Mission

At 8:59 the next morning, at the gates of Konoha Ninja Village.

When Tianyun Hyuga arrived, he glanced at the two famous extras guarding the gates and waved hello before joining Hinata Hyuga and Kimura Kokomi, who had already been waiting for quite some time.

After looking around and finding no sign of their Squad Leader, Tianyun Hyuga asked Hinata Hyuga and Kimura Kokomi directly, "How long have you two been here? Have you seen our Squad Leader?"

"No idea..." Kimura Kokomi had a poor impression of Tianyun Hyuga, so she kept her answer curt.

"We've been here for an hour, but we haven't seen our Squad Leader..." Hinata Hyuga didn't dare brush Tianyun Hyuga off and hurried to answer.

"What kind of teacher is this? He has no professionalism at all..." Tianyun Hyuga was thoroughly displeased. His Squad Leader was arriving even later than he had. That was practically an insult to him.

Then Tianyun Hyuga said to Hinata Hyuga, "I haven't had breakfast yet. Let's go eat! Make that latecomer wait for us too, so he knows how angry we are..."

Kimura Kokomi curled her lip. Tianyun Hyuga himself had arrived only a minute before the appointed time, yet he had the nerve to complain about someone arriving later than him.

Still, considering that their Squad Leader was already late, she thought Tianyun Hyuga's plan sounded good. They ought to make their teacher wait for them too.

Hinata Hyuga didn't dare keep their teacher waiting. She hesitated and said, "Wouldn't that be a bad idea? Let's wait a little longer!"

Tianyun Hyuga glared at Hinata Hyuga and snapped, "What's so great about a teacher? Does being a teacher mean he can be late? Do as I say. We'll have breakfast and come back..."

The moment Tianyun Hyuga finished speaking, a Ninja wearing a mask over half his face appeared atop the village gates with a bang and called down to the three of them, "Where are you going?"

Tianyun Hyuga looked up at the newcomer and immediately said in exasperation, "So it's Jonin Kakashi, the king of being late. You're going to be our Squad Leader? We're in for a lot of trouble. What an unlucky day..."

Kakashi jumped down from the gates, glanced at Tianyun Hyuga, and said mildly, "You kids aren't cute at all. You don't show your teacher any respect..."

Tianyun Hyuga and Kimura Kokomi listened indifferently to Kakashi's nagging, while Hinata Hyuga felt rather awkward and lowered her head, not daring to look at him.

In truth, Kakashi was very reluctant to serve as their Squad Leader, but the Third Hokage had insisted that he take the three of them. He could only accept the order and take responsibility for protecting Hinata Hyuga and Tianyun Hyuga.

Yet from this first meeting, Kakashi could already tell that all three would be difficult to handle. His head had begun to ache.

Tianyun Hyuga: his disrespectful attitude alone told Kakashi that keeping him in line wouldn't be easy. He was bound to cause trouble.

Kimura Kokomi: she had come from Root, so she was sure to carry some of Danzo's will. Managing her would be easy enough, but even Kakashi couldn't be certain whether she would listen to him.

Hinata Hyuga: she looked so frail, hiding behind Tianyun Hyuga over the smallest things. It was obvious that she listened to him in everything and had no mind of her own. Helping her amount to anything would probably be difficult.

Sighing inwardly as he studied the three of them, Kakashi finally shook his head helplessly and said, "All right. Whatever you're thinking, I'm your Squad Leader from now on, and you'll have to listen to me. Let's head out on our mission."

"Yes..." Tianyun Hyuga answered listlessly.

"Understood..." Kimura Kokomi answered calmly.

"Okay, teacher..." Hinata Hyuga answered with a hint of excitement.

The three reacted differently, but Kakashi couldn't be bothered to concern himself with them anymore. Since this was an assignment from the Third Hokage, he would simply treat it as being a bodyguard for three little brats. He couldn't be bothered with anything else.

With his three burdens in tow, Kakashi headed out of Konoha. Along the way, Hinata Hyuga and Tianyun Hyuga kept looking around, examining their surroundings with curiosity.

As for Kimura Kokomi, she had often left the village on missions before, so the surroundings held no interest for her. She simply followed Kakashi in silence.

How could one describe the landscape outside Konoha? Lush green forests and mountains stretched everywhere, though the mountains weren't particularly high, standing roughly three hundred to five hundred meters tall.

As they wound along the forest roads, Tianyun Hyuga also saw quite a few houses belonging to ordinary villagers, along with the vegetables and grain they grew.

The Land of Fire enjoyed favorable geography, allowing two grain harvests a year. That was why it never lacked food, and why the other four nations and several smaller countries eyed it so covetously.

After following Kakashi for two hours and taking in the Land of Fire's wooded mountains and pastoral scenery, Tianyun Hyuga's curiosity gradually faded, and he continued onward in boredom.

Of the four, only Hinata Hyuga remained excited. This was her first time leaving the village on a mission, and she was terribly nervous, afraid that a mistake on her part would cause the mission to fail.

Another hour passed before Kakashi stopped near a mountain. Pointing at the mountain ahead, which was covered in vegetables without a single tree, he said, "Your mission today is to weed the Medicinal Herb Fields on this mountain. I hope you can finish within three days."

"What? You're actually making us do farm work? What kind of lousy mission did you accept? I'm not doing it!" Tianyun Hyuga was deeply dissatisfied.

Kimura Kokomi glanced at the herb-covered mountain and frowned without saying anything. She had already begun carrying out espionage and assassination missions in Root. Now she was suddenly being told to do farm work, and she wasn't particularly willing either.

At Kakashi's instructions, Hinata Hyuga's excitement and nervousness immediately eased. She felt that she shouldn't make any mistakes on such a simple mission and gazed at the vast herb-covered mountain with satisfaction.

Seeing their reactions, Kakashi couldn't be bothered to waste words on them. He said bluntly, "I've already accepted the mission. Whether you want to do it or not, you have to. In any case, you'll be staying here for the next three days, helping weed the herb fields."

Tianyun Hyuga asked unhappily, "Are we going to be doing missions like this from now on? Shouldn't genius Ninja like us be going around the Land of Fire protecting princesses and princes?"

Kakashi glanced at Tianyun Hyuga and said in a calm, detached voice, "All that talk won't change anything. Konoha has a rule: you must complete twenty D-rank missions before you can take C-rank missions."

"What a stupid rule. Which idiot came up with it?" Tianyun Hyuga was thoroughly displeased.

Kakashi shook his head. "Get to work! The pay this time is pretty good. If you help clear all the weeds from Medicine Mountain, you'll receive two million. That's high pay for a D-rank mission."