"Before we go into Tsunade's," I began, lazily leaning against the wall opposite of said door, "you need to decide who is going to be leading this mission."

There were varying sounds of confusion. "Surely you are, sensei?" Michiko questioned slowly. "Unless..."

"Yup." I nodded, answering her unspoken theory. "I'm sitting back for this one. It's far simple enough for a couple of genin to handle without me—especially if those genin are you."

This mission was an insult to me and my team. As such, I refused to participate in it. I'd make it a practical exercise as part of training.

"So who's gonna lead?" Kento asked bitterly, clearly awaiting my "favoritism".

"Thats for you guys to decide, on your own. I don't care who you pick. Just hurry up," I ordered.

Kento's eyes widened, then grew a little fearful. If he could barely handle my judgement that he wasn't prepared to lead, he probably wouldn't be able to handle his teammates' judgment. Which was exactly why he wasn't ready, in my eyes: he cared too much for other people's opinion and respect.

"I'm cool with leading again," Aisa shrugged. "So long as someone else actually listens, this time."

Kento glared, fire sparking in his eyes. "What if I want to lead this mission?" He snapped. "You don't have sensei to coddle you and just hand you the position for no reason other than that she likes you better, this time!"

The two boys glared at each other, Kento visibly angry: hands clenched, shoulders up, breathing harsh. Aisa was clearly trying to copy his brother's offstandish, "I'm far above this argument" look. He ruined it with angrily crossed arms and a childish glare.

"What if I want to be the team leader?" Michiko interjected.

Both boys took a step back, turning to stare at Michiko. "Uh... Do you? Want to?" Aisa asked.

"No," she shook her head. I hid a snicker behind my hand. The boys stared incredulously. "But that does mean that I have all the power, right now."

"Huh?" Both boys asked.

She smirked, and I can't help but smirk as well. The manipulative little brat. She could start a bidding war between them until she got the best deal possible.

"I cast the final vote." Aisa visibly relaxed, and sent a smirk towards Kento. "Aisa."

And oh, how that smirk grew on everyone's faces but Kento's. Mine, because I was proud of how she was about to manipulate these two. Hers, because she knew her plan. Aisa's, because he thought he had her vote in the bag.

"Aisa, you were team leader last time. I think we should give Kento a try."

I slipped from my position leaning against the wall and barely catch myself before I crashed to the ground. None of them turn to look at me and the commotion, too caught up in their little battle. Michiko had held all the power... And she threw it away.

Kento looked shocked, unprepared. He's volunteered himself to be the team leader without even thinking he would win, and now he had no idea what to do with the position.

"I guess that makes sense," Aisa shrugged. "Your turn, man."

Kento is staring open mouthed at the two of them before turning to me, as though I would reject their decision and let him off the hook in a way that wasn't his fault.

Yeah, right. You got yourself into this position, buddy. Now you either gotta buck up or fu—

"What."

"You're team leader, for this mission," I cut in before he could freak out. "Lead the way." I gestured to the door, and he turned and paled.

"Okay." He swallowed determinedly. His eyes grew a little more stressed. "Let's go."

As we slipped through the door leading to the Hokage's office, I caught sight of them; the merchants.

I hid my disgust fairly well.

They were hiding nothing. No secrets, no lies. This really was just a regular boring C ranking mission. At least the genin would obtain something useful from this. Maybe.

The merchants eyed us warily but did not complain. There were three of them in total. One of them held a defensive posture. He must've been the one carrying the merchandise that they'd acquired on their journey.

"Welcome, Team Ten," Tsunade greeted. "Your mission is to escort these merchants to The Village of Hot Water. We're not expecting any trouble other than petty criminals, and perhaps some more organized groups. Understand?"

"Yes!" All three genin exclaimed.

Tsunade shot me a look.

"Yes," I sighed.

"Very well. Dismissed!"

I nodded curtly. The last thing I needed was complications with my plan due to a disagreement with Tsunade. She didn't need to know about my training exercise. Just that I was carrying out her orders.

