Chunin Duties 7.3
"Covert supersoldier program? Age ten to seventeen!? Who writes this crap?" Hisana said, shaking her head. Naruto laughed, reading over her shoulder. Sasuke, of course, was simply reading the disguised bingo book via a nearby mirror.
"You know, it makes sense from what they've seen and heard," Kakashi said, hiding his shit-eating grin behind his mask.
"Don't you start, sensei," Hisana retorted. Naruto and Sasuke started to snigger, trying and failing to hide their laughter.
"Hmmph. Say, you two, shouldn't you be paying the special jounin over there some more respect?" Kakashi said.
"Naruto calls the Hokage Granny. I think Hisana's lucky to get 'sis'," Sasuke said. Team Seven continued to walk through the streets of Konoha, though one by one they began to peel off. Naruto had to go meet Jiraiya, Kakashi was teaching Sasuke something before he left on a mission, and Hisana had an appointment to keep.
Gai and Lee were busy trying to best the other at vertical one finger push-ups when Hisana arrived at the training ground. Gai flipped onto his feet, grinning as he saw her approach.
"Ah, student of my eternal rival! I was most pleased to hear of your promotion!" He said, grinning.
"Thank you, Gai-sensei. What are we working on today?" Hisana asked.
"We will be working on your taijutsu today... and after a recent experience, I believe it will be beneficial for all of us to learn blind-fighting!" Gai said, removing three blindfolds from a pouch. Hisana almost protested, then she remembered that Gai had fought Itachi in the manga - he must have done that there as well.
Sighing, Hisana accepted the blindfold.
+++++
A somewhat sore Hisana arrived in fresh mission clothes, and her new chunin vest, to the mission assignment desk a few hours later. Sasuke and Naruto were already there, chatting to each other.
"You were almost late!" Naruto shouted.
"Eh, an old lady needed help with her gro-" Hisana began only for Naruto to interrupt her.
"It's contagious!" he shouted, as Sasuke chuckled.
"Not another one..." muttered one of the chunin, whilst another waved Team Seven up towards the Hokage's office. They walked up the stairs, and Hisana felt a little uncomfortable in her new vest. It seemed bizarre that she outranked the mission desk staff now - that she outranked Iruka-sensei!
"Right, you lot. Normally I wouldn't bother assigning missions to such junior ninja as yourselves, but it appears that there are certain parties interested in you that make sending you out of the village, and especially out of the country, risky. So you take your missions from me, Shikaku Nara, or Kakashi. Anyone else tries to send you on one, tell them to fuck off. Got that, brats?" Tsunade said.
"Gotcha, granny!" Naruto said, cheerfully. Sasuke stiffened a little but nodded.
"Understood, Lady Hokage," Hisana said.
"I'm glad that's understood. Now, as to your mission - every four years, two great merchant clans in the Land of Tea have a foot race for control over, ah,-" Tsunade said, pausing for a moment to retrieve a particular piece of paper from beneath the massive mound on her desk. "- that's it, Degarashi Port. We send a team of ninja to support the Wasabi family in every race. Usually a jounin and some experienced chunin - but because I came home to find my esteemed teammates had wrecked the place, we're sending you three. Hopefully, they'll be too busy being impressed by your family name to care that you're just two genin and a special jounin," Tsunade finished.
"We'll do our best to impress," Hisana said, thinking back to her memories. Wasn't there something about the Land of Tea and a race in the anime, she wondered.
"And pick me up some Degarashi wine while you're at it. Not the cheap Wagarashi stuff either, mind you," Tsunade said, as she threw the mission scroll at Hisana.
"Of course, Lady Hokage," Hisana said, grinning. Naruto giggled, and the three of them made their way towards the Uchiha compound to get ready.
As Naruto rushed off to gather up some of the instant-ramen scrolls Hisana had amde him, she pulled Sasuke aside.
"Is everything okay?" she asked. He seemed fine - happy, almost. Hisana still felt a nagging worry, though. How could he be fine after meeting Itachi again?
"It's fine!" Sasuke snapped, and Hisana merely raised an eyebrow. "I am - I'm fine.
He didn't get me the way he got sensei. Naruto did something to call Jiraiya, and he ran away rather than fight him,"
"But you still couldn't beat him?" Hisana said, quietly.
"It - it was like I was a little kid again. He just... just brushed me off. And - and he was more interested in Naruto than me,"
"If he's after Naruto... that's just extra incentive to get strong enough. But you're not doing this alone," Hisana said, and put a hand on his shoulder. Sasuke breathed in and nodded. He wasn't okay, Hisana thought, but he was doing as good as he could be.
+++++
Hisana looked different as she walked out of the main gates, her team behind her. She wore a chunin vest over her usual mission dress and shorts and had the Sword of Spring on her hip. Part of its regenerative properties allowed it to change its size to suit the wielder - but more impressively, Hisana had been able to 'etch' the seals she needed right into the metal.
The two chunin on gate duty gave her a little bow as she walked past, and it was all Hisana could do not to blush. They were fully grown men - mid-twenties at least - and she outranked them! It was madness. She tried to imagine someone her age being granted a similar position in Mary's world and laughed. Still, that was the way it was here. Kakashi had been a full jounin at her age, though at least they hadn't given him a genin team.
Team Seven blurred between trees as Hisana pondered how she'd make her entrance to the port town...
[x] Flashy - arrive on a summoned raven. Hisana needs to keep up the prestige of Konoha, and this will do that. It will also attract attention.
[x] Subtly - arrive without being noticed by anyone. This has its own prestige - an aura of mystery and danger. Might be hard to pull off with your team, though.
[x] Confidently - arrive by walking right down the main street, without a care in the world. This is might lead to drawing out enemy ninja. There's no guarantee of who those ninja are, though.
