterly frantic. He felt like he had mixed up the song.

"The stars in the sky don't speak, the stars in the sky revolve around the Big Dipper! Aah... I'm done for. I don't know it anymore."

At the mission hall, Masayo was ready to accept his mission. But when he saw his assignment sheet, he froze. It seemed different from what he had imagined.

"A C-rank Mission, becoming a private tutor? Lord Hokage, there hasn't been a mistake, has there?"

Masayo stared at his mission and raised his head in disbelief to look at the Third Hokage. He had thought he might be assigned solo—

The Third Hokage was enjoying a rare moment of leisure, puffing on his large pipe as he explained, "The Ninja Academy is on break, and many students' parents have spent heavily to issue missions for tutors to help their children study. The reason tutoring is classified as a C-rank Mission is that the ninja must possess a certain breadth of knowledge. Normally, these are missions for the Chunin instructors at the Ninja Academy, but there aren't enough people."

"Heh, well, damn. I thought the major clans were already competitive enough. Who knew ordinary civilians were the same? Still, anyone who can afford a C-rank Mission must be pretty well-off."

Masayo glanced at the mission list. There were a great many people seeking ninja tutors. During the holidays, a large portion of the Chunin would probably take on these tutoring missions.

"Competitive? What does that mean?"

After pondering for a long time, the Third Hokage still could not understand what Masayo meant and asked curiously.

Masayo answered, "When a cultural model reaches its final form, there's no way to change it or transform it into something new. It can only become increasingly extreme within itself."

He didn't get it! The Third Hokage did not understand what Masayo meant and looked at him in confusion. Even the other ninja accepting missions alongside Masayo stared at him with curiosity. They did not understand either, but it sounded lofty and cultured.

After thinking for a moment, Masayo tried to phrase it in a way everyone could understand. "For example, there's one cake, a limited resource, but there are thousands of people. To compete for that limited resource, you can only work harder and be more diligent than everyone else. In the end, an individual's effort and diligence are no longer proportional to the resources they gain."

Several ninja deeply related to Masayo's words. The entire mission hall instantly fell silent, and the noisy chatter vanished at once.

"Hmm!"

Suddenly, Masayo spotted a familiar surname on the list, causing him to pause.

"Kizashi Haruno... Is it Sakura Haruno?"

Masayo could not help muttering to himself.

To be honest, he did not particularly like Sakura Haruno as a character. Especially now that he was an orphan himself, it was even harder for him to feel favorably toward her.

But after seeing his two original teammates during the Survival Trial, Masayo realized Sakura Haruno was actually pretty good. At the very least, after being caught in the same genjutsu, she would not be so scared that she no longer dared to be a ninja. If Masayo himself had not been outstandingly strong and excellent in every regard, he might have been dragged down and sent back to school to repeat the year.

"Lord Hokage, I'll take this one. The pay is good, and the time required seems a little shorter!"

Masayo chose the half-month tutoring assignment for Sakura Haruno's family. It was a C-rank Mission. The pay was not as high as an escort mission's, but there was no danger.

Just after Masayo signed his name and was about to leave, a man wearing a ninja flak jacket like his, with a scar across his nose, walked over to accept a mission. Seeing that Kizashi Haruno's listing had been taken, he looked regretful.

"Masayo? That young, newly promoted Chunin? I didn't expect our class's Sakura's mission to be taken by him!"

"Hm, Iruka?"

Masayo was just about to leave when he heard the call and instinctively turned back. The one who had spoken was Umino Iruka, who was also picking out tutoring missions.

His homeroom teacher and class instructor had not been Iruka. At school, they had met at most a few times and had barely interacted.

Seeing this, Masayo simply left the mission hall. To him, whether Naruto or Iruka, they were merely familiar strangers. They were different from Kakashi.

He had his own way of living. He would not grovel before or approach someone just because of who they were. Of course, Haku was a special case. That had already affected his life. If he did not see the person who had shaped his taste in anime aesthetics, he probably would not be able to give up completely and would keep having those nightmares.

At that moment, in an apartment building, a girl dressed in red with long pink hair was constantly grooming herself in front of a mirror.

Her light green eyes focused as she lightly adjusted the red ribbon in her hair, her expression turning somewhat complicated.

"Hmph, Ino-pig!"

The girl gave a soft snort, carrying an indescribable feeling.

"Sakura, your tutor is here! Are you not ready yet? Don't keep the teacher waiting too long!"

Hearing her mother, the girl's voice rose several pitches. "I know!"

"Hmph, I'm obviously grown up already. Why do they always treat me like a child? Seriously!"

Sakura pouted and complained.

"I wonder if this Chunin teacher is handsome. I hope it's not Iruka-sensei again."

Sakura walked out of her room and came downstairs, where she saw the tutor who would be teaching her for the next half month in the living room.

"Wow, he looks so young! He's wearing a Chunin flak jacket, just like Iruka-sensei, and he's a Chunin too. It's finally not Iruka-sensei again! He's handsome, but not as handsome as my Sasuke!"

Sakura secretly rejoiced and made a victory sign.

"Are you Sakura Haruno?"

Masayo was also observing the girl before him, with her cherry blossom-pink hair. She was no different from his memories. At first glance, she seemed like an ordinary girl next door.

"Hello, teacher. My name is Sakura Haruno. Please take care of me!"

Masayo nodded and smiled politely. "Hello. My name is Masayo. I'm not much older than you. Please take care of me over the next half month."