The merchants remained silent until we reached the gates. But once we made it that far, the man who was obviously carrying the precious cargo--whatever it was--refused to take another step. "We need to wait for your leader!" He insisted.

I stuffed my hands into coat pockets, irritably flicking a strand of short hair from my eyes. I had promised not to interfere, but that didn't mean I couldn't make snide remarks. "Listen, uh--"

"Atsushi," he provided.

"Right. Sushi. Listen, I get that you think you're all important, but honestly, why do you think our Hokage would take the time to personally escort you?"

He turned bright red and spluttered. "I didn't mean her," he snapped.

Michiko stepped up, trying to diffuse the situation. "Sir, I promise you, we're more than capable of protecting you."

"I'm not leaving until your leader—your sensei—comes! You're all a bunch of kids! What can you do?" Atsushi argued.

Aisa's eyebrows furrowed. "But, sir, our sensei is here," he replied, confused, then pointed at me. Only I could see the light of mischief in his eyes.

All three merchants turned to me. "No way," Atsushi shook his head. "You're way too young. There's no way you can protect us!"

I let out a breath, raising my eyes to the sky. "Why would that be?" I asked patiently.

His eyes darted down to the scar on my cheek, and his tongue moistened his lips nervously. Yet he continued. "There's no way you're strong enough! You're just a kid!"

Sighing again, I allowed a blade to drop into my left hand. "I'm perfectly willing to show you just how strong I am," I offered.

The man paled. "I-I," he spluttered, "I paid for you all! So I control you! You can't do anything to me!" I glimpsed the genin out of the corner of my eye. They were all sporting identical little grins. The little sadistic bastards were enjoying this; they couldn't wait to watch me tear this man apart—whether it be mentally, emotionally, or physically.

I twirled my blade once, making the man gulp audibly, then tucked it away. "You're right," I acknowledged. "Killing you personally would create way too much paperwork for me. But remember: when that kunai from a criminal is headed toward your bloated head, the reason it kills you definitely isn't just because you insulted me. It would be because I'm just too young and not strong enough and couldn't quite make it in time." I rest a heavy hand on his shoulder, squeezing just hard enough to bruise. "Capiche?"

His face was completely white now. "M-my apologies," he stuttered.

I smiled with a hint of wicked. "Good," I said. "Now, Kento. Lead the way,"

Anger flashed in the merchant's eyes, but anything he was about to say was cut off by my glare.

"Right," Kento said hesitantly. Aisa and Michiko looked to him for orders. I raised my eyebrow and waited.

Something was off about Kento, and it wasn't just nervousness about leading this mission...

Kento looked at me. His eyes spoke hidden pleas.

"This is your team Kento, decide what to do," I spoke rather harshly. It wasn't in attempt to reassure him, but somehow his spine straightened at my slight scolding, and his eyes hardened.

"Aisa, you'll be in the front of the horses. I don't have to tell you to stay on your toes. You know what to watch out for. Michiko, to the left. Keep a sharp eye out for anything out of the ordinary. I'll stay to the right, and sensei will be in the back, the last and strongest measure if anything goes wrong."

We moved into position without questioning a move Kento had made. The merchants stayed silent, accepting what protection we were offering, as we walked out of the village gate.

***

We had been traveling for two days, and were about to arrive at "The Village that had forgotten all wars"-- what a stupid name-- when it happened.

Actually, it's more of what didn't happen—what was prevented from happening.

"Wait," Michiko spoke. We all paused, not questioning her. The merchants took several more steps before stopping. Atsushi—who was the only one who was really being a bother—started to complain.

"Why are we stopping?" He asked. "Is the little girl tired already?"

Michiko ignored him, glancing to Kento. "I can sense something ahead," she informed him. "It's weak, but..."

Kento nodded slowly. "Can you tell us where exactly it is?"

She scrunched her eyes shut, and I watch her closely. I hadn't had a chance to observe her chakra sensitivity since is helped her construct her shields the day Gaara had been captured. She winced, the same reaction as staring into a too bright light or someone snapping a firecracker off right by your ear. "About 100 yards ahead?" She murmured uncertainly.

"How will we proceed?" I questioned boredly.

"As if we don't know anything," Kento replied.

"What?!" Atsushi shouted. "We're just going to walk into an ambush?"

"We know it's an ambush, giving us the advantage in this situation. We know something they do not," Kento explained patiently.

Kid had a lot more patience than I did.

"Very well," Atsushi muttered forcefully. Idiot would be the one to end up putting us all in a compromising position.

We continued walking, giving away nothing. I observed the perfectly distinct yet silent and hidden communication between the three genin as we passed our safety barriers and knowingly into an ambush.

Several kunai were thrown on all sides. I glared at them, and created a mild genjutsu. To the naked eye I had been stabbed by several kunai. In reality I was hidden in a tree above, watching the entire battle unfold.

An idea I stole from Kakashi, actually,
thinking back to my first actual mission with team 7. I winced slightly, remembering my drug experiments back then. Remembering how weak those drugs made me.

"Cashile!" Aisa shrieked.

That boy sucked at genjutsu.

His eyes darkened and he stood, frozen in time while kunai flew around him.

Michiko jumped in front of him, deflecting a kunai aimed straight for his chest. "Cut it out Aisa, sensei is fine. This is a test, can't you see?"

Realization brightened his dull eyes and he immediately jumped into action with his teammates.

Asushi, on the other hand, was panicking. "Oh my God," he shouted. "The fucking bitch was the weakest one here!"

I rolled my eyes. The genin were doing fairly well, surprisingly. And, even more surprisingly, it was Kento they were rallying behind. I had half expected Aisa or Michiko to take over, but instead, Kento was more comfortable than ever.

"Formation six," he ordered, and in response Aisa and Michiko stepped forward to take the brunt of the attacks coming in. Meanwhile, Kento stepped back, and began to carefully form signs. "Earth release: Tearing Earth Turning Palm!" He exclaimed.

The earth began to crack, the damage traveling to where the kunai were raining down from. I nodded approvingly: a c-rank jutsu, and used judiciously, too. The trees began to topple from the torn earth, forcing the criminals from their hiding.

There were only five criminals, but all the genin could see were that there were more enemies than them. "Aisa," Kento ordered, analyzing the situation, "You stay back. Protect the merchants from any that slip by Michiko and I."

"Alright," Aisa agreed readily.

"Michiko," Kento murmured. "How many can you take?"

She tilted her head. "I could handle at least two of them, but I cant guarantee that they won't slip past me if they care more about the merchants than taking us out."

Kento nodded. "Try to keep at least two of them busy. I'll do my best with three, but Aisa might end up with one. Don't let that one distract you too much, right? We need you to take care of any that slip past us. Understand?"

"Yes," Aisa nodded seriously.

"Mhm," Michiko agreed.

And then both groups attacked.

I watched closely, hoping to pick out weaknesses that I could extract from my genins' fighting technique--both as a team and individually. But after only a minute or two of fighting, things start to go bad.

Kento was fighting two criminals--his third having already slipped past him and engaged Aisa--leaving Michiko with two to handle as well. But then, the criminal fighting Aisa spun and launched a kunai toward Michiko. It was in her blind spot; there was no way she would see it and dodge.

"Jump, Michi!" Aisa shouted. Good: if he'd ordered her to duck, she'd have been in a more vulnerable position. She couldn't jump left or right--not when she was engaged with two men already. Up was the only option. She obeyed without thought or question,and instead of slamming into the middle of her back, the kunai pierced her calf.

She let out a ragged scream, and, before I realize it, both blades are in my hands and I'm tearing wildly through the criminals in the same way I would have when I was the Claw: with no care for myself or my body, only for completing the mission.

My mission, I realized, before protecting these merchants, was to protect my genin.

I stood in the middle of the road. Blood was splattered on my face, staining my hands. Bodies surrounded me--limbs missing, decapitated, stabbed. Aisa, Kento, and Michiko were staring with a mixture of shock and awe.

And I had protected my genin.

__________________________

